Tea'baggers drawn to Williamsburg, seeking advice from Founding Fathers

[Emit]

"Tea party" activists drawn to Williamsburg and its portrayal of Founding Fathers

By Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 1, 2010

WILLIAMSBURG -- The original Tea Party may have been in Boston, but some modern-day "tea party" activists are finding a powerful narrative this summer at a different historic landmark: Colonial Williamsburg.

~snip~

They stand in the crowd listening closely as the costumed actors relive dramatic moments in the founding of our country. They clap loudly when an actor portraying Patrick Henry delivers his "Give me liberty or give me death" speech. They cheer and hoot when Gen. George Washington surveys the troops behind the original 18th-century courthouse. And they shout out about the tyranny of our current government during scenes depicting the nation's struggle for freedom from Britain.

"General, when is it appropriate to resort to arms to fight for our liberty?" asked a tourist on a recent weekday during "A Conversation with George Washington," ... the man portraying Washington replied: "Only when all peaceful remedies have been exhausted. Or if we are forced to do so in our own self-defense."

~snip~

"They all should come here and listen," said Bob Rohrbacher, a retired plumber from Floral Park, N.Y., who opposes President Obama and was inspired to visit Williamsburg while watching Glenn Beck on Fox News. "They've forgotten about America."

~snip~

Sometimes, the activists appear surprised when the Founding Fathers don't always provide the "give 'em hell" response they seem to be looking for.

When a tourist asked George Washington a question about what should be done to those colonists who remain loyal to the tyrannical British king, Washington interjected: "I hope that we're all loyal, sir" -- a reminder that Washington, far from being an early agitator against the throne, was among those who sought to avoid revolution until the very end.

When another audience member asked the general to reflect on the role of prayer and religion in politics, he said: "Prayers, sir, are a man's private concern. They are not a matter of public interest. And nor should they be. There is nothing so personal as a man's relationship with his creator."

And when another asked whether the Boston Tea Party had helped rally the patriots, Washington disagreed with force: The tea party "should never have occurred," he said. "It's hurt our cause, sir."

~snip~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/31/AR2010073103051.html?wprss=rss_nation

[H2O Man]

1. Recommended

This is an important indicator of where some people are at today.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. Next: teabaggers throw GW under the bus

Don't expect any more consultations with faithful reenactors; they'll dress up their own distorting, revisionist reenactors if they attempt to channel the founding fathers again.

[peekaloo]

11. I would have loved to have seen the 'Bagger's reaction to that answer.

Bet the facial expression was similar to the one a dog gets when it farts. *Huh, where'd that come from?*

:rofl:

[Raschel]

3. The tea party "should never have occurred," he said. "It's hurt our cause, sir."

Haha. History repeats itself.

:rofl:

[mrcheerful]

4. Leave it to tea bagging nit wits to ask actors what the founding fathers thought instead of picking

up books and researching the lives of the founding fathers as well as their beliefs. The GW actor knows little outside of the script they are given to read for christ sake, they very seldom if ever will know exactly what was going through the mind of someone who died 200 years before the actor was born, tea bagging nit wits get a clue they are acting they are not the real deal.

[haele]

7. I'd trust the re-enacting actors more than commercial actors

Years ago, I had the pleasure of talking to an out of costume Colonial Williamsburg re-enactor who had been lucky enough to get a skilled craftsman part - they're like docents; they're not just reciting a canned answer that can be found in an American History textbook, they have to do close to graduate level research and went before a historical accuracy board to compete for that character. If they can't answer - in character - tough questions that require actual knowledge of the historical character, they get to march around playing a generic non-skilled extra.
Even accounting for personal feelings, once they put the costume on, they can't break character, or they lose their job. And there are always people with the organization around keeping track of their activities.
The management is like Disneyland's management with a PhD in history. It's a cut-throat, no pity organization.

There is an element of fantasy to Colonial Williamsburg, - usually when it comes to the amount of gift shops, eateries, wenches and militia members there, not to mention incorporating the century and a half of history they're trying to portray into "one day", but not when it comes to the actors themselves.

And that is what will piss the tea-partiers off the most.
It's cognitive dissonance to them - They hoot and cheer about being on the Founder's side because Glenn Beck and the Tea Party Express ilk claim George Washington and Thomas Jefferson lept up and exclaimed "Gather Your Armies" when the (wealthier) colonists were forced to buy tea and stamps with an additional tax on them to pay for the British Parliament's excesses; when faced with evidence-based reality, they will spin like a centrifuge to twist history so their side are still "the winners" in the mind-game they are playing in their heads. In reality, they would be Tories - for God and King.
Sunshine Patriots and Summer Soldiers, all marching lockstep to validate their personal delusion of glorious victory...it's just like them being granted a small scrap of power when their masters win it all, no?

Haele

[mrcheerful]

9. Yeah up at the Mackinaw bridge in Michigan they have an old recreated fort

that was really there in the past and the actors up there are very informed on the life and customs of the times. I talked to a woman actor that was a member of the Chippewa nation and she was very well informed on the ways of her people's way of life. I was very impressed by the information of tribe life she knew that wasn't in history books that I read about the Chippewa nation.

[pepperbear]

10. With all due respect, that's incorrect.....

those aren't actors, those are character interpreters, and there is a difference. Actors learn lines, hit their mark, and worry about motivation. The characters at Colonial Williamsburg actually have to know the persons they portray as well as the history of the period. They have to know how to improv because they interact with guests, and their job is to portray a real person, not some lame bloviating "shout it from the courthouse steps" colonial stereotype. It isn't Mickey Mouse at Disneyland. I wouldn't call Bill Barker, one of the foremost Jefferson historians in America, a mere actor. The man portrays Jefferson so well because he knows Jefferson so well. And he has NEVER been afraid to portray the true complexities of Jefferson's personality or politics.

Those folks spend months researching before they ever step out on the street. Give credit where credit is due.

Colonial Williamsburg may seem like historyland to the rest of the world, but that's only because the rest of the world doesn't understand that interpreting history is like interpreting foreign language and culture. Sometimes w dismiss what we don't understand. What is really happening here is the Teabaggers only want to hear that Red, White, and Blue stuff. but when someone tells the truth, it goes in one ear and out the other.

[Xipe Totec]

5. Roanoke or Jonestown would be more appropriate nt

[woodsprite]

6. I would think the Rappahannock would be more so ;) - as in "in" it!

I am soooo glad we didn't camp down there this weekend. Would have sure ruined it for the family.

Edited 'cause I can't spell :)

[raouldukelives]

8. Can a colonial America inspired theme park

Funded by Christian Conservatives be far behind? Worked for Moses & dinosaurs.

[warrior1]

12. sounds like

they are learning about history they missed in school. This is what happens when you let other people (O'Reilly, beck, rush) think you you.