[Daily Brief]

News you can use.

From the MSM

Time on the administration echo chamber. Newsweek on how Bush blew it. WaPo discusses race and Katrina. Krugman on the Bush machine's reward system, with the LA Times in accord. The NYTimes on Georgia's pay-to-vote system; yes, it's not democracy. Also, lots and lots on the Roberts hearing today. Boston Globe, LA Times, NY Times.

Around the Blogosphere

Liberal Oasis has the weekly roundup of the Sunday news shows: Brit Hume had a snit. I'm not sure why you'd want to follow a realtime blog of the Roberts hearing, but SCOTUSblog has one. Ezra Klein has a very nice description of how the GOP is using postmodernism and the starve-the-beast philosophy to argue for privatizing FEMA. Pacific Views on WMD, offering this trenchant observation: "Just remember: If freedom was the real source of the hatred, Amsterdam would have been the first western city on the list." Angry Bear on gas stocks: we're screwed.

Finally, I'll leave you with some words Juan Cole posted yesterday.

Al-Qaeda simply hasn't been a priority for Bush. His first priority, all along, has been cutting taxes on his rich friends.... Because Bush cut taxes so deeply, and therefore reduced government income and produced a big chronic deficit, he had to steal money for Iraq from various places. The government he appointed to run Iraq for a year (which never had any legal charter) essentially stole Iraq's petroleum income to use on its projects. Billions of dollars are unaccounted for. It is well documented that Bush stole money from Louisiana ear-marked for improving the levees at New Orleans, and also that he sent Louisiana national guardsmen to Iraq.

Lessons we still have not learned, it appears, from 9/11.