If the debt ceiling talks fail, independents voters will see that Democrats were willing to compromise but Republicans were not. If responsible Republicans don’t take control, independents will conclude that Republican fanaticism caused this default. They will conclude that Republicans are not fit to govern.

And they will be right.

I’m sure I’m not the first to make this observation, but did NYTimes columnist David Brooks have a Walter Cronkite moment yesterday when he told the truth about the way the national Republican elected officials are behaving? Read his essay here, and get the NYT if you want more.

But we can have no confidence that the Republicans will seize this opportunity. That’s because the Republican Party may no longer be a normal party. Over the past few years, it has been infected by a faction that is more of a psychological protest than a practical, governing alternative.