Rep. Ken Buck's sudden retirement yet another setback for a reeling GOP House leadership

Ken Buck is fed up. The Republican law-maker from eastern Colorado already announced (last November) that he would retire from Congress at the end of his term. But now that apparently is not soon enough.

- Clarence Page

On Tuesday, he abruptly surprised many on Capitol Hill — particularly fellow Republicans — by speeding up his timetable. Now he’s retiring from Congress at the end of next week.

But why the rush? In statements and interviews, the thoughtful Buck made it quite clear that he had grown weary of the dysfunction miring lawmakers in disputes over team loyalties rather than actually solving problems.

The gridlock is not new, he acknowledges, but it’s only getting worse.

“It is the worst year of the nine years and three months that I’ve been in Congress,” he said in a sitdown with CNN’s Dana Bash, “and having talked to former members, it’s the worst year in 40, 50 years to be in Congress...

“This place has just devolved into this bickering and nonsense and not really doing the job for the American people.”

Amen, congressman. Preach! Pardon my excitement, but I couldn’t help but agree. By all accounts, Buck sounds like a liberated man, freed at last from the constraints of a political world that seems increasingly bent on feuds, factionalism, and theater more than workable solutions.