Link here: I’m not going to quote, because obviously [mc_name name=’Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’C001076′ ] is contrasting himself to [mc_name name=’Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’M001165′ ] in this discussion, and I don’t have a public opinion on which person should be the next Speaker of the House. I have expectations on how the next Speaker of the House should operate, and if the eventual Speaker manages to meet them, we will have no problems. If he or she does not, then the next Speaker will collectively have the same problems as [mc_name name=’Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’B000589′ ] did. And I kind of like [mc_name name=’Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’B000589′ ]. Or at least have a certain rough sympathy for him.

One other note, here: you might have noticed that, last week, Jason Chaffetz and others on his committee ripped into Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, and her organization’s habit of running a profitable baby organ harvesting business and calling it a public service. There were a number of people on our side* who were wondering why the GOP took the time to smack that woman in the face with the half million dollar salary that she gets for overseeing the baby harvesters: perhaps that line of questioning is now a bit clearer? The major thing that the Republican base wants from the next Speaker of the House is a bit more righteous indignation, expressed openly – and with a grand indifference to whether it offends those who prefer silence and circumspection.  I have no objections if any particular  candidate wishes to audition early for the role.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*Not every person who found major fault with the Planned Parenthood hearing was of the Beltway, or part of the informal hierarchy. But it was hard to find a non-outsider who was fully unapologetic in his or her pleasure at seeing Cecile Richards get told that she and her organization were death-dealing leeches feeding off of the federal government. I understand that you need to be diplomatic about this sort of thing, sometimes. But just what has diplomacy gotten us, so far?