The newest entry for the "art of the possible" files...

Wall Street Journal:

But what none of these critics have is an alternative strategy for achieving anything nearly as fiscally or politically beneficial as Mr. Boehner's plan. The idea seems to be that if the House GOP refuses to raise the debt ceiling, a default crisis or gradual government shutdown will ensue, and the public will turn en masse against . . . Barack Obama. The Republican House that failed to raise the debt ceiling would somehow escape all blame. Then Democrats would have no choice but to pass a balanced-budget amendment and reform entitlements, and the tea-party Hobbits could return to Middle Earth having defeated Mordor.

This is the kind of crack political thinking that turned Sharron Angle and Christine O'Donnell into GOP Senate nominees. The reality is that the debt limit will be raised one way or another, and the only issue now is with how much fiscal reform and what political fallout.

Yes. Exactly.

They're fighting the good fight, but the only way this gets fixed is with a new President, and letting him blame them for a default is not the best way to get there. Politics is the "art of the possible" and what the country most needs is not possible right now because of obstructionist-in-chief.

So take the best deal which is possible, the Boehner plan or something like it, and live to fight another day...