rssCorrecting Jay Nordlinger
Friday, December 04, 2009 at 8:53 am
- 24 Comments
Via Evan McMorris-Santoro, I see that National Review’s Jay Nordlinger has written a history of how “teabagger” came to be used as a catch-all pejorative term for Tea Party activists. I also see that Nordlinger got his facts wrong.
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.
Actually, the first Tea Party rallies occurred on Feb. 27. I was at the Washington, D.C., event, where I snapped the picture Nordlinger is talking about.
That’s a member of the FreeRepublic cadre of protesters. Nordlinger’s failure to check this basic fact, or to say where it came from, doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in his piece. Generally, however, I agree that it’s good to call people what they want to be called, and for that reason I refer to them as “Tea Party protesters” and “Tea Party activists.”
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24 Comments
Pingback posted December 4, 2009 @ 9:06 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by WashIndependent, Phyllis Shelton. Phyllis Shelton said: Events in D.C. Correcting Jay Nordlinger: I was at the Washington, DC, event, where I snapped the picture Nordlinge… http://bit.ly/5jSxGJ [...]
Comment posted December 4, 2009 @ 12:18 pm
A cautionary tale on gimmicky props and theater of the absurd.
Comment posted December 4, 2009 @ 1:19 pm
I suggest that the teabaggers change tack and start proclaiming themselves Steamin' Mad.
Then the regional Cleveland protest can call themselves the Cleveland Steamers…
Oh, wait.
Comment posted December 4, 2009 @ 11:36 pm
Linguist Benjamin Zimmer beat you to the punch–and, in fact, identified an even earlier occurrence of “teabag” as a verb. The following was posted on ADS-L discussion list:
<quote>
“teabag” as a verb first showed up in relation to
Tea Party events in late January. Here's a Facebook announcement for
an event scheduled for Feb. 1:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=59218539592
“Tea Bag Party 2009! – Teabag the politicians!”
The Facebook wall has some back-and-forth about the double meaning of
“teabag” dated Jan. 26. Further discussion (from Jan. 27) in the
comments section here:
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2009/…
<endquote>
Comment posted December 5, 2009 @ 4:36 am
Linguist Benjamin Zimmer beat you to the punch–and, in fact, identified an even earlier occurrence of “teabag” as a verb. The following was posted on ADS-L discussion list:
<quote>
“teabag” as a verb first showed up in relation to
Tea Party events in late January. Here's a Facebook announcement for
an event scheduled for Feb. 1:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=59218539592
“Tea Bag Party 2009! – Teabag the politicians!”
The Facebook wall has some back-and-forth about the double meaning of
“teabag” dated Jan. 26. Further discussion (from Jan. 27) in the
comments section here:
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2009/…
<endquote>
Pingback posted May 5, 2010 @ 2:55 pm
[...] who continue to use the tea bagger term as a slur. http://www.bobcesca.com/images/tea_baggin.jpg Correcting Jay Nordlinger The Washington Independent Yeah, I am sure the freepers were in no way pointing out the sexual connotations of the term when [...]
Pingback posted May 6, 2010 @ 7:54 pm
[...] Dave Weigel pegs the date to February 27, 2009, where anti-Obama, anti-liberal protesters waved signs like the one pictured at an event in Washington DC. An April 1, 2009 tea party site blares, “Tea Bag the Fools in DC“. Tommy sums up the intent: [...]
Comment posted June 1, 2010 @ 7:32 pm
That's odd, he doesn't say that the first rally was on April 15th OR that the sign was from that particular rally. He says the first BIG rally was on tax day(Which it was), and he just says that a protester was seen holding this sign., no mention of when or where, don't worry about facts though, just go on “correcting”…
Pingback posted June 27, 2010 @ 7:13 pm
[...] here is the link anyways. Correcting Jay Nordlinger The Washington Independent __________________ "Digressions, objections, delight in mockery, carefree mistrust are signs [...]
Pingback posted March 29, 2011 @ 11:54 am
[...] or go home, smaller government, etc.) Never anything SPECIFIC. When they sent tea bags to Congress Correcting Jay Nordlinger | The Washington Independent, and (early on) talked about teabagging Congress Welcome to Tea Bag Congress and called themselves [...]
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