Like all aggressive, inflexible movements, there are tectonic differences of opinion, and often, bitter internecine fighting. Inevitably, whatever emerges will be more unified, coherent, and determined, not divided and weakened. This is essentially turf warfare between street gangs; the country club aristocrats versus the Beer Hall roughnecks. You can count on the winner being organized, disciplined and ruthless.

See also, “Moderate,” “Reasonable,” “Statesmanlike,” etc.

There are other words reserved for any Republican who tries to stand in the way of the Democratic agenda, like the current round of cash bribes to the voters.

Democrats liked being the party in charge of the House for forty years, with the Republicans bringing coffee in once in a while and making speeches nobody would listen to. Gingrich was an easily-tolerated noise in the back of the room until he committed the crime of taking the House away from its rightful rulers in 1994. After the 2006 and 2008 elections, many Democrats were completely convinced that they’d be holding total power for another generation (ref. James Carville’s book). The proper state of things. Single-party government only bothers them when it’s not Democrats.

If this is the first time Robinson has seen this in a long time, he hasn’t been paying much attention. The 2008 and 2010 election cycles were loaded with conflict between the Republican Old Guard and those who wanted some conservatism back in the party, particularly economic conservatism.

Most of us knew 2012 wouldn’t be much different.

Too damn many Republicans have developed, as their prime motivation, “what will keep me in office until I die?” Of course for many years now, Democrats never had anything else.

Eugene Robinson is a hard-line leftist, by his own multiple admissions. If he’s happy, I’m not sure anybody sane should be.