If the MSM loves to portray Republicans as thick-browed, Neanderthalic brutes operating according to a herd mindset, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) comes in for particular vitriol. Supposedly an inner circle of the most rabid, tea-party, hard-right ideologues ever to inhabit the pure confines of Washington, D.C., the 180-member RSC is the evil mastermind behind the obstructionist and destructive tactics of the GOP, at least according to MSNBC and the like.

Yesterday I got to sit in on the weekly lunch of the witches’ coven of the RSC. While the members’ comments are off the record, the discussion I witnessed on the Amash amendment (to stop the NSA’s blanket phone-record gathering) was as spirited and marked by differences of opinion as anything I’ve seen between Republicans and Democrats on the House floor. Amash’s amendment was narrowly defeated on the floor last night, but the afternoon’s internal RSC debate pitted libertarians against national-security wonks, former military officers versus federal prosecutors, small businessmen versus Washington insiders. There was absolutley no unanimity of agreement, no Rovian marching orders given or accepted, and no resolution of the issue. It was thoughtful but hard-edged, informed but passionate. It did credit to the RSC members grappling with a complex and important issue. I wish reporters of the MSM could have watched, but they probably would have assumed it was all for show, for their benefit. Their purposefully misleading “reporting” on Republicans is not merely a disgrace, but is grounded in ignorance of the range of views within even supposedly the most ideologically rigid segment of the party.