Republican lawmakers blindsiding the party’s conservative base

By Dana Milbank, WashPost, Published: January 29

Legendary football coach Lou Holtz gives motivational lectures about “overcoming seemingly impossible challenges,” according to his page on the Washington Speakers Bureau Web site.

So it would seem that Holtz found an ideal client for his services: He was scheduled to deliver a keynote address Wednesday night to the House Republican Conference, meeting in Cambridge, Md.

The retired Notre Dame coach, whose bio says he has a “sterling reputation for turning pretenders into contenders,” had his work cut out for him with this GOP squad. The night before, Republicans sat in the House chamber and listened to President Obama inform them in his State of the Union address that, because they had refused to work with him, he would find ways to govern without them.

Then, after no fewer than four Republicans gave televised responses to the president’s speech, a more memorable (if unplanned) response came from Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), who threatened to break a reporter in half and throw him off the (expletive) balcony of the Cannon House Office Building rotunda for asking unwanted questions.

Grimm apologized Wednesday morning for his unsportsmanlike conduct.

(More here.)