god help us all...

Nader is considering another run.

The man most responsible for the Shrub's election, right up there with Rove, is thinking about jumping in again, because his ego hasn't been stroked enough lately and the idea of these other people getting attention and him not is just soooooo annoying.

It takes a healthy ego to run for President in the first place. It takes a pathological ego to launch a vanity bid well after deadlines have passed, with the idea of generating free media with ballot-access lawsuits while piously posturing about his virtue.

Who's paying his bills? Where's he getting his funding? The timing is just too convenient.

She's not singing yet, but she *is* warming up...

Mark Kleiman announces that it's over and that he will no longer be criticizing HRC, because that would be "unnecessary roughness." To his mind, Obama's got the nomination, no further critique of Hillary is needed and would just be piling on.

Except, of course, there's still Super Tuesday, and a potentially deadly floor fight about what to do with the Florida and Michigan delegates, and who's going to control the Credentials Committee and thus make the delegate decision.

Please. You don't think the Clinton machine would launch a party-wounding internecine war rather than go quietly? I doubt Hillary would give up the nomination until it was pried out of her fingers. I could be wrong--I'd love to be wrong--but I don't think I am.

Media watch edition

So let's have a look at what's in the news today...

• Fidel Castro is stepping down after 50 years in power. Implications for U.S. policy isn't entirely clear.
• The ruling party in Pakistan has gone down to defeat in a (relatively) clean election. This is a serious blow to the U.S-leaning ruling clique, and is seen as a rebuke to the U.S. Implications for U.S. policy aren't clear.
• A group of military officers has completed a study showing our military is "stretched dangerously thin" and could not undertake another major operation. Almost half agree with the word "broken" to describe the current state of the military.
• Florida has approved educational standards requiring teaching "the scientific theory of evolution."

And what's the lead story at CNN? On a busy day like today, what did they select as what you most need to know to be a well-informed citizen?

None of the above... They're doing an uplifting puff piece on blind veterans who are learning to ski.

Feh.