Why do they expend this admittedly silly effort? The guy terrifies them They look at the crowds he draws, they hear the thunderous applause he gets for speeches, they listen to his articulating messages of hope, and then they look at their bench: McCain, Giuliani, (Elizabeth) Dole, Romney, and they shudder. Who do they have that commands even a fraction of the attention Obama draws? Who do they have that offers even a shred of inspiration, other than to their tired, ignorant, racist, sexist, buffoonish base?

And that racist, sexist base is just one of the reasons why Condoleezza Rice, who might have been a capable candidate - certainly for upending Republican stereotypes, if nothing else - had she not thrown her hand in with the seemingly endlessly corrupt and incompetent Bush league, can not dare to dream of her party's nomination.

No, the sick, doddering old elephant is petrified of the "skinny kid with a funny name". They see their (racist) base shrinking as more and more Americans realize that they have nothing to offer save more failures, of ideas, of rhetoric, and of practice. And they look at the graying of their "leaders" and compare it to the youthful energy of a Barack Obama and realize that their time is passing. Not soon enough, not fast enough, to be sure, for this midwestern liberal, but pass it will.

Every last participant in that video needs to be busted to E-3 and then expelled from the armed services.

2050 is also the year suggested as when ocean food-fish stocks will be all but gone. This is ominous, as is the onrush of climate change (2040 predicted as the year when the Arctic is ice-free in summer).

These are developments, each alone worthy of concern, that I rarely if ever hear mentioned in connection. They presage a future of privation, refugee migration, hunger, water wars, and other undesirable ends.

I suspect that in short order, there will be a widespread recognition that we will need to devote virtually all industrial and agricultural activity to developing the means to adapt to the inevitable changes coming in this near future. Literally anything that does not either mitigate the impacts of these changes, or support the lives and work of those who are working on those mitigations, whatever those activities may then be, will need to be put aside, or humanity will have a very ugly future indeed.

The Manhattan Project and the Apollo Project will indeed look insignificant by comparison.

The one thing we do not need to hear is this: "We must save the planet!" Our ball of rock and iron, with its blue oceans and haze of atmosphere, will do just fine, with us or without us. The biosphere, well, that's another question...

Last night, "Good Rex" played. With Good Rex, Da Bearss can win. With Bad Rex, they still have a decent chance because of their defense. Now, admittedly, having three mainstays out can't help. Getting even one back will help significantly, as will having the rest they'll likely get with the first-round bye. This late in the season, that week's downtime will be magic, and I for one doubt Lovie Smith will let any rust accumulate during that stretch.

As for "America's Team" being any team, anywhere, who cares? Short of Da Bearss, my three favorite NFL teams are, in no set order: Whoever is playing the Packers, whoever is playing Dallas, and whoever is playing the Vikings.

And as for the Cubs, well, let's see if their offseason spending spree (thankfully, lots of it on pitching) will make any difference come April through October. It's far too early to tell now.

...and while you're at it, send yourself too. Downtown Najaf or Fallujah ought to be a good first venue. Perhaps set up a kiosk on a major street corner, offering your advice to every passing Iraqi like the Great White Father you think you are.

And don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

"Yes, there will be more women in Congress than ever before, but so far the percentage has only gone up from 15.4 to 16.4485981."

I like the idea of more women in Congress. I'm represented by women in both the House and Senate - as of January, anyway. And I suspect the way to get a higher percentage of women elected officeholders at all levels is to first get a higher percentage of women seeking office.

I am the first to admit, I have not seen anything on the percentage of women candidates for Congress. Has anyone? Do women run and lose more often, or do they win and lose in roughly similar percentages as male candidates?

Robocalls, voter intimidation, misrepresentation of a candidate's political party affiliation, nuisance "challenges", and more, need to fall under a revised federal law: Interference in any way with the conduct of an election redefined as a federal felony, prosecutable under RICO statutes.

Hard time for interfering with the conduct of an election, coupled with asset seizure, might finally make a dent in the sorry history of voter suppression.

On the other side of the coin, revising election law, nationalizing elections, mandating paper ballots nationwide in all elections, same-day voter registration with proper ID, and possibly even the Australian model of fining non-voters.

Public campaign financing might be nice, too - hey, a guy can dream!

Governor Dean has revitalized a party structure too comfortable for too long with trying to bring in the longshot. Conceding half the country is no way to be a political party, nor is trying for the top of the ticket and ignoring much of what lies below, both of which the Democrats had done for far too long.

Howard Dean has given the Democrats back a ground game, and it looks like a very good start. Now the real work begins.