Conservatives: Reclaim Teabagger!
NRO wrote an article that may be unsnarkable. Jay Nordlinger documents the use of the word “teabagger” to describe the rightwing activists.
To “teabag” or not to “teabag”: That is not the most pressing question of these times, but it is a question to consider. Routinely, conservative protesters in the “tea party” movement are called “teabaggers,” and those calling them that do not mean it in a nice way. Many conservatives are mulling what to do about this term: fight it, embrace it, what?
Nordlinger points out, it was conservatives that first coined the term and Democrats and the media snickered and ran with it.
The first big day for this movement was Tax Day, April 15. And organizers had a gimmick. They asked people to send a tea bag to the Oval Office. One of the exhortations was “Tea Bag the Fools in D.C.” A protester was spotted with a sign saying, “Tea Bag the Liberal Dems Before They Tea Bag You.” So, conservatives started it: started with this terminology. But others ran with it and ran with it.
He goes on in great detail to actually explain what the sexual practice is. I guess he doesn’t people to have to guess.
MSNBC had an outright field day. Rachel Maddow and a guest of hers, Ana Marie Cox, made teabag jokes to each other for minutes on end: having great, chortling fun at the conservatives’ expense. And here is the performance of another host, David Shuster:
“For most Americans, Wednesday, April 15, will be Tax Day, but . . . it’s going to be Teabagging Day for the right wing, and they’re going nuts for it. Thousands of them whipped out the festivities early this past weekend, and while the parties are officially toothless, the teabaggers are full-throated about their goals. They want to give President Obama a strong tongue-lashing and lick government spending.”
That still cracks me up. Yes, I have a dirty mind. Hey, I’m not the one who decided to call my friends by a term for a sexual practice.
In any event, it may well be too late to purge “teabagger” from our discourse, certainly from discourse controlled by liberals. But I’m for giving it a try: for running “teabagger” out of town, even at this late date. It is really a lowdown term. “Tea partier” is a neutral term. “Tea-party patriots” is a positive term, used by some of the protesters themselves. “Teabagger” — not so positive, and not so neutral.
Sorry guys, you’re stuck with it. If it makes you feel any better, at least some people get pleasure from the word (and the practice). I’ll make a promise: if a liberal group decides to name itself after a sexual practice you’re free to make fun of us.
Tags: Republican Crazy, Tea Baggers
It’s the gift that keeps on giving – all the more priceless since the wound was self-inflicted.
tea bag tea bags teabags……. Just like homophobic senators getting caught havin’ a toe-tappin good time in airport bathrooms, if you let the ‘bagz alone long enough they will give you MORE than enough string (and filter paper) to tea bag them with.
The Shuster bit on the teabaggers was classic.
Not only was it self-inflicted — but someone at the NRO has to explain that teabagger is not meant to be complimentary?
Sorry, couldn’t wait for an open thread…
David Anderson busted getting his news from FreeRepublic
Note the byline on Davids’ article:
I’ll wait while everyone finishes laughing…
OK, done?
As of right now, Google reveals that name “Stepahine Condom” only appears one place on the Internet: Free Republic.
The article format is a lot like the articles posted by the trolls here.
I’m betting the Freeper Factory manufactured this news and introduced a combination of a typo (“Stepahine”) and a spellcheck substitution error (“Condom”).
Do they have something against links? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using a source, as long as you reveal it. Free Republic is a fever swamp but I doubt it’s o.k. to just steal their content. It’s bad manners, anyway.
There’s a DC reporter for CBS national named “Stephanie Condon”.
And if I were her, I’d be really pissed.
I guess Stepahine Condom has a hot tip.
new meaning to “in depth coverage” her news analysis really… penetrates…
There are a lot of holes in Stepahine Condom’s story. She is really stretching it. I think it is a cover-up.
I hear she inserts herself right into the story and whatever or whoever she happens to be prodding and probing are satisfied with her technique.
Well, we’ll just have to wait for the story to unroll some more.