Among the possibilities, Mr. Goldstein drew attention to federal Judges Sonia Sotomayor and Diane Wood, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, and he even threw Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the former Arizona governor, into the mix given her "appreciation of the dilemmas legislators face."

We even heard Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton mentioned as somebody Mr. Obama might choose. Look for an announcement "about the middle of June," the lawyer said.

WASH AND GO

The dreaded swine flu continues to be a top news story for the nation's broadcast media outlets, with top-of-the-hour updates that count every American who has suffered - and recovered - from what amounts to a mild strain of influenza.

Peter Greenberg, one of the country's more sensible broadcasters of NBC "Today" fame, cautions of the difference between "concern" and "fear."

"Remember the SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] and the SARS crisis?" he writes on PeterGreenberg.com. "Well, there was no SARS outbreak ... How about the avian flu? As things developed, about the only people infected (and there were incredibly few of them) were those who actually worked on chicken farms.

"And have you forgotten the hoof-and-mouth disease scare in the United Kingdom? Did that stop you from traveling to London? And when you got off the plane, were you greeted by any people frothing at the mouth? Of course not."

"And now we have swine flu," he noted. "[I]t gets down to your own personal hygiene routine. Do you wash your hands before and after eating? Before and after going to the bathroom? Stay hydrated? This is simple, basic, but effective common sense. Now, having said that, should you travel to countries like Mexico? Of course you can, and you should."