Brownie points for Domenico Montanaro at First Read:

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro
*** Tea time: Who would have ever thought that a discussion of tea bags — even used as a verb, from both the right and left — would become a political topic, let alone a subject we’d mention in First Read. But here we are… On this Tax Day, some Americans are attending so-called "tea party" or "tea bag" events across the country to protest everything from tax rates and the federal bailouts, to the young Obama presidency. But let’s be clear about one thing: These tea parties are hardly non-partisan events. While there’s certainly a grassroots component here, these parties have been co-opted by a major America political party (the RNC’s Web site allows for creating send-a-tea-bag post cards to Dem leaders) and an entire cable news channel (which has been promoting the events). The main Web site for the events today, Tax Day Tea Party, is funded by conservative groups, and a public records search shows it’s registered to a conservative techie, Allen B. Fuller, who used to be a legislative correspondent for GOP Sen. Richard Shelby and who touts creating Web sites for Republican elected officials. Also reportedly involved in today’s protest events are FreedomWorks, a conservative group founded by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, and Americans for Prosperity.

I don’t mean to be dismissive of the fact that there may be people who are genuinely moved to turn out today, I just know it’s unlikely that 99.9% of them ever would have heard of these events without the amplification and resources of well funded right-wing organizations.  But I also don’t think the movement got co-opted — I think the GOP groups were there at its genesis (more on that later in a "teabagger timeline").  

I also share the Rude One’s sentiments about the intellectual inconsistency on parade.