Without reason or reasonableness, what's left?

Slate's Jacob Weisberg is in a very dark mood. Skip reading this if you don't wish to join in his gloom:

"It is hard to remember a more dismal moment in American politics. The debt-ceiling crisis and the agreement that ended it point to deep dysfunction in our system. In a variety of ways, the episode portends continued short-term economic misery and long-term national decline. It's as if the United States chose at the last minute not to commit financial suicide—but only out of preference for a slower, more excruciating form of self-destruction. ..."

"At the level of political culture, we have learned some other sobering lessons: that compromise is dead and that there's no point trying to explain complicated matters to the American people. The president has tried reasonableness and he has failed. It has been astonishing to watch Obama's sheer unwillingness to give up on his opponents after their refusal to work with him on the stimulus package, health care reform, or the extension of the Bush tax cuts last fall. A Congress dominated by mindless cannibals is now feasting on a supine president."

It's a devastating piece. And it's hard to disagree with any of it. If neither reason nor reasonableness (nor compromise) work anymore, then what's left? His bottom line: "The debt-ceiling debacle revealed that politics is broken in every possible way." For once, I'm left speechless.