By now, you’ve probably heard about the “tea bag” protests on April 15 (tax day for folks in the U.S. – image from HuffPo).  “Tea” here is an acronym that stands for “taxed enough already,” and is meant to be a play on the revolutionary war era Boston Tea Party.   The term “tea bagging” also has another meaning – not related to drinking tea – which has prompted no end of bad punning and adolescent humor.

The protests are, depending on who you ask, either a grassroots movement of angry citizens upset about high taxes, or an astroturf – or fake grassroots campaign organized by the GOP and pumped by FOX News, or “this is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up,” as Janeane Garofalo said the other night.

So, time for a Friday Open Thread.  What do you think?   Is it a movement of angry citizens upset about high taxes?  Is it astroturf, or fake grass roots?  Or, is it racism straight up?   Why?

Take the poll (to the left of this post).  Or, if you prefer the short answer/essay version, drop a comment.   Be sure to answer the “why” portion.