{ the calling}
nations — which came together organi- cally, over time, as a gathering of tribes — America is cohered by ideals: “Its only legitimacy is found in a few piec- es of paper. The promises made in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution … were so great that their betrayal was part of the promise.” The Tea Party is bound by a deep
sense of betrayal, and my adventures with it began on a Friday afternoon, when the group’s leader picked me up at my hotel. Chuck Henthorn, 63, is a re- tired Air Force lieutenant colonel. He is leathery and compact, with toned pecs
The good Lord woke me up when I was
sound asleep, folks, and he said, ‘You’re running for office.’ And I said no, and he said yes.”
“
and a jaunty, can-do manner. The son of an alcoholic father, he enlisted at 17 because he needed a home. He served in the Air Force for 25 years and made his first-ever foray into political action last year. Henthorn was disgusted with the “extreme left-wing thought process” that he says underlies Obama’s bailout of General Motors; in protest, Henthorn attended a Tea Party rally in Dayton. For the past few months, he has been
coordinating Tea Party buses to Wash- ington for an ad hoc Dayton group, the Freedom Institute, whose Web site,
WethePeopleUnderGod.com, features an essay titled “Why the American Flag is Folded 13 Times.” As we drove around Dayton gather-
ing provisions, Henthorn said he has guided four citizens groups to Wash- ington for rallies. “A lot of these people,”
he said, “have never been to Wash- ington before. I teach them a little bit about riding the Metro, about how to stay safe. They’re apprehensive about who they’re going to encounter — the SEIU [Service Employees Internation- al Union], the Black Panthers or what have you. I’ve encountered those people before. To me, it’s no big deal. I’ve lived in 11 foreign countries. Islamic extrem- ists killed one of my deputies at his desk in Istanbul. I’ve had a bounty on my own head. I know what it’s like to be a hunted man.” Henthorn spent most of his career
in the Air Force’s “services” division. He ran mess halls, golf courses and gyms, and administrated over wind- ing roads past bunkers and airstrips. He learned to focus on the safety and well-being of others. When we came across a motorcyclist wearing a flimsy T-shirt, Henthorn was disapproving. “I’ve scraped enough accidents off the highway to know that that guy ought to be wearing leather,” he said. By his own reckoning, Henthorn
is a “born leader.” On the bus, he an- nounces, “I am running for U.S. Senate in 2012.” There is a joyous burst of applause.
People holler “Oh, yes!” and “Yee ha!” Then Henthorn continues. “And you may or may not think I’m crazy,” he says, “but five months ago, I got woken up in the middle of the night. The good Lord woke me up when I was sound asleep, folks, and he said, ‘You’re running for office.’ And I said no, and he said yes. We argued for three weeks, folks. Then I said, ‘Okay, I’ll run for township.’ And then we had another two-week fight, over what I was gonna run for. And, finally, we were up to senator or president.” There’s a soft awestruck murmur
from the back of the bus: “Wow!” “And I said, ‘I’m not going to run for
the U.S. presidency,’ ” Henthorn contin- ues. “I’m running for Senate.” He lays out his platform: “I believe that elect- ed officials on the Hill should govern from the state that elected them. They shouldn’t be up there holding hands singing ‘Kumbaya’ in D.C. I believe that we don’t need the Department of Edu- cation or the Department of Energy.” “Or the IRS!” someone shouts.
12 The WashingTon PosT Magazine | OctOber 24, 2010
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