The Dish

George Packer goes another round.

McCain and Lieberman have introduced one of the most despotic bills in memory:

The Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention and Prosecution Act of 2010, a legislative monstrosity produced by John McCain and Joe Lieberman, goes further than any Bush-era legislation in abrogating the core principle of Anglo-American justice: that a suspect is innocent until proven guilty. While the bill is deplorable in every detail — it denies terrorist suspects their Miranda rights and codifies indefinite detention without trial — one particular provision effectively ends the presumption of innocence for all of us. That provision codifies the President's right to define any criteria he chooses to deliver any individual into the legal Twilight Zone defined by the bill.

"Marc Thiessen’s work at the Washington Post looks like the work of a third-rate publicist—promoting the Cheney-Kristol Keep America Safe project. Just what is his relationship with this project? And why does Hiatt let him do this for free from the editorial pages of the Washington Post? Hiatt owes his readers some explanations," – Scott Horton.

Glenn Beck's hero:

The House ethics committee has received allegations that former Rep. Eric Massa groped at least three male staffers and conducted himself improperly with interns as well as full-time aides, a source familiar with the matter tells POLITICO.

One incident allegedly occurred when Massa traveled to San Francisco with an aide for a fundraising trip, a second source said.

Now it's getting closer to home:

The pope's brother said in a newspaper interview published Tuesday that he slapped pupils as punishment after he took over a renowned German boys' choir in the 1960s. He also said he was aware of allegations of physical abuse at an elementary school linked to the choir but did nothing about it.

The Rev. Georg Ratzinger, 86, said he was completely unaware of allegations of sexual abuse at the Regensburger Domspatzen boys choir, part of a string of charges of sex abuse by church employees across Europe in recent days.

Ratzinger led the Regensburger Domspatzen boys choir for thirty years. He says he knew nothing about the allegations of sex abuse, says they all occurred before his tenure in 1964, but admits he did slap boys in the face repeatedly as punishment.

As this poll of polls shows, if Obama keeps up his performances like yesterday and campaigns like this day after day after day, the first poll – from YouGov/The Economist – showing a clear 53- 47 majority in favor of his reform will become a harbinger of the future. The data is already there that passing this will help the Democrats against the Republicans this fall, if you can get past the Washington bullshit. The last month has been clearly a net positive in public opinion.

Moreover, Obama's strategy of exposing the nihilism and obstructionism of the GOP is working. One YouGov question asked: How much do you think President Obama is trying to work with Republicans in Congress? 48 percent said a great deal or a fair amount. Compare it to this: How much do you think the Republicans in Congress are trying to work with President Obama? 28 percent said a great deal or a fair amount. 60 percent said not much or not at all.

Know hope.

An African-American couple; an African-American minister. Two words: must-see. Money vow:

"You are my friend, my partner, my love," Young, 47, told Townsend, 41. "I will love you today, tomorrow and forever."

Yes, I cried. You try not to.

DC, by the way, has the highest percentage of same-sex couples of any of the states that now allow us civil equality.

Kaplan, which provides the lion's share of the Washington Post Company's revenue, has been under inquiry by the Department of Ed since September. Money quote from Barron's:

The Post business desk seemed not to notice any of this, but Post investors might want to.

Much of it is now fixed. Many thanks to the coders. Now, it's time for me to get batty about something else.