The discussion over Ed's remarks and apology is going on here. Please go there if you want to weigh in.
Otherwise, the big national political story today is the continuing battle over Medicare. Republicans last night mostly held ranks voting for the Ryan Plan in the Senate. I'd say that was probably their best political move -- if only to avoid utterly throwing their House colleagues under the bus. Weirdly enough, even though GOP polling warned House leadership about the plan's unpopularity, and even though the GOP now claims it's unpopular only because of Democratic messaging, even some GOPers seem to have bought into that messaging.
That said, Democrats should be making this a bigger argument about the role of government. Start drawing attention to the GOP intentions for Medicaid, too. Instead, some Democrats seem intent on giving up both a potent political weapon, but also their role as defenders of the social safety net. And right when Grover Norquist is breeding his own personal army of Paul Ryan's. Check out EJ Dionne and Greg Sargent, too.
On another story, here's today's must-see video:
Watch what happens when this oil analyst -- who I'm informed is one of the top oil analysts in the field -- blows the whistle on Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley for, yes he says it: "Manipulation." This kind of thing just isn't done. That's how bad this has gotten. The crucial chunk comes just after 2:30 and goes on for a good FIVE MINUTES because the anchor just can't seem to wrap her head around the notion that there's no Santa Claus.