• FOR THOSE MOURNING THE DEATH OF THE PUBLIC OPTION: Here, read this thing by our old flame Nate Silver, who basically argues that the fate of a public competitor to private insurance was always pretty precarious. At any rate the poor old public option is probably not worth saving at this point, lest we throw out the proverbial baby with “half a loaf” of bath water. Nate Silver has turned into a pragmatist sellout just like his old man (Barack Obama). [FiveThirtyEight]

Gail Collins is not as boring as Bob Herbert, as abrasive as Maureen Dowd, as loopy as Bill Kristol, as assy as David Brooks, or as 2,000-word ranty as Frank Rich, so she doesn’t command as much attention as many of her fellow New York Times columnists. But she seems like a sensible sort with a subtler sense of humor, and today she has some very reasonable things to say about Barack Obama. Go read it, ye wounded liberals, and meet your new Barry, same as the old Barry. [New York Times]