My friends, the last thing I would ever desire to do is to engage in unseemly gloating when my analysis proves to be fully, precisely, and uncannily accurate.

But as much as humility bids me remain silent, in the interest of journalistic integrity I feel compelled to remind the reading audience of my Astonishingly Accurate Prediction #4:

Samuel Alito will be confirmed by the Senate.  He will receive less than 60 votes, but there will be no Democrat filibuster.

I hesitate to point out (lest it somehow bring unwanted credit to your humble correspondent) that there are three predictions rolled into this single statement ...

(1) Samuel Alito will be confirmed.

(2) He will receive less than 60 votes.

(3) There will be no Democrat filibuster.

... and that all three of these predictions were fulfilled precisely.

And when one recalls that this prediction was made ... not on the eve of the vote ... not after the Committee hearings ... but on the 4th of December ... 

Well, dear friends, my duty as a journalist notwithstanding, I must desist from this line of thought lest I seem to be tooting my own horn.

But I shall return shortly with another prediction ... this one perhaps more breathtaking in its audacity than any of those preceding it.