John McCain, Lyndsey Graham, and a Republican no one’s ever heard of have met with Susan Rice, their bête noire—and emerged crankier than before.

“We are significantly troubled by many of the answers that we got, and some that we didn’t get,” Senator John McCain of Arizona said to reporters. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said, “Bottom line: I’m more concerned than I was before” — a sentiment echoed by Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire [the Republican no one’s ever heard of, who is likely just saying what McCain and Graham tell her what to say, because that’s what Republican female politicians do].

Basically, they’ve now accepted Rice’s explanation that she spoke incorrect information that she thought was true, and are now saying that she should have pushed the intelligence agencies harder. Which is to say, they’re just looking for excuses now to keep making an issue of something that nobody in the country except for the ring-wing bubble-nuts thinks is an issue.

I repeat my earlier proposition: The president should nominate Susan Rice to be secretary of state in as high-profile a way as possible, sending her out to all the talk shows, and dare Republicans to torpedo the historic nomination of a black woman to the post of the nation’s top diplomat. Whatever the outcome, it’s win-win for the president.