The not-so-spontaneous tea party

When some obscure CNBC commentator named Rick Santelli went on a rant about the housing bailout that circulated all through the internets, I kept thinking to myself that something didn't seem quite right. How does this guy that almost no one outside the diehard finance show viewers had ever heard of suddenly get all sorts of publicity over a completely misguided and inaccurate tirade?

Well, we might have a little more insight into what happened. Crooks and Liars links to an article which suggests that Santelli's usage of the term "Chicago Tea Party" had been used for months in the setup of secret websites aligned with far right-wing advocacy groups, all of which just happened to go live in the days following the rant.

The article is worth a read for yourself. It's really hard to say whether this all was a well-coordinated effort, or simply a series of very difficult to explain yet entirely authentic coincidences. But, as one of our members says, when it comes to republicans these days, if there's any question as to whether something they did has good or bad intentions, assume bad intentions.