Meanwhile, over at RedState ...

I have to hand it to Erick Erickson - he's an honest guy. While FOX news tries to talk around the Mitch McConnell proposal to let Obama raise the debt limit while giving Congress the option of washing their hands of the whole affair, Erick calls it what it is - a complete capitulation. And several other RedState denizens are on to the truth of what just happened.

But nobody seems willing to state plainly what is really happening, not even my bud Lawrence O'Donnell. He has been doing some gloating, somewhat justified, that Obama is now getting everything he wants. Over at The Last Word, we see that "Lawrence explains how President Obama continues to outsmart, out-strategize and out-talk the Republicans, in the debt ceiling standoff."

Both Erick and Lawrence have to admit that this is a child's play scenario. Republicans can't agree to raise any taxes, ever, because the Tea Party has a gun to the head of every Republican who wants to have a political future. The "never raise taxes" position (which, by the way, is not synonymous with the "be fiscally responsible" position or the "balance the budget" position, but, rather, with the "we don't want to pay for poor people's stuff" position) is simply untenable. All Obama has had to do is be a reasonable person and wait. This capitulation had to happen.

I have to say, watching the effect of the Tea Party on the Republican party, while scary at times, is really fun. And things are only going to get better as election season moves along. I don't envy rational Republicans. They are like moderate Muslims - unable to say what they really want or think for fear of drastic reprisal.