Moonbats and Wingnuts on the Mall

And this piece of propaganda supports which side, exactly?

Narley

READ MORE: george w. bush , iraq , protests , the mall , war on terror

Frist Still Responding to Visual Stimuli

News of Bill Frist's ethics troubles -- his well-timed dumping of family stock and subsequent probes by both the Justice Department and the SEC -- on top of his base-alienating stem-cell position shift has us wondering: At what point do we pull the feeding tube from his presidential ambitions?

Frist's Political Future Darkens Over Questions on Stock Sales [Bloomberg]

READ MORE: 2008 campaign , bill frist , justice department , sec , senate

Adorable Liberals Act Like They Have Influence on Government

A website is available today that allows you to let your Senators know, "I demand the rejection of John Roberts, by filibuster if necessary." The email promoting the site blares, "We can reject John Roberts and this is THE WAY we're going to do it!" We understand that a related site promises to make it rain gumdrops and have lollipops grow on trees and there'll be lemonade in the rivers and chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

VOTE NO ON THE JOHN ROBERTS NOMINATION (USE THIS FORM TO TAKE ACTION NOW) [TROTN]

READ MORE: SCOTUS , john g. roberts , liberals , protests

Gossip Roundup: Brian Lamb Marries

• Washington Whispers: Trent Lott found his refrigerator three blocks from his house and inside were two sentimental bottles of champagne. . . D.C. television viewers are sick of Barack Obama. . . George H.W. Bush's presidential library plans to add mock press briefing room. . . Robert Bork jokes, "How do you pronounce Souter in Spanish? Gonzales.". . . News-addicted actor Joe Pantoliano likes "the girls" on MSNBC, especially Natalie Morales. . . [USN≀]
• Lloyd Grove's Lowdown: Brian Lamb marries someone named Victoria. Spokeswoman: "They were married in a small, private ceremony in the Washington area and Brian was in the office all week". . . Hillary supporters hope "Inside the Bubble," a new documentary about the Kerry-Edwards campaign, will end his chances in '08. Kerry flack David Wade: "The 20 poor souls subjected to this movie will be reaching for caffeine and begging for old Lamar Alexander tapes on C-SPAN2. Michael Moore has nothing to fear. I think the working title was 'The Snore Room.'" [NYDN]

READ MORE: Barack Obama , Personalities , alberto gonzales , brian lamb , c-span , david souter , david wade , fidel castro , george h.w. bush , george w. bush , hillary clinton , inside the bubble , joe pantoliano , john f. kerry , msnbc , natalie morales , parties , robert bork , roger ailes , trent lott

Daily Briefing: 'Tighten Our Belt'

• Bush contemplates expansion of federal role in natural disaster response. [WP]
• Over 80% of FEMA contracts for Katrina cleanup were no-bid or decided among limited competition. DHS inspector general: "When you do something like this, you do increase the vulnerability for fraud, plain waste, abuse and mismanagement. We are very apprehensive about what we are seeing." [NYT]
• Louisiana asks for $40b from federal government. Mary Landrieu: "We're going to fight hard for every dollar." [WP, WSJ]
• Bush asks White House Budget Director Joshua Bolten to "tighten our belt." Bolten: "The disaster response is a relatively short-term hit to the budget. If we're sensible in our spending, both on the disaster response and on belt-tightening elsewhere, and we keep strong economic growth policies in place, I believe we can still meet the president's target of reducing the deficit in half by 2009 and remain on track with a steadily declining deficit path, either reaching or heading very close to balance." [WSJ]
• Roberts expected to pass Senate with 64 votes. [USAT]

READ MORE: Democrats , Republicans , SCOTUS , bill frist , budget , commander in chief , congress , dick cheney , fema , george w. bush , homeland security , john g. roberts , joshua bolten , karen hughes , katrina , louisiana , mary landrieu , mitt romney

Future Borgias of America

The New Republic's Franklin Foer reports from this summer's skullduggery-laden College Republican Convention, which elected a South Dakota kid named Paul Gourley, a self-professed "hick" as its new chair. The College Republicans are the great proving ground for made political operatives in the GOP--past presidents include Lee Atwater, Karl Rove, and Jack Abramoff. Foer says his favorite dirty trick involves a plainly forged fax that created a slate of dubiously legitimate Missouri delegates. But for our money, it's hard to beat this one, courtesy of the aw-shucks "hick" Gourley:

The College Republicans sent out their solicitations on the letterhead of such nonexistent groups as "Republican Headquarters 2004" and "Republican Elections Committee." Next, it helps to fill the missives with as much emotion as a Wagnerian opera. "Apparently the Democrats don't have any concern about hurting you, your family or America," one letter read. "Their sole concern is revenge--vengeance--retribution." The most infamous of these missives included an American flag lapel pin. It urged recipients to pray over the pin and return it, along with $1,000. According to the letter, the pin would be worn by the president as he accepted the Republican nomination: "I could have sent you your own lapel pin, but I knew that it wouldn't mean nearly as much to you as being able to give a special gift to President Bush during this challenging time." This letter, incidentally, bore the signature of Paul Gourley. . . Finally, it helps to send these letters to senior citizens, who are lonely and sometimes suffering from dementia. "I don't have any more money," Cecilia Barbier, a 90-year-old retired church council worker and College Republicans contributor, told the Seattle Times. "I'm stopping giving to everybody. That was all my savings that they got." In a single year, Barbier made 300 donations for the organization, adding up to $100,000.

At last, we're beginning to see what they mean by "compassionate conservatism." --HOLLY MARTINS

Swimming with the Sharks
[TNR; free, but still irritating, registration required]

READ MORE: GOP , college republicans , dirty tricks

BREAKING: WaPo Uses Style Section to Report on Superficiality Instead of Just Propagating It

Perhaps mindful of its own coming reckoning with flat circulation figures, the WaPo juggernaut dispatches Ariana Eunjung Cha to nail the story of how these fancypants "celebrity magazines" keep raking in the readers and ad bucks. Cha delivers the goods, in a singularly rapt account of an Us Weekly photo meeting:

Around 7:15 p.m., [Peter] Grossman, 30, a music education graduate student turned photo editor, came in bringing more shots--including one that showed [Brad] Pitt's and [Pitt's adopted daughter] Zahara's faces, but extremely blurred. The room of editors erupted into a rapid-fire free-for-all.

"It's a setup!"

"Who cares?"

"He's really buff."

"But he seems to have a careless hold on said baby."

"Cute! Cute!"

Yes, fellow Americans: Nominal adults are pulling down six-figure salaries--and more; Cha reports that Us Weekly editor in chief Janice Min "earns" about $1.2 million a year--for yelling things like "Cute" and "He's really buff." Is it any wonder the apocalypse seems to be encroaching? Though then again, on the upside, Us can at least claim credit for there being one less music grad student in the world. --HOLLY MARTINS

Print Media's Hot New Stars: Celebrity Magazines [WaPo]

READ MORE: celebrity mags , signs of the apocalypse , style section , washington post

Cause You Know, Those Sewage Connections Are Completely the State and Local Governments' Resonsibility

Remember when President Bush promised to have 200,000 or so evacuated families housed in readymade trailers New Orleans lickety-split, like in mid-October? It seems like, oh, only last Thursday. But as Spencer Hsiu and Ceci Connelly report in today's WaPo, there's no project too big for a crony-infested agency like FEMA to mung up royally:

Builders of manufactured housing say red tape has bottlenecked contract orders, which may take as long as 12 months to fill. Congress is considering a new program to offer housing vouchers to the displaced. Meanwhile, planners from Baton Rouge, La., to Washington fear there is no government-wide housing strategy, and no one is certain how many displaced families will return to the Gulf Coast. . . . The manufactured housing industry says it will take six months to build 40,000 trailers. Of 600 trailer sites proposed so far, only 5 percent have ready access to water, sewer, power and other services.

Maybe we should start planning now for Rita evacuees to bivouac on Barbara Bush's porch. --HOLLY MARTINS

Housing the Displaced Is Rife with Delays [WaPo]

READ MORE: execution not exactly the bush administration's middle name , fema , housing , katrina

Smile and Say Conservative Hegemony

[Larry Downing/Reuters]

READ MORE: Funny Pictures , SCOTUS , confirmation hearings , orrin hatch , patrick leahy

Gossip Roundup: Bianca Still Unavailable

• Names & Faces: Condom manufacturer in China is selling Clinton and Lewinsky branded rubbers; company manager says, "The names we chose are symbols of people who are responsible and dedicated to their jobs. I believe Bill Clinton cannot be unhappy about this because he's a very generous man.". . . FBI viewed John Lennon's drug use as the reason he was not a communist threat. [WP]
• Lloyd Grove's Lowdown: Bloomberg's Bianca Davie was not available to comment on yesterday's "Where's Bianca?" incident. [NYDN]
• Rush & Molloy: Antonin Scalia will be the grand marshal of New York's Columbus Day Parade. [NYDN]
• Cindy Adams: Bette Midler wants an anti-Bush Million Man March. [NYP]

READ MORE: Personalities , antonin scalia , bette midler , bianca , bill clinton , george w. bush , john lennon , monica lewinsky