I am tea party woman, hear me roar!

"Remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could," Abigail Adams famously wrote her husband John during the Second Continental Congress in March of 1776. Meanwhile down south, according to the North Carolina History Project, "during the early 1770s, Whiggish men (those who supported the colonies) frequently blamed their spouses, mother, sisters, and daughters for preventing the creation of a distinct American culture. They would rather annul an American boycott, the story goes, than divorce English tea or clothes. The Edenton Tea Party petition proved otherwise, for the Edenton women boycotted English goods and alerted King George III that they had done so." According to a PBS blurb, "This was one of the earliest organized efforts on the part of women to influence public policy. In the 18th century, politics was thought to be an improper sphere for women, but the American Revolution nudged this dictate toward liberalization." [Thanks to Mary Katharine Ham in The Weekly Standard for alerting us to the story of the Edenton women.] Satirical drawing above "depicting the Edenton Tea Party published in a London Newspaper in March 1775. Image courtesy of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina."

"I’m part of a movement and didn’t even know it!” writes The Enlightened Redneck, Danny Glover [via Instapundit], energized at the realization that he is not alone:

Thanks to the power of Google news alerts, a press release about a grassroots group called Save the Redneck found its way to my e-mail box.

Like me, the group is irked at elitist actress Janeane Garofalo for her bigoted rant about rednecks at last week’s anti-tax “tea parties.” Save the Redneck wants an apology from her.

Clicking on over, we found a rousing call to arms:

For too many years now the political powerhouses, city sophisticates and the rich elite have tried to take advantage and make fun of Redneck farmers, ranchers, mechanics, factory workers and hard working folks who helped build this great country. Without Redneck elbow grease this country and economy would come to an abrupt and grinding halt. Thanks to those who make fun of us, it is already on its last legs.

It is time to take a stand. We believe it is our inherent right to commemorate our place in American culture. This website has been created to celebrate everything right with the redneck. Celebrate who you are, and Save the Redneck.

"We’re definitely on the same wavelength," says Danny Glover:

I went one step further several years ago in an essay I titled “Rednecks Rule,” arguing that “redneckedness is a state of mind to be cherished, not a consequence of culture to be ridiculed.”

Anyone can be a redneck if he wants to be. As Callebs says, it’s all about “talking the talk and walking the walk” — whether you have an accent or not.

Count us in. In fact, we've considered ourselves an honorary member of the tribe ever since we were identified five years back — by a member of the loony left calling himself Chun the Unavoidable — as "an instance of … these alleged [working-class] people who support and indeed admire [President Bush] without having an obvious financial interest at stake." It calls to mind David Axelrod & Company's bewildered elitist "Royalist response" to the upstart Tea Party Movement's resistance to burdensome government.

Back to where we started with Enlightened Redneck's “I’m part of a movement and didn’t even know it!” above, as we wrote in Glover's comments this morning:

Same with us Tea Partiers out here.

Google news alerts are helping us find our voice!

With apologies to Helen Reddy — and not a little irony — I am tea party woman, hear me roar!

Update: Laura Lee links.

Comments

[Teresa]

While I am happy to save the redneck, at no point in time would I call Janeane Garofalo either sophisticated or elite.

Just sayin'...

[goomp]

Material and economic abundance depend on free enterprise. Those who want a bountiful economy must roar to be heard over the ignorant chatter of the so called liberal elite who favor letting unproductive political ideas rule.

[Elisson]

It's no fun when men are henpeckèd
Or when their nice cars all get wreckèd
Let them take off their clothes
Protest liberal woes
And run down the streets all redneckèd.