I thought I would share this piece about Jim Jordan from 2016 just in case anyone forgets that this House circus started long before they invited their superstar clown Donald Trump into the tent: Jordan won his House seat in 2006, the year Democrats took the majority, but he didn’t emerge as a force until five years later. Republicans reclaimed the House and elected him to lead the Republican Study Committee, a powerful faction within the GOP Conference focused on crafting policy. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) remembers turning to Ryan at the time and asking who he should vote for. “Jim Jordan, of course!” Ryan responded, according to Gowdy. Jordan that year also befriended a bunch of firebrand freshmen who rode the 2010 tea party wave to Washington but didn’t quite fit in with their establishment colleagues. They admired Jordan for his conservative purity and they quickly formed an alliance. Within six months atop the study committee, Jordan began to divide the Republican Conference. He and his new allies pushed Boehner to hold out for more spending cuts from Democrats before agreeing to raise the debt ceiling — even if it meant flirting with default — a ploy broadly viewed as a kamikaze mission. But Jordan felt Republicans could win, pointing to the anti-government spending sentiment pulsing through the country that year. Boehner ignored Jordan and cut a deal with Democrats. But the episode established Jordan as a rising champion of the far right. And Boehner’s allies sensed a threat.…