Not content to wrap themselves in the Stars and Bars Stripes, the “Tea Party” people are grabbing other nice flags from our great confused history. I always liked the Gadsden flag: “Don’t tread on me” (although—in a fit of revolutionary fervor, I guess—they dispensed with the apostrophe). Not only did I like the image and the sentiment, I like snakes. They’ve gotten a bum rap from Genesis on. Naturally, it rubs me wrong when the “Don’t-Expect-Me-To-Actually-Pay-For-Our-Imperial-Wars” crowd tries to appropriate this symbol of a young republic giving the finger to the imperial power of the day.
So here’s my Gadsden flag, updated for my amusement:
I made a few other versions, but they’re significantly less charitable toward my earnest, imaginary tea–tossing compatriots.
