In at least eight occasions between the beginning of September and the end, I posted in articles here and in too many comments to count, here and elsewhere, that Republicans would cave-in, rather than further damage their brand by defaulting on our debt. I’m not bragging. It did not require rocket science. Had they applied a bit of rational thought, Congressional Republicans could have avoided this whole thing. Have they learned their lesson?

The Republican Party slunk away on Wednesday from its failed, ruinous strategy to get its way through the use of havoc. Hours away from an inevitable market crash, it approved a deal that could have been achieved months ago had a few more lawmakers set aside their animus. After President Obama signs the bill, the government will reopen after more than two weeks of shutdown, and the threat of a default will be lifted. The health care reform law will not be defunded or delayed. No taxes will be cut, and the deal calls for no new cuts to federal spending or limits to social welfare programs. The only things Republicans achieved were billions of dollars in damage to the economy, harm to the nation’s reputation and a rock-bottom public approval rating. “We fought the good fight. We just didn’t win,” Speaker John Boehner said, utterly failing to grasp the destruction his battle caused. It has hurt federal employees and needy people dependent on government programs, and it threatened to alter Washington’s balance permanently by giving a fringe group outsize power over the executive branch and the normal functions of government… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Agent Orange seems completely clueless about the harm that he and his party have done to this nation, and the right wing spin machine seems split between blaming Boehner and McConnell and declaring the shutdown a Republican victory. As long as the Republican Party holds any power anywhere, they will use it against the American people. Therefore…