After a much-needed week off, we will soon return to our regularly-scheduled programming. Here’s what we missed in the past five days:

• The blog Political Carnival posted a video of Rep. Paul Broun telling Wyatt Strother, an uninsured Athens resident who suffers from depression and can’t afford medication, that he can get treatment in the emergency room.

• Broun participated in a caucus meeting last week with other House Republican doctors, and afterwards had this to say: “After hosting two additional health care town halls in my district just yesterday, it’s clear to me that the American people still believe that we can improve America’s health care system without turning it over to the government.” Uh, that’s not what I heard, at least not at the Athens one.

Sorry, folks, this got lost in the shuffle, but former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland weighed in Wednesday for Bobby Saxon:

“Bobby is a true patriot, a veteran, a small business owner, and a leader who I know will stand up for the people of the 10th District. We must help a man of character like Bobby get to Congress.

“We have a clear choice in this election. On the one hand, we have Bobby Saxon. Bobby put his life on hold after September 11, 2001 to go fight for his country. Bobby is a man that doesn’t shy away from danger or a challenge. He is the kind of man that we need in Congress. The kind that will fight for people’s rights, stand up for the voiceless, and go toe to toe with those that want to destroy our country.

Godwin’s Law states that in any conversation on the Internet, someone will eventually compare someone else to Hitler.

Broun’s Law states that when anyone talks to the Athens congressman, he will eventually compare Democrats to the Soviets.

Rep. Paul Broun has a penchant for railing against Democrats, liberals and socialists, who are all the same thing to him. Their health care policies, tax policies, fiscal policies: all socialist. He bangs out a press release every time Nancy Pelosi offers someone a sip of her Coke.

His latest broadside, sent out Thursday by his congressional office (not his campaign), goes through the usual talking points about Fannie and Freddie, the housing market and the bailout. But he maaaaay have taken it a little too far this time.

According to Broun’s op-ed piece:

Sunday’s 10th District debate is already going down in lore as one of the most entertaining of the year. ABH coverage is here, the AJC’s story is here and the Atlanta Press Club is supposed to post video.

Dick Pettys of Insider Advantage highlights an angry exchange between Broun and Saxon over whether Broun dodged combat as a Marine reservist in the mid-1960s and misled voters about it.

Saxon: "… Will you look into that camera and tell the people of the 10th District why you’ve misled them about your military record?"

Good morning, all.

Guess who’s coming to dinner. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Former President Bill Clinton will appear at a fundraiser Saturday night in Atlanta for Senate candidate Jim Martin. General reception contribution: $100. Private reception contribution: $1,000. Standing next to the last president who oversaw economic prosperity in this country: Priceless. Politico breaks down the appearance thusly:

Remember when todo el mundo was freaking out about border security? It seems so long ago …

Americans for Legal Immigration reminded us of those bygone days today, announcing its endorsement of Rep. Paul Broun.

"Congressman Broun has consistently stood up against any form of Amnesty disguised as a new guest worker, temporary worker program, or comprehensive immigration reform," William Gheen of ALIPAC said in a press release.

Broun, who wants to build walls on the borders of both Mexico and Canada, also touts an A+ grade from Americans for Better Immigration.

Americans for Al Qaeda Sneaking In Through Mexico to Steal the Election hasn’t weighed in yet.

Full disclosure

Both 10th District candidates’ campaign finance disclosures, filed last Wednesday, keep turning up little nuggets of news gold.

The margin of error is too big to say for sure, but Democrat Bobby Saxon could be closing in on Rep. Paul Broun.

The Saxon campaign, with the help of retired University of Georgia professor John Hocking, released a poll of 300 people today that puts Broun’s support at 41 percent, Saxon’s at 31 percent and a surprisingly high 25 percent undecided.

The margin of error is plus or minus 6 percent, so Broun could be up as much as 47-25 or Saxon could be leading 37-35.

Saxon, obviously, reads the poll as confirming what he’s been saying all along: that he has a real shot in the heavily Republican 10th District.

Rep. Paul Broun infuriated some people when he said he’d skip the Athens Press Club debate, along with any others that might cross his path this election season.

It was a politically savvy decision – why give his underfunded opponent a forum to attack him? – but one that opened him up to charges of hypocrisy, given that he loudly criticized his 2007 opponent for doing the same to him.

Tenth District voters will have one chance, albeit brief, to see Broun and Democrat Bobby Saxon side-by-side.

I’ll try to sort this all out later and give you some analysis and smartass commentary, but I’m just going to throw this out here for now. Here’s what Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, and Democratic opponent Bobby Saxon had to say about this afternoon’s vote on the revised version of the $700 billion credit bailout.

Saxon wrote an open letter to Broun urging him to support the bill:

“Vote Yes.

“I urge you to put aside partisan bickering and act in the best interest of your constituents. The downward spiral of the stock market combined with the tightening of the credit markets can not continue. Too many people are hurting and many more will be added to the list if Congress fails to act in a bipartisan way to do what is best for America.

“This bill is not about Wall Street. It’s about Main Street.

Bashing the press is a Republican tradition dating back at least to Spiro Agnew, so I can’t blame one of Rep. Paul Broun’s most loyal lieutenants, Tim Echols, for accusing us of ginning up a fake campaign issue by criticizing Broun’s decision not to debate Democratic opponent Bobby Saxon.

Not debating is probably the right choice, at least politically. Broun has more to lose by taking the chance that Saxon slices and dices him in front of a live studio audience than by handing him a potent campaign issue – hypocrisy – to beat him over the head with. And, as Echols points out, Broun is under no obligation to help Saxon get his message out. Saxon should be doing that himself.

Some of Echols’ points, though, deserve elaboration.