BUT ... BUT ... WOULDN'T EVERYTHING BE FINE IF WE COULD JUST REIN IN A FEW TEA PARTY CRAZIES?

National Journal reminds us that this crisis isn't being caused by just a few crazies in tricorn hats and their rookie champions in the House:

With the United States moving closer to a historic debt default, both parties are bringing out the big guns.

... one of the louder voices belongs to David Addington, the architect of the George W. Bush administration's harsh interrogation policies and a former chief of staff for then-Vice President Dick Cheney.

Addington has taken on a new role as enforcer of tea party dogma during the intensifying partisan bickering over the debt ceiling. From his perch as the Heritage Foundation’s vice president for domestic and economic policy, Addington is throwing verbal thunderbolts at House Speaker John Boehner’s current debt-ceiling proposal, which he argues will pave the way to tax increases.

... Addington ... wielded enormous power behind the scenes, helping Cheney craft the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping program and most of its detention initiatives.

... The Washington Post referred to him as "Cheney's Cheney" and "the man most responsible for building President Bush's notion of an imperial presidency."

Today, Addington is enjoying an unexpected second life....

The Heritage Foundation maintains close ties to the tea party movement and frequently tries to channel tea party sentiment in its policy recommendations and op-eds....

People like David Brooks and Tom Friedman are slowly coming around to the notion that a faction of the GOP is crazy, but they clearly can't comprehend -- or won't allow themselves to comprehend -- how deep the rot goes.