Navy football will be sporting new “Nike Pro Combat” uniforms this fall, but don’t clue in MSNBC or the White House. Emblazoned throughout the uniform is a phrase now emblematic of the Tea Party:
The uniform features the legendary Naval phrase “Don’t Tread on Me” which is visible throughout the uniform, both on the back inner collar as well as the upper sock. The time-tested Navy anchor is also prominent on both the front collar and pant leg.
Indeed, the language straight off the yellow Gadsden flag. The flag was carried by the first United States Marines into combat and then was included in the first Navy Jack. Of course, Tea Partiers have adopted the flag as their own. Somewhere, a patriotic Navy officer close to the football program must be chuckling to herself over this one.
Good to see my Alma Matter get it right.
I would like to submit the Iowa State University Cyclones as the Tea Party’s college football team. After all, the Iowa State campus was the location of the Iowa Republican Straw Poll this past August, where the Tea Party was well-represented and influential – with national ramifications.
In addition, the Cyclones are a team that got mad as hell at being the whipping boy of cross-state rival University of Iowa (located in the People’s Republic of Iowa City), rose up and took back our state for decent, law abiding, taxpaying Iowans by defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes in 3 OTs: 44 – 41!
GO CYCLONES! GO TEA PARTY!
Bachmann is the ISU of presidential candidates; upstaged by Perry the same way ISU football maybe left high and dry (e.g. out of a BCS conference) by Texas A&M’s move to the SEC.
The US Soccer National Team also wears elements of the Gadsen flag on their uniform including the segmented serpent as well as “Don’t Tread on Me”, abbreviated as DTOM.
In fact, that phrase has been associated with the US Soccer team longer than it has with the Tea Party, so it’s more likely that it is some Football hating soccer fan at Nike who is having a chuckle about all this.