House conservatives serve notice to Ryan _ and Clinton

[DFW]

21. If Democrats ever decided to descend to the Republicans' level

The Republicans would find themselves up against an onslaught of a sort they are not prepared to withstand. They have been counting (correctly up to now) on the Democrats keeping to their own standards of decency--standards for which the Republicans have nothing but the highest contempt.

But Republicans don't like starting fights against opponents who they know will shoot back (Iraq was a miscalculation, not a deliberate 10 year project). They like starting fights with Grenada and Panama (there's a pair of military powerhouses for you). They'll get Fox Noise (and now maybe Matt Lauer, if he's not already with them by Inauguration Day) to try to fan the flames of public outcry over something they know isn't there. Where Obama preferred fighting by more cerebral methods, Hillary Clinton knows full well how to join a congressional fistfight, and give at least as good as she gets. She was right there with Bill when they tried it with him, and knows every dirty trick in their arsenal.