About time.

slit?  more like exile the crazy and become all the better for it.   seeing this news makes me happy.  i could easily become a republican (or at least a swing voter)  if they show more progress like this.

They are both.

This is less about progress, and more about pragmatism, and self preservation. The parties platform has become so exclusionary, and so absolute in both presentation and practice. That the party has little to no hope of competing for large demographics that are actually growing over time. Where as their core demographics aren't just shrinking. They are becoming even more toxic driving people who were on the edge. Out of the party in droves.

The Republican party hasn't been functioning in way that a political party ought to function. Constantly placating, and feeding a introverted base. At the expense of making it much harder to bring in new voters. Is not a long term formula for relevance especially when that base doesn't make anywhere near the majority on its own required to actually win elections.

I applaud this surprising display of common sense. It doesn't serve the nation for one party in a two party system to just be intransigent, xenophobic, or fanatical. What it gives us is a government that isn't serving the best interests of the people.

Oh there already is a whole lot of Republican infighting.

Just last week there was a big controversy because of the Tea Party sending out a mailer in which Karl Rove was dressed as a Nazi.

WWE has a Tea party parody character named Zeb Coulter.

Moderate Republicans have started their own "Moderate Super Pac" to defeat people in primaries they see as unelectable in general elections.

Essentially there is argueably a there way fight going on right now between the "extreme moderate" Republicans trying to get in Republicans who are socially moderate and economically liberal,  the Tea Party who is trying to get in politicians who are socially conservative and economically conservative and the major GOP establishment who is trying to get in the usual socially conservative/economically liberal group.

Still less dysfucntional then Italy though.  Fucking Berlusconi.

I really want to like Amash, but the guy is certifiably insane. He votes against hurricane relief and condemnations of North Korea, things that get upwards of 400 votes in the House.

I was expecting to see a picture of an autographed pair of tighty whities.

This would be a different struggle altogether, as Boehner is supposed to represent the "sane" wing of the Republican party that are selling out traditional right-wing values. These guys are trying to be even more pragmatic.

In the long term this is good for the Republican party, but the 2014 elections are going to be a sight to see at this rate...

You just have to laugh at Italy at this point. Berlusconi's half the reason they're in the mess they're in currently, to speak nothing of the whore-mongering and the fact that he's under indictment for tax fraud.

There are 232 Republican representatives in the House. Two of those signed this brief.

Even if ten times that number actually support it, that's still an overwhelming majority against it. This is not indicative of a split, and it's certainly not a sign that the social conservatives will be exiled.