It’s almost like there was a black guy elected as President, and the GOP decided that obstructionism and anarchic rhetoric were exactly what they needed to fire up scared racists. So they fostered a group called The Tea Party, which specialized in getting attention and being disruptive without ever managing to actually do anything constructive. And now they’re stuck with them. They don’t call themselves The Tea Party anymore, but the major players are still around. And now that Republicans need unity they’ve found out – surprise! surprise! – they can’t have it. Because obstructionism and disruptive, anti-social behavior doesn’t just go away, especially when it has been rewarded for so long.