This whole article is going to be just sheer speculation on my part, I'm going to admit that up front. But I can't help but wonder if we're truly seeing a few tried-and-true "wedge" issues -- that Republicans have long relied upon -- losing their edge. Public opinion seems to be blunting their effectiveness at doing what wedge issues are usually used for: driving voters apart, and (hopefully) into your party's camp. The two issues are gay marriage and gun control (specifically, background checks).

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The news that "Plan B" -- a pill to be taken as soon as possible after unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy -- will now be sold to all young women age 15 and older (instead of 17 and older, as it was previously) is nothing short of laughable, in multiple ways. The Obama administration is trying to have it both ways on the "morning after" pill, and by doing so are taking a firm anti-scientific stand for irrationality. The only real question now is whether they will be found in contempt of court for disobeying a federal judge's ruling to let science triumph over politics, or whether they will appeal the ruling, firmly standing up for politics over science.

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Since I spent yesterday on the subject of Syria, I thought I'd follow up with today's movement and signals from the White House. Don't have any real analysis today, just passing along the recent developments, that's all.

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We seem to be at one of those "decider" moments on the world stage. President Obama stated that use of chemical or biological weapons by the Assad regime in Syria would be a "red line" or a "game changer" and that America would respond to such use in unspecified ways, with serious consequences. The evidence is now in, and several intelligence agencies (in several countries) now say it is likely that Syria has indeed used such weapons, most likely the poison Sarin. This is the decision point Obama now faces.

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That was all a prelude to the breaking news today: "Congress moves at lightspeed, to fix a problem that would have hit them personally, as they take yet another weeklong vacation instead of doing the nation's business." Could've knocked me over with a feather. Ahem.

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Just time for a few quick news items that seem to be begging for comment by yours truly... and as is our tradition for these disjointed columns, we will present these in true Herb Caen fashion, practicing a bit of three-dot journalism in homage...

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In a word, your assignment is woefully incomplete on a single subject: marijuana. This word appears not once in either document, which is kind of astounding since this is truly the only part of the White House drug policy which currently (and desperately) needs addressing, given the changing political situation. To put this another way, your paper might have garnered a higher grade last year, but we now live in 2013, and you have failed to address -- at a minimum -- the fact that the states of Colorado and Washington have now legalized recreational marijuana, and the number of states which have approved medicinal marijuana is approaching 40 percent. By failing to use the word "marijuana" once, you are ignoring the entire point of the assignment, which is why your grade range is currently just above abject failure.

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What are the chances comprehensive immigration reform is actually going to happen this year? Your guess is really as good as mine, since we're only at the beginning of a very long path -- one that leads to Obama's desk, but one that also has a lot of dead-ends and side branchings off to legislative doom. Whether a bill can make it through the Senate and (especially) the Republican-controlled House is a very open question, even without the complications of the Boston Marathon bombers.

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Some weeks, I sit down to write this weekly wrapup, and find that there isn't that much to talk about, because nothing much happened that particular week.

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It has been more than a day since the horrific act of terror at the Boston Marathon happened. Nobody knows much of anything, at this point, but it certainly hasn't stopped some from taking their free-floating anger and directing it at their own particular "usual suspects." This is pointless, but it is also hard to ignore, as we all wait for actual proof, real data, and the identification of any possible perpetrator of such a tragedy.

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