Elsewhere: Tea Party, Boehner Rule

It's a holiday, so no good stuff today. Just my latest columns (yeah, wise guys, very funny, you know what I mean).

My TAP column today returns to what I was talking about back in the winter and spring: the Boehner Rule. It's actually Sarah Binder's observation, first; what Boehner devised to deal with his dysfunctional party was to let the Senate go first. Then if most of his conference wants things to pass -- even if they want to publicly oppose them -- they get a vote. One effect, which we see now, is a logjam of popular items passed by the Senate and waiting for House action.

At Salon over the weekend, I talked about Tea Party candidacies, and why they aren't going to get any stronger over time. This is one where I'm not sure whether I'm making an overly obvious point that everyone knows or pointing out something new. That point being that with a normal political movement the early stages are going to generate some oddball candidates but that over time it should improve, but Tea Party political culture (and maybe even ideology) means that there won't be any evolution here.

I'll be over at Greg's place this afternoon, and I should have a PP post up sometime today. I'm also thinking of doing a bonus Sunday question here. If everything goes right, maybe even a Monday Movies Post later on. That's probably the plan for the day; enjoy the holiday, everyone.