However you slice the current outcome of the debt ceiling debate, one cannot ignore the facts that governing this country by extreme ideology will not work and should not.
Hostage taking by black and white thinking in perilous times to the country, allowing the U.S. to default, lose credit rankings and tanking the markets is no solution to promote agendas.
All of the rantings against the Tea Baggers unfortunately could be said and is said about the Progressive community. In viewing the recent battle within Congress and its battle with the White House, the "Gray", in this case and in most cases, the "Base", succeeded much to the chagrin of each "Black" and "White" thinker.
Be angry, wail against Obama that he caved again, the same is being said about Boehner, McConnell, and others. But, this was not the time for the black and white agendas, as hard as the hostage taking agendas were pushed. This was a time to protect the greater good of the United States, not to win or lose the argument.
There is an important role for Tea Bagger and Progressive communities. They shed light on often overlooked issues of the day. They defend principles that are difficult. They fight the status quo. They represent the often voiceless minority of each party's ideological platform.
Of course, in politics, each will claim a sense of victory and boast of defeat. It has always been that way. The bigger picture is debated, how this will be the ruin or the rapture, and in the end, the extreme predictions fall into the middle, as neither political side would allow those things to happen. It's called balance. Our forefathers built it that way to ensure that the "majority populous" is represented, which equals "Gray". Hate it or love it.