Everyone's favorite corporate Democrat, DCCC head and Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel, is apparently writing a book with fellow Clinton administration alum Bruce Reed.

Those of you who have been following the Washington Post's hamhanded attempts to silence criticisms of its new, horrible ombudsman have probably already seen that the Post has shut down comments on the main blog(s) devoted to the topic.

The famed Chicago department store, Marshall Field's, will be renamed Macy's, thanks to the evil corporate bean counters at Federated Department Stores, new owners of Field's.

Just when you thought things couldn't POSSIBLY get any worse, the evil geniuses of the GOP cook up another harebrained scheme that would be laughable if it weren't abso-frigging-lutely real, didn't likely involve tens of billions of dollars of our tax dollars, and involve sending armed satellites into space--which will probably ignite an arms race in space.

WASHINGTON - Congress' new blueprint for U.S. intelligence spending includes a mysterious and expensive spy program that drew extraordinary criticism from leading Democrats, with one saying the highly classified project is a threat to national security.

I was about to post an entry urging Kossacks to go to this Reuters story about this morning's Boston Globe article on Dubya's broken commitments to National Guard, because--to my utter surprise--it was one of the featured news stories on the Yahoo home page just a few minutes ago.  Curiously, I have since reloaded the page and the story is no longer there.  Hmmmmm.  (Didn't I read somewhere that one of the founders of Yahoo is a big GOP donor?)

Or more accurately, "Should the government crackdown on political advertising by 527 groups?"

You know what to do.  http://www.cnn.com

We all know Alan Keyes is crazy, but here are some examples of just how crazy:

Keyes also advocates the idea of executive nullification, giving a governor or the president the authority to disobey a court order he believes violates the Constitution.

Torture CNN!

http://www.cnn.com (scroll down, right-hand side)

The first installment of what could be a daily feature (the source material is endless) comes from an editorial in today's Chicago Tribune:

"Even though he fumbled an answer to another "gotcha" question--he couldn't name his "biggest mistake" since Sept. 11--what the American people saw at the podium in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday night was not a politician who claims to be infallible. What they saw was a president of strong beliefs who sticks to his convictions. They saw a president who believes in the noble goal of a free and peaceful Iraq, and a reshaped Middle East. They saw a president not willing to give an inch to terrorists. No apology necessary."  full editorial here, free registration required

...or at least one that isn't frothing-at-the-mouth right-wing.

Both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times feature odious editorials today accusing the Spanish people of appeasing terrorists by voting out the ruling conservative Popular Party and voting in the Socialists.

I wish I could write like Paul Krugman:

The Bush White House has made it clear that it will destroy the careers of scientists, budget experts, intelligence operatives and even military officers who don't toe the line. But Mr. Greenspan should have been immune to such pressures, and he should have understood that the peculiarity of his position -- as an unelected official who wields immense power -- carries with it an obligation to stand above the fray. By using his office to promote a partisan agenda, he has betrayed his institution, and the nation.

Ouch.

It's time to send this Fed chairman into retirement.  I would hope that Democrats speak out against another term for Greenspan (Bush is supposed to be renominating him, last I heard).  Unfortunately, I think there is still a strong gutless-wonder streak in Beltway Dems, and it's likely they'll be falling over themselves praising Greenspan and voting for him when the time comes.  Handled correctly, opposing him could be a potent issue for the Democrats, but I'm not holding my breath.

Of course, if it isn't Greenspan, Dubya would no doubt nominate someone far worse, who we'd then be stuck with for a minimum of four years.

This is all just so depressing....