The goon squad mentality of the Tea Partiers is becoming clearer by the day.

All you got to do is watch the video of the Moveon woman, Lauren Valle, at the Rand Paul event on Monday being stomped on by a big tea party guy after other Paul supporters yelled, “Get the police, Get the cops,” at the mere sight of her protesting.

Or all you got to do is see how Joe Miller’s private security guards handcuffed and detained a reporter for having the temerity to ask the candidate questions.

Or all you got to do is read the e-mail by the Tea Party Nation that urges people to vote against Keith Ellison of Minnesota because “he is the only Muslim in Congress.”

He isn’t, but that’s beside the point.

The point is that the Tea Party movement is infused with people who are intolerant.

“Tea Party organizations have given platforms to anti-Semites, racists, and bigots,” according to “Tea Party Nationalism,” the recent report by the Institute for Research and Education on human rights, which was endorsed by the NAACP. One faction, the report notes, adopted leaders “directly from the anti-immigrant vigilante organization, the Minuteman Project.” The report says “a bright white line of racism threads through this nationalism.” It explains: “It is a nationalism that excludes those deemed not to be ‘real Americans,’ including the native-born children of undocumented immigrants (often despised as ‘anchor babies’), socialists, Muslims, and those not deemed to fit within a ‘Christian nation.’ ”

Despite their invocation of our Founders and their ubiquitous “Don’t Tread on Me” signs, many tea partiers display no respect for our most basic freedoms—of speech, of the press, and of religion.

It’s no wonder that Christine O’Donnell didn’t know that the First Amendment erects a wall between church and state. Many tea party followers don’t know—and don’t care.

They want a different America, a less free America, a monochromatic America, a theocratic America.

For many of them, it’s a short walk from ignorance and intolerance to violence. Some are already on their way.

If you liked this story by Matthew Rothschild, the editor of The Progressive magazine, check out his recent story "News Flash for Obama: Bipartisanship Has Sunk."

Follow Matthew Rothschild @mattrothschild on Twitter