ESPN talk show host Tony Kornheiser and Huffington Post’s Howard Fineman had an interesting little confab the other day on Tony’s radio show.

Discussions concerning Paul Ryan as the next Speaker of the House aren’t complete without dragging some type of comparison into the equation. And no, I’m not talking about Ryan vs Boehner skill sets, nor am I talking about how Ryan might deal with Nancy “botox” Pelosi. Oh noooo. Instead, Howard took a different tack.

According to Howard, the Tea Party doesn’t understand the need for dictators. At which point Tony jumps the shark with a “did he REALLY just ask that??” question.

Fineman: “The House needs a dictatorial leader, or nothing will ever happen. And the Tea Party people understandably don’t like that. If the person in charge is a moderate who doesn’t agree with them politically.

“So, Paul Ryan has the kind of conservative chops, where, he can sort of try to unify the whole party. But, he’s going to be spending all his time trying to deal with these Tea Party. People.

“What he’s probably going to have to do, if in fact he gets in. Is stage some kind of fight with them and defeat them, or take away their power, and go after them. I don’t know if he’s got the guts to do that. I don’t know if he’s got the numbers to do it.”

Kornheiser: “Are they like ISIS trying to establish a Caliphate here?”

Fineman: “Yes! Yes! That’s a very good analogy! Without the violence obviously, but yes, they are a rejectionist front.”