It really is obligatory. The road to this glorious convergence of eternal Hot Air memes has been long and rocky, my friends. It started with Meggie Mac’s declaration last January that “Sarah Palin is the only part of the campaign that I won’t comment on publicly,” wound on through the first teasing revelation last summer that Sarahcuda would figure prominently in her book, and detoured to surprising statements of respect for a hockey mom turned governor who, whatever one may think of her, can “kick ass” in politics. This is a journey we’ve taken, you and I. And now here we are.

Stephanopoulos naturally gets bogged down in dishing about Palin, which inexplicably seems to irritate McCain even though it’s the best way to help move her book, but the juiciest stuff is in ABC’s story about this, not the clip. Go figure that Team Maverick wouldn’t want someone who referred to their VP candidate as “The Time Bomb” out on the trail with them. As for the MegMac-haters in the audience, there’s something for you here too: The clip starts with her talking about being kicked off the bus and ends with her basically being disinvited from a White House dinner — as the dinner’s getting under way. Exit question one: Will she crack the Amazon Top 100? She’s at #896 as I write this but that’s up from #1,566 just an hour or so ago. Exit question two: What to make of the fact that the book currently being featured with hers in the “Frequently Bought Together” feature is … this one?