"Fair is foul, and foul is fair."

Politico has the story behind the failed coup against John Boehner:

Rep. Raul Labrador has been vocal in his complaints about Speaker John Boehner, but he knew before Tuesday’s House speakership vote that fellow conservatives didn’t have the votes to oust him.

“The votes are not there against Boehner,” the Idaho Republican wrote on a smartphone shortly after noon Tuesday while on the House floor, in view of a POLITICO photographer sitting in the center section of the chamber’s balcony. He added: “I led the effort last time. … Now we need 35 and they only have 15 at most. There’s no way to get to 35.”

This is exactly why it was foolish to go ahead with the vote, which has put some of the GOP’s most reliable conservatives in a very uncomfortable place — now, and during next year’s primaries.