While arrogant morons dominate the staffs of Capitol Hill–and the rest of the state–there are a few who are principled. One writes me about how sick he is of the Patriot Act show:

I’m betting that the most likely scenario is the Senate passing the House version of USA Freedom next weekend during their special, ultra-dramatic, made-for-campaign-fundraising session on Sunday afternoon of the 31st. Everyone gets their drama in, and can claim they fought hard to the “bitter, dramatic end,” even though this was all prepared in advance by Sen. McConnell. That’s been the most pain-free way forward from day one.

The only other scenario I can see would be that Sen. Paul does get votes on his amendments as well, but they’re likely to fail. Then the House version of USA Freedom goes to Obama for a sig. Obama loves this bill, and it will become law. It authorizes even more bulk collection than the Patriot Act ever did.