GOP Solidarity Dead on Arrival. (Love the Hats!)

If Boehner, McConnell and the corporate/country club/K Street Republicans thought they could safely and sanely co-opt those Constitutionally-addled, Tea Party-branded folk on their right flank, well, they can forget about the good clean Obama-bashing, the Merlot sipping, the driving golf balls until the calendar catches up and it’s time for some Congressional arm-twisting. The fun has already begun.

If the Tea Party knows how to do anything, by now (or, the anti-abortion folks under the name of the Tea Party), it’s exploit the controversy-hunger media — especially in a news lull. So while true progressives might actually be stepping a little lighter these days, having shed all that excess Blue Dog baggage, the newswire is already cranking with what the GOP establishment has in store.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

As for instance, the red brethren staging an interesting photo op yesterday at Brother Boehner’s office (love the hats!), personally delivering a plastic fetus and a demand for immediate anti-abortion legislation to Mick Krieger, Big John’s chief of staff with half the D.C. photo corp on hand.  Well, we’ll see how long that access lasts!

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

More politically predictive, though, might be this pic of Randall Terry, himself, delivering the petition to Congressman Pence’s office — a guy Terry believes is more right than Boehner and who really must challenge “the Orange One” for his leadership position.  It’s called splitting a coalition that wasn’t all-that-coalesced in the first place, and the first and best initial sign of the stretch in the fabric is evidenced by Mr. Pence’s Staff Director’s body language.  Between the facial expression and that hand on the hip, somebody needs to remind Ms. Jennifer Pavlik that she’s among friends.