you have it wrong. it's the *formerly* silent majority that has started the new tea party movement, the ones who started standing up at the townhall meetings and telling the "representatives" to represent them, the ones who sat out of the last election and stayed home rather than vote the RINO McCain into office (remember it was just last week that McCain made the news by siding with his own party )

The (formerly) silent majority has been awakened and has the Democrats scared to death. That's why Obama has been sending his Union cronies to the townhall meetings, has his campaign apparatus (OFA/ACORN) astroturfing the townhalls and holding his own "townhall meetings" that look more like 'Yes We Can' campaign rallies..