This morning, the Obama administration is defending its “czars” online — among other things, claiming there are no “czars” as such and also telling Republicans, “Bush did the czar thing, too!”

Partisan bickering aside, if the real issue is the proliferation of low-profile functionaries who direct executive policy, dozens of whom are not confirmed by the Senate, then it’s something in which both parties should be interested — then, now, and in the future.