The extremists have won in the race for the US Speaker of the House

One of the few axioms of US politics is the loss of seats by the president's party in midterm House elections

"It's like Humpty Dumpty fell and broke, and a giant lawn mower ran over it, acid was thrown on the pieces - and a bunch of racist idiots ran off with an arm and a leg. How do you put it together? I don't know." - Republican consultant John Weaver, talking about the present crisis of the Republican Party, to The Boston Globe

There is little reason to think Trump's new staffing arrangement will yield a new, more coherent candidate. Throughout the campaign, he has vacillated wildly between poise and pugilism.