esquire.com – Long about 10:10 Thursday night, after an altogether remarkable day of political rhetoric and fence-mending in Washington, Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times said that Senator Professor Warren would not be Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vice presidential candidate because, now that the general election pretty much has begun, HRC will have to “tack toward the middle.”

From a certain perspective, and I’m fairly sure it’s not the perspective he had in mind, Kristof was correct. HRC will probably edge back toward “the middle.” However, “the middle” is not where it used to be, blessings be unto Baal.