It happened becasue of the public's proper revulsion with Hillary care, how it was steamrolled and revulsion with the Clintons themselve. The part all of us would like to forget is when Newt made himself too big a target for one of the best run political murder machines ever in modern public life. You do recall the 1995 shut down,with all the attendent moaning and weeping beamed into our homes nightly, right? You do recall Newt's ego becoming the focus and a hell of a lot of the good done was as rapidly undone, right? The whole concept of "we need to back to gridlock" is simple minded at best and dangerously flawed at worst. You know this. You're also frustrated and angry beyond belief, we both know this. The point is to not go with the anger, go with the goal. It surely is not to sit on a sideline and carp, is it? We can get a hell of a lot more done in control than on the edge of it.
I'm not calling for gridlock, even though domestically it does have the advantage of curbing excess. Congress and the President need to do that. It looks like it will happen somewhat this year. I wish them every bit of success in that effort and more.
And I hope President Bush's immigration proposal never sees the light of day in Congress.