In this episode, the hosts discuss how parties misuse power to pervert the mechanism of compromise. Rather than reaching a result that is in the best interests of the persons affected, one side chooses to capitulate to unreasonable or immoral demands. The true tragedy of Congress is not simply that it often fails to act but that, when it does, principles are sacrificed on the altar of political expediency.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colfax_massacre