Bringing You Up to Date...

We thought it might be nice to catch up with some of our stories from earlier in the year and see just how well they've held up over time:

• In April we wrote about the sordid Nazi sex scandal surrounding Max Mosley, head of Formula 1. Well, it's almost a month later, and Mosley is hanging in there, if barely. He was persona non grata in Barcelona at yesteday's Spanish Grand Prix, and was informed that he was not welcome at the Bahrain Grand Prix earlier in the month. Amidst continued calls for his resignation, Mosely vows to step down in 2009 (and not before) even if he receives a vote of confidence at a special meeting in June of Formula 1's governing body, the FIA. How likely any of this is to happen is anyone's guess - considering the perpetually dysfunctional nature of Formula 1 management, a vote of confidence would be somewhat less than unthinkable. However, if you look high in the sky, you can still see the vultures hovering, looking somewhere for a corpse. Mosley, it should be added, has retained as his PR man a former advisor to Heather Mills. . .

• Earlier in the year, we mentioned that Obama seemed to be avoiding some of the pitfalls of his liberal predecessors. The thought was that, in downplaying the inflammatory rhetoric that often encouraged - nay, forced - conservatives to support a Republican despite their personal misgivings, Obama was increasing his chances of winning in November. Well, that's pretty much gone down the drain, hasn't it? Between the Rev. Wright controversy, the "bitter" voters of Pennsylvania, and the perpetually disgruntled and only recently proud-to-be-an-American Michelle Obama, the Illinois senator has managed to fit quite well into the traditional political landscape. Once again the Democrats seem intent on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

• But will they succeed? In losing, that is, rather than in winning. That certainly depends on how well John McCain can succeed in not shooting his mouth - or his foot - off. In February we compared McCain to his Arizona predecessor, Barry Goldwater, as a man who would rather defeat his opponents than win the presidency. However, in the comments section Bobby quite rightly pointed out that the Democratic contest might wind up doing more to unite the Republican base than McCain ever could. McCain hasn't given up though, criticizing North Carolina Republicans for running an anti-Obama commercial that sought to use Rev. Wright's rhetoric as an issue. He might be backing away from that, however, having come under a fair amount of criticism from conservatives (who continue to wonder "whose side are you on, anyway?"). It remains to be seen how McCain will handle a campaign in which he unexpectedly appears to have a chance of winning. Will success spoil Rock McCain? We'll find out.

• One last thought on Max Mosley - don't you keep waiting for Kenneth Mars to show up somewhere?