CAPTAIN KANGAROO, R.I.P.
My childhood slips further and further away. Bob Keeshan died today at 76, joining Mr. Rogers in a place where the land of make-believe, Mr. Moose, Mr. Green Jeans and Bunny Rabbit can come alive again. They were disappointed over the state of children's programming, probably not too fond of Buzz Lightyear or Yu-Gi-Oh. But I bet they'd have liked The Wiggles. Thanks for the memories.

BUSH TO PROPOSE SPENDING FREEZE
You know, if you can't control yourself, then cut up your credit cards.

COMPUTER NETWORK SECURITY
The Republicans have been reading memos of the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Let's see - the Republicans used a hole in the computer network's security to uncover scheming by the Dems to use a hole in the Senate rules to undermine the Constitution. Those darn hackers!

NO LAWYER MALLOY
So, the Republicans saw the Democrat's judicial filibuster playbook and still couldn't win. How inept!

A LIEBERMAN STRATEGY
OK, Lieberman is around 4% in NH and it's probably time to get the fork. But here's a suggested strategy. About 25% of the Iowa Dems think that it was right to go to war, and pundits think that NH voters are a little less anti-war than Iowa voters (don't know that it's true). So, Lieberman is the only proud pro-war candidate. Kerry and Edwards voted for it, but have spent the last year saying that they had their fingers crossed.

So, with maybe more than 25% of NH Dems being pro-war and with the leader in the NH polls hovering around that level of support, Lieberman needs to court these reasonable Democrats. Sure, 25% isn't enough to win the nomination, but it could give him much needed momentum going into South Carolina, where he polls better and where Democrats are probably a little more pro-war, pro-liberation, than the "live free or die" crowd in New England. Lieberman's argument: I'm the only one in this race that believes going to war a brutal dictator who funded terrorists and incited hatred again the United States and Israel was a good thing. That going to war to fight for freedom is right and that the United States should not stand on the sidelines while the forces of evil marshall their resources. I'd have gone to war, but I wouldn't have made the same mistakes that Bush made, and I'd have certainly had a plan for the post-war. If you agree that freedom is worth defending, that we shouldn't sit on history's bench and allow millions to suffer, vote for me.

It may not work, but it's worth a shot. Nothing he's doing now seems to be working. I've always liked Joe, even though I'm afraid that he may be manipulating political events from behind the scenes and raising a clone army.

WILL WE HAVE DEAN TO KICK AROUND ANYMORE?
Howard Dean lost control last night and to the pleasure of his rivals, he looked good and Nixonian. See recounts of his tirade here and here. Did he forget to take his Xanax? Revise your New Hampshire predictions everyone. Dean's tanking.

IOWA IS OVER, NOW WHAT?
If the numbers hold up, Kerry wins the Hawkeye Cauci, Edwards second, then Dean and Gephardt. So, now what?

Well, don't write off Dean yet. This is a loss, a bad loss, a surprising last minute loss and it does mean Dean's sinking. But Dean's campaign has not only been a grassroots operation, but as the Dr. has admitted, he's bringing in new people. People who are new to politics don't mind voting, but the thought of spending two hours with a bunch of hard core politicos that they probably deride as dorks doesn't excite the Dean voter. But they may still go to the polls in New Hampshire.

With this win, Kerry's gotta win New Hampshire or it will be seen as a loss. Second place will look like a failure and a Dean win will make Iowa look like a fluke (Reagan in 80 and Bush in 88 lost Iowa, so did Dukakis in 88 and Clinton in 92).

Edwards gets the biggest boost out of this because Gephardt will quit the race before New Hampshire. The real question is whether Gephardt endorses Edwards. Regardless of his decision (he may stay neutral, but I don't see him endorsing Clark or Dean), I think a lot of his voters will break for Edwards.

So, Edwards gets second place -- coming from nowhere. That's a big victory for his campaign. He may not be the unDean, but he's now the unKerry. He does't have to win New Hampshire, and he doesn't have to show well. But if he beats Clark, then Clark's campaign is over, because Edwards will then win in South Carolina.

So, your guide to NH: Dean has to win, or its over. Kerry has to win to remain competitive, but he may survive with a close second. It's now either Dean or Kerry versus either Clark or Edwards. If Clark cannot beat Edwards in NH, he won't win in South Carolina. If Edwards or Clark beats either Dean or Kerry in NH, then whoever gets beat is out.

My prediction for NH? Right now, I'd say Kerry, Dean, Clark, Edwards, Lieberman. Not really a prediction, a shot in the dark.

UPDATE: Word that Gephardt has cancelled a trip to NH. Yep, he's out.

REMEMBERING THE DREAM
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will be judged by the color of their skin, given advantages because of that color, including admission to universities, government contracts, set-asides and interviews for head coaching jobs in the NFL, and that they will get all of this without regard to the content of their character, and that they will all think alike on issues of politics and be taken for granted by our benefactors in the Democratic Party -- Martin Luther King, Jr., as interpreted by the modern Left.

THE BUSH CONSPIRACY THEORY GENERATOR

From Buttafly.com comes this hilarious "do it yourself" kit for all the angry left:

THE BUSH CONSPIRACY THEORY GENERATOR

Want to come up with your own conspiracy theory about Bush? Don't let Al Franken, Michael Moore, and MoveOn.org have all the fun! Use this handy George W. Bush Conspiracy Theory Generator to come up with your own conspiracy theory!

Generate a Random Conspiracy OR create your own, by choosing an event, co-conspirators, a victim and a goal.

NOTE: This tool may not be used to create Democratic presidential candidate speeches or generate content for MoveOn.org without the express permission of [the creators].

Interestingly enough, some of the "random" conspiracies I generated sound all too similar to what you can read every day at "Democratic Underground" and the like.

JOURNALIST STANDARDS
USA Today practices better journalism than the Washington Post -- by simply getting the facts right and not being blinded by bias or Bush-hatred. Glenn Reynolds has the details.

NOT GOING NEGATIVE
Here's how to slam your opponent without appearing at all negative:

"I honor his service in Vietnam," Edwards said. "In 1969, I was sitting around the kitchen table with my parents trying to figure out how we would pay for college like so many Iowans do. ... And that is a difference between me and Senator Kerry."

The News & Observer then spoonfeeds us the comparison:

Edwards attended Clemson University and then transferred to N.C. State when he could not get a football scholarship. Kerry attended prep schools and Yale University.