Take heart: Mindless, gutless members of Congress have been around before

Watching the Ken Burns documentary on Prohibition this week, I noticed some striking similarities with the hold - then and now - that a single person can have on Congress. Back then, it was Wayne Wheeler, the notorious lobbyist for the National Anti-Saloon League, a group that pressured lawmakers into voting for the 18th Amendment. Here's the way one of his aides put it:

Wayne B. Wheeler controlled six Congresses, dictated to two Presidents of the United States, directed legislation in most of the States of the Union, picked the candidates for the more important elective state and federal offices, held the balance of power in both Republican and Democratic parties, distributed more patronage than any dozen other men, supervised a federal bureau from outside without official authority, and was recognized by friend and foe alike as the most masterful and powerful single individual in the United States."

Nowadays, we have Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, who has coerced Republican lawmakers into signing a pledge in which they promise never to vote for tax increases. Only six House Republicans have not signed the anti-tax pledge, including Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia. From Wonkblog:

On the House floor Tuesday, he attacked Norquist for single-handedly enforcing this hard line within the GOP, creating a destructive impasse in the legislative process. "Everything must be on the table and I believe how the 'pledge' is interpreted and enforced by Mr. Norquist is a roadblock to realistically reforming our tax code," Wolf said. "Have we really reached a point where one person's demand for ideological purity is paralyzing Congress to the point that even a discussion of tax reform is viewed as breaking a no-tax pledge?"

Wolf also attacked Norquist personally, claiming that he has "deep ties to supporters of Hamas and other terrorist organizations," as well as to Jack Abramoff and other "unsavory groups and people." Norquist fired back by accusing Wolf of racism. "I'm married to a woman who's Muslim, and it's sad and it's disgusting," Norquist told Yahoo News. "He's going to spend a lot of time apologizing for getting into the gutter and anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigotry." Norquist claims Wolf is targeting him because he's been unable to persuade his colleagues to budge on their anti-tax pledge.