Friday was a tumultous day for our country.  Those whom bear the mantle of our nation’s leadership, performed another day of political theater, making threats as to the future of the greatest country on Earth, holding votes, getting their mugs in front of the awaiting cameras of the national press, sending e-mails to supporters, and even tweeting (how classy).

The day came to a close as the Senate, headed by majority Leader ” Dinghy” Harry Reid tabled a Debt Ceiling Bill, proposed by House Speaker John Boehner, which had passed the House that afternoon by a Republican-enabled score of 218-210, setting up a crucial vote in the Senate, on a bill authored by Reid, early Sunday morning.

There’s one problem with Harry’s plan: he and his minions still lack the votes to repeal a GOP filibuster.  Reid begged his Republican counterpart, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, to bail him out and reach across the aisle, so the Senate could pass his proposal and send it back to the House before our stock market crashes on Monday morning.

However, in a phone call Friday evening, McConnell told Reid he wanted President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) at the table, who had petulantly rejected a previous potential compromise between the two Senate leaders last weekend. According to some squishy aides, McConnell expected to speak with administration officials Friday night and tried to play down talk of an impasse.

Senate Democratic leaders immediately were outrageously outraged, and whined that McConnell was blocking a deal.

Dinghy Harry egotistically complained:

Unless there is a compromise or they accept my bill, we’re headed for economic disaster.

Of course that did not stop him and his Senatorial cohorts from tabling Boehner’s bill, and throwing it in the circular file along with the previously house-passed Cut, Cap, and Balance Bill.

Before yesterday’s House vote, President Barack Obama stuck his head out from under his desk and argued that the two parties are not “miles apart” and that he was prepared to work “all weekend long until we find a solution.”

Probably somewhere between the 16th and 17th holes.

President Scooter also said that the two sides are “in rough agreement” about the size of the first round of spending cuts and “the next step” to rein in borrowing:

If we need to put in place some kind of enforcement mechanism to hold us all accountable for making these reforms, I’ll support that, too, if it’s done in a smart and balanced way.

Watching the Debt Ceiling Soap Opera in DC as an interested observer yesterday, I decided that there are three categories, in which all the major players in this political drama fall.

1)  THE PRINCIPLED – Those who were not afraid to take a stand for what they believe in.  Unfortunately, in the Sodom and Gomorrah known  as Inside the Beltway, these individuals are few and far between.

In this continuing soap opera, the Tea Party Freshman stand out as sticking to their principles, much to the chagrin of RINOs, Moderates, and vichy Republicans everywhere.

On his syndicated radio program yesterday, heard by between 20 – 30 million listeners every day, Rush Hudson Limbaugh praised the Tea Party Freshman for sticking to their principles:

I want to say something to you conservatives out there. I want to tell you how damn proud of you I am, because you made this happen. The conservative intelligencia, the conservative so-called media inside the Beltway would have accepted anything. Yesterday, the day before, last night, would have accepted anything that Boehner put forth, because they are operating out of fear. The Republican leadership is operating out of fear. I want you to think, to transfer that to your personal life, and I want to ask you to consider: Whenever you do anything out of fear, how does it turn out? Doing anything from the perspective of fear is disastrous, or potentially so. And that has been the position of the Republican leadership and the inside-the-Beltway so-called conservative media. Fear. Fear of being blamed, primarily. But fear of other things. The age-old fears, the fears rooted in the mentality of being consistent, constant losers.

2)  THE UNPRINCIPLED – These individuals will do whatever it takes and shaft whomever they have to, in order to “win” and further impose their political ideology on American citizens.  For example (and you know I have to bring this up), America’s Emperor, Scooter Insipidus.

Yesterday, he spoke on national television, again imploring whatever base he has left, to call and “tweet” their Congressman, so that they would vote the way that he wants them to, in order for him and the First Family to begin Ramadan…err…summer vacation on Martha’s Vineyard.  (I added that.)

However, Scooter’s plan for intimidation by New Technology backfired, according to the Los Angeles Times:

Barack Obama generated a flurry of activity on Twitter Friday when he urged his more than 9 million followers to tweet at their congressional representatives to push for a compromise on the debt ceiling battle.

While some responded to the call, many others celebrated “Unfollow Friday.”

Throughout the day, the @BarackObama account tweeted the account names of Republican Congress members at a rapid pace. In about six hours, the account sent more than 100 tweets.

Several Twitter users expressed their annoyance and unfollowed the president’s account. The account had lost more than 35,000 followers by 5 p.m. Pacific time.

“I’m going to unfollow @BarackObama. You’re blowing up my feed, shouldn’t you be…idk, running the country or something? #cain2012,” wrote Twitter user @Lguyton08.

3)  THE POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT – These are individuals whom, unless they are backed into a corner, would prefer not to rock the proverbial boat, and are quite comfortable dwelling within the status quo Inside the Beltway.  Until Cryin’ John Boehner was thrust into a position of leadership as Speaker of the House, he appears to have been one of these people, as are Grandpa Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney,  John McCain, Dinghy Harry Reid, Nancy “Norma Desmond” Pelosi, Barney Franks, and the haughty John Kerry, who served in Vietnam.

Perhaps I’m oversimplifying America’s present political leadership, but I don’t think so.

In the case of the president and certain members of Congress… if it walks like a lame duck, and talks like a lame duck…well…