The Republican Governors Association has embraced the symbolism of Guy Fawkes or is it Alan Moore, with the launch of a rather striking website, RememberNovember.com, with a video that showcases far more Hollywood savvy than one can usually expect from Republicans.
Again, the Fawkes tale has been twisted a bit. This time, President Obama plays the role of King James, the Democratic leadership is Parliament, and the Republican Party represents the aggrieved Catholic mass.
The video also projects a healthy dose of racial, not racist, but racial imagery — out-of-context clips of Alcee Hastings and Al Sharpton – in an attempt to scare white folks.
For those of you who don’t remember your history, Guy Fawkes was the leader of the Gunpowder Plot. It was a failed attempt by Fawkes and Catholic sympathizers to blow up Parliament and assassinate King James I on November 5, 1605. If that strikes a vaguely familiar chord, it might be from the celebration that’s still held in England on November 5 as Guy Fawkes Night.
And history records that the Gunpowder Plot failed, Fawkes and his cohorts were captured, tried, and put to death.