WASHINGTON -- Just when you thought American higher learning couldn't get any more ridiculous, along come demands for warning labels on provocative works of literature.

WASHINGTON -- When my neighbor gleefully reported that Bill Maher had dedicated a searing monologue to me for a column about the Donald Sterling/Cliven Bundy rants, my first thought was, Nah.If I tussled with everybody who tossed a brick through the window, I'd never get the draperies hung.

WASHINGTON -- This is the time when Americans renew their hatred of Washington and Washington wallows in a bittersweet cocktail of self-love and self-loathing.

Which is to say, this is White House Correspondents' Association weekend, with the dinner Saturday night amid a galaxy of pre- and after-parties. Attendant to these events is the also annual handwringing about the dinner's value.

WASHINGTON -- The Cliven Bundy spectacle in Nevada has provided a Wild West backdrop for our hottest political issues as we gallop toward the midterm elections.

Politically, the conflict between the Bureau of Land Management and the Bundy family has highlighted the importance of picking one's battles wisely. Suffice to say, a smattering of pundits and politicians drank from the wrong chalice.

WASHINGTON -- The word is out that Chelsea Clinton is with child, making the favorite Democratic presidential nominee a soon-to-be grandmother.

The headlines were inevitable -- "Grandma Hillary" -- followed by the similarly crucial question: Will being a grandmother help or hurt Hillary Clinton's chances in the 2016 election?

WASHINGTON -- The new "agreement" between Russia, the U.S. and our allies is exactly what the former KGB agent ordered.

This isn't to say it's not a good "prospect" for ending tensions in Ukraine, as President Obama has said. But neither should it surprise anyone that Vladimir Putin is willing to step back from that country -- not to ease economic sanctions but to satisfy his own designs.

WASHINGTON -- One approaches the race fray with trepidation, but here we go, tippy-toe.

The race cards have been flying so fast and furious lately, one can hardly tell the kings from the queens.

WASHINGTON -- In selecting Stephen Colbert to replace David Letterman as host of the "Late Show," CBS has waged war on America's heartland -- or so proclaims that Palm Beach font of heartland mirth, Rush Limbaugh.

Don't you believe it, Heartlanders.

WASHINGTON -- H.L. Mencken gets a workout in election years when voters are reminded by pundits of the curmudgeon's observation that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

Mean. But true?

WASHINGTON -- "Once an agent, always an agent."

This was the terse response of Nina Khrushcheva on New Year's Eve 1999 when her mother commented favorably about the new president, Vladimir Putin, who was then speaking on TV.