If anyone’s wondering why I haven’t written about the “Republican dissing Obama at White House” story, it’s because it bores me to death. We know what these people think of him.

Here are some midday news/views baked goods:

* David Ignatius explains the Saudi breach with the U.S., and its echoes in U.S. relations with Egypt, Jordan, UAE and Israel.

* Herman Cain lashes out at the Devil, and the three women who “lied” about him during his presidential campaign.

* TPM’s Erich Lach looks into a mysterious and apparently far-reach ethics investigation going on in Wisconsin that may be getting close to Scott Walker.

* The Atlantic‘s Matthew O’Brien discusses research from Oregon showing Obamacare coverage has no real impact on willingness to work.

* At TNR, Noreen Malone meditates on the unlikely advent of Governor Terry McAuliffe.

And in non-political news:

* Thanks to last week’s rash of college football upsets, cup runneth over for This Week in Schadenfreude.

Since we’ve decanted the bottle, here’s some more James Brown Live: performing “Sex Machine” with Fred Wesley and the J.B.’s in Rome in 1971. Great fun.

Back in a bit.

Ed Kilgore

Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.