Oh, this is rich. It seems that tea party activists have decided to go to Colonial Williamsburg this year in droves, because they think the Founding Fathers would be 100% behind their cause of 2010. The problem is, uh, George Washington must not have gotten the memo. It seems he is not with them much to their disappointment. In fact, the guy is downright subdued, quiet, and, dare I say it, has a nuanced view of things. Come below the fold for some hilarious poking fun of the Glenn Beck set!
Ah, our conservative activist friends. Aren't they something special? It seems they decided to inundate Colonial Williamsburg (the Real America?) to be inspired by the Founding Fathers. In fact, they seem to think they own the Founding Fathers. As this Gawker post aptly tells us:
Tea Partiers Bent On Ruining Americans' Family Vacation
Unsatisfied with being belligerent at town hall meetings and creating racist signs, Tea Party activists are swarming on Williamsburg, Virginia this summer to ruin educational family vacations by yelling and asking costumed reenactors how to overthrow the government. Ugh.
Think he's exaggerating? Check out one of the first quotes from the article:
"General, when is it appropriate to resort to arms to fight for our liberty?" asked a tourist on a recent weekday during "A Conversation with George Washington," a hugely popular dialogue between actor and audience in the shaded backyard of Charlton's Coffeehouse.
I can tell you right now I was highly annoyed by this article (reprinted in the Atlanta Journal Constitution this morning) as a catnip piece showing what good patriotic citizens our tea party crowd is. I was ready to move onto the next article. But for some reason I decided to keep reading, and boy I am glad I did! Because the absurd suddenly morphed into the hilarious. It seems that our 18th century George Washington doesn't think in extremist radical terms neither about 1776 or 2010 (well, he has no idea what is happening in 2010 but if he did, I am sure he would remain a nuanced thinker). So . . . much to the disappointment of our ignoramus tea party tourists, Washington was not going to feed the people what they wanted to hear. Heh.
Sometimes, the activists appear surprised when the Founding Fathers don't always provide the "give 'em hell" response they seem to be looking for.
When a tourist asked George Washington a question about what should be done to those colonists who remain loyal to the tyrannical British king, Washington interjected: "I hope that we're all loyal, sir" -- a reminder that Washington, far from being an early agitator against the throne, was among those who sought to avoid revolution until the very end.
When another audience member asked the general to reflect on the role of prayer and religion in politics, he said: "Prayers, sir, are a man's private concern. They are not a matter of public interest. And nor should they be. There is nothing so personal as a man's relationship with his creator."
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!!!!!!!! Oh, and my favorite? George Washington was opposed to the Boston Tea Party!!! As the article diplomatically ends:
That may not have been the answer the man expected from the father of our country. But even in that spirited crowd, no one was going to tell George Washington he was wrong.
So, as soon as you get yourself off the floor, I shall be so bold to draw two lessons from this story:
- Ideologues should not think of history in black and white terms where popular figures will support their point of view. History is far more nuanced than that.
- Oh, for the love of God, we Democrats and progressives need to make sure these dimwitted fellow Americans aren't more energized than us for these midterm elections. Really -- do you want this crowd back in the Congress?