Sixteen Republicans voted against the rule on the CROmnibus. They threw the process into chaos and sent Republican leaders scrambling. Barack Obama had to send his Chief of Staff up to the Hill to convince Democrats to go along with it.

And ultimately we got a clear picture of where Republican leaders stand. They headed to the edge of the shutdown cliff, willing to shut down the government for a Wall Street bailout, but unwilling to do so to stop the President’s amnesty plan.

[mc_name name=’Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’W000817′ ] in the Senate, of all people, pointed out the hypocrisy. That was an amazing spectacle. She, reading RedState, took advantage of [mc_name name=’Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’B000589′ ]’s unwillingness to fight in order to recast the fight as one of main street versus Wall Street. And damned if she was not right.

The provision in question would benefit Citibank. It’s not a bad provision. I favor it. [mc_name name=’Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’W000817′ ] does not. But it is quite telling that House GOP Leaders preferred a shutdown to stripping that provision out. They could not, however, be bothered when it came to stopping amnesty.

That’s really all you need to know.

Conservatives were not really helped. Pro-life Christians proved yet again what a cheap date they are. But in the end we all got to see the Republican leadership for who they are. And that has long term benefits for conservatives in the ongoing fight against the establishment.