I hope John Boehner is right

They don't need help from the Democrats to become intimate with the dust bin. They are doing just fine on their own in that regard and it is a real shame.

We need perspectives from viable opponents at both ends of the spectrum to keep the government in check.

The ends of the spectrum change. It used to be that letting women vote was an extreme position, now we (in the US) may very well elect a female president in four years. It used to be that homosexuality was a crime, now not only is homosexuality in the open, we are getting used to same sex marriages.

I don't know what kind of viable opponents you would like... but I assume you agree that we should reach a point where we consider such issues as settled and move on. The process of moving on means we leave the few stragglers who stubbornly hold on to old ideas behind.

I assume you are referring to the Tea Party here.

Irrespective of this ridiculously erroneous characterization of the movement, it is (despite what liberals want to and actually do believe) separate from the GOP.

But hey, throwing red meat to your crowd is a well tested A2K behavior.

If you don't think the Tea Party crazies are driving the Republican party, you haven't been paying attention. When your party is defined by terms like "intentional rape" and "self-deportation" you have a problem.

Of course it isn't Obama's problem. Which is why Boehners whining about it is so amusing.

Ronald Regan brought together the social conservatives and the libertarians that make up what is today the Republican Party. The schizoid nature of the party and its untenability became apparent during the Clinton administration. The present Democratic administration has served to further expose the other party's extremists and their largely diametrically opposed ideologies within the party.