Reply #19: This has been an interesting thread.

[ThatPoetGuy]

I objected to the comparison between the right-wing tea parties and those who engage in unusual sexual practices, _because it's an insult to those who participate in unusual sexual practices_. My sentences were clear and uncomplicated. Some people understood, and responded with wry humor of their own -- which is often easy to mistake for not getting it. Others clicked on the thread ready to argue, and didn't actually read what I said; the imprecision doesn't bother me, but I do wonder about the readiness to accept the idea that there's something insulting _to the tea party_ in the comparison with those who teabag. If people made fun of the tea partiers by calling them "fags," would that be an insult to the tea partiers or to gay people?