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One of the real-world effects of the rise of the Tea Party movement, as we've been reporting here awhile, is that it has effectively revived the militia/Patriot movement of the 1990s.

A crystalline example of this is the Sarah-Palin-endorsed GOP Senate nominee in Alaska, Joe Miller. As Justin Elliott reports for Salon, Miller is a favorite of the gun-toting secessionists who populate the state's militia ranks:

But the so-called "open-carry" display actually underscores the unusual enthusiasm Miller's candidacy has generated among members of militia and Second Amendment absolutist groups in Alaska who are excited about his hardline stance against the federal government.

"It's safe to say that Joe Miller is a friend of patriots," Norm Olson, commander of the Alaska Citizens Militia, told Salon. "His beliefs and platform favor Second Amendment rights as well as the power of nullification when the federal government intrudes into the private lives of Alaskans."

Olson, who lives on the Kenai Peninsula, claims that his group has several hundred members and supporters, adding, "what fuels the militia is fear." The militia's ideology is outlined in a list of 17 "acts of war." The list includes "firearms restrictions or other disarmament," "mandatory medical anything," "federal patrols," "taking control of children under duress or threat," "federalization of law enforcement," and "surrender powers to a corporation or foreign government."

That emphasis on opposition to federal power meshes with Miller's central message: get the federal government out of our lives. He often calls himself a "constitutional conservative." His website explains what that means:

The only answer [to government spending] is to return our federal government to the limits prescribed by our Constitution. Federal powers not specified in the Constitution are reserved to the States by the 10th Amendment.

Critics call this Tentherism, an interpretation of the Constitution that does not allow for a vast swath of what the federal government does today -- from Social Security to gun regulation. This is the centerpiece of Miller's political identity. He asserts that there is no constitutional authority for the health care reform law or proposed cap and trade legislation. He advocates a state takeover of federally controlled land in Alaska such as Denali National Park.

These are the kinds of positions that are creating buzz in the militia world.

Indeed, as I've explained in detail previously, the "Tenthers" are Patriots, pure and simple: the whole "state sovereignty" scheme was invented in the 1990s by a far-right Oklahoma legislator named Charles Duke, who was known for consorting with the vilest elements of the extremist right, including Christian Identity leaders.

Elliott's piece is excellent, though as Political Animal at the Alaska Dispatch notes, there are additional facts that add more nuance to the story. In particular, while the story focuses on some of the more colorful Patriot-movement figures in the state -- including Norm Olson, who actually only relatively recently moved to the state from Michigan -- it omits the state's longest-running and most substantial Patriot-movement presence: the Alaska Independence Party, which has the been movement's chief vehicle in Alaska since the early 1990s.

Miller claims he doesn't know what the agenda of the AIP might be, but as Craig Medred at Alaska Dispatch observes, Miller's scheme to boot the federal government out of the state of Alaska is pretty much identical to the AIP's.

Listen to Miller here, last Thursday on Fox with Neil Cavuto:

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Sarah Palin was really good at talking out both sides of her mouth during her interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer today. No sooner had her utterly phony pledge to "aid" the Obama administration going forward come out of her mouth than she said this:

PALIN: Well, I still am concerned about that association with Bill Ayers. And if anybody still wants to talk about it, I will, because this is an unrepentant domestic terrorist who had campaigned to blow up, to destroy our Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol. That's an association that still bothers me.

And I think it's still fair to talk about it. However the campaign is over. That chapter is closed. Now is the time to move on and to, again, make sure that all of us are doing all that we can to progress this nation.

Keep us secure, get the economy back on the right track, and many of us do have some ideas on how to do that and hopefully we'll be able to put all of that wisdom and experience to good use together.

BLITZER: So looking back, you don't regret that tough language during the campaign?

PALIN: No, and I do not think that it is off-base nor mean-spirited, nor negative campaigning to call someone out on their associations and on their record. And that's why I did it.

Funny thing about that: When Max Blumenthal and I dug up her multiple associations with far-right extremists in Alaska -- people who fomented for Alaska's secession, indulged in militia-organizing activities, fawned over Bo Gritz, and whose leader was murdered in an explosives deal gone bad -- and when CNN aired that information, here's what we heard from the McCain campaign:

CNN is furthering a smear with this report, no different than if your network ran a piece questioning Senator Obama's religion. No serious news organization has tried to make this connection, and it is unfortunate that CNN would be the first.

It's kind of hard to tell just exactly how discussing the record of Palin's conduct in public office, enabling and collaborating with far-right extremists, is somehow similar to the bogus claims that Obama is Muslim, or has anything at all to do with Palin's religion.

But Palin clearly has a double standard when it comes to bringing up "associations."