First WaPo picked up the beat, now the Times chimes in with a flattering profile penned by Kate “Is Jason Mattera a racist?” Zernike. The first blog post on the CP website is dated February 23, as is the “About Us” page, which means it took the two biggest papers in America less than a week after the new site started posting in earnest to catch lefty grassroots Coffee Party fee-vah. (Their Facebook page has been up since last month.) Fancy that.

It’s good to be the king.

It had nearly 40,000 members as of Monday afternoon, but the numbers were growing quickly — about 11,000 people had signed on as fans since the morning…

The slogan is “Wake Up and Stand Up.” The mission statement declares that the federal government is “not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our collective will, and that we must participate in the democratic process in order to address the challenges we face as Americans.”

Local chapters are planning meetings in cities from Washington to San Antonio to Los Angeles (where there have been four in the last month.) The party (coffeepartyusa.org) is planning nationwide coffee houses for March 13, where people can gather to decide which issues they want to take on and even which candidates they want to support…

“We’re not the opposite of the Tea Party,” Ms. Park, 41, said. “We’re a different model of civic participation, but in the end we may want some of the same things.”

Thirty people turned up at the LA chapter meeting this past Sunday; I assume they’ll be getting a full NYT Sunday Magazine profile when they hit 50. You’ll find their latest video below. I still can’t figure out what it is they’re for, but I’m intrigued by the choice of music. I assume they’re using it in the same ironic spirit in which Lennon wrote it, because if they’re really aiming at civic revolution through kaffeeklatsches, I don’t know what to say.

Exit observation: I’m getting a distinct “beta male” vibe from this group. Does that mean I have to root for them?