Surely Senator Paul jests. Not.

Let's see.  There was Mad King George.  And Mad King Ludwig.  That's pretty tough company  for Sen. Rand Paul, but the Kentucky Republican is getting closer to making it a threesome.

Paul added another  claim to his bogeyman  behavior in the Senate this week by strangely linking federal flood insurance to the abortion issue. He warned that he would block a bill extending FEMA's flood insurance program for five more years unless the Senate  voted on a  measure declaring that life begins at the moment of conception - the so-called personhood concept.

Surely, he jests.   Surely,  he doesn't.  And his timing is awful, coming just as flooding caused by  Tropical Storm Debby was driving tens of thousands of Floridians from their homes.  Paul says he's "just trying to get  a vote for the people who elected me". Kentucky, the Beautiful.

Mad Senator Paul?  I'm getting used to the idea.

Kasich says no, then yes, or maybe, to FEMA

HOORAY FOR GOV KASICH! He decided to call for Federal aid after rejecting it for the victims of a tornado devastated swath in southwestern Ohio. For two days, we thought he was going to solve the deadly problem by sending umbrellas and pitchforks to the stricken area. During that crucial post-tornado period, the governor assured us that the state was perfectly capable of handling the desperate situation without having the Federal Emergency Management Agency move in. But now he says he only wants FEMA to "assess" the damage before his final approval. At the same time Kasich's aide Rob Nichols softened the governor's first position by saying he never ruled out asking for FEMA help in the first place. He just wanted to assess the crises himself . So now after several days of the governor's critical delay, I will flip-flop. No hooray for Gov. Kasich.

Helluva Job Brownie wrong again.

BIGGEST NON-STORY OF THE YOUNG YEAR: The many reports that Michael Brown, the deposed director of FEMA in the wake of Katrina, was calling for an Indianapolis victory over New Orleans in the Super Bowl. Who cared? Sorry, Brownie. No matter what Bush told you, you are a terrible prognosticator, too!