I have mixed emotions when I watch the following footage from the 9/12 teabagger rally in Washington DC. I am happy to live in a country where people can speak their minds, no matter how misinformed they might be. And yet, I cannot help finding it at least a little embarrassing to recognize that these individuals belong to the same species as I do.

As hard as it may be to stomach the insanity on display at these rallies, I agree with Universal Heretic that there are lessons here for the rest of us. If nothing else, these teabaggers remind us of our limitations and the ease with which we can be deceived, riled up into nonsensical frenzy by those who have no concerns about manipulating us, and the value of rationality in a complex world.