Tea Party group unironically posts racist picture from video game meant to mock racists
by David Atkins
This image is from a video game called Bioshock Infinite:
Bioshock Infinite is one of my favorite games, and one I've been meaning to review at some point for an entry in my video game Saturday series. The original Bioshock was a mocking take-down of Ayn Rand's Objectivist philosophy, set in a failed libertarian city at the bottom of the ocean. Bioshock Infinite is the third game in the series. It's set in an alternate turn-of-the-century floating city above America called "Columbia", run by a preacher named "Father Comstock" who rules with a combination of hardcore racism, oppressive theocracy and a heavy dose of American exceptionalism. This painting is found in a building run by a group that venerates the spirit of John Wilkes Booth. Notice George Washington holding the Ten Commandments as racist caricatures cringe in defeat. It would be fairly difficult even for a Tea Partier to fail to notice the mocking irony in the image.
But apparently not the good Christian folk at the National Liberty Foundation Facebook page boasting almost 95,000 likes, which posted it entirely without irony on its page.
Game site Kotaku picked it up and the ridicule has been relentless since.
It's awfully difficult for Tea Partiers to claim they aren't driven by racism when they wholeheartedly embrace over-the-top racist propaganda designed to make fun of them.
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