Caution: Train wreck in progress

Noting House Speaker Boehner's frustration today, Jon Stewart called him "the world’s saddest tangerine." POLITICO explains why: "Still lacking the votes at 9 p.m., Republicans were considering sending their bill back to the Rules Committee for minor tweaks to win more votes." To which Steve Benen snarked: "What kind of 'tweaks'? Apparently, several far-right House Republicans believe Boehner's plan is too generous when it comes to Pell Grants. Helping low-income students go to college is, as they see it, 'welfare,' and therefore makes his bill unacceptable. Thanks again, midterm voters. Great job. If the bill goes back to committee, it's likely to delay a House vote until Friday. (Take your time, guys. It's not like there's a looming deadline that would cause an economic disaster next week.) Also, don't forget, all of this is to simply get the Boehner plan through the House, so it can be promptly killed by the Senate." Translation: Boehner either gets a knife in the back from the Senate or several of the long variety from his own House caucus, Caesar-like. If it's the latter, he's a dead man politically. To paraphrase Mark Twain's famous observation, Congress' cup runneth over with Village idiots. But even I have to admit this is becoming a Five Alarm catastrophe. Wow.