Unconditional surrender

We broke 'em.

The Senate has a deal to end the shutdown and raise the debt limit -- a deal which gives the Republicans nothing for their hostage-taking efforts (it may include income verification for ACA subsidies, but this is the most pitiful sop imaginable since the ACA already includes that provision anyway).  Boehner will abandon the Hastert rule and let the full House vote on the deal, even though that means it will pass with mostly Democratic votes.  There was some concern that Cruz, who led his party into this fiasco, might delay a Senate vote past the default deadline -- but he won't, and the leadership is ready to squelch him if he tries anything.

After making fools of themselves in front of the whole world, after trashing their approval rating with the American people far below its historic floor, after disastrously exacerbating their party's internal divisions and alienating the business interests which traditionally support it -- after all that, the Republicans are cravenly backing down, tail between legs, and getting nothing.  Kudos to Obama and the Democrats for standing firm in the face of blackmail.

All that remains now is the recriminations among them.  Word is already spreading across the teabagger internet, fueling rage, cries of betrayal, and threats of primary challenges and third parties.  Soon the Republican civil war will be fully under way.

"To crush your enemies, and see them fall at your feet -- to take their seats and districts, and hear the lamentation of their bloggers.  That is best in life."