Lightning Round: Why Did I Waste All that Time Studying Political Science When I Could Have Just Turned on Fox News?

• Since the CBO favorably scored the Senate Finance health-care bill, the Republican opposition has essentially been reduced to incoherence, and there's even talk about some members breaking ranks and offering concessions. Moreover, the idea of a public option that individual states can opt out of might just be the silver bullet that gets health-care reform over the finish line. That being said, Howard Dean is right that unless there are tangible benefits in place by next year (instead of 2013) voters aren't going to have incentive to reward Democrats in the midterm elections.
  
• It's not well covered, but for every poll showing declining public approval of Congress or Democrats or President Obama, there's one constant: None of this has translated into support for Republicans. In fact, according to two new polls, Republicans are at record lows in unpopularity and it's clear the public doesn't trust them on any policy issue. For the upshot of all this, I'm in agreement with Dave Weigel: "The hope for party strategists is that next year’s electorate simply contains more angry Republicans and fewer disappointed Democrats."
• Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has introduced an amendment that would strip funding for political science from the National Science Foundation, citing the fact that Americans interested in politics can always tune in to cable news, print, and the intertubes to "get data." There's a joke that studying American political science is boring because everything's already been figured out, but the fact is that most journalists don't cite political science research to educate their audiences. More takes here and here.
• The Obama administration has embraced the media strategy the president referred to in his last address before Congress, to aggressively call out lies when they see them, rather than passively referring the press to a fact sheet. This is exactly the right strategy. Beyond pointing out the lies pushed by Republicans and the conservative media, the White House apparently understands that the non-partisan media simply cannot be trusted to referee he-said she-said disputes, which might alienate the press but unless their mindless pursuit of "balance" is challenged, they'll never be responsible gatekeepers of information.
• Given Nancy Pelosi's reputation for ruthlessness, I'm surprised that Republicans thought they could put Pelosi "in her place" without the House speaker hitting them right back. "I'm in my place. I'm the Speaker of the house," she replied. Not to be outdone, Republicans instinctively went to their default smear playbook, accusing Pelosi of being "soft on terror" and labeling her a "domestic enemy." Note to the GOP: wishing it was still 2002 won't make it so.
• Remainders: Oklahoma breaks new ground in the effort to shame women who have abortions; Politico sure is a classy publication; Joe Lieberman is getting all the mileage he can out of pissing off his former fellow Democrats before he faces voters in 2012; nothing says freedom like criminals having easy access to handguns; Alabama honors a socialist; some "green" companies still have love for the Chamber of Commerce; and conservative talking points? There's an app for that.

--Mori Dinauer