By Mr. Curmudgeon:Two developments in the Republican Party point to its future: South Carolina's Jim DeMint announced his retirement from the United States Senate to serve as president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, and the Reuters News Service reports that GOP House Speaker John Boehner is purging conservative Tea Party members from key committees "as he seeks to tighten control over his unruly caucus ahead of difficult votes on 'fiscal cliff' issues."The consolidation of America's one-party state begins.You see, it matters not how conservative a Republican you send to Congress if his vote (and yours indirectly) is negated by the...