Dear Republican minority: STFU

A week ago Thursday, the opening day of the 110th Congress, I watched new Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell speaking on C-Span. As is typical of opening session speeches, the new leaders and Congresspersons present an idealized vision of how they will behave in their respective posts, how they will serve the American people, what legislation they will try to pass or prevent from passing, and so on. We all know it never works out that way, but it's fun to pretend for a while. McConnell, for his part, said he will never support tax increases on the middle class or small businesses. Hey, kewl, because the Democrats don't want to raise taxes on the middle class or small business anyway, contrary to popular belief. He then went on to say that he and his GOP colleagues will engage in bipartisanship, cooperation, and civility, while never straying from their conservative principles. And I'm almost sure I detected a hint of a suppressed smile flicker across his face, as he knows as well as his colleagues do that there can be no bipartisanship, cooperation, or civility when the present-day GOP sticks to its "principles."