Tea Party wha?

It's so cute... I just realized that the British press have to explain what the "Tea Party" is and explain its historical roots, because it's not an automatically understood phrase there. From an article in The Daily Telegraph, a UK newspaper.

Objecting first to Mr Obama's $800 billion stimulus bill and $1 trillion health care reform, the tea party movement took its name from the 1773 protest in Boston against taxes imposed by George III.

Colonial history, huh? Of course, there is a certain POV associated with the newspaper and this article in particular, which may be why they chose to describe Obama's plans and the Tea Party Movement in those terms. Background info, yes, but also a rhetorical device.

Maybe I should also check what The Guardian, The Times and The Independent say. (And is it in news stories or just columns?)