If, like some, you wondered why Obama, Pelosi, and other Democrats wasted time praising a generally reprehensible Republican like Coburn, it’s because he stepped into the trap — as long as the debate is about how to solve the problem, the progressive side (which actually cares about solving it) holds the advantage. And when even one Republican joins the debate on those terms, the pretense of his colleagues is easier to expose.

Trent Franks has really outdone himself this time. Not only does he manage to offend both African-Americans and women in one compact soundbite, but he does it by combining two of the right’s most disgusting canards:

Something funky happened after DOD realized it had tortured al-Qahtani without adequate legal protection. But it’s not clear what happened.

While it might be a “fact” that the House could pass the Senate bill unchanged, it is also a “fact” that the Senate could quickly pass the House bill unchanged. Maybe the reason the Senate is so dysfunctional is that major news organizations like the New York Times seem to ignore the simple facts about what the Senate can actually do, and, instead, lets senators get away with pretending there are no ways around their own made-up rules. The 60-vote threshold is not part of the Constitution, nor is it carved in stone. It can be changed. It should be changed.

Longtime Lieberman mouthpiece Dan Gerstein is portrayed in Politico as a “Democratic political consultant” whenever they need someone to run down the Democrats or, as today, tout the Republicans. Who still hires this hack, and how can they defend that now?

The National Archives has noticed what we all did: somehow the emails via which John Yoo coordinated with (I’m guessing) the White House on the Bybee Memo disappeared. They’ve written DOJ to get some answers.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan stepped up the campaign today to end the privatization of the student loan market and save the federal government $87 billion dollars that can be plowed into Pell Grants to make higher education affordable to students. Duncan frames the situation well. For too long, bankers have gotten a free ride from [...]

It is a good thing that Dick Durbin realizes that the Senate is broken. It is even better that he is looking at possible solutions and rule changes that could potentially fix the Senate so it can function for the American people. But If Durbin can’t convince his caucus to spend one night fighting to break a simple one-man filibuster blocking a bill that helps Americans in need keep their COBRA health insurance, how can we expect him to actually fight the much harder battle for a Senate rule change?

The federal government is strongly considering adopting a “High Road Contracting Policy” which would give preference in procurement contracting to companies which offer a living wage, health insurance, pensions and paid sick days. Essentially, Obama would leverage the government’s purchasing power to enact worker-friendly policies, adding that to the other criteria for contracts, like bidding price and performance. And he may enact this new policy via executive order.

I really can’t believe I’m writing this, but Michael Gerson hits the nail on the head this morning. Stopped clock, and all that.