A faction of Congressional Republicans are trampling their own leadership in a hell-bent attempt to shutdown the government to defund Planned Parenthood, an idea reminiscent of The Charge of the Light Brigade, in which Tennyson wrote “Into the valley of death rode the 600… Cannons … volleyed… horse and hero fell… When can their glory fade… the noble 600.”

As these Republicans seek to take a noble and glorious stand on principle, they forget Tennyson’s key line “Someone had blundered.” The charge of the 600 was a tragic mistake.