Well, thank God for Republican self-evaluations, such as they are, or I would have struggled to find much to write about today. Here are some final bites from the bottom of the cookie jar:

* Politico‘s David Rogers looks into why John McCain so decisively turned against Hagel, and confirms it’s all about Lindsey!

* Jonathan Bernstein mulls Senate retirement patterns.

* Mississippi gets around to ratifying the 13th Amendment!

* At Ten Miles Square, Harold Pollack talks to Jonathan Cohn about health reform.

* At College Guide, Naomi Schaefer Riley argues today’s college admissions essays help make kids “stupid and selfish.”

And in non-political news:

* Average U.S. gasoline prices have risen for 32 consecutive days.

To close this Presidents’ Day/Washington’s Birthday, here are the Presidents of the United States of America again performing “Volcano.”

Selah.

Ed Kilgore

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.