HMM: Whoever wins this second referendum, Scotland loses.

Why now? Well, the First Minister, with breathtaking casuistry, insists that Scotland should make its choice once the outcome of the Brexit negotiations is clear. But that is, of course, only one part of the package – it gives us no time to look at what comes next for the UK, the replacement deals, the evolving nature of its economy and society, the evolution of the EU, before us Scots have to make what will this time surely be a final and irrevocable decision.

She’s rushing us, because she thinks that gives her the best chance of winning: while all is chaos and uncertainty, with the UK’s reputation at a global low, when the economic predictions are at their most gloomy, and with, as she put it today, the Tories looking like they’ll be in No 10 till 2030.

The Nats have done their prep work and covered the angles. Ms Sturgeon is a much more attractive and conciliatory salesperson than was the toadish Mr Salmond. She promises a “frank” evaluation of an independent Scotland’s prospects, the lack of which did them so much damage in 2014.

She says that at a moment as definitive as Brexit, it is not for her, one politician, to decide Scotland’s future, it is for the Scottish people: a great line. And the separatists hope the “take back control” mood that drove Brexit will equally persuade Scottish voters to overlook the very real economic challenges of an independent state in favour of a vote based on culture, place and power.

That could be a powerful appeal, and, for good or ill, feels more in tune with our times.

EMILY ZANOTTI: Life After Ryan: Sen. Cotton May Soon Be Congress’ New Bossman and No. 1 Heartthrob.

Now, though, these two Congressional heartthrobs are locked in a battle that goes beyond the mere size of their biceps: a struggle over how the Republican Party will handle repealing, replacing or reforming the Affordable Care Act.

Ryan has, of course, proposed the American Health Care Act, which accomplishes some of the GOP’s campaign goals—like ending the healthcare mandate, for example, and guaranteeing right of free exercise for religious health care workers. But it is far from perfect, or even palatable, to most Republicans.

The Administration waffles on the plan daily, saying sometimes that “it’s just the first of a three-part” legislative series, and then pinning the blame for the bare-bones bill squarely on Ryan.

Sen. Cotton, however, has been riding to the rescue of concerned conservatives—perhaps the only one in the GOP badass enough to halt a train going swiftly off the tracks.

Ryan hasn’t exactly covered himself in glory, much less badassery, with the AHCA.

PUTIN’S STOOGES: Pennsylvania Students Arrive at Governor’s Doorstep to Demand No New Pipelines.

Hey, they’re doing more to bolster Putin’s position than Trump is.

IT’S DIFFERENT WHEN WE DO IT: GOP Senators Ask State Dept. to Investigate Obama Admin’s Meddling in Foreign Elections.

IT’S COMPLICATED: Russia conflicted on how to mark 100 years since revolutions.

I REMEMBER WHEN OBAMA SAID WE COULDN’T DRILL OUR WAY OUT OF HIGH ENERGY PRICES: Will Trump, Fracking Send Oil Prices Crashing?

THEY ONLY TALK ABOUT IT WHEN THEY AREN’T RUNNING FOR OFFICE: Democrats’ Sudden Amnesia about Obamacare’s Many Ills.

CALCAID HERE WE COME: Gavin Newsom adds a new plank to his 2018 campaign for California governor — a statewide universal healthcare system.

With the proposal, which is modeled on a city program he supported while mayor of San Francisco, Newsom is trying to stake a claim to an issue that may become pivotal in the contested race, especially among his biggest Democratic rivals.

Newsom told the Bee he’s consulting with healthcare leaders to craft a statewide system.

Healthy San Francisco, the first-in-the-nation, city-run universal healthcare effort he conceived, is funded in part by an employer mandate and covers uninsured adults living in San Francisco. Launched in 2007, the plan enrolls all residents without health insurance, regardless of their income, immigration status or existing medical conditions.

The California Legislature already has started exploring the idea of a adopting a state-run “single-payer” system that would operate similar to Medicare.

A similar plan was rejected in November by Colorado voters by a four-to-one margin. Something about doubling state taxes and spending in the first year didn’t seem to sit well with voters. And as reported last week, California’s top marginal income tax is already the highest in the nation — at 13.3% it’s nearly one-third higher than second-place Maine — so “soaking the rich” doesn’t seem like a viable way to raise the necessary funds. Complicating things, Health and Human Services already consumes nearly a third of California’s spending, $53,828,602,000 out of $170,862,847,000.

But California Democrats enjoy supermajorities in the Assembly and the Senate, so if Newsom takes over for Jerry Brown (as seems likely right now), there won’t be much even slowing them down from enacting “universal” coverage — aside from a few internal fights over how to divvy up the loot.

They’d probably call it “CalCaid One” or something similar, but “Venezuela del Mar” has a nice ring to it.

DANIEL GREENFIELD: OBAMA’S THIRD TERM.

After Trump secured the nomination, Obama’s people filed a wiretapping request. As he was on the verge of winning, they did it again. After he won, they are doing everything they can to bring him down.

It was always going to come down to this.

One is the elected President of the United States. The other is the Anti-President who commands a vast network that encompasses the organizers of OFA, the official infrastructure of the DNC and Obama Anonymous, a shadow government of loyalists embedded in key positions across the government.

A few weeks after the election, I warned that Obama was planning to run the country from outside the White House. And that the “Obama Anonymous” network of staffers embedded in the government was the real threat. Since then Obama’s Kalorama mansion has become a shadow White House. And the Obama Anonymous network is doing everything it can to bring down an elected government.

Valerie Jarrett has moved into the shadow White House to plot operations against Trump. Meanwhile Tom Perez has given him control of the corpse of the DNC after fending off a Sandernista bid from Keith Ellison. Obama had hollowed out the Democrat Party by diverting money to his own Organizing for America. Then Hillary Clinton had cannibalized it for her presidential bid through Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Donna Brazile. Now Obama owns the activist, OFA, and organizational, DNC, infrastructure.

But that’s just half the picture.

Obama controls the opposition. He will have a great deal of power to choose future members of Congress and the 2020 candidate. But he could have done much of that from Chicago or New York. The reason he didn’t decide to move on from D.C. is that the nation’s capital contains the infrastructure of the national government. He doesn’t just want to run the Democrats. He wants to run America.

The other half of the picture is the Obama Deep State. This network of political appointees, bureaucrats and personnel scattered across numerous government agencies is known only as Obama Anonymous.

This will end well.

IN THE EMAIL FROM MY FRIEND AMANDA S. GREEN:Dagger of Elanna (Sword of the Gods Book 2)

THE PLOT THICKENS: How John Brennan and Some Brits Tried to Tip the Election to Hillary.

PSSSSSST, BERNIE, THOUSANDS WILL DIE ANYWAY:  It’s on account of humans being mortal, something they might have forgotten to brief you on in the mothership. Sanders Can’t Say Where He Gets His Info That ‘Thousands Will Die’ if Obamacare Is Repealed

I LOVE IT WHEN MY FANS ARE OUT THERE, DOING GOOD WORK: Testimony to House Space Subcommittee. 

FASTER PLEASE:Trump advisers’ space plan: To moon, Mars and beyond.

IN WHICH I PUSH MY VERY SILLY BOOK.  OKAY, BOOKS: This is the first one: Dipped,  Stripped and Dead And this is the sequel: A French Polished Murder  Cozy mysteries.  Humorous.  Not particularly demanding.

MORE EVIDENCE SCHOOLS HATE BOYS:Want to Raise Successful Boys? Science Says Do This (but Their Schools Probably Won’t).

SPEND LESS, SAVE MORE?  IT WILL NEVER WORK! The unexpected frugal habits of rich people.

DO WE HAVE A NEW STANDARD FOR “A MESSY FAMILY LIFE?”: Mother and son are becoming father and daughter.

DO YOU THINK IT’S POSSIBLE THE MSM LIKES TRUMP LESS THAN THEY LIKED OBAMA? Horrid headlines on the health-care bill are about an alternate reality.

SHE LET HER CHILDREN RIDE THE SAFEST VEHICLE IN THE WORLD WITHOUT A CAR SEAT.  IMPEACH HER FATHER: Ivanka Trump’s Car Seat “Scandal”.

I BLAME GEORGE SOROS: The Anti-Pie Rebellion of 2017.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Female Drake U. Student Initiates Sex with Incapacitated Male, Lies About Key Details. Guess Who Got Expelled? University wouldn’t let male fraternity brother file a Title IX complaint against his accuser, because of “retaliation.”

This encounter soon came to an end—John was too incapacitated to maintain an erection—and the pair ventured into the house. At this point, their accounts are hazy, confused, and contradictory. John remembered passing out in his bed and Jane telling him she was leaving. Jane remembered collapsing into a bean bag chair and waking up to discover John on top of her, wearing a condom. Her pants were pulled down. She claimed she told him to stop, he did, and she left. (Whether this actually happened is in serious dispute.)

But Jane did not go straight home. She went to another fraternity house, uninvited, and climbed into bed with an unsuspecting person. She “jumped on top of him,” and he told her to leave, according to the lawsuit.

She then headed to a different bedroom, removed her shirt, and initiated oral sex on a third person. She spent the night there, and went home in the morning.

And then decided she had been raped.

THEY TOLD ME IF WE ELECTED DONALD TRUMP, WE’D SEE AN EXPLOSION OF SEX DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE. AND THEY WERE RIGHT! When Your “Day Without Women” Press Release Announces You Are Violating Federal Law: You can’t give privileges to only one gender–even if it’s International Women’s Day. Lawyers, get busy.

AT AMAZON: Bestsellers in Grocery and Gourmet Food.

Plus, spring savings in Home and Garden.

IS THERE ANYTHING THEY CAN’T DO? How Alcohol and Caffeine Built Civilization.