The bipartisanship required to avert a debt ceiling crisis is encouraging.

Despite the far left and the far right digging in and refusing to accept the concessions needed to broker a deal, more reasonable Democrats and Republicans understood the very nature of bipartisanship means neither side gets everything it wants.

Compromise is not a bad word.

In fact, compromise is the very thing that has been missing in Washington, D.C., in the national conversation and around the dinner table.

It is possible to compromise positions without compromising principles and that is exactly what it required to prevent the nation from defaulting on its debt.

Sure, both sides can reasonably argue that it was not a great deal but, at the end of the day and the end of the legislative process, it was a deal and that’s what matters.

Congress, compromise looks good on you.

Historically, most Americans have not been extremists. Most of us are not ultra conservative or ultra liberal. The most effective legislators, legislate from the middle out not from the polar ends.

At the local level, government has always been more bipartisan than federal and even state lawmakers.

County commission, city council and our boards of education are made up of Republicans and Democrats. Ideologically, there are clear differences. Still, for the most part, our legislative bodies discuss county, city and school business in fair and even tones, showing respect for one another as they go about the business of governing.

It is possible to agreeably disagree.

It is possible to treat people with whom you disagree with dignity and respect.

The real art of the deal is the ability to listen to others, find areas of agreement and then being willing to bend — compromise — where you can.

Extreme rhetoric, name calling and vilifying the other side of the aisle is immature, unproductive and, in many ways, an affront to democracy.

Our form of government calls for deliberation, negotiation and compromise.

A national debt limit crisis was averted because cooler heads prevailed and there were not enough hot heads to sabotage the process and derail the deal.

Bipartisanship served us all well, and we hope opens the door for more reasonable legislative processes moving forward.