John Sexton
Breitbart.com
Big Government
5/23/2012
Photo: Chicago Daily Herald , July 9, 1997
In 2009, President Barack Obama reportedly called members of the Tea Party “teabaggers.” It turns out that our fourth greatest president, first in so many things, may have been the first “teabagger” himself, as seen in the 1997 photograph above. Yes, that really is Barack Obama wearing a regimental coat and carrying a tricorn hat in his hand. And that flag behind him really is a Gadsden flag, with its serpent and its “Don’t Tread On Me” slogan. You may want to let all of this sink in a bit, especially if you’re a Tea Party-bashing progressive.
Neither Democrats nor the media have been particularly kind to the Tea Party. There is hardly space to go through all the times the Tea Party has been compared to terrorists (including by the Vice President) or fascists, or the many times it has been accused of racism by progressives in supposedly mainstream news outlets. That’s a book-length story of its own.
But given the photo above, it is certainly a good time to think back upon some of the ridicule Tea Party members were forced to endure for evoking the Revolutionary War era by their dress and choice of symbols…
…In 1997, Obama was beginning his first term as a state senator in Illinois. He and his fellow politicians were asked to lead the “4th on 53rd” parade, which is Hyde Park’s 4th of July celebration–one not too different from many other places in America, it turns out. All the politicians who attended were expected to dress the part. The Herald even published a story the week before, on July 2nd, confirming in advance that Obama would be “wearing colonial attire.”
With most politicians, wearing colonial dress for a public celebration like the 4th of July would be considered a bit colorful, but not extraordinary.
In Obama’s case, it’s more like proof of hypocrisy.
Since 2009, the ridicule of Tea Party signs and costumes has been so constant from Obama, the mainstream media, and the left that Glenn Beck encouraged people to stop dressing up so as not to give them an excuse…
The complete article is at Breitbart’s Big Government.
Breitbart’s “related teabagger news”:
Maxine Waters ‘Mean Spirited’ Tea Party Hurting ‘People Of Color’
Matthews: All ‘Teabaggers’ White? Maybe Not…
Halloween Special: Garofalo Calls ‘Tea Baggers’ Racist
President ‘Tea Bagger’ Owes Grandma An Apology
Rep. Andre Carson: Tea Party Protesters Are ‘One of the Largest Threats to our Internal Security’
