Obligatory tea party post

I think it's in the Blogger terms of service that I have to post something about today's Tea Party protests. The reversal of the roles of "righteous demonstration to wake the people up" versus "showcase and mock the other side's wackier and stupider members"* after eight years of left-wing anti-Bush demonstrations is interesting. The "hur hur hur 'teabagging' hur hur hur" bit got old really fast -- though perhaps this just shows I read too many liberal blogs. I also think it could be fascinating to read a historical study of the use of the Boston Tea Party motif by protest groups in American history. It's a very striking and unique event that played a key role in our country's formation, yet it's open to a multitude of reinterpretations placing it in the lineage of different contemporary concerns. After all, the last notable use of the tea party motif before today's conservative protests was by Howard Dean in the 2004 Democratic primary.

*Yes, I know, the "Bu$Hitler" signs were the work of lone wackos or possibly agent provocateurs, whereas the "Hang 'em high" guy is the precise statistical mean of the views of the tea partiers.