So Nader is referring to the Green Party nominating convention as a "cabal" and describing Michael Moore as "like a giant beach ball, while Bush is in a snit because an Irish reporter asked him tough questions, and Cheney is proud of the fact that he verbally flipped off Senator Patrick Leahy.

All of which, I think, makes John Kerry look like the grown-up in the race right now.

Remember 1992? Perot was in, then he was out, then he was in again, ranting all the while; the elder George Bush, meanwhile, spewed insults like a pro wrestler, calling Al Gore "Ozone Man" and saying of Gore and Clinton, "My dog Millie knows more about foreign affairs than these two bozos." By late October, if you wanted to vote for an adult, it was clear you had to vote for Clinton. You could paint him as the guy you couldn't trust because he'd once been a shaggy-haired peacenik, but he sure looked as if he'd have the steadiest hand on the tiller. Twelve years later, something similar might be happening.