Thought of the Day: Tea Party Terminology

Beyond the infantile bluster and destructive rage that I associate with the Tea Party movement, I have always found the "Tea Party" moniker for this movement to be curious. There seemed to me to be some disconnect between the name the movement adopted and the kind of vicious hostility behind the movement. It wasn't until recently that an explanation for this feeling I had dawned on me. Now, before I share this explanation with you, I have to warn you that it will reveal a somewhat politically incorrect side of me. But what can I do? I can run from how I was formed and I can try to alter some of the rouger sides of this formation, but I can't fully escape it! So, I have to own it. Anyway, what dawned on me is that I associate the term "Tea Party" with foppish British gentility among men, with something little girls like to play in the backyard, and with something petite grandmothers do to pass the time on weekday afternoons. Nothing wrong with any of that, but it just doesn't conjure up in my mind what the Tea Party movement is supposed to stand for. Some Alpha males who like to drink Bud Light all day long at Saints tailgating parties might describe other men involved in a "Tea Party" as "wusses." And yet it is supposedly some of these very Alpha males who are supposedly leading up these "Tea Parties." I think that's what strikes me as a bit odd about the whole movement. But perhaps it's a positive sign that even conservative Beckolytes are mixing up their male/female associations! Perhaps it's a sign that conservative male "Tea Partiers" are getting in touch with their feminine side and that conservative women "Tea Partiers" are adding a little Alpha male bravado to their notions of feminine behavior. Who knows what this all means? And perhaps it only means something about me! Anyway ... just wanted to share!