"And please don't forget that the American people know that .340 would be a very respectable batting average, especially for the Texas Rangers."

Today's least-worthy story - Anna Nicole Smith "appearing" before the Supreme Court. I'm just speculating here, but I'd be willing to bet that Clarence Thomas had trouble sleeping last night in anxious anticipation of this sordid spectacle.

Today's most-worthy story - the WashingtonPost taking the time to visit the Baghdad morgue and see that over 1300 people have been killed in sectarian violence there since last Wednesday. 1300 dead in one week! If they were quail, that wouldn't merit discussion. But they're people. Un-buh-leave-able.

I haven't yet seen how the Bushies have downplayed the Coast Guard concerns about the Dubai Ports World deal to handle our security. But I'm willing to bet that the alleged anti-Israeli stance of this company that is just beginning to get ink will add considerable heat to the stinkpot. Imagine the absurdity of Dubya nixing this deal after the sure-to-be-half-assed 45-day review. Stir that around for a bit. Enjoy.

If ever the Bushies "don't pay attention to the polls", today's THAT day. Dubya hit a 34% approval rating in the CBS-NYTimes assessment. After just a bit of searching, I see that Carter hit a low of 26% and Nixon bottomed at 24%. Expect to hear those comparisons much more often in the days ahead. I'm sure Scotty "We Need More Power, Cap'n!" McClellan's already got some Rovian spin geared up like, "Prezidunts often go through periodic downturns in their popularity while working hard for the American people."

Speaking of polling the Bushies won't listen to, Zogby offers numbers this morning taken directly from the ranks of the military. 72% think the U.S. should leave Iraq within the next year. 29% say we should leave IMMEDIATELY. As someone who's sick-to-death of the bromide that I should "support our troops" and that Dubya prefers to "listen to the commanders on the ground", I certainly hope someone in DC takes their jingoism to heart. The Bushies approach to this continuing debacle is as absurd as the heavily-favored Indianapolis Colts losing in the NFL Playoffs but still showing up at the Super Bowl expecting that the fans will prefer them to the teams lined up for the kick-off. If you don't think this is a civil war, read the piece mentioned above from today's WashingtonPost. Face it people - we've lost a war of our own choosing. We've been humiliated and our military is radically weakened by that folly. If you disagree with that, please let me know why. And try to back it up with facts. I dare you.

But not all's strictly bad newzy in the World today. It's Jack Abramoff's Birthday (he's 48). There's just two days until the soon-to-be-again-beloved Milwaukee Brewers' first Spring Training game. And the Earth is still orbitting around the sun. Except in Kansas - there it's still just a theory. Hope your own list of positives mightily outweigh the negatives today. Rock on.