Image from ModerateLeft
As you can see with only a cursory scanning of my posts, I'm a big fan of The Rachel Maddow Show and its host. One of the reasons she was hired is that in addition to being wicked smart, she's quirky, sarcastic, and has a penchant for immature humor--all while being affable. It's a great combination.
A lot of conservatives have their collective panties in a bunch over how Rachel reacted to their incoherent "tea parties" a couple of days ago. I found it odd that she was being criticized for riffing on something in a way that she would any similar subject. But it wasn't just Rachel of course. The frivolity spread to other MSNBC hosts like David Shuster and Keith Olbermann. Even over on CNN, Anderson Cooper yukked it up. And if you don't know what's funny about it all, you're probably conservative.
The first, easy answer is that "tea parties" by their very nature sound dainty. Little girls have been having imaginary tea parties for as long as there has been fine china. And while most liberals don't think being feminine (read: gay) is a bad thing, most of the participants of the "tea parties" find slights to traditional gender roles to be the ultimate insult. Add to this a slang term for a sexual activity (tea bagging), and you've got a recipe for some really hard to resist double entendres. [Heh, heh! I said "hard!"]
If you watch FOX "News," listen to right-wing talk radio, or read conservative blogs, you will find quite a bit of whining over how the "liberally biased" media has responded to all the tea bag humor. They even make the claim that their side never referred to any of these protests as "tea bagging" in the first place, and that it was the damned media who made that up an ran with it. This is false, as the photo above proves. The reaction to the way this has all been reported also proves that hardcore conservatives have no sense of humor. But we knew that.
My pet theory is that some conservatives used the "tea bagging" double entendre as an insult toward Barack Obama and other Democrats. But the slur backfired, and was turned around on them. . .and that really pissed them off. Good, serves 'em right.
If you want to see a typical whine about this whole silly political back-and-forth, here is an excerpt to one of the more strident conservative "news" sources. Check it out.
[Excerpt]
Shuster's 'Teabagging' Double Entendres: 'You're Going to Need a Dick Armey'
The good folks at MSNBC have been disparaging tax protesting Tea Parties by referring to them as the sexually charged double entendre "teabagging."
As decency prevents a clinical explanation of the term, curious readers not in the know should check the Urban Dictionary with an objectionable content forewarning. . .
As decency prevents a clinical explanation of the term, curious readers not in the know should check the Urban Dictionary with an objectionable content forewarning. . .
Read more at: "News"Busters
