Why Republicans Hate Their Leaders: Eric Cantor Edition, Paul Waldman, The American Prospect, June 12, 2014 (h/t BooMan)

As far as that activist base is concerned, every Republican politician should be nothing but an agent of chaos and destruction, or at least pretend that’s who he is. It’s not only incompatible with governing, it’s barely compatible with holding office. Anyone who actually tries to accomplish anything is quickly turned from hero to traitor, as Marco Rubio was when he attempted to devise an immigration plan; Tea Partiers who once celebrated Rubio now view him with contempt. The only kind of legislator who can stay in their good graces is one who never bothers legislating, like Ted Cruz. Writing laws is for compromisers and turncoats; what matters is that the revolution continue forever.

All things considered, Eric Cantor probably lost because he’s a dick, TBogg, The Raw Story, June 11, 2014

Let us add to the cornucopia of reasons why Eric Cantor will soon be out of a civil service job and forced to make millions as a lobbyist in an effort to keep himself knee-deep in ribeyes.

Eric Cantor is a dick.

One need only spend a few minutes watching Cantor on TV to realize that the only way he could be more dickish is if he was driving a black BMW while wearing Google Glasses. He’s smarmy in a passive aggressive way and one can imagine that same genteel southern accent may have once been used used by a landowner as he explained to a sharecropper that he’s going to need a bigger cut to cover the cost of a broken shovel.

How to Become Republican Presidential Material, Ed Brayton, Dispatches from the Culture Wars, June 17, 2014

As potential candidates jockey for position and seek to set themselves up for a successful campaign, Jeff Allen of BarbWire has identified the one thing you have to do to be a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination: Say ignorant things about gay people.

Photo credit: “Obama meets with Congressional Leadership July 2011,” Official White House Photo by Pete Souza [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.