On the Senate floor, minority leader Mitch McConnell scolded the president Thursday: “We will not solve our problems until he stops campaigning and joins us in a serious, bipartisan effort to change not only his tone but his direction.” Wow, he sounds like a headmaster correcting an errant schoolboy about “not only his tone but his direction.” He’s actually the president, Senator, not a schoolboy, not even one of your errant caucus members. I think McConnell will have a lot more errant caucus members in the days to come.

Alex Pareene already documented the shock, the anger and the grief of Republicans who learned Wednesday that the president is a Democrat. It was even more fun to watch the party fall apart over Thursday’s vote on the budget deal. I don’t like the deal; the symbolism and reality of cutting the EPA, Women’s, Infant and Children’s programs and community health centers bothers me. But I’m a liberal Democrat. The GOP leadership made this bargain with the president – and then House speaker John Boehner couldn’t even deliver his caucus behind the compromise, and he had to turn to Democrats for cover. In the end, 81 Democrats made up for defections by 58 Republicans. Boehner may wind up running a coalition speakership with Steny Hoyer, who voted for the compromise (House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who speaks for me, voted no.)

Now I’m curious to see what happens with the vote on Paul Ryan’s budget, set for the House on Friday. On Tuesday, Politico ran a story showing that Republicans in swing states like Pennsylvania, Florida and Ryan’s own Wisconsin were non-committal on their vote for the plan, and that was before Obama politely handed Ryan his ass, along with a White House gift bag, in his Wednesday speech. It’s become clear Ryan is out to gut Medicare, and after Republicans used Medicare to scare the hell out of senior citizens about “Obamacare,” it’s payback time. It wasn’t just Sarah Palin ranting about “death panels,” or Chuck Grassley accusing the president of wanting to “pull the plug on Grandma.” Remember how Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, consulted throughout the healthcare reform debate because he’s a doctor, threatened Obama during his February 2010 bicameral meeting on the bill: