The least surprising news of the week is that getting dressed down at the White House correspondents dinner did nothing to persuade Maureen Dowd and other opinion makers that their fantastical depictions of presidential power are actually puerile and lazy. Less than a month after Republicans rejected Obama’s budget — Chained CPI and all — gauzy platitudes about leadership are back in vogue.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Jake Sherman http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=C7AF3FCB-804A-41F5-BD6E-6993579B527F (A House In Chaos) reports that the very people Obama’s supposed to “lead” to a budget deal (or a deal on anything) are perhaps more dysfunctional and reactionary than at any point since they came to power.