The Blog Is Not Dead...

....though it has been taking an extended respite, thanks to the holidays, vacations, and massive deadlines. Still, I'm happy to report that the rumors of my abduction and transport to Guantanamo Bay by the Forces of Evil have been greatly exagerrated. Hasn't happened yet, anyway.

Here's a note from John O., progressive professional political wonk (PPPW):

This morning's Financial Times had a front page story "Allawi's group slips cash to election reporters".

The key para reads

"After a meeting held by Mr. Allawi's campaign alliance in west Baghdad, reporters — mostly from the Arabic-language press — were invited upstairs where each was offered a "gift" of a $100 bill in an envelope.

"Many of the journalists accepted the cash. . . ."

The story also notes that Sadam Hussein used to do this.

Of course, you can search in vain for this story in the US media, so I asked myself was it only Arabic-language press reporters who took the cash?

D'you suppose this is what happened in Ohio? Oh no no no -- the US media can't be bought. Unless you're Armstrong Williams, the conservative black columnist paid $240,000 by the Bush administration to promote No Child Left Behind, which has been a total freaking disaster in our schools. (No word on what Williams' price tag would be to promote, say, the KKK.)

But the rest of them? Nah. Mostly because somebody already owns 'em.