It’s not “dysfunction” just because your side loses: Substitute “comprehensive immigration reform” for “TPP” in the following paragraph from Paul Krugman and it’s equally right:

A brief aside: I don’t think it’s right to call this a case of Washington “dysfunction”. Dysfunction is when we get outcomes nobody wants, or fail to do things everyone wants done, because there doesn’t seem to be any way to package the politics. In this case, however, people who oppose TPP voted down key enabling measures — that is, they got what they wanted. Calling this “dysfunction” presumes that this deal is a good idea — and that kind of presumption is precisely what got successfully challenged yesterday. [E.A.]

Undernews Alert: Daily Caller‘s Patrick Howley asks former Hillary Clinton law partner Webb Hubbell if “he is actually Chelsea Clinton’s biological father” — and Hubbell says, “I’m not going to answer questions about that.” Huh? Why not just say, “No”? ….

I love how William Finnegan buys credibility with his New Yorker readers by sneering at  “conservative opponents of immigration reform” who worry that fast-tracked trade deals might undermine the nation’s ability to set immigration limits — even though that’s the same fear voiced by the respectable, liberal Economic Policy Institute. …

The Future Is Now: With Jake Tapper taking over CNN’s “State of the Union,” all the big Sunday chat shows now have solid hosts — Todd, Dickerson, Stephanopoulos, Tapper. It’s too good to last. Where is the corporate idiocy? Something very bad will happen soon. … P.S.: My viewer’s plea: Don’t try to “make news.”  If news happens, it happens. But there’s nothing more tedious than watching a host trying to get a Senator to say something he doesn’t want to say.  …

Paul Krugman did correctly sound the alarm about the 2008 housing crisis — and he’s been right about inflation (so far!).  But his review of his last decade’s hits and misses is something less than a ruthless self-inventory. Off the top of my head: He omits his argument that Timothy Geithners “stress tests” would not be enough to stabilize the financial system (an error he has admitted elsewhere) and his column declaring the V.A. health care system a “huge policy success.” …

“Today’s Democrat doesn’t need to worry about proving that she is tough on crime … “ [WaPo‘s Ruth Marcus]. Are we sure about that? Maybe check back after a few more months of De Blasioism and “blue flu” (a frequent after-effect of Ferguson-style protests) …

Corridors of Power, Now Moving at Warp Speed! From Tuesday’s Washington Post Ben Terris profile of Benny Johnson, who was once fired from Buzzfeed for plagiarism:

“D.C. has always been the city of second chances; now it just moves at meme speed. And no one can ride a meme like Benny Johnson.”

Helen Rogan, my magazine colleague a few decades ago, called this particular style of bad writing “The Hearty Hack.” The Post Style section once had a lot of it. I thought it had almost vanished. Good to see someone carrying on the tradition. … P.S.:  1) Has D.C. really been “the city of second chances”?  Janet Cooke, Stephen Glass, Gary Hart, Jack Abramoff, call your offices!  … 2) Terris says “Benny rebounded unusually quickly, fielding offers within weeks of his dismissal.” Weeks! In today’s wired world, moving at meme speed, don’t talented, newly unemployed people usually get offers within … I don’t know, nanoseconds? …  Backfill: Terris’ smarmy piece already provoked some controversy, summarized here. At kausfiles, you don’t ride meme. Meme ride you.  …