The Dish

Running to cars, ducking under sniper fire at the airport? Roll the tape:

A reader writes:

I felt the same way as you about B. Clinton’s "love America" remarks, until I saw the whole thing: he ended with the words (as I recall them) "That’s my argument for Hillary." In saying that, he, in fact, made it particular and implied that the same would not apply to Sen. Obama. As you have noted many times, there’s not much they say that’s not carefully calibrated. So whereas I agree with the core of his sentiments — that it would be nice to have a campaign strictly about issues — he actually made a differentiation between Hillary and Barack. I’m a strong Democrat, and a (former) admirer of both Bill and Hillary. I heard her talk a year or two ago in Seattle and was highly impressed. Now, I find myself wanting to switch channels when I see her; as I do when I see Bush.

The usual.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, 10.30 am.

Mikhail Gorbachev comes out as Christian:

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Communist leader of the Soviet Union, has acknowledged his Christian faith for the first time, paying a surprise visit to pray at the tomb of St Francis of Assisi.[…]

Mr Gorbachev’s surprise visit confirmed decades of rumours that, although he was forced to publicly pronounce himself an atheist, he was in fact a Christian, and casts a meeting with Pope John Paul II in 1989 in a new light.

What a lovely final rebuke to Karl Marx.

I kid you not:

One man makes his move, and respectfully looks up to the gentleman seated across from him. The second man pensively nods his head in recognition of a good move. He thinks to himself: One more move like that will bring about a checkmate, unless I can…

Then they stand up, don a pair of gloves, and proceed to beat the living crap out of each other while others gape in horror! In a few minutes, the first man falls unconscious to the floor. Man number two walks away a champ in spite of the impending checkmate against him.

This is almost as painful as a Clinton supporter made video:

Hewitt gets excited:

The Clintons must be furious. The superdelegates who throw in with Obama publicly have to think of themselves as political equivalents of Brutus and Cassius –they are striking at the king and queen, and even if they succeed, they can expect the remaining Caesarians to pursue them for a very long time.

But maybe the power-shift has already begun. Obama has just survived, with some aplomb, his first swift-boating from Fox News et al. He has more delegates. He has more of the popular vote; with Michigan and Florida unlikely to give Clinton much of a boost, smart Democratic operatives will begin to side with the rising star rather than the setting sun. Karen Tumulty:

I’m betting Bill Clinton will be watching the Super Bowl with someone else next year.

Doesn’t this also have to be somewhat tinged with Richardson’s hope for a veep pick? Obama is weak with Hispanics; Richardson has sterling foreign policy and executive experience, another perceived (but in my view phony) weakness; Richardson could also help with the West where McCain will be strong. A black-brown ticket? Hmmm.

Ross reacts to Osama’s latest video:

…nearly every pronouncement from Osama bin Laden or his imitators contains something that might be laughable, if it weren’t in deadly earnest.

There’s the incessant nostalgia for the Crusades, heavy-handed enough to embarrass Sir Walter Scott, and the Risk-board view of geopolitics, epitomized by the oft-cited aspiration to reconquer "Al-Andalus" (known to most of us as "Spain") for Islam. There’s the blinkered understanding of American politics, as when Bin Laden criticized George H.W. Bush for "installing" his sons as governors of Texas and Florida, and seemed to suggest (depending on the translation) that he might make a separate peace with any American state that didn’t vote for George W. Bush. And of course, there’s the consistency with which Al Qaeda and its fellow travelers greet perceived insults to Islam with threats and actions that seem designed to, well, vindicate the offending parties.

When a Danish newspaper published cartoons portraying Muhammad as an assassin and a terrorist, Islamists responded to these outrageous insinuations by inciting their co-believers to … assassination and terrorism. When the Pope stirred up controversy by suggesting that Islam might be less compatible with reason and philosophy than Christianity, he was answered with a burst of (no doubt rigorously-reasoned) acts of violence committed on behalf of the faith he had insulted. Now, just in time with Easter, he’s been answered with al Qaeda’s idea of inter-religious dialogue as well. Here’s hoping that the His Holiness enjoys a quiet chuckle while he puts the Swiss Guards on high alert. There’s nothing wrong with laughing at evil, so long as your bodyguards are packing heat.