Howard Kurtz provides the most shamelessly stupid passage you'll read all day:

Really, this was a parody of political preening. These Judiciary Committee gasbags go on and on, let Kagan read an opening statement, and then adjourn for the day?

Not a single question asked?

No wonder people think Washington is a farce.

First, they didn't have to start the hearing at 12:30. But after doing that, how about working past 4 p.m.? You know, like regular employees who have to put in an eight-hour day?

Howard Kurtz knows damn well that senators' jobs include things other than committee hearings. He knows damn well that the fact that a committee hearing lasted only 3 and a half hours does not mean that the senators in that committee hearing worked only 3 and a half hours that day. In fact, Howard Kurtz knows damn well that most senators work significantly more than 8 hours a day.

He's just pretending they don't so that he can appeal to the prejudices and assumptions of his readers, and stoke some anti-government sentiment in the process.

There are certainly valid criticisms to be made about the the way Senators do their jobs. But Kurtz's claim that they don't “put in an eight-hour day” like “regular employees” is nothing more than a demagogic lie.