Memo to Tea Baggers: Words Have Consequences

A friend of mine has presented the following question on his facebook page.

When did questioning government become unacceptable and calling people "teabaggers" become intellectual?

Here is my expanded response.

I disagree with your fundamental premises. There's nothing to suggest that questioning the government has become unacceptable or that calling teabaggers teabaggers is intellectual.

On the other hand when some senile old man gets up in public as he did at one of Grassley's Town virtual Obama lynchings and says "well, the only solution is to get a gun and go to Washington" I, and a lot of people like me, stop listening.

Certainly the teabaggers haven't stopped doing whatever they think they're doing and I don't feel real smart when I kick a teabagger in the shins.

It's not an intellectual exercise and as long as they keep trotting out the likes of Sarah Palin, tenthers, birthers, Ron Paul antisemites, states' righters, John Calhoun inspired irredentists, southern secessionists, know-nothings and so on, they're not entitled to any sort of high minded deference.

If they're going to wave the bloody shirt of revolution, well, they should dig up all those AK47s that they've got hidden in PVC pipe buried in the back yard that they've been threatening to use and put their money where their mouth is. Either that or shut up.

I suppose it is unfortunate that the teabaggers chose to pick a name for themselves that has such unfortunate associations but "them's the breaks".

Lest you think I'm unaware of the distinction, the only Tea Party I'm aware of that is worthy of the name is the one Lewis Carroll described in Alice in Wonderland-which seems curiously apropos these days.