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"Almost every anti-establishment firebrand is the same. Elected to break the chokehold that Beltway elites have on the republic, they come to Washington with their constituents' concerns foremost. They are eager to heave overboard the dead weight that sinks the balance of powers, and ready to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Then it happens. One taste of the waters of forgetfulness on Capitol Hill and suddenly their goal is something called "incumbency," and their allegiance is to the powers that be -- "the leadership." It hardly matters which party's."...
..."Indeed, House Speaker John Boehner reacted to this stupendous Republican victory as "not a time for celebration." He expressed hope for "bipartisan steps," and working with President Obama. It's hard to imagine how his statement would have differed had he been responding to GOP losses instead of gains."...
..." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is on board with that. "The message from voters is clear," he said "They want us to work together."
That's a hoot. But it's likely to happen, given the goings on in that sausage factory atop Capitol Hill. That's where newly elected Republicans are headed to vote for their speaker, this month in their Republican Party conference, and, later, after the new Congress begins, in the full House.
According to "multiple GOP sources," the National Journal reports, a new Republican proposal circulating in the House sets forth that "any Republican who votes on the House floor in January against the conference's nominee for House speaker -- that is, the candidate chosen by a majority of the House GOP during the closed-door leadership elections in November -- would be severely punished. Specially, sources say, any dissenters would be "stripped of all committee assignments for that Congress."
"Severely punished"? "Dissenters" will be "stripped"? This sounds less like a U.S. Congress than an old Soviet Politburo with a hint of gulag. "...
