Recently, the MSNBC special report “Rise of the New Right: A Hardball Documentary with Chris Matthews” took a hard look at the current surge of of rightwing anger and anti-government fervor — a trend I’ve documented since the election of Barack Obama as president. On June 16, I reported on the original cablecast of the documentary. Now, in a 6-day period, I’m featuring a different segment of the six-part series each day.

“Rise of the New Right” — Part 3: The Tea Party Movement

The Tea Party fights to be a political contender. (05:53)

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Related reports on this site

Extremism Rises in America (June 16, 2010)

The growing fear among some citizens of losing their rights and freedoms has created a political backlash toward the U.S. government and manifested itself in violent rhetoric and anti-government groups who want to “take their country back.” Chris Matthews takes a hard look at the recent surge of anger on the political right in “Rise of the New Right: A Hardball Documentary with Chris Matthews” on MSNBC.

“Rise of the New Right” — Part 1 (July 7, 2010)

Hate groups including neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan have grown since Barack Obama was elected president. (Image: NBC News)

“Rise of the New Right” — Part 2 (July 8, 2010)

Bachmann Heads Teabaggers (Sept. 13, 2009)

Rep. Michele Bachmann speaks at a Tea Party at Lake George in St. Cloud, Minn., after a town hall meeting, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009. (Photo credit: Jason Wachter / St. Cloud Times)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — July 9, 2009

In 2003, Saddam Hussein told FBI agent George Piro he falsely allowed the world to believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, according to the agent’s notes. (Photo credit: Pool via AP)

Saddam Feared Iran More Than U.S.

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that declassified notes of FBI interviews with Saddam Hussein in 2004 proved Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction at the time of the U.S. invasion in 2003, but that Saddam falsely allowed the world to believe Iraq had WMD because he feared revealing his weakness to Iran, the hostile neighbor he considered a bigger threat than the U.S.