"Dear CNBC,
Santelli is the man.
good day,
aston
p.s. The rest of you are morons."
That's an actual e-mail that a viewer just sent us, at 11:22 this morning. There are about 5,000 others just like it that have flooded our e-mail box since yesterday morning, when Rick Santelli issued the shot heard round the world. And that's just in the Squawk e-mail box. Close to 1.4 million people have relived the moment on CNBC.com ... hundreds of thousands more have checked out bootleg copies on YouTube and other Web sites.
One viewer sent us a special "Santelli For Senate" button he'd created. But he may have been shooting too low ... hundreds of others have written in "Santelli for President" ballots.
Still doubt that Rick touched a deep nerve with his rant against the homeowner bailout package? Check this out: Overnight on Facebook, his fans have come out in hordes. There's a "Tribute Group" to Rick Santelli (609 members); and a "Join the Chicago Tea Party" group (435 members); and "Rick Santelli for Man of the Year" (173 members).
Think it's easy to rack up members like that? Think again. At last check, the "I'm in Love With Becky Quick" group had exactly 0 members! (No kidding — I did not make this up!)
Editors Note: It bears noting that the "Becky Quick Rocks!" group on Facebook has 53 members. And from another Squawk Box e-mailer:
