Every time someone does something to restore my faith in humanity, the Tea Partiers destroy that hope.

It’s something new every week with these people. I mean, really, just when you thought they couldn’t go any further off of the deep end of the crazy pool, they do.

And just to get this out of the way up front… yes, Tea Partiers, you are a lunatic fringe group, yes there are crazy people among you, and yes, you are exactly what’s wrong with this country.

Allow me to prove it.

Before I start my rant, let me concede the fact that every political party has a lunatic fringe and crazies within its ranks. I understand that, but it seems to me, and quite a few other people, that the average percentages of lunatics and fringe groups are much higher when considering the Tea Party.

Enter Christine O’Donnell and Rich Lott.

O’Donnell is a Tea Party GOP candidate for U.S. Senate from Delaware, and is most definitely NOT a witch. She’s you, if you once “dabbled” in witchcraft, anyway.

And Lott, well, he’s almost completely sure that he’s probably not a Nazi, but on weekends, sometimes, he dresses up like one and re-enacts WWII. Oh, yeah, he’s another Tea Party GOP candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio.

O’Donnell is flailing trying to defend herself at this point, but surely reasonable people will see through that, right?

This is the woman who said, “One of my first dates… was on a satanic altar, and I didn’t know it. I mean, there’s little blood there and stuff like that. We went to a movie and then had a midnight picnic on a satanic altar.”

More recently, she released a campaign ad saying, “I’m not a witch. I’m you” which Saturday Night Live did a hilarious remake of last week. It seems to me, though, that O’Donnell is very little like the rest of us. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been to a satanic altar, let alone had a “midnight picnic” on one, if that was really what she was doing there anyway. Seems like a strange place to picnic. At midnight.

Which brings us to Lott, who, apparently, has a great deal of fascination with Nazi German soldiers from WWII. In fact, as reported by CNN, Lott has so much interest in WWII Nazis that he spends his free time re-enacting battles from that time.

Admittedly, he’s doing something right – he hasn’t been forced to publicly deny that he’s a witch. It’s hard to say which is worse, though. Witch or Nazi?

Lott says, “We need to constantly educate and remind people of the horrible tragedy that happened years ago.” Doesn’t that sound great?

I think most sane people would suggest a trip to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. instead of some bone-headed militia-types taking to their Nazi combat gear and re-enacting one of – if not the most – horrific wars in human history.

Lott isn’t even trying to distance himself from his Nazi affiliation, either. He freely admitted in an interview on CNN that he got his son involved with his re-enactments, too.             Because that’s definitely what the world needs. A new generation of Nazi Tea Partiers.

In all seriousness, though, where are we supposed to start with these people? Surely they’re all not like that, right? If they’re not, though, why do they support candidates who are as certifiably insane as Lott and O’Donnell? Why are pretend Nazis and once-upon-a-time witches running for national office? Where’s the logic in voting for a candidate with that kind of background?

I defy anyone to justify their reasons for supporting either Lott or O’Donnell.

Maybe someone could write in and explain it to the rest of us. I know I’d love to read someone’s defense of Lott and O’Donnell.

Paul Thompson is a senior majoring in political science. His column runs bi-weekly on Thursdays.