Hulse and Herszenhorn have a report in the New York Times on expected (big) trouble for Congressional Republicans. Their description brings to mind that ghastly scene in "Alien" in which the creature breaks through John Hurt's gut.
The "alien" our Republicans have to worry about is no less appalling and destructive. It is, of course, the crew of tea partyers now in Congress, born and bred to make trouble for both McConnell and Boehner. All Democrats have to do is to stand by and try not to get spattered by blood as the creature breaks through the very guts of the Republican party and takes off.
Ms. Bachmann, the Minnesota Republican and Tea Party heroine often seen exhorting conservative activists at rallies and on cable television, announced that she intended to seek the No. 4 position among House Republicans.
She said she could provide the viewpoint of a constitutional conservative, one she evidently sees lacking in Representatives John A. Boehner of Ohio, Eric Cantor of Virginia and Kevin McCarthy of California — the three likely leaders.
Mr. Cantor and other influential Republicans are rallying instead behind Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas, a fiscal conservative, and Ms. Bachmann has only an outside shot at winning the race.
But her candidacy vividly illustrates the central tension facing Mr. Boehner and his team: balancing the demands of new lawmakers, some of whom ran against the Republican establishment and advocate a no-compromise stance toward the Obama administration and Democratic policies, against the need to deliver some accomplishments at a time of economic distress.
Ms. Bachmann is by no means the only Tea Party voice moving to exert influence over the new Congress.
By no means! There are more out there! They're inside the ship of state and they populate the surrounding universe! And they're out to destroy us all!
