Real Time host Bill Maher, who normally says “teabagger” more frequently than a foreman on a Lipton assembly line, was on his best behavior last night for “Tea Party Person” (and Hottest Conservative New Media Woman) Dana Loesch. Both he and DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas, another aficionado of the term, studiously avoided using the Tea Party-coined-then-rejected appellation throughout most of the show, obviously in deference to Loesch.

Florida Republican Senate nominee Marco Rubio aligned with the Tea Party movement appeared on CBS’ Face the Nation yesterday and was asked by host Bob Schieffer about the Tea Party, and the role of both Democrats and Republicans in terms of the country’s current problems. Expressing the candid assessment that has made him very popular, Rubio did not shy away from laying some of the blame on his own party, the GOP.

If you need anymore evidence that the Tea Party movement is being being considered a more serious player in the shifting political landscape, I submit the following clip. While promoting the Clinton Global Initiative’s Annual Meeting this week, former President Bill Clinton shared his insights on the Tea Party with Willow Bay for Yahoo! News and Huffington Post, saying that the message if the Tea Party is something “everyone should hear.”

Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann gave an impassioned speech at today’s Values Voters Summit, a gathering held each fall by the Christian, right-wing Family Research Council. In it, she apparently takes the Tea Party’s main metaphor—that they are revolutionaries akin to the Founding Fathers who rebelled against British rule—to its next logical step, asking those assembled if they would like to “alter [their] government.” The enthusiastic response Bachmann draws, though, is a bit puzzling, since her speech itself is muddled at best and borderline incoherent at worst.

Election prognostication has always been an imperfect science. But astrologer Lynn Hayes takes things to a whole new level with her latest post on Beliefnet’s “Astrological Musings” blog. In the post, Hayes tries to predict how the Tea Party will fare in November.

Christine O’Donnell‘s stunning primary election continues to turn the world upside. Not only has it brought about some fascinating dissension amongst the notoriously disciplined GOP ranks, but it also seems to have led MSNBC’s Chris Matthews to a rather stunning epiphany about the Tea Party movement. On tonight’s Hardball, Matthews said “I have waited all my life for voters to have the fire to reach up and burn those, but I didn’t know it would come from the right and center.”

A report in Politico today reveals growing concern among some “leading tea party activists” that a lack of funding (combined with a singular national organized structure) is beginning to hamstring the overall efficacy of the socio-political movement that started last year. The in-depth essay, written by Kenneth P. Vogel posits that the next year is a critical one for Tea Partiers as they transform from a collection of localized grass-roots groups to a larger, more unified voice whose goal is to reshape the political landscape.

Did you know that the film that is potentially the magnum opus of the Tea Party movement is being split in three? And that, despite initial dire reports of economic woes and an inexperienced cast, production on the set of Atlas Shrugged is sailing smoothly? No, you don’t, because you were too busy staring at Andrew Breitbart’s Photoshop doodle of a literal “race card”— not that he didn’t also break that news.

Andrew Breitbart continued his media tour, explaining the Shirley Sherrod tape that he published earlier this week, with an appearance on the politically friendly Hannity. According to Breitbart, this controversy is “not about Shirley Sherrod.” Rather, the tape exists because the NAACP has alleged racism within the Tea Party movement, and in Breitbart’s words “for them to talk about racism they should not be throwing stones in glass houses.”

Last night Rachel Maddow reported on the so-called “expulsion” of Mark Williams and the Tea Party Express from the larger “Tea Party Movement.” Williams was “booted” after he crafted what many thought to be inappropriate parody that played upon racial tropes and stereotypes. “How does one get kicked out of a movement?” Maddow asked, barely keeping her schadenfreude in check as she outlined the byzantine structure that is the Tea Party movement.

Jake Tapper is finishing his run as anchor of This Week with a bang. Tapper landed an exclusive interview with the always fun to watch Vice President Joe Biden this Sunday. When asked to weigh in on the resolution the NAACP passed earlier this week accusing the Tea Party of being racist, Biden eventually conceded that he would not “characterize the Tea Party as racist” but that “at least some of the elements that were involved with the Tea Party folks expressed racist views.”

Will the Tea Party movement would help or hurt the GOP in the coming midterm elections? This was the discussion on Larry King Live last night, particularly in light of the a Tea Party billboard that recently showed up in Iowa that likened President Obama to Vladimir Lenin and Adolph Hitler. Predictably, the discussion was less of an enlightening exchange of ideas, but rather a maddeningly — and entertaining — meltdown of soundbite accusations and jabs between two obstinate sides in the debate.

Not one to let a political hot potato lie, Sarah Palin jumped directly into the NAACP-Tea Party mix with a long Facebook missive last night — complete with the required Reagan references — slamming the NAACP’s (admittedly bizarre) decision. Truth be told, it’s not a bad read. Though the underlying message seems to be ‘et tu Obama?’

Earlier today, First Lady Michelle Obama gave the keynote speech NAACP’s annual convention. Her speech was met with enormous applause, unsurprising considering she is basically the personification of everything the organization has fought for in its 101-year history. However, the NAACP would like all of its members to know that their work is not yet finished. They plan on rejuvenating the base by voting tomorrow on a resolution to condemn the Tea Party.

Remember the Tea Party? For months there they were the star attraction in the media’s persistent drive to cover the national political scene. Now it seems they are having problems mustering enough clout to convince party goers to hold a second national Tea Party convention. Apparently one was planned for Las Vegas, and now, according to Rachel Maddow, its producers have canceled it because it is hot in Las Vegas in July. Is that the only problem?

In the wake of last Tuesday’s primary results the Washington Post is pondering whether the Tea Party’s day in the sun is coming to a close. Sound familiar? If so, it might be because we wondered just the same thing two weeks ago. The Post, however, is attributing the demise of the Party movement to lack of organization. What do you think?

Is this is the political version of ‘fool me once’? After a bruising August last year, which saw a slew of politicians being loudly berated by angry voters, the birth of the Tea Party movement, and drove cable coverage during the normally slow summer dog days, Democrats are apparently choosing to stay home. Or at least stay within the confines of invite only parties that serve “chilled wine” and “plates of crackers.” Good luck with that.

Has all gone silent on the Tea Party front? After months of non-stop Tea Party coverage, and endless speculation that the movement spelled certain doom for both Washington incumbents and possibly the Obama administration, it feels like talk of the Partiers has all but disappeared off the cable newser map.

Earlier today, we reported that Dale Robertson, the self-styled “Tea Party Founder” who’s infamous for being photographed holding a sign featuring the n-word, is touting himself as a columnist for The Washington Times‘ Tea Party Report blog. Now, following publicity from this blog and several others, it appears the Times has pulled Robertson’s column. In another strange twist, The Hill has published a Kum Ba Yah op-ed penned by Robertson and Paul Silver, leader of the Coffee Party movement.

According to a press release, self-described “Tea Party Founder” Dale Robertson has joined the Washington Times’ “Tea Party Report” blog. Robertson, you may recall, was thrust back into the limelight in March, when he was quoted by the paper as never having seen any racial slurs at Tea Parties, despite having been photographed holding a sign that featured the N-word. He told us the photo was a fake, which our expert then disputed, before a sea of journalists came forward to point out that Robertson had already admitted to holding the sign.

At today’s White House briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked, by CNSNews.com reporter Fred Lucas, to comment on President Obama‘s use of the term “tea-bagger” in an interview for Jonathan Alter‘s book. Gibbs replied that he hadn’t read it. I followed up by asking Gibbs if he could find out if the President was aware of the controversy, or if he had any comment about his word choice. Short reply: Not a tea bag’s chance in hell.

ABC News’ Jake Tapper took heat from “some liberal bloggers” when he contrasted President Obama‘s call for civility in politics with Obama’s use of the term “tea-bagger” in a November interview for Jonathan Alter‘s new book. At issue was Tapper’s failure to point out that the term was originally coined by the Tea Party movement, which he addressed in an update.

Countdown host Keith Olbermann has been on a roll lately. Along with his great new Twitter Report, he has rolled out another of the branded segments that make the show what it is. “Tea Time” is a nightly spotlight on the corners of the Tea Party movement that groups like Freedomworks are trying to push into the shadows.

Chicago’s Admiral Theatre has announced plans to hold a Sarah Palin “Look A Like Contest and Tea Party Benefit” on May 12, the same day the GOP’s last superstar is scheduled to appear at an Illinois Republican fundraiser. While this is clearly part of a series of pop-cultural attempts to sexually humiliate Palin, you have to also wonder who is the audience for this kind of thing.

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell was a guest on Fox and Friends this morning, for what turned into a spirited discussion over both the Tea Party phenomenon, and the media’s role in helping shape it. When host Gretchen Carlson challenged the Governor over his assertion that this story has been overreported, Rendell stuck to his guns, saying of Fox News “you guys deserve more credit for marshalling that anger than the Tea Partiers do.”