While Rome burns, the Tea Party reveals its great goal, the raison d’etre for this situation America must endure till the firemen put out the fire:

>HONK! HONK!<

The firemen, of course, won’t be paid if the Tea Party faction has its way. Why should they be paid for doing their job? Wasn’t the White House and US Capitol built with slave labor? (Whether in part or whole, if the slaves weren’t paid, you know their overseers got something for their part. They probably felt that was only “fair”.)

I’d call the Tea Party the Clown Party, but they are just scary, not funny.