The American Spectator

If you want the consensus of the Beltway elite, Page 3 of today’s Washington Post is a good place to start:

After the shocking vote of 228 to 205, party leaders did their usual rounds of partisan finger-pointing, but it really wasn’t a partisan issue at all. The center had collapsed in favor of a coalition of far-right and far-left zealots. What was once the lunatic fringe was now a majority: 40 percent of House Democrats, going by yesterday’s vote, and fully two-thirds of Republicans… .
The new majority isn’t worried about ephemeral things such as 700-point drops in the Dow. “No, I’m not,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) declared after the vote. “The market may be down, but the Constitution is up!”

So, Nancy Pelosi can deliver only 60 percent of her caucus, and the problem is … Republicans. Be assured that, if the bailout had passed, Dana Milbank would have found a way to use the passage as an occasion to attack … Republicans. If the Republicans are going to be blamed either way, I’d prefer them to blamed for doing maximum damage to Milbank’s 401K. Congratulations, “lunatic fringe”!