Tea Partiers Re-Embracing 'Teabagger' Label

You, sir, are a teabagger. That could be an insult or a high compliment, depending on who wins the ongoing fight to claim ownership of the phrase. In short, it was good, then it was bad, and now it may be good again, explains The Week. In the beginning, Tea Party activists embraced it ("Tea bag the fools in DC" went a common online refrain). Then liberals began snickering and making not-so-subtle jokes that evoked its more earthy meanings (like Rachel Maddow's "hot tea-bagging action" reference).

Tea partiers recoiled, and many are none too happy about the recent revelations that President Obama called them "teabaggers." But there's also a movement afoot by conservatives to reclaim the phrase, and the Week notes that an "I'm proud to be a teabagger" video posted by Andrew Breitbart at BigGovernment.com has gotten 90,000 views. The verdict? Who knows, but check out the signs at at the next Tea Party rally for a sense of who's winning. Click here for The Week's play-by-play of the word's use.
(More teabaggers stories.)