[Daily Brief]

One Brief to Rule Them All

In the MSM
Well, the NY Times is making good on their threat: "On Monday, Sept. 19, NYTimes.com will launch a new subscription service... Subscribers to TimesSelect will have exclusive online access to many of our most influential columnists in Op-Ed, Business, New York/Region and Sports." They're trying to offer a little more with the service--"engaging" with columnists and web-only postings--but the fact is, Friday's Krugman is our last free Krugman. Enjoy.

Yesterday, I referred you to Lambert's reading on the President's latest proclamation. The MSM don't seem to have gotten the memo. Headlines suffuse today's papers with talk of "taking responsibility." (WaPo, NY Times, LA Times, CNN, etc.). Ah, but did he? You be the judge: "to the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility." (When I was 16, I crashed the family car. I should have said, "to the extent that I was driving the car while the other driver hit me, I take responsibility.) In other dubious comments, Tom DeLay declares victory on the war to trim the federal budget: "Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority we've pared it down pretty good." Note to the DNC: make sure that goes in the campaign ads next year. (Meanwhile, his buddies in Trimpac face yet more ethics charges.)

And finally, in case you forgot: Iraq is still a mess. A series of bombings has left 150 dead. (Still no apology from Bush on that one.)

Around the Blogosphere
Not all of Billmon's rants are equally satisfying. This one is nice, though (if way, way too long): "For the true connoisseur of cynicism -- and I'm talking about myself here -- the past few days have been about as good as it gets: the political equivalent of an all-you-can-eat buffet at a Mobil five star restaurant."

Digby, leaning on the Howler, wonders why we all accept that it's right for Roberts to ignore questions that might be germaine to future cases before the Court:

"Meanwhile, we are forced to believe that future Chief Justice John Roberts, whom Lindsey Graham just called one of the finest minds in our time, will not be able to keep an open mind if he tells the Senate where he actually stands on issues about which virtually every American has an opinion. What kind of silly kabuki is this?"

I don't know the answer, either, but I sort of wished I'd named this blog Silly Kabuki.

Switching gears a little, Max speak, so we listen. It's actually not an easy post to summarize, but suffice it to say that deficits may be larger than we expect. Another gearshift to the battle of the blowhards: Galloway v. Hitchens. It's at 7 pm Eastern/4 Pacific. John Cole has details about how you can tune in.

Other bits and pieces. A lot of people say Chertoff is incompetent; Josh explains why. Jeffrey Dubner gives short, pithy analysis of Roberts and privacy. Last, Crooks and Liars has a clip of Howard Dean on Hannity and Colmes. Enjoy (if that's the word).

And that concludes today's briefing...