If Republicans want to try and argue that St. Ronnie was no tea partier, then let them, but the only way to do that is to throw the tea party under the bus and contrast those nasty folks to their beloved demigod. And if tea party Republicans want to double down and say, yes, the tea party is great and Reagan was the original tea partier, then let them, that only makes Reagan look as extreme is they are.

The tea party brand has become toxic, and with good reason. Obama, in this speech, used the righteous anger and frustration people feel about those Republican radicals to drive deeper the wedge between the realists and the extremists in the GOP. Additionally, he showed that modern Republicanism itself is based on an extreme ideology that has proven in the past three weeks to be dangerous to our country and our democracy.

PS- I've saved for this postscript my own personal bit of gloating. With end of this ridiculous crisis that they manufactured, congressional Republicans have been exposed as radical, extreme and—ultimately and most importantly—stupid and weak. At least the widow of Sen. Frank Lautenberg got $174,000 out of the deal that reopened the government. The tea party Republicans didn't even get their parking validated.

And there was no other possible outcome. Any fool could see it coming. On that point, here's what I predicted way back on July 28:



President Obama must tell Speaker Boehner that he will not get he wants. Period. Obama won the election, and the American people are with him. If Boehner wants to shut down the government, then he must shut down the government. I believe that in such a scenario, given the polling and the president's history of being reasonable and willing to compromise, the American people will put the blame squarely on Boehner and the House Republicans. The majority of House Republicans will not bend or yield no matter the public pressure, either because they are in safe districts, or because they are absolutely rigid ideologues. For some, it's both. So the only way this impasse can end is for John Boehner to do what he has already done four times this year (the fiscal cliff deal, Hurricane Sandy relief, the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization, and a historical sites acquisition bill). He must put together a majority made up mostly of Democrats on the budget and, when the time comes, raising the debt ceiling.

And that's exactly what Boehner did . (Click here for a more detailed analysis of how the vote broke down).

The other part of my prediction was that the Republican Party would break as old-fashioned conservatives recoiled from tea party radicalism. It started to happen even before the shutdown ended. And just in the past few days, we've seen a number of new examples along that front, perhaps the most important of which is Rep. Peter King (R-NY) all but declaring war on the head tea party Republican, Ted Cruz.

Between Republicans breaking, and President Obama pushing back hard against the tea party's founding ideology, there's reason to hope our country is finally lancing the boil of right-wing Republican radicalism.