Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma is fighting with Stanley Thornton, a so-called "adult baby" who recently appeared on television. Why is not important (it has something to do with cutting off Thornton's Social Security benefits if he's unemployed and yet fit enough to build special baby furniture to support a 350-lb adult). What is important, writes commenter Megan, is that, despite the Wire's best efforts to referee this spat, there's a bigger picture to look at:

Re: who's winning...I think we're all losing here.

Fair enough. Thanks for reading, everyone, and thanks for participating in Open Wire.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at rgustini at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Ray Gustini