Madame President?

By contrast, Washington Monthly blogger Kevin Drum feels he's being spun silly:

"The Washington Times reports on the latest campaign strategy from the Republican Party:

" Senate Republicans are preparing to take aim at Majority Leader Harry Reid over the August recess for being 'all talk but no action' . . . 'We really ought to be asking why this Democrat leadership won't allow Congress to move forward on serious policy debates,' [Sen. John] Kyl said, when asked about the talking-points memorandum he is circulating.

"You have to give Republicans points for consistency. They bring the Senate to a halt and then blame Democrats for not getting anything done. They destroy FEMA's ability to respond to natural disasters and then hold it up as an example of why you can't trust government to do anything right. They lose a war via unparalleled military incompetence and then claim that liberals are defeatists for pointing it out. They spend 20 years claiming that Social Security is going bankrupt and then use the resulting public insecurity about Social Security as an explanation for why the whole system needs to be privatized."

Mitt has had a few oddballs working for him, as this Boston Herald story makes clear:

"An aide to former Gov. Mitt Romney who was linked to the campaign's alleged use of phony badges has created personal Internet pages where he boasts that he's a top secret 'special ops' employee who toils in the "underbelly of politics."

"Will Ritter, who helps plan Romney's presidential campaign events, included the bizarre, Jason-Bournesque job description on Internet networking pages that also contain boisterous pictures of him hoisting a champagne bottle in a hot tub and other party shots."

It's worth a click, just for the picture.

As the controversy over "Scott Thomas," the New Republic's Baghdad diarist, continues, Orlando Sentinel columnist Kathleen Parker tries to tie his writing to an entire ideology:

"In the case of Scott Thomas, the 'truth' that American soldiers are woman-hating, dog-killing, grave-robbing monsters confirms what many among the anti-war left believe about the military, despite their protestations that they 'support the troops.' We tend to believe what we want to believe, in other words. Whether Scott Thomas is real and his reports true remains to be determined. In the meantime, it is tempting to wonder: What if we believed in American honor and victory in Iraq? What would those dispatches look like?"

In fairness, this is just one guy--and a soldier, according to the New Republic, not a journalist.

Blogger Ed Driscoll says the L.A. Times spiked a column suggesting that the paper join up with older artists to give away free music. And he's got the goods.

Finally, remember the endless iPhone hype? Now that some people are finding flaws, you don't hear about it much. Chris Case is taking it personally:

"I must admit that things between us had a great and beautiful start. I was in love with your bag before I even saw you. And when I logged onto iTunes for easy activation, I was enthralled with your sleek beauty. Remember our first night together? We stayed up all night getting to know each other and then you went to sleep in my arms. God, you were gorgeous.

"Yet, a few weeks later, it seems that none of the promises that we planted in those fields of hope has flourished. In fact, after a brief and torrid first few days together, things have gone steadily downhill, making me realize that it's best to sever ties now while we still both have our dignity and I have not smashed you on the sidewalk in frustration.

"Unfortunately, simply put, it just didn't happen for us. Nothing remains of what looked like a growing love, besides some memories and a few dozen photos that are now safely tucked away in my iPhoto, images of a love that once burned white hot, but now are just a flicker of sadness. How did everything lose its enchantment so quickly? All that remains is a bitter taste of what once tasted like such sweet candy . . .

"It seems that you've fooled others before me and they are willing to ignore your obvious flaws. But they are shallow sheep! I need more. The fact that I have to hit three keys to make a phone call and I can't dial out of my contacts just by typing is unacceptable to me. I don't want to scroll through all of my S's just to call Steve (I have like 80 contacts in 'S' alone - five Steves! -- sorry, but I have a life outside of you). The last straw for me was when I found that if you are sick or hurt, I have to pay Apple 99 bucks a day for a replacement while you're in the hospital. That is so unfair."

CC: Steve Jobs.