Dinosaurs, uh, had their shot, and nature selected them for extinction!

Shortly after the Republicans took the House in 1994 newly installed Speaker Newt Gingrich had the skull of a T-Rex mounted in his office which he dubbed "T-Rex Anne." He was asked about that skull during a PBS interview in 2001 and explained that he had it as a reminder to the other Republican members of the House not to forget humility.

Eighty-five million years ago Rex Anne was out there feeling very important, looking for something to eat, and so I just wanted to remind my members, "Let's not get too full of ourselves here. This is a long democracy. We'll have our innings, but there'll be other people who will get their innings, too."

I recall reading an article on Gingrich at the time they took congress in which he referenced the skull and taking the opposite in his intended symbolism: it represented the primacy of the powerful on the food change and the (hoped) permanence of Gingrich's Republican majority. It represented more hubris than humility.

I remember thinking at the time that he seemed awfully comfortable in the Speaker's office. That it was going to be a huge hassle for him in a couple years when the voters realize their mistake and Republicans lose the House again and he has to move that big skull back out of that office. I resolved to do whatever I could to make sure Gingrich - and his T Rex skull - were kicked to the curb.

Now - fourteen years later and with Gingrich long gone - it looks like his revolution is finally coming to an end today. Although that's a long time to wait I take comfort in the fact that it could have been much worse.

It could've been eighty-five million years.