ALL COMEDY IS CONSERVATIVE:

Victorious politicians often talk about "trusting the voters," but this time the voters really seem to have had a sense of humor. Just as they are deposing House Democrats, they are also tying would-be speaker Kevin McCarthy to the whipping post.

By dethroning Speaker Pelosi but denying McCarthy a commanding majority, they've ensured that he must negotiate with the conservative-leaning House Freedom Caucus if he is to hold the gavel.

The Freedom Caucus denied McCarthy once before, after Speaker John Boehner abruptly resigned in 2015. It began when they moved to vacate Boehner's chair, essentially a vote of no confidence. Fighting the motion would have been contentious -- and so rather than force the vote, Boehner resigned, leaving the path open for McCarthy. But McCarthy dropped out of the race when the Freedom Caucus put up another candidate, denying him the 218 votes he needed to secure the post. After some back-room dealing, it was Paul Ryan who ended up controlling the House.

In the years since, both McCarthy and the Freedom Caucus have changed.

Where the Freedom Caucus first organized around holding the line on federal spending -- a wonky if unpopular stance -- today's Freedom Caucus is best understood as the Trump Palace Guard.

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