Revolutionaries (and maybe traitors) in our midst

by David Safier

Even some AZ Republicans are skeptical about the idea of a Don't Tread on Me license plate, which is being proposed by legislators who believe, I have to assume, they don't have anything important to do, like, say, creating a budget or helping jump-start the state's economy.

But forgetting about the license plate idea for a minute, let's take a look at the symbol the Tea Partiers have latched onto. There is no direct relationship between the Gadsden Flag (the Don't Tread on Me flag) and the Constitution. The Gadsden Flag is a warning to the British that the colonists are mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore. It's about defeating a foreign oppressor. The Constitution is about building a new government. Big difference.

When today's Tea Partiers rally 'round the Gadsden Flag, they are adopting a war posture against a foreign government. The flag was first flown as an official banner of the Revolution in 1775 on the foremast of our first naval ships as they sailed out to confront two ships loaded with arms for British Troops. The rattlesnake was a warning to the British: if you tread on the colonists with your oppressive rules and regulations, you're going to get bit, venomously. The flag's warning proved accurate. The British eventually limped off, showing their wounded heels to the newly formed American nation.

What does this have to do with the Consitution? Very little, actually. The rattler drove off the oppressor, which allowed the Founders to form our nation, but "Don't Tread on Me" is not a founding principle. It doesn't set up a system to elect a representative government or create the proper balance between personal freedom and governmental regulation.

Here is the equation made by today's worshippers of the Don't Tread on Me logo. The colonists drove out the British, who were not elected and therefore were not representative of the people. Today's Tea Partiers want to drive out Obama and the Democrats, who, continuing the comparison, were not elected and therefore are not representative of the people. Except, Obama was elected by a sizable majority of the voters, as were Democrats in Congress, until another election replaced many of them with Republicans. Anyone can say, "Obama is not my president and the Congress is not my Congress," but that has to do with personal feelings. By the Constitution, Obama is rightful president of the United States and the Congress is made up of our duly elected representatives.

So I have to say, if Tea Partiers believe they have to take up arms to overthrow the government, or they have to give states the right to nullify federal law Confederacy-style, they are indeed echoing the sentiments of the Gadsden Flag. But since the government they want to overthrow or ignore is the rightful government of the United States, they are revolutionaries. And to the extent they are like the Confederate South, they are traitors.

AN "OH, BY THE WAY" ASIDE: Oh, by the way, the original Boston Tea Partiers were not reflexively anti-tax like today's extreme right wing. They were against taxation without representation. Since our federal government was elected by the people, it is indeed our representative government and has the right to tax the people it represents.