Rove's Third Term  —  Al Gore never claimed that he invented the Internet.  Howard Dean didn't scream.  Hillary Clinton didn't say she was staying in the race because Barack Obama might be assassinated.  And Wesley Clark didn't impugn John McCain's military service.

A Man of Seasonal Principles  —  You'll notice Barack Obama is now wearing a flag pin.  Again.  During the primary campaign, he refused to, explaining that he'd worn one after Sept. 11 but then stopped because it “became a substitute for, I think, true patriotism.”

PLEASE, PLEASE, REPORTERS WITH BRAINS  —  I spent most of today in bed with some kind of nasty cold.  So I only caught up on any news this evening.  And I must confess to being little short of astounded by the avalanche of press BS I'm reading on Barack Obama's position on Iraq.

Former Sen. Jesse Helms dies at 86  —  Republican known as ‘Senator No’ served 30 years before retiring in 2003  —  RALEIGH, North Carolina - Former Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, a leading conservative from North Carolina who served 30 years in the Senate before retiring in 2003, has died, the Jesse Helms Center said Friday.

Former Sen. Jesse Helms dies  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, a North Carolina Republican who became an icon to conservatives, died Friday at the age of 86, a senior congressional source said.  —  The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank …