Der Furor

Who ordered Monday Cat Food Blogging and why isn’t there shredded TNR in my box?

[Editor: Photo from here, of course, and I know how to spell Fuehrer and Führer.]

Day to Day has an interview with Doyle McManus of The Los Angeles Times about the decision to run the story about tracking financial transactions.

The bottom line for the newspaper was they don’t trust this administration to tell them the truth, and don’t believe that there is any other way of providing oversight of what the government is doing. The Congress has abdicated its duty to monitor what the Executive is doing, so the press has an obligation to tell people what is going on with their government.

“Trust Me” doesn’t cut it any more.

From CNN: Democrats vow to block pay raises until minimum wage increased.

Harry Reid says he’ll block the Congressional pay raise until the minimum wage is increased. He reminded people that he knows the rules of the Senate and since there hasn’t been anything important happening lately, expect a problem for the “cat killer”.

Any newspaper who wants to increase their circulation need only hire James Wolcott to write their headlines:

Gripes of Wrath

Rush Corks His Bat

Poetry!

My surviving sides for the quarter finals.

The Netherlands loss was a sloppy game for all concerned, including the referee. The Swiss loss was pathetic – missing all of your penalty shots while being unable to stop any from the Ukraine was just bad football.

The Black Stars of Ghana showed a lot of class only losing by 3 goals to Brazil.

Publius has a fine rant and Karen provides the meat from a Bob Herbert op-ed in the New York Times on the coming transformation of the withdrawal from Iraq that the Republicans have spent days in the House and Senate calling “Cut and Run.”

Now that the Iraqis have called for withdrawal and General Casey has outlined a draw down that seems to have more to do with the American election cycle than conditions in Iraq, we will see the Republicans claiming that this was the “plan” all along but the Democrats had to be shown to be “politicizing” Iraq, before this “Republican plan” could be introduced.

If politicians stopped wrapping themselves in the flag, people might stop thinking that the flag had become so tattered, tainted, and ill-used that it needed to be purified by burning.

Update: they couldn’t find the final fool to screw up the First Amendment, so we are safe for the moment.  One vote too few, is too close.

Over at Glenn Greenwald’s place, Barbara O’Brien reminds everyone why the world was so certain that Saddam had WMDs: because Reagan and Bush I gave them to him. Yep, when Donnie Rumsfeld met with Saddam he had more than a pair of golden spurs in his saddlebags.

Tbogg has a nice little find from December 4, 2001: Treasury official Jimmy Gurule explaining how the Bush administration tracks financial transactions that benefit terrorists.

Billmon takes an in depth look at the old media reporting on Markos. I think the fear of change is a powerful motivator.

Filling in at Liberal Oasis, Avedon Carol wants to know why newspapers think they’ll increase subscriptions by endorsing the Republican party line in predominately liberal cities. I think stockholders should start asking that question. Fewer subscribers means lower ad revenue and reduced profits.