In discord assembled

摘要

The first act of the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives, which took control of the chamber this week after four years of Democratic rule, was to order the constitution to be read aloud on the House floor. This crash course in civics was intended chiefly as a gesture of fealty to the tea-party activists, or "constitutional conservatives", who helped propel the Republicans to power in November's election. But the reading also serves as a stark reminder of the many celebrated "checks and balances" built into America's political system, and thus how hard it will be for the new regime to get anything done.