it's official: republicans have a Boehner

Morris Udall used to tell a story about the time he ran for House majority leader. Going into the election, Udall had been assured he had all the votes he needed to win the election.

And he lost.

To put the experience in a nutshell, Udall would ask "Do you know the difference between a caucus and a cactus? With a cactus, the pricks are on the outside."

Good 'ole Poll Roy Blunt, Tom DeLay's hand-picked successor knows that feeling. Blunt, who, like most of the GOP leadership, has scandal lapping at his heels, had been assured he was the man to beat by all the insiders. And he was.

Boehner promises to bring reform to House Republicans. That's highly unlikely. That would be like trying to impose order over a herd of pigs addressing the feed trough. Between Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Bob Ney and the rest -- these guys have all the subtlety of The Running of the Bulls.

See, the thing is, Republicans keep acting like a Democrat will never again be elected -- either in their home districts or to the White House. That kind of arrogance and short-sidedness is the ultimate kiss of death. Granted, there have been some very, very shady things transpire during the past two elections -- things that have been muffled by the iron boot of Republican leadership. But that can't and won't last forever.

Tom DeLay already is finding the running difficult in his heavily jerrymandered Texas District. Ohio's GOP leadership asked Bob Ney to step down and not run for reelection. Randy "Duke" Cunningham will get his mail at the federal pen for the next few years -- as will Abramoff unless he unfurls a laundry list of cronies and their crimes. Imagine what would happen of Nancy Pelosi were to become Speaker of the House and Democrats suddenly controlled subpoena power again.

The sooner these guys get shown the door, the better.

More soon.