Recommended reading for the Tea Party

  Barbara Tuchman defines folly as “the pursuit of policy contrary to the self-interest of the constituency or state involved”.  It is hard to think of a more appropriate word to describe the recent behavior of Republicans and the Tea Party.

During the debate over the debt limit the Tea Party openly courted default and rejected compromise.  After the settlement the Republican senate leader described the crisis as a “template” for the future.  The consequences of this course were predictable and predicted.

So now that we’ve had our first downgrade which explicitly cites the inability of congress to compromise and its unwillingness to raise taxes, will the Tea Party change its tune?  Nope.  Keep on dancing, fools.