Although I do not follow or consider the Tea Party, Thomas Jefferson himself once said,
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure." (Letter to William Stephens Smith, 1787)
"What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that the people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them." (Letter to William Stephens Smith, 1787
"I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms are in the physical." (Letter to James Madison, 1787)
"A little rebellion now and then . . . is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government." (Letter to James Madison, 1787)
Maybe, just maybe, this tea party is GOOD for America. They certainly are "rebellious". They certainlly challenge the status quo.