OTOH, I'm OK with the truth, too

My claim that crazy stuff won't make much of a difference to whether health care reform passes depends, I should make clear, on the assumption that both sides are fighting hard. If those who want reform to pass don't fight back, then lazy Washingtonians will conclude that the nutty stuff they hear is probably, well, maybe not true, but just normal, slimy, healthy spin. That is, they'll subtract out, oh, 25% for spin, and figure the rest is true.

So debunkers such as Publius and Josh Marshall and Mark Kleiman are certainly doing great, and important, things. I don't really think they're all that stands between the republic and chaos, but that doesn't mean it isn't quite worthwhile.

(And I suppose that in the abstract, I like having a reality-based public conversation, even if I don't think it's all that necessary for democracy).