Tea Party stupidity, this time with the shutdown, is again Obama's best friend.

The anti-democratic, anti-American politics of Republican Tea Party conservatives in the House who shut down the government, the equivalent of  a mob of angry anarchistic malcontents politically fire bombing democratic institutions because the majority of Americans voted against them and they didn't like the outcome of the 2012 elections, has once again blown up in their faces, rescued Obama and turned him  into a sympathetic figure and the questionable value of Obamacare into a sympathetic program.

 Even the factual criticism of Obamacare displayed here, and the criticism leveled at Obama for selling out the public option has to be put aside for the moment since even the glitches on the insurance exchanges mean nothing compared to the political firebombing of our democratic institutions instigated by Ted Cruz and carried out by Tea Party House conservatives and what is clearly a weak and irresponsible Speaker in John Boehner.

All of which turns Obama and Obamacare into something sympathetic  even for its staunchest critics. There is a degree of logic at work here -- if these inept, incompetent right wing neo-fascist driven Tea Party conservatives are against something it has to have some good to it, right?

As  Tom Friedman pointed out in his column in the Times, Obama is no longer defending Obamacare, he is defending and standing up for democracy itself and  the democratic institutions that elect representatives and pass laws based on majority rule. The shut down as Friedman pointed out, is the result of a minority trying to trample on the rights of the majority, not caring what the majority wants or voted for but who are trying to get what they couldnt get in an election and do it by extortion. That is fascism and can be spotted a mile away since it is always predicated on what's on page 1 of the Fascist Handbook -- The Big Lie.

Republicans and conservatives have told many lies during the healthcare debate, (yes Democrats too) and gutless journalists like Chuck Todd at MSNBC and David Gregory at NBC,  people who have thrown into a dumpster the idea of the public's right to know and need to know, have admitted that pointing out Republican lies is not their job. They are not alone. Which is one reason why the American people are so badly informed and why any politician feels emboldened to go on any news program and lie with impunity knowing they can get away it and there will be no consequences.

The Big Lie being told now during the shut down by Ted Cruz and other Tea Party members of the House is that they are sticking up and speaking for the American people. Which is the biggest lie they could tell. The are not. The American people spoke for themselves during the 2012 election when Obamacare was one of the central issues in the presidential campaign, and the Tea Party and their beliefs as well as their candidate  who opposed Obamacare was beaten in one of the biggest electoral landslides in history. What they are really doing is ignoring what the American people said they want, showing their disdain for the American people and democracy itself and the whole idea of elections by trying to substitute their own minority wishes by extortion and not caring that they are punishing millions. And John Boehner is aiding and abetting.

At some point Obamacare will be judged solely on its merits. For now, its the Republicans and more specifically the anti-democracy, anti-American falsely named dunderheads known as Tea Party conservatives and John Boehner who are being judged on their merits. And considering they don't have any, Republicans everywhere, even those running for local  and state wide offices since no one in the House is up for re-election,  could find themselves in deep water if voters decide to take out their displeasure with the Republicans on election day this November 5.

And though Obamacare itself, as shown here previously has real major problems and major flaws, leave it to the Tea Party to once again pull the rug out from under Republicans and save Obama's bacon by making any criticism of Obamacare by any Republican now or possibly in the future stained by the government shut down and as such, dismissed as lunatic partisan politics with no credibility. If any criticism of Obamacare is to have an effect in the future it will  probably have to come from the left.

With even conventional Republican conservatives like Rep. Peter King of New York going after Ted Cruz and  harshly attacking him, and with Republican senator Olympia Snowe saying "this isn't the party I joined",  the Tea Party continues to severely damage Republicans, the country, and at the same time rescues Obama and Obamacare from even it's  harshest critics like Howard Dean, since what the Tea Party Republicans have caused with their shutdown makes the flaws of Obamacare pale by comparison.

As long as Obama  and Democrats continue to hold their ground, not give an inch and watch the Tea Party wing of the House destroy themselves while they do untold damage to the Republican  party,what Ted Cruz, John Boehner and the House Tea Party Republicans have done and are trying to do will always overshadow the shortcomings of Obamacare.

They have also completely destroyed any leverage Republicans thought they might have had over the raising of the debt ceiling since any repeat of a government shutdown over the Oct. 17 deadline to raise the debt ceiling, any damage Tea Party Republicans do to the full faith and credit of the United States, any damage they do to the economy, will turn the entire Republican party into pariahs and probably reduce them to sawdust this coming election day and possibly for years. If the shutdown lasts any length of time, don't be surprised to see some moderate Republicans decide to defect to the Democratic party.

So in some ways Obama could actually thank the Tea Party for their stupidity, since it now leaves him holding all the cards, both when it comes to Obamacare, and in the near future over raising the debt ceiling.  One can only hope he knows it and doesn't throw away his hand.