They begin to eat their own

Funny, I thought it would be the moderates who began the internecine warfare. I see I had it wrong. When the spoiled, willful children are running the show, each one wants to be the only star.

Intelligence Overhaul Bill Blocked
House Conservatives Deal Blow to President, Speaker in Rejecting Compromise
By Charles Babington and Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, November 21, 2004; Page A01

Long-debated legislation to dramatically reshape the nation's intelligence community collapsed in the House yesterday, as conservative Republicans refused to embrace a compromise because they said it could reduce military control over battlefield intelligence and failed to crack down on illegal immigrants.

I hear it wasn't tough enough on gays, either.

The impasse, which caught congressional leaders by surprise, was a blow to President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and others who had personally asked House conservatives to accept the measure proposed by House-Senate negotiators early yesterday. It also marked a major setback for the Sept. 11 commission -- whose July report triggered a drive toward overhauling the nation's intelligence operations -- and for many relatives of victims of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Sad -- and scary, of course; for the next four years, just assume we have no functioning intelligence apparatus in this country, and modify your behavior accordingly ('cause the CIA's also being purged, remember).

But this is good:

Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the chief Senate GOP negotiator, told reporters she was disappointed and surprised that Bush's support of the compromise -- which he expressed via White House statements and telephone calls to a few House Republicans -- was not enough to obtain its passage. "It's surprising," she said, "and what's so frustrating to us is that this bill has such widespread support."

Collins called its collapse a victory for "the forces in favor of the status quo," and said Bush will have to redouble his efforts if the measure is to pass this year.

Associating the GOP with the "status quo" is excellent, and here it's a Republican senator doing it. Bonus points!

Speaking of name association, check out Oliver Willis' "branding efforts" -- he's making T-shirts, and pdf-printable posters would be good too, don't you think? Write and tell him so.