So if you were dropped out of the sky -- or relocated from an island where you could not watch broadcast TV -- and found yourself in a bar drinking moderately with two opinionated fellows and gazing periodically at the muted TV screens overhead, those TV screens, yesterday at any rate, would give you the odd impression that Hillary Clinton was still running for her party's nomination and that Bill Clinton had said something inappropriate. Again.

Like Sergeant Hulka in Stripes. IT IS ALIVE.

This bugs me. It's as if everyone -- and by everyone I mean the MSM -- has decided to agree that 18 million women are standing in ranks, holding hands, and demanding that their candidate be honored and honored well while singing hymns to what was but can never be but might be again someday soon. Like in two weeks.

This of course is crap. Most of those Clinton voters, by which I mean the vast majority, have done what voters usually do when their candidate fails to win a nomination. They moved on. In most cases, they're watching the campaign unfold, checking their tire pressure, and not really giving the Clintons all that much thought. And while the various cable and network outlets seem to believe that shaky phone video showing Senator Clinton addressing a handful of supporters in someone's back yard is proof positive of a still-fervid movement that demands our constant respect and attention? I say Feh. And double Feh.

But beyond the Feh? How about some numbers. Okay. Approximately 12 percent of the Democrats polled say they're going to vote for McCain. Approximately 12 percent of the Republicans polled say they're going to vote for Obama. In other words, there's no there there no matter how many times Charlie Gibson tries to tell you otherwise. (And his own network is the outfit responsible for the listed numbers.)

Despite, you know, reality, it seems as though we'll be treated to two weeks of coy statements regarding Senator Clinton's plans, whether or not her name will be put into nomination, whether there will be a roll call, etc. (Call me crazy, but I'm guessing there will be nothing along these lines interrupting the GOP's convention.) And then, of course, wild-eyed speculation about what she'll say on Tuesday, or what Bubba will say on Wednesday. In other words, despite losing the primary, right now everyone is doing what the Clintons want them to do. They're talking about the Clintons.

Myself included. Sigh.

Bonus history note. The Sabine women were not raped, but kidnapped.

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To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard