When we last saw our courageous Republican Superfriends, they were reeling from even further setbacks in their struggle to keep 'Merica from the terrorist tentacles of the shadowy Dr. Baracko! But fear not, faithful reader, for the feckless Democratic Leadership would yet again offer a helping hand to the Republican Superfriends in their moment of dire need!

(Updated to reflect the Iraq War vote, and with addendum)

Tonight, on the cusp of the final two Democratic primaries, I find myself reflecting on something other than superdelegates, elected delegates, or What-Will-Hillary-Do. I've noticed that the nation seems to be taking a breath - a long, slow inhalation that has lasted for days, if not weeks - as it collectively tries to make sense of the fast-paced yet historic nominating process.

This Scott McClellan tell-all certainly has seized the media and blog spotlight of late, and well it should. There's much meaning to mine from this former Bush administration insider's many post-hoc accusations.

I've been wishing I had more time lately to blog - particularly now, with all the things that are being said about McClellan's story. Last night, for instance, I was idly listening to Anderson Cooper's show on CNN while getting ready for bed, when something Jessica Yellin said caught my otherwise distracted ear:

Let's have another look at this John Hagee fellow whose endorsement John McCain was finally forced to renounce only because of his recently revealed musings on the usefulness of Adolf Hitler. An endorsement McCain had actively sought and obtained before this latest oopsie, when Hagee had only made perfectly acceptable statements about New Orleans deserving Hurricane Katrina because some people in the city wanted to have a "homosexual parade," and about Catholicism being the "Great Whore of Revelation 17."

The following video shows a portion of one of Hagee's videotaped tumbles down the circus-tubes of madness. Take a moment to refresh your recollection of just how disturbingly well-prepared and funded was this little slice of Hagee's bizarro fancy, then see me on the other side.

This very flattering picture of Dick Cheney was taken today, during a commencement speech for new Coast Guard graduates in Connecticut. Judging from the content of his speech, the hat was not only a Texas-style head accessory, but also a vestiary middle finger to the world. It put an exclamation point on the now-clear fact that Bush and Cheney intend to swagger past their final days in office with every bit as much empty-headed bluster as the first time they recklessly aimed their silver-plated six-shooters at the country and the global community. Associated Press:

Today, the reliably unctuous Dick Morris, useful idiot for the Fox News Free-and-Helpful-Advice-For-Democrats Network, descended from another cosmic plane to tell America what it wants in the next president. In a column with a title like a teenager's assessment of an after-school parking lot brawl, Dick Morris presents a picture-perfect example of the funhouse-mirror delusions of Republican sympathizers:

There has been much discussion lately in political circles, on blogs, and on the news talk shows that the Republican "brand" has been badly damaged, and that Republicans are now trying to figure out how to deal with the reality of the damage wrought by almost eight years of nearly unbridled GOP rule. For instance, after Democratic candidate Travis Childers won last week's special election in a deeply Republican district in Mississippi, former contender for the Republican presidential nomination Mike Huckabee discussed the problem in terms of the toxicity of the "Republican Brand" (Huckabee begins speaking about 1:50 into the video):

Just a moment ago, in response to George W. Bush's and John McCain's attack on Obama as "appeasing" Iran and terrorist organizations, Obama said, "If George Bush and John McCain want to have a debate about protecting the United States of America, that is a debate I am happy to have any time, any place, and that is a debate that I will win, because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for."

Today's excellent Washington Post column by Harold Meyerson is required reading for any citizen who wants to halt and hopefully reverse the criminally authoritarian abuses, negligence, and maliciousness of the last several years:

When we last saw our Republican Superfriends, the political outlook was grim, and the time to fateful Election Day was inexorably counting down! But fear not, dear reader, for the Republican Superfriends have the unlikeliest of allies at their side - Congressional Democrats!

-- CHAPTER I --

"I've just intercepted a top-secret communique from deep within the sinister and shadowy Liberal Legion," announced CIA Director Michael Hayden, clutching a floor-length cascade of paper in his tiny, pink fingers. He spun around on an impeccably shined shoe to face Captain W., the great and courageous leader of the Republican Superfriends, and the Infallible Decider-in-Chief of the Holy American Empire.

Glenn Greenwald continues his admirable journey into the heart of propaganda darkness that helped grease the skids of public opinion for the United States to invade Iraq and ameliorate public outrage over its detainee abuses. In addition to keeping his own spotlight fixed on what should have been one of the most explosive and covered stories in a long time, Greenwald's own example of how a real journalist might actually behave - and what stories to which he or she should actually pay attention - is throwing into stark relief the yawning chasm between the press that we have and the press that we so desperately need.

But there is another powerful lesson to be derived from this lamentable state of our national discourse. In today's column, Greenwald highlights a typical response from figures in the media to the near-total silence over the military propaganda story:

When we last sawour Republican Superfriends, the political outlook was grim, and the time to fateful Election Day was inexorably counting down! But fear not, dear reader, for the Republican Superfriends have the unlikeliest of allies at their side - Congressional Democrats!

This is Johnny-Boy O'Smithy, reporting from CAPITAL CITY, U.S.A.! Newtman has just emerged from the Newt Cave to address a throng of his fellow Republican Superfriends about the growing threat of the evil Dr. Baracko, mad elitist muslim mastermind! I'm here with reporters from the L.A. Times, who earlier reportedthat Newtman today released his first Hero's Manifesto in years, to address the imminent approach of this terrible new supervillain!

The article is headlined "My Plea to Republican [Superfriends]: It's Time for Real Change to Avoid Real Disaster," and he warns that the Louisiana election is the latest bit of evidence that unless his party heeds his call, it is "going to suffer decisive losses this November."

He notes polls showing John McCain a potentially strong GOP presidential candidate, but then immediately argues that there is reason "that this extraordinary personal achievement should not comfort congressional Republicans."

He also cautions that if the problems afflicting the Republican "brand" persist, McCain's candidacy ...

could be doomed, as well.

WARNING TO VISITORS OF THE POLITICAL ZOO ("VOTERS"):

Do not, under any circumstances, confuse the McCain specimen for a member of the rare species of political animal known as Maverickus moderatus (common name: Broderbear).  What may appear safe to handle and feed is in fact highly dangerous, and a known carrier of a virulent strain of ideological rabies, a type of Pandervirus.

Over the weekend, I spent a lot of time in a car, which had its Sirius satellite radio tuned to CNN for much of the trip. One thing I "learned" during this time, by mere dint of its being hammered repeatedly into my skull, was that Hillary Clinton's and John McCain's "gas tax holiday" proposals were undeniably (1) pandering, insubstantive political maneuvers that will have little long-term or even short-term effect on gas prices, yet (2) politically effective.

David Broder, known to many on Tim Russert's speed-dial as "The Dean" of beltway journalism, yesterday weighed in on the renewed Reverend Wright soap opera - and by "weighed in," I don't mean to imply that Broder's commentary had any more heft than a plastic flag lapel pin.

Unlike so much of the endless, self-repeating, hand-wringing pablum concerning the apocalyptic Wright controversy, Broder's column could not even boast the accomplishment of filling me with an incandescent rage. Instead, as I digested his empty, formulaic words and phrases, I suddenly found myself simultaneously reading a barely hidden subtext that told an entirely different tale - the story of the media's own real-time collapse of anything meaningful whatsoever to say about this tired imbroglio.

Strikingly, the conservative Washington Timesagain has a story about McCain's struggle to exercise leadership and control over his own party:

Over the past two days, I have written about how Senator McCain's refusal or inability to force the North Carolina Republican Party not to run its Reverend Wright ad raised serious questions about McCain's character and leadership, and how DNC Chairman Howard Dean admirably pressed this very case.  Since then, I have been surprised at the level of disarray into which this story has thrown the McCain campaign and the GOP.  For the same reasons I first referenced, and especially now, Democrats need to ratchet up the pressure and keep the spotlight on these developments.