I agree with the title of your post but disagree with the substance beneath. Every group has its own share of "stupid", even "ignorant" people, but recent polling of tea party demographics show higher college graduation rates and higher overall income than larger more diverse political groups.

For me, the reason why the tea party is ruining America is because they have decided to eat their own. Their rage and anger has turned to politicians more closely aligned with their own core beliefs. Derisive terms like RINO, hatred toward the architect of national republican supremacy (Rove) and the mistaken notion that democrats want to "get them" only fuel this frenzy even more.

The game of politics is won using a centrist approach. It's a math exercise. The farther you move right (or left), the fewer votes you'll command. And the result is a weakened opposition that is unable to counter the liberal policies. This has all but sealed the fate of presidential choice for several election cycles. This tactic has also proven to be a failure after "tea party endorsed" ultra conservatives push more centrist GOP candidates out...and given so called safe GOP senate seats to the democrats. The house is a different story since career politicians return to DC thanks to gerrymandered districts. This last edge disappears when the next census comes out and state politicians redraw lines.

But by far the biggest mistake the tea party makes is the adoption of positions viewed as negative to an ever growing part of the nation. This nation is hurtling toward a white minority environment thanks to Hispanic immigration and birth rates. It'll be here in about a decade. The vilification of Rubio only confirms this. And this will prove disastrous. Majority rules. That's politics. And politics for me is best when two strong parties debate and ultimately compromise creating centrist policy. And this won't happen if one party becomes the permanent minority.

Though they see themselves as passionate and fearless, "tea party" politicians are incapbale of stating 'definitively' what their actual goals are. We have seen their only approach to an issue or specific policy is to attack it head-on unilaterally, regardless of any political ramifications. The principle reason the "tea party" is destined to fail is because Washington has not embraced a center-right policy change in decades. During the "golden age" of Reaganism, America experienced rising debt, a continuation of entitlement programs and tax increases. During the Bush (II) years, the government continued to explode with more unfunded debt and bureaucracy. The "tea party" is destined to fail.

Instead of an actual comprehensive plan of action and general legislative approach to deal with policy issues, teabagger politicians simply throw themselves into the fray with no vision of an endgame - other than the belief that they should "win". Most of these junior politicians (who are obvious amateurs) were elected to enact change immediately, without compromising. However, our system of government, as a constitutional republic, requires branches to work with each other to reach legislative solutions. I am going to admit something here: most of the policy issues teabaggers bring up in congress are valid concerns. I too agree that as American debt continues to pile on, it will negatively affect the nation for years to come. I too agree entitlements are hopelessly mismanaged and costing us more daily. I too agree having an inefficient government that continues to grow is not a good thing. However, the problem I see with teabaggers is not the substance of their argument; rather the "tea party" being corporately bat-shit crazy. The "tea party" is destined to fail.

The government cannot be run from a minority of the minority party. And if these imbeciles ever want to become a majority party, they can’t pull stunts like a faux-filibuster and a shutdown of the government, to simply to placate self righteous indignation. With the 2014 midterm elections in sight, the Republican Party is now assessing what damage has been done by the stupidity this country has been subjected to by teabaggers in congress. Something that these teabaggers do - something I am actually lovin' - is them comparing how conservative Republican politicians are. Republican politicians like Chris Christie and Pat Toomey — are belittled for their "lack of conservatism". We have seen that the litmus test the "tea party" for a politician is that they must bat-shit crazy before going to congress.

And so, I repeat, the "tea party" is destined to fail.

Fareed Zakaria? Really?

The Tea Party stands for fiscal sanity and border security. Those are the 2 main issues. Now as we have passed the shut down issue we are still left with the Obamacare disaster where a one year delay would have been a very prudent act and we have surpassed 17 trillion in debt with no end in sight. Obama is said to be pushing harder for amnesty which will add yet another 11.7 Million to the uninsured we will pay for. Lighten up? I suggest you smarten up.

If you oppose border security and fiscal sanity you are probably an extremist.