Fortunately, my friend Mike beat me to the punch. Mike has written a solid response to the Republican Party’s new grassroots movement, in which he states:

The use of the tea party is a not-so-clever reference to the Boston tea party. History buffs will remember that our forefathers revolted against the British government demanding there be no taxation without representation. Too bad Republicans have representation, and they also oppose the inclusion of Washington D.C. in the U.S. Congress (the only area of the United States that is taxed without representation). If we ignore these inconvenient facts, then they might actually be onto something.

Be sure to read more of Mike’s thoughts at keatingreport.com.

Considering my friend is a political scientist, how does a historian fit in to all of this? I am inclined to believe that historians need to be just as political aware are our political scientist counterparts. Xenophobia transcends much of American, if not world, history. So it is no surprise that current fears of all things foreign is still used to get people to rally against anything perceived as different and new.  More critical, however, is the idea that maybe mankind is inclined to fear what it cannot fully understand. Maybe this is a mark of intelligence, or just some deep seeded primordial function that we have yet to evolve away from.