The comparison between anything tea partiers don't like and slavery is evolving from downright offensive to annoyingly trite (but still offensive).
This weekend's Sunday morning news shows switched from last week's focus on Michele Bachmann's husband’s work in "reparative therapy" to her own anti-gay history, with recently circulating audio of her labeling homosexuality as bondage and enslavement. (The original video in which she said this has been removed from YouTube but a lesser-quality recording of the broadcast of it on CNN is available here.)
As Kyle over at Right Wing Watch has noted, Rick Perry believes the federal government has enslaved us over debt and taxes. (By the way, he also believes, like Gary North, that the current economic crisis will bring us back to biblical principles.) And of course there's last year's controversial campaign ad featuring Alabama congressional candidate Rick Barber and . . . Abe Lincoln (I challenge you to try to watch the whole thing). These are but some examples; there are many more.
This view, one that overstates the burden of taxes and government mandates (even if you don't like them) and minimizes the experience of African-Americans in slavery, comes to the tea party through Rushdoony by way of David Barton (and Glenn Beck).
