Customer: “Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I’m looking at one right now.”

Pet’shop owner: “No, no he’s not dead, he’s — he’s resting! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian blue, isn’t it, aye? Beautiful plumage!”

– From “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”

11:45 a.m., Melrose Hotel, Foggy Bottom: It’s Day 7 of the Clinton Campaign Death Watch — a full week since the official arbiter of the Democratic primary, Tim Russert, declared the campaign over and Barack Obama the nominee. Hillary Clinton’s advisers continue to insist that the candidate’s prospects are very much alive, but the press isn’t buying it. Exhibit A: There are two press buses waiting at the hotel here for Clinton’s trip to her victory rally in West Virginia, but the entire press contingent doesn’t quite fill one. It isn’t until the entourage arrives at Dulles Airport that Clinton aides learn that the second bus is still idling, empty, at the hotel.