The media's narrative concerning the present primary contests seems to be that Obama is building up a formidable head of steam, and that Clinton must have Texas and Ohio, and is looking to those as far as campaigning goes. However, Virginia may be closer (or less certain) than the pundits would have you believe.

Karl Rove has sounded a conciliatory tone on the conservative / McCain rift lately. As a counterpoint, ex-Wonkette and current Time editor Ana Marie Cox produces some vintage film of Karl Rove in 2000 saying, about John McCain, that "...if you're not with him, he belittles you, he makes fun of you, he disparages you." Apparently Karl thought McCain just wasn't a uniter, like Karl's old boss. Video after the jump.

After posting a record $38.7 billion loss in 2007, General Motors has decided to offer some 74,000 hourly union employees either a buyout or early retirement. If you post a loss like that in a year that you also make $9 billion in cost cuts, some aspects of your model probably need to be addressed. According to the Post, UAW saw this coming and projects the total buyouts to be around 20,000 employees.

Some days I would rather not live in interesting times: I thought the news of a Russian Tu-95 bomber buzzing the USS Nimitz was strange enough, yet another step in a long series of aggressive displays against the West by Putin's Russia. So imagine my political-science surprise when Putin passive-aggressively threatened to nuke the Ukraine if they join NATO and play nice on the US missile shield. But hey, why would we ever worry about foreign policy or international affairs, right? Right?

At first it seemed like America's most major financial pitfall of immediate concern was subprime mortgages, and how the structure of such debt (and the staggering multitudes of people saddled with it) would ultimately affect the economy.

Today the New York Times has coverage of how credit problems are spreading into prime mortgage territory as well as other industries. I am sure it is no coincidence that such coverage comes on the same day that the Treasury and HUD announce a new federal plan to aid homeowners in delaying foreclosures.

...by a FISA amendment vote of 31 - 67.

Clinton hits the ground running in El Paso with rallies and other events, and Burnt Orange Report's Karl-Thomas Musselman was there to see a training session for Obama staff — more than 200 staff, that is — in Austin.

Both the Clinton and Obama campaigns have agreed to a debate on the UT campus on Thursday, February 21. Things are getting a little busy around these parts.

You knew it was coming: now Huckabee is officially calling for a recount in Washington.

A vote to ratify a deal reached with studios and producers over the weekend will be voted on tomorrow. It seems like the strike may actually finally be over. Or at least this one is — the rumor I'm hearing now is that the Screen Actors Guild may take similar action to secure compensation for their own work in new media distribution models.