Tea Party Visual Acuity Test

Well, since we now have several million newly minted militiamen and women, and not a few sudden experts in what the framers of the Constitution "intended," I had to go to the only place I could imagine: Teh Art, mated with half-baked ethnographic field study.

I made an iron on, slapped it on a left-over virgin blue Gildan and headed out to Ukrops (our local grocer) to do some, uh, shopping. From 30 feet, heading in from the parking lot I got a few approving looks and smiles, one guy managed a "yeah, brother!" As he sailed past the head was rotating and I think the smile had faded. Inside, well, it was more proximate and interactive. One old man next to the strawberries was not a fan. I explained that the Gadsden Flag was not a National Flag so you really can't "desecrate" it. I don't think he was convinced but he did appreciate a hand with his big bag of russets. One woman said "I love it" while her daughter's evaluation was "eww!", as she leaned in to fully assess the gross factor. The pattern repeated and it seems a great test for smoking out the Tea Partiers: Smile, then eyes widen, then furrowed brow or head shake. On the other extreme, there were enough affirmative smiles of "I want one!" that it's going into CafeFouro toute suite.

UPDATE: And, presto! Tea Party Visual Acuity Test shirt and Tea Mug