Is Rick Santelli The Father Of The Tea Party?

'If that's what they put on my tombstone, they can bury me with a smile.'

by Alissa Krinsky - July 19th, 2010 - TV Newser

... despite his passionate beliefs, Santelli doesn't "see politics in my future." A self-described Independent, though, he's pleased that after his '09 rant, some call him the Father of the Tea Party. "Look, if that's what they put on my tombstone, they can bury me with a smile.

"...This grassroots movement of the Tea Party, to me, is as American as it gets. And whether you are left, center, or right, to me it's not about politics. It's about, in this country, we're not afraid to speak up."

That is mostly what was so astonishing about the "rant" that provoked so strong a reaction. Many Americans were getting frustrated that no one would speak up about things we knew were wrong. It is evil to let people buy homes they cannot afford and then make the average tax payer bail them out. It is evil for taxes to be used to bail out banks that have made these same bad loans. The reaction to the "rant" was that simple. Why was no one else screaming about the injustice of the bailouts?

Santelli did. It was like the lightning that triggers a summer storm. The lightning flashes, the thunder rolls, and the rain comes down in torrents. The TEA Party is the rain that washes away the evil. It leaves that freshness which only follows a pouring shower.