New category: whiny. Also, idiotic and yet darkly amusing.

Okay, so get this. Thirty Republican Senators are being harshly criticized after voting against Sen. Al Franken's (D-MN) amendment to punish defense contractors who prevent their employees from taking workplace sexual assaults to court. And guess who they're blaming?

When Al Franken ran for the Senate last year, the former “Saturday Night Live” star had to reassure skeptics that the fierce partisan attacks he lobbed at Republicans as an author and radio host wouldn’t define his style as a legislator.

But because of one of his first pieces of legislation, Democrats now have their most brazen attack line of the emerging 2010 campaign season: that Republicans are insensitive to rape victims.

Yep. That's right. Politico reports that Franken's amendment was a trick! to fool the gullible! The brazen, yet devastatingly crafty Franken doesn't care about assaults against women; he just wanted a tool his evil Democratic cohorts could use in campaigns against our innocent Republicans.

Here's the best part:

Privately, GOP sources acknowledge that they failed to anticipate the political consequences of a “no” vote on the amendment.

Gee. Ya think voting against an amendment inspired by this might make you look like a misogynist?

Now they're reportedly arguing, in delightful Thirty Stooges fashion, about just whose idea it was to agree to a roll-call vote. Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo. Jab.

(For the record, Politico, it might have been useful for you to consider the possibility that those Republican Senators are insensitive to rape victims. After all, if it walks like a duck...)