Senator Mark Dayton, a Democrat from Minnesota, called Condoleezza Rice and President George Bush liars on the Senate floor today.

While Senators have used the word liar occasionally, those occasions have been rare. At one time, the word demanded censure or a duel. These days, coming from members of Bill Clinton’s party, one must assume “liar” is some sort of underhanded praise.

Condoleezza Rice’s confirmation is already in the books. She will receive more than 2/3 of the Senate’s endorsement. In the end, the shouting whiners who today spoke volumes about themselves and scant little about the President or is Secretary of State to be will drift silently into the scrapheap of history as political footnotes.