Dear Diary: It a relief to have staffers and allies who know instinctively how to react to events without my intervention. Take Gene Sperling's masterful warning to Bob Woodward... straight out of the old Chicago playbook. "Nice reputation you've got there Bob, we wouldn't want anything to happen to it would we?" said while hitting the palm of one hand with a tire iron held in the other, followed by a tweet from David Plouffe, who officially no longer has any direct connection with me, insinuating that the Watergate guy was losing it and it was high time for him to be put out to pasture... Something that a new generation of young hacks will not be sorry to see. Michelle had an interview with a Yahoo! reporter today, saying we are a "broccoli family." I guess so, though I have often been tempted 'accidentally' to knock over some of her broccoli plants while 'playing with' Bo. But enough about me...