He Pokes the Kitty: Brains are overrated

Listening to a bit on NPR this morning about a fellow who wrote a book about how a starfish is superior to a spider, and how the Tea Party is like a starfish. His argument -- and I'm sure it's one the Tea Party loves -- is that since a starfish has no centralized brain or, really, central anything, it's much stronger and more adaptable. It can have limbs cut off and regenerate, and some starfish can grow entirely new creatures from a severed limb. In contrast, if you cut off a spider's limb, it's crippled, and if you cut off its head, it's dead.

Analogies are neat, aren't they? I wonder if the racist movement -- err, small government movement -- has thought about the fact that they're proudly comparing themselves to an organism so simple it doesn't even have muscles. And when asked for other examples of organizations similar to starfish, the author mentioned the mighty and noble Apache, who had no centralized leadership. For some reason, I can't imagine why, he never mentioned terrorist cells.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the Tea Party's similarity to the Taliban and other terror organizations.

-- Both groups have a loose and decentralized structure, which enables deniability for all the other "cells" if one commits an unpopular act (farewell, Tea Party Express).

-- Both groups have huge distrust and disdain for the governments of their own countries, to the extent that "revolution" is a word thrown around.

-- Both groups are largely homogeneous racially, and frequently spout hatred toward other ethnic or religious groups (although the TP'ers keep painting a veneer of inclusiveness over their group).

-- Both groups are heavily armed, angry, and feel they have been cheated out of something they deserve.

Hmm. I wonder if the Tea Party will put out a fatwa on me for writing this.