Sunday, February 13, 2011

Tea Party History

So over at Pandagon, they are talking about the cover for this Tea Party magazine:




Pandagon notes the complete lack of humor in Tea Partiers. Fair enough. But I was struck by the bizarre article listed on the cover: "Paine, de Tocqueville, and Booker T. Washington." If we are playing the game of what these three men had in common, I'd go so far as to say they all spent time in the United States of America. Beyond that, I have no freaking idea.

I am completely fascinated by Tea Party versions of history. This should make an excellent book for a future historian. Jill Lepore had a piece in the NewYorker about this awhile back, focusing on their obsession with the Founding Fathers. But there's so much more. I literally cannot think of a single way you connect Booker T. Washington with the other two; moreover, I'm really scared as to what purpose they have with Washington. To call W.E.B. DuBois an Islamofascist, terrorist, and traitor? To support the Atlanta Compromise? Who the hell knows.