The current 'new' political movement in the U.S. is the Tea Party movement, which developed around opposition to universal health care in 2009. Some of the opportunists behind this movement (perhaps 'business' would be a better term) are techies in Chicago who founded the Samuel Adams Alliance. The name of this group belies the stupidity, or perhaps duplicity, of its motives. Samuel Adams, according to their literature, was chosen as their mascot based on their appreciation of his Libertarian, anti-government principles.
Below is a quotation from http://www.ushistory.org/, which tells a different story about Samuel Adams. Perhaps the new Tea Party patriots should start drinking their 'tea', rather than smoking it.
"Samuel and John Adams' names are almost synonymous in all accounts of the Revolution that grew, largely, out of Boston. Though they were cousins and not brothers, they were often referred to as the Adams' brothers, or simply as the Adams'. Samuel Adams was born in Boston, son of a merchant and brewer. He was an excellent politician, an unsuccessful brewer, and a poor businessman. His early public office as a tax collector might have made him suspect as an agent of British authority, however he made good use of his understanding of the tax codes and wide acquaintance with the merchants of Boston. Samuel was a very visible popular leader who, along with John, spent a great deal of time in the public eye agitating for resistance. In 1765 he was elected to the Massachusetts Assembly where he served as clerk for many years. It was there that he was the first to propose a continental congress. He was a leading advocate of republicanism and a good friend of Tom Paine. In 1774, he was chosen to be a member of the provincial council during the crisis in Boston. He was then appointed as a representative to the Continental Congress, where he was most noted for his oratory skills, and as a passionate advocate of independence from Britain. In 1776, as a delegate to the Continental Congress, he signed the Declaration of Independence. Adams retired from the Congress in 1781 and returned to Massachusetts to become a leading member of that state's convention to form a constitution. In 1789 he was appointed lieutenant governor of the state. In 1794 he was elected Governor, and was re-elected annually until 1797 when he retired for health reasons. He died in the morning of October 2, 1803, in his home town of Boston."...
