This is just over the top. He even puts a Presidential Seal on it — wait till the election’s over, please? Anyway, to see the whole Presidential Bracket, check out this Washington Post article and READ THE COMMENTS. They are very concerned about the President promoting gambling with this popular American ritual: MORE »

Former Virginia Sen. George “Macaca” Allen filled out an NCAA Tournament bracket, and it is pretty, and he will share it with the world! Allen, however, is incapable of performing even the simplest tasks without being comical. He predicts #5 seed Notre Dame will beat #12 George Mason, but that is way too politically risky for his already destroyed political career in Virginia. So he scribbles in the margin, “tho for George Mason,” so you know where his heart is. And for #7 Gonzaga versus #10 Davidson, he predicts Davidson, against all mathematical odds! To highlight this brilliant prophecy, he writes “upset pick” in the margin. It seems he’s using all this free time to finally pass the first grade. [Full-size here]

* Yes, it’s that time of year: cherry blossom season. The festivities kick off tomorrow. [WP; National Cherry Blossom Festival] MORE »

This Sunday’s shows undertook a major military operation. Between the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and “Operation Swarmer,” talking heads all but saluted. Russ Feingold managed to grab some of the spotlight, and his motion to censure President Bush gave Bill Kristol another chance to rock Chris Wallace’s world: Feingold “is smarter than the Democratic congressional leadership” and “deserves credit for taking a principled stand, and I honestly think he’s winning this debate.” That sound you heard is Nancy Pelosi’s head exploding. Dick Cheney did “Face the Nation” but did not make much news beyond the world’s most awesome Freudian slip: “Most of my predecessors spent a good part of their time as President–Vice President running for President.

Also, debuting this week on ABCNews.com was “The Green Room,” a brave attempt to wring every possible bit of hot air from the “This Week” panel while they stand around uncomfortably after the show wraps in the nondescript, motel-ish decor of ABC’s DeSale St. digs. Personally, I have always found pre-show green room chatter more interesting (everyone’s trying out their lines) and the whole thing strikes me as an empty attempt to show us another side of people who are basically one-dimensional, but I applaud this Taylorite approach to news content and hope that less practiced pundits do something stupid and/or inspired backstage in the future.

Top topics: Iraq, Feingold’s censure motion and by extension the NSA wiretap program.

One-hit wonders: Boston College’s Sweet Sixteen chances (”Meet the Press”); Joey Cheek, humanitarian (”This Week”); Mark McClellan, TREKKIE (”Fox News Sunday”)

Quotes to live by:
• Dick Cheney admits that shooting someone in the face is “one of those situations that’s difficult, that generates controversy.”
• Chris Wallace, SUPER GENIUS: “It seems to me that the Senators who are most critical of [the NSA wiretapping] program are the ones who know the least about it.”
• George Will lays it out: “We need to define victory down.”
• Sam Donaldson is totally high: “Russ Feingold threw the long ball… but it might connect, as the Washington Redskins learned in the mid-70s.”

Also, Shorter Chris Matthews Show: David Gregory observed that “George Bush is the George Clooney of Washington… but that’s a little bit of a patina.” Wha?

Full rundown appears after the jump.

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Poor Howard Dean! Republicans paint the DNC Chairman as out-of-touch, a loose cannon of the left — in a nutshell, crazy. Meanwhile, Dean can’t get no respect from his own party, with Nancy Pelosi et al. constantly second-guessing his decisions.

What’s a guy to do? Why, what any American male with a nagging wife would do: immerse himself in college basketball!

Dean appears to be quite the NCAA enthusiast, with not one but two entries in the DNC’s office betting pool. And even if his leadership skills are open to question, his basketball prognostication skills aren’t half-bad.

Find out how your favorite DNC staffers are doing in the office NCAA pool, by checking out the full standings — after the jump.

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* Because it’s never too soon to talk about how having gays at the Easter Egg Roll will destroy the foundations of the nation. [GotDetroit?]
* To everyone who’s ever felt like the review of Def Leppard’s Hysteria that they wrote for their High School Newspaper was substandard, gaze on the writing of George Clooney, and take heart. [HuffPo]
* The Promise Keepers are apparently amassing an air force. [The Toilet Paper Blog]
* Who the fuck are we kidding. We know that you are all talking about something else today. [Deadspin]