A former Democrat state senator and long time environmentalist said she wasn’t aware of the loaded definition of the term “teabagger” when she used it in a radio interview Friday morning.

Lana Pollack, former president of the Michigan Environmental Council and a member of the Michigan Senate from 1983-1995, said she’ll avoid using it in the future.

“I’ve no interest in knowing what the reference is,” Pollack wrote in an e-mail. “But I’ll avoid using the term from now on.”

Pollack made her comments as a fill-in co-host on the WEMU radio show “Issues On The Environment.”

Some media commentators have used the word “teabagger” to mock the tea party movement. The term refers to a sexual act. Some people, including people in the tea party movement, are unaware of the loaded definition.

Pollack’s guest on the show was Governor Jennifer Granholm. They discussed the impact of the state budget cuts on the environment.

Here’s the interview: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wemu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1575016

Granholm, who used the term “teabaggers” in a different radio interview last month, also commented on the tea party movement but didn’t use the loaded word.

“…Lana, when you served, I don’t believe that most of the Republicans that you served with would have allowed this level of cuts because they would have believed it destroyed the fabric of our state and it is who we are,” Granholm said. “These tea party protesters have really taken hold of the extremes and extremists and have scared them I think into not allowing any kind of revenue whatsoever ….”

Pollack then responded: “The teabaggers think you don’t need government to protect the environment for one. And therefore, this is the outcome.”

Pollack is a member of the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame and gave a 2008 commencement address to the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment.
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper made a joke about it while interviewing an expert. The expert said the Republicans were having a hard time “finding their voice.”
“It’s hard to talk when you’re teabagging,” Cooper said as the expert laughed.

Richard Verrone, a history expert on pop culture as the Undergraduate Research Coordinator at Texas Tech University, said the traditional, non-political use of the word “teabagger” was for the sexual act.

“However, in April 2009, in the political and news arena, the term took on a newer meaning,” Verrone wrote in an e-mail. “Some visible personalities in the media (Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper, Keith Olbermann, David Shuster) used the word to describe those who were involved in the national “Tea Party” protests against certain monetary policies of the U.S. government. In what seemed like an effort to take a swipe at those involved in the protests, these media personalities labeled the protestors as “teabaggers,” thus invoking the traditional use and understanding of the term. They said things like “It’s hard to talk when you are teabagging” (A. Cooper, April 14, 2009; he later apologized) and other things (which can easily be pulled up on the Internet). Bottom line: these members of the media were making derogatory comments about the protestors and, in turn, those who may have supported them. Many people in the country from both parties found the sexually-suggestive comments, while maybe humorously phrased, offensive. From the political right, they were definitely seen as ineffective cheap shots at legitimate political protestors.”