I think Steve Benen’s about to wet himself.

Did anybody else know that November 5th is “widely known” as “Guy Fawkes Night?”

Those are Benen’s words. “Widely known.” Guy Fawkes was a British wannabe terrorist. He planned to blow up Parliament, but was arrested before he could bring the plot off.

Much more recently — and much more relevant to Western cultural references — Guy Fawkes was the main character in a movie called “V for Vendetta,” in which he fought an oppressive socialist regime in the name of liberty. Plus, he wears a scary mask, so of course Benen wouldn’t like him.

But that’s not what’s got Benen’s undies all in a twist: it’s the first reference. The one I never heard of before.

Should that make me feel ignorant? It doesn’t. Seventeenth-century British history…I just don’t use those reference points much.

Never mind that, though: Benen sees an opportunity to shove Republicans, conservatives, and Tea Partiers all into the same category with the wanted-to-be mass political murderer:

Last fall, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) organized a right-wing rally on Capitol Hill for November 5, in the hopes of killing health care reform. After characterizing her followers as “insurgents” and “freedom fighters,” Bachmann urged far-right activists to, in her word, “scare” federal lawmakers.

The scheduling of Bachmann’s Capitol Hill soiree was a little disconcerting — she picked a date widely known as Guy Fawkes Night.

Benen links Michael Scherer at Time.com, who is also pulling the covers over his head:

The Republican Governors Association has embraced the symbolism of Fawkes, launching a rather striking website, RememberNovember.com, with a video…

And Josh Marshall, for whom the thrill running up his leg is more likely urine running down:

I find this completely bewildering. The Republican Governors Association is embracing the mantle of a 17th century radical who tried but failed to pull off a mass casualty terrorist attack to kill the King of England and all of Parliament. Only now Obama plays the role of James I. Guy Fawkes is their new hero?

Nothing shocks me anymore. But this shocks me.

Here’s the video (thanks to Lori Ziganto):

Watch it, if for no other reason than: it’s really good.

At first, I wasn’t able to figure out exactly what the hell these three trembling ninnies were talking about. What symbolism? It’s a very straightforward political video, laying out — in second-at-a-time sound bites — the Tea Party case against the Obama administration.

But it’s not the video that has these three heroes shoving furniture up against the door: it’s the name. “Remember November.” A famous (apparently) poem condemning Fawkes and his plot begins: “Remember, remember, the fifth of November.”

These guys do know, I’m sure, that the Big Election is held in November (November 2nd, to be exact — not November 5th). “Remember” happens to rhyme passably well with “November.” So…y’know. Wow. They grabbed an easy couplet. Big whoop.

But no: this is proof, see, that Republicans are terrorists.

Too bad we’re not Islamists, huh? They’d be scared into utter silence, then.

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