With corporate thugs now assaulting Congress members to scare them out of providing anyone with healthcare, it’s worth recalling that in earlier days of this nation, assaults on Congress members would result in being held in contempt of Congress — literally held in prison. Nowadays, Congress won’t even lock up people like Rove and Cheney who defy subpoenas, so the idea of Congress doing anything to protect itself against thuggery is pretty outlandish. However, if Congress passes a bill to fund and “support the thugs” I am certain it will attach a non-binding waiverable bench mark requiring consideration of drafting a report on the effectiveness of Congress-member-bashing.