Nothing like kicking a man while he's down:

A judge ruled Tuesday that neither former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean nor the secretary of state had authority to agree to a blanket seal covering 145 boxes of records from his 11 years as governor.

Superior Court Judge Alan W. Cook said Dean and the state must identify the roughly 600,000 sealed documents and describe why each of them is protected by executive privilege. An appeal of the ruling to the state Supreme Court is likely.

"Howard Dean is now getting a lesson in government openness," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, which last fall filed the suit seeking to open the papers.

But sometimes, the guy who's down kicks himself:

Democratic front-runner John Kerry looked to Wisconsin on Tuesday for a victory to snuff out the struggling campaign of Howard Dean, who denied his organization was in turmoil and that a loss would end his bid for the nomination.

"We're moving forward and we're gonna go to Super Tuesday and on beyond that. We have very strong field organizations," Dean told "Today" on NBC. "I think there needs to be a continued debate in the party about what we're doing."

It's over, Howard. It's been over since Iowa.

Do yourself and your party a favor and just go away.