The Tea Party has done damage to America, but they will fail as have all fringe groups. The stock market will return to normal within four months, and the notion of democracy will revive as people begin to realize the TP deluded them. I think Americans are smart enough to read between the lines, even if many folks have some difficulty reading what's being said. Anyway, that's my new year's prognosstication/proggnostication/proggnosstication guess, fwiw.