Zhang Jun/Xinhua/ZUMA
How did the Republican Party become a kamikaze club guided by a small handful of hostage-taking radicals hell-bent on causing chaos to ruin the presidency of Barack Obama? It wasn't by the design of House Speaker John Boehner and the GOP congressional leadership. This came about because a small number of tea party back-benchers in the House and Senate,assisted by a well-financed network of right-wing organizations (some funded by the billionaire Koch brothers), pushed an issue that was red meat for the GOP's base--defunding Obamacare--and managed to hijack the party (even more than the tea party already had).
Let's look at how the Boehner-led GOPers began this latest round of political battle.
