layer one: Paul Krugman on the disturbing similarities between the film farce, Wag the Dog, and Bush administration politics. Its an equally good and terrible piece that, among other things, reaffirms my pessimism about the state of the world today.
layer two: First Jessica Lynch claims amnesia, saying that she cant remember anything of her time in Iraqi custody. Now her parents say that theyre forbidden by the government to speak. If I were the paranoid sort, Id think that maybe theres something that the administration doesnt want people to know like how maybe the Iraqis tried to return private Lynch to US authorities, only to be told that we didnt want her back, at least not easily. (We wanted a videotaped assault and extraction by helicopter. We wanted to exhibit heroism. We wanted a marketing piece.)
layer three: A Treasury study shows that a financial train wreck is coming with the retirement of the baby boomers. The question is, did the Bush administration suppress the findings of the study in order to ease the passage of their new tax-cut for the wealthy?
layer four: According to the Wall Street Journal, the McDonalds corporation is asking a lot more from their spokesperson, Ronald McDonald, these days.
Fortunately, theyre doing their best to keep him happy.
(Thanks to Shannon for the photo.)
