Teepee for Oregon's Tea Party?

Why Did We Select the TeePee for the TP?Through all that's happened since, that tent emerged as a symbol. The inhabitants of that home were people of courage who lived in tune with the parameters of nature. And, people who got really upset when the cowardly, smelly, money-worshipping, selfish Europeans destroyers of all that is natural came along to turn paradise into steel-framed buildings, garbage dumps, chemical factories and rat-infested alleys populated by folks whose descendants, when called upon, saved the whole damned world twice, so far.

It's just like the tea parties. These folks are upset by the cowardly, smelly, money-worshipping, selfish European socialists who have brought their fatal political disease to the New World. Collective ownership of the assets of the nation. Professors of Propaganda in our schools and universities. And, now comes Obama and Friends. They were the last straw.

Comment:  This would be a good April Fool's joke, but it's not April 1. Therefore, I'll take it seriously for one blog posting.

Let's ignore the fact that the teepee is blatantly stereotypical. And that it has nothing to do with the state of Oregon. That it's a bad choice for that reason goes without saying.

Appropriating Indians as the symbol of liberty goes back to before the Boston Tea Party. It's a perennial subject in American politics. I wrote about it in The Political Uses of Stereotyping.

But this rationale is one of the stupidest ones I've ever seen. It's as if these teabaggers are admitting, "We're totally ignorant about the last 500 years of history and politics. We don't have a clue what we're saying. We're literally so stupid that we're making stuff up out of thin air."

Facts for the fanatics

Here are a few points for these idiots to consider:

The European invasion of the Americas began in 1492. Socialism didn't exist until the late 19th century, when Marx and Engels invented the economic theory. That's almost a 400-year gap.

Many of the first settlers were financed by business consortia that wanted a return on their investment. Others were financed by monarchies that wanted a return on their investment. The common denominator was their greed, which the teabaggers even acknowledge with the words "money-worshipping" and "selfish."

This is the pure capitalist ethos at work, dummies. It has nothing to do with socialism and everything to do with our present economic system. You know, the "greed is good" system championed by Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush? The one that led to Reagan's and Bush's recessions, Reagan's and Bush's deficits, Reagan's savings and loan crisis, Bush's mortgage crisis, etc.?

Taking the world's land, gold, oil, and other resources is what this ethos is all about. That was true in 1492 and it's true today (with Enron, Goldman Sachs, British Petroleum, et al.). This ethos of greed and avarice is what destroyed the Indians, not "socialism."

European states were the opposite of socialist throughout the imperialist period. Instead of redistributing the assets of the elite (themselves), they kept these assets. A small aristocracy of kings, nobles, churchmen and merchant princes controlled most of Europe's wealth and power.

The "socialists" weren't the kings and czars of places like France and Russia. You know, the people who initiated and oversaw Europe's global conquests? They were the commoners who overthrew the kings and czars and put themselves in charge.

Duhhh.

"Professors of Propaganda"? What does that have to do with 500 years of European colonization? Do teabaggers think left-wing universities have existed for centuries? And that these universities were in charge of Europe's foreign policy? Idiocy.

Teabaggers are today's Indians?!

Let's look at more facts these idiots are too dumb or dishonest to admit. Conservatives have complained about tribes having communal cultures, jointly owning their land, and being the last bastion of socialism. Because there's some truth to this, Indians are overwhelmingly Democratic, voted 9 to 1 for Obama, and are still among his biggest supporters. Meanwhile, the Tea Party movement is financed by the billionaire Koch brothers and publicized by billionaire Rupert Murdoch and his Fox News. It's increasingly merging with the Republican Party because both groups have similar goals.

So the Tea Party movement stands for "free markets" (i.e., handouts for corporations and the rich). And Obama, Indians, and the rest of the Democratic Party stand for helping their fellow humans (i.e., "socialism"). But Oregon's teabaggers think a teepee is the right symbol for them?! Maybe Oregon's Democrats should adopt Milton Friedman or the Wall Street bull as their symbol, because that would be just as appropriate and valid.

Sheesh.

For more of this ridiculous "teabaggers = Indians" meme, see Indian on Tea Party T-Shirt and Teabaggers = Indians?! For more on the Tea Party in general, see:

Conservative rallies = white self-pity
Tea Party believes in taking
Angry white Christians want the country back

And the proverbial much more.