This could be the Greatest Carnival Ever.

It's too early for the crowds to get ridiculous.

We would be remiss, however, if we neglected to point out the following error in the above-linked Times-Pic article.

The earliest date on which Mardi Gras can occur is Feb. 3, and the latest is March 9. While Mardi Gras hasn't fallen on Feb. 3 and isn't likely to do so anytime soon, it was on March 9 in 1886 and 1943.

Mardi Gras fell on a Leap Day in 1876, and it is scheduled to do so again in 2028. Since the celebration began in New Orleans in 1857, the dates with the most Fat Tuesdays -- seven -- have been Feb. 17 and March 1.

John Pope is confusing the beginnings of Fat Tuesday observances in New Orleans (which, in fact, go all the way back to the arrival of the French in Louisiana) with the advent of what we recognize as the "modern" Carnival celebration with the first Comus parade in 1857. The way the article is worded leaves an entirely different and inaccurate impression. But we can't expect the T-P fact-checkers to catch everything... not when they've got so much work to do on the Jindal Family Scrapbook.