(Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

(Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

The only thing missing? A big audience. At the start of the rally, which was organized by the American Grassroots Coalition and Tea Party Express, there were roughly 15 attendees waiting to hear the conservative lawmakers speak. By the time the senators had spoken there were still fewer than 50 tea partiers in attendance.

How pathetic. Tea partiers—the fringe element of the Republican Party who have forced John Boehner & Company to hold the full faith and credit of the United States hostage— held a rally in Washington today to protest any deal on raising the debt ceiling. There was an all-star cast of crazy, including Rand Paul, Herman Cain, Paul Broun and the head teabagger himself, Jim DeMint.

They panned the Boehner plan and the Reid plan, apparently because they:

"... believe that president and the Democrats have created this crisis to gain leverage over a plan to raise taxes, and the American people are saying that’s a non-starter.”

Of course. They must defeat the great debt-ceiling conspiracy of 2011 (which is no doubt connected to the great manatee conspiracy), because as Herman Cain said:

I don’t buy that there is going to be a catastrophe.

Never mind that Boehner, the man who is presently in charge of kow-towing to this extremist group of Republican thugs, said that:

While some think that, you know, we can go past August the 2nd, I frankly think it puts us in an awful lot of jeopardy and puts our economy in jeopardy, risking even more jobs.

And that even St. Ronald of Reagan—who had the debt-ceiling raised 18 times during his presidency—wrote:

The full consequences of a default or even the serious prospect of default by the United States are impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate. [...] The risks, the cost, the disruptions, and the incalculable damage lead me to but one conclusion: the Senate must pass this legislation before the Congress adjourns. I want to thank you for your immediate attention to this urgent problem and for your assistance in passing an extension of the debt ceiling.

... the furthest extremes of the Republican party know better. Them and their 15-50 supporters. And this is who Boehner is listening to.

And if Senate Democrats cave to their lunacy, we're screwed.

