ON THE MYSTERY JET: Right this second, I’m liking the “pilot was a political activist” angle. Might change as the day goes on, but it is intriguing, and it is new.
CRIMEA: I’ve been trying to think of the right analogy for the lopsided pro-Russia vote: Not since–what? Not since WHO ran against WHO have we seen an election like this? Trouble is, I can’t think of good analogy. But there are crucial questions here: How tough will the EU be? Will the sanctions have impact? How quickly will Russia actually annex Crimea? And the larger question always shifts into some version of…Is the Cold War coming back? My answer is that Putin wants it to, but times are too different for him to pull that off. It’s very difficult to subjugate educated populations in the age of the internet unless they want to be subjugated. Maybe the Crimeans do. But larger Ukraine? Other parts of Eastern Europe? Forget about it!
GOP FIELD: Jindal’s in New York. CChristie’s continues to bob and weave. But the new CNN poll shows Rand Paul is still the man to beat. How will the others try to destroy him? On national security is how. Despite the isolation streak among Tea Partiers, a muscular defense is still one leg of the three-legged GOP stool. Watch the other beat up Rand with that. http://politicalticker.blogs.
ST. PREJUDICE: In the St. Pat’s coverage, it’s Don’t Ask, Don’t March! Probably a decent national version of the NY/Boston gay dust up. Even Guiness is taking a pass. http://www.washingtontimes.