Well, I hope everyone reading this has someone to love, up close or afar, on this Valentine’s Day, or can at least remember or hope for it.

Here are some final news/views items:

* Some good weekly economic indicators out, FWIW.

* After weeks of being coy, Lautenberg announces retirement. Corey Booker already in race to succeed him; Frank Pallone could soon challenge him.

* The Atlantic‘s Matthew O’Brien shows Rubio a captive of “terribly wrong” Say’s Law.

* At Ten Miles Square, Rhiannon Kirkland exposes the emptiness of Obama claim of “transparency” in counter-terrorism efforts.

* At College Guide, Richard Vedder equally unimpressed with Obama’s college reform pledges in SOTU Address.

And in non-political news:

* In case you’re staying home for Valentine’s Day and are thinking of watching a movie, here’s a list of 14 romantic comedies to avoid.

And if you are alone, here’s Joe Jackson again to sympathize with “Hit Single.”

YouTube video

Selah.

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Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.