Despite the rather reasonable positions set forth by the spokesman for the tea party group in Thursday's Sun ("Tea party, 1 year later," April 15), it appears to me from having attended one demonstration and from observations on TV that this is a dangerous and destructive movement.

Like the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan nation/skinhead movements before, it is composed of misinformed individuals full of hatred and anger who spread wild conspiracy tales and demonize those with whom they disagree. Their kind has been with us since the start of the republic. An example was the Know Nothing Party of the 1850s. Our founding fathers referred to them as rabble rousers. I have enough confidence in the common sense and decency of the American people to believe that this movement too will soon be swept off the public stage.

Jack Kinstlinger, Baltimore