Mitch's Iron Fist

"Iron Fist" and "Mitch McConnell" are not ideas closely linked in my consciousness.  I had no idea that the reason hundreds of House bills have gone to die in the Senate over the last few years was that McConnell exercised his ruthless and unbridled control as Minority Leader; I just stupidly assumed it was because Harry Reid, as Majority Leader, refused to let them come up for a vote.  Now I guess Reid will have his own opportunity to exercise an Iron Fist in the incredibly powerful role of Minority Leader, assuming that his (remaining) colleagues don't have enough sense to vote him out of that position.

Another thing I didn't know was that President Obama "pivoted to the right" after his 2010 shellacking.   His aides assure us he's not planning to do that again, though.  Fair enough.  We can only expect so much from the man.  Tom Brokaw is already wondering on what issues the new Republican majority will cave, since that's apparently the first thing one expects of a party that wins a wave election--certainly nothing that could be expected of people whose agenda was just decisively repudiated.  Personally, I hope the Senate sends the President a bunch of backed-up bills to veto until his pen runs out of ink.  Let him own a few positions for a change instead of whining that he can't understand the Republican "agenda."

I'll give Mitch ("Iron Fist") McConnell credit for one thing:  his crack at today's press conference that Dodd-Frank is just "ObamaCare for banks."