Obama Flops on Debt Ceiling; Rep. Anthony Weiner Hangs Tough

Rep. Anthony Weiner notwithstanding, nearly half of the House Democrats abandoned President Barack Obama's call for a "clean" increase in the nation's $14.2 trillion debt ceiling.

Even Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, joined Florida's Republican delegation in voting no. So did former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and ex-Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.

With Republicans successfully framing the debt issue as a fiscal litmus test, Democrats ran for cover. But Obama seemed unfazed after the rout, perhaps comforted by the unswerving support of Weiner, the New York Democrat and wannabe New York City mayor caught up in a Twitter scandal.

A stonewalling Weiner called questions about his sleazy Twitter escapade a "distraction" to the Obama debt-ceiling giveaway. If so, let's have more of those "distractions" 24/7.