I don't expect most Americans to know all that much about all the mythology and symbolism surrounding the American Revolution; but when you wrap that mythology and symbolism all around yourself with the kind of bombast and pretension that many Tea Partiers do (even the name itself harkens to this mythology), and when you use this mythology to vilify others of your fellow countrymen for their apparent lack of patriotic credibility, then you damn better at least know this history beyond the knee-jerk sound bites -- especially if you are a political leader of the Tea Party movement like Minnesota's Michele Bachmann is.
Because when you, you know, not only get it wrong, but get it so epically wrong, like Michele Bachmann did, you make yourself and your movement look like the foolish patriotic poseurs and utterly craven, ignorant pretenders that you are.
Tea Partier patriots who take their patriotism seriously enough to know their early American history are (or should be) embarrassed by Bachmann's arrogance and ignorance.
I've got to admit, this one was pretty bad. Usually Bachman's gaffes are easily explained when taken in context, or at least they are forgivable, but this one is just a pure case of the Dumbass.
ReplyDeleteI like Bachman, even if she is a bit too socially conservative for me, but I have not been too crazy about how she has tried to set herself up as the Tea Party Queen in D.C. The Tea Party is a movement that doesn't require or even want leadership from D.C. The ideal Tea Party candidate, especially at the federal level, is a servant of the Tea Party agenda, not a leader of it. Bachman often tries to tow the line between those two roles. She needs to stop it.