Walking-Around Money.

Oh great. NOW they start paying political appointees huge bonuses, despite both the recent raise freeze and impending job cuts for career government workers. Where was the love when I was at the FCC? Oh, that’s right – the Clinton administration didn’t indulge in this type of ridiculous cronyism. But nest-feathering patronage remains alive and well under Andy Card, just as it did ten years ago.

Freedom of Disinformation.

Also courtesy of Looka, John Ashcroft is encouraging Justice Department lawyers to evade — or break — the Freedom of Information Act whenever possible. How frighteningly typical of our Attorney General…you gotta wonder at this point if he dresses up like Judge Dredd when nobody’s looking.

Stoner Math.

If our new Ministry of Information is run with half the honesty and integrity of our ONDCP, it looks like everything will end up just swimmingly. Turns out Dubya’s drug czar grossly misrepresented marijuana potency several times in order to help bury the recent Nevada referendum.

Fresh faces.

Despite a last minute op-ed gambit by Harold Ford (I thought he was making an interesting case until he conflated national security with the Iraq vote), Nancy Pelosi wins the Democratic leadership handily. Hopefully, she’ll make the most of it. On the GOP side, Tom DeLay moved up the ranks to take Dick Armey’s spot. I’d say a higher national profile for the Exterminator is a good thing. The more people get a sense of how creepy DeLay is, the more palatable the Dems will seem in contrast.

Slinking out the Back Door.

Oh, and by the way, Harvey Pitt resigned yesterday, right after the polls had closed in the East. After all, we wouldn’t want to remind anyone of how thick the corporate corruption surrounding Dubya and his minions runs until after the election now, would we? As it turns out, the GOP-controlled Congress probably won’t look into SEC malfeasance anymore anyway.

The Other Shoe Drops.

Perhaps content that Saddam’s “resurgence” has snuffed out media coverage of Enrongate for the time being, Dubya tries to gut the SEC’s budget increase, making it impossible for the agency to fulfill the requirements of the recently-signed Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Absolutely shameful. And, as per usual, I think we can guess who’s the brains behind these latest shenanigans.