Scariest News Stories Of 27 February

Neither Dem nor Beloved Leader know very much about the world they effectively want to lead:

Hilary and O:

Near the end of Tuesday night’s Democratic debate between Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, one of the moderators, Tim Russert of NBC News, tossed up a jump ball. “What can you tell me about the man who’s going to be Mr. Putin’s successor?”

Mr. Obama looked expectantly at Mrs. Clinton, who grabbed for the ball. “Well,” she said with a chuckle, “I can tell you that he’s a hand-picked successor, that he is someone who is obviously being installed by Putin, who Putin can control, who has very little independence, the best we know.”

Partial credit.

Mr. Russert pressed on. “Who will it be? Do you know his name?”

“Um, Medved ——,” Mrs. Clinton began. “Medvedova, whatever.”

Close.

That would be Dmitri A. Medvedev, a 42-year-old former lawyer and high-ranking bureaucrat who is expected to be ratified by voters on Sunday as the next president of Russia.

A look of relief spread over Mr. Obama’s face. Mr. Russert asked him what he knew about the Russian president-to-be.

“Well, the — I think Senator Clinton speaks accurately about him,” Mr. Obama said. “He is somebody who was handpicked by Putin. Putin has been very clear that he will continue to have the strongest hand in Russia in terms of running the government.”

Beloved Leader:

Bush was asked at a news conference about the future of one of the nation's most important foreign relationships, one that has been increasingly troubled. He said he, too, was eager for insights into "how Russia intends to conduct foreign policy after Vladimir Putin's presidency. And I can't answer the question yet."

Of course, Beloved Leader still has to learn about the absence of WMDs in Iraq.

The questions, though, are: What does The Saint know about the next Russian president? Or how little does he know, if anything?