Wonder how long I can deceive myself into believing I’m auditioning Daylight Video possibilities while checking out music at various points in the day? They wouldn’t have tolerated this in the journalistic good old days! But then I’d have a pension, too.

Anyway, here are some mid-day news treats:

* As part of his effort to show the pro-Israeli dimensions of his peculiar foreign policy views, Rand Paul calls for cutting off F-16s for Egypt.

* Senate Foreign Policy Committee unanimously confirms its chairman, John Kerry, to become Secretary of State.

* TPM’s Benjy Sarlin notes “redefining amnesty” is key to GOP efforts to sell immigration reform to conservatives.

* Mike Tomasky argues GOP talk about appealing to minority voters are waste of time.

* New PPP survey of Texas has all kinds of bad news for Rick Perry.

* Ray LaHood to leave Cabinet in February, or whenever successor confirmed.

And in non-political news:

* Lady Gaga loses 156 million YouTube views after recalculation.

Back after another sneezing fit at paint fumes.

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Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.