How President Obama's immigration move has derailed the Republican agenda and forced them into a conversation they were desperate to avoid.

"Goddammit, we have things we want to get done here."

Courtesy of LA Times: 

House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio says the president's executive action — expected to be announced Thursday — will "poison the well" for cooperation with the upcoming Republican-controlled Congress. Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky compared it to "waving a red flag in front of a bull." Tea party conservatives have renewed talk of censuring or impeaching the president. 

But the strong reaction by Republican leaders has less to do with opposition to the nuts and bolts of the president's immigration policy and more to do with fear and anger that the issue will derail the agenda of the new Republican majority before the next Congress even convenes. 

Republican leaders who had hoped to focus on corporate tax reform, fast-track trade pacts, repealing the president's healthcare law and loosening environmental restrictions on coal are instead being dragged into an immigration skirmish that they've tried studiously to avoid for most of the last year. 

That's largely because the question of how to handle the estimated 11 million immigrants living illegally in the U.S. bitterly divides Republicans, and the party has been unable to agree on an alternative to the president's plan.

The President's plan to use executive action to push through an immigration plan has the Right Wing demanding impeachment and threatening another government shutdown, which are two things that Boehner and McConnell are desperate to avoid.

With nothing left to lose, and everything to gain, the President is essentially double dog daring the Republicans to use up these last two years of this presidency in a battle that will waste their time and demonstrate to the American people that the only thing that they can focus their attention on for more than a few minutes is destroying this President.

In the meantime the focus has been taken off of dismantling Obamacare, or introducing bills that the President and the Democrats do not want passed.

All in all it is a rather brilliant strategy, and I have to imagine that after this one plays itself out that Obama has more tricks up his sleeve to keep the Republicans off balance until 2016 when many more voters will turn out to vote, and the Republicans will be at a political disadvantage.