Chowing Down on Your Tax Dollars

Plan of Attack

Another day, more leaked e-mails from the listerv Journolist. These suggest some members of the media tried to coordinate strategy against John McCain and Sarah Palin shortly after the GOP convention in 2008.

The Daily Caller reports Luke Mitchell, then a senior editor at Harper's magazine, asked the group, "Would it be a good use of this list to coordinate a message of the week along the lines of the GOP? Or is that too loathsome? It certainly sounds loathsome. But so does losing!"

Journolist founder, Ezra Klein of the Washington Post, tried to nix that idea saying, "Nope, no message coordination. I'm not even sure that would be legal. This is a discussion list though and I want it to retain that character."

However, Columbia University journalism professor Todd Gitlin seems to disregard the warning, writing, "On the question of liberals coordinating -- what the hell's wrong with some critical mass of liberal bloggers and journalists saying the following among themselves: McCain is a warmonger. Palin belongs to a crackpot church... I'm not waiting for any coordination. Get on with it!"

A Moveable Feast

From barbecue to doughnuts, members of Congress manage to chow down on your tax dollars.

The House of Representatives spent a whopping $2.6 million on food and beverage over a nine month period for themselves and staffers, according to information posted by the Sunlight Foundation. $604,000 was spent on bottled water, $397,000 spent on catering and $135,000 spent on meals at various restaurants.

Comparing the leadership, Democrats spent considerably more, with almost $299,000 used for food by the Democratic caucus, the majority leader and the majority whip -- House speaker not included. Their Republican counterparts spent almost $203,000.

Set in Stone?

In a recent interview with London's Sunday Times, filmmaker Oliver Stone said his next documentary seeks to put Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler "in context."

Stone tells the Times, "Hitler did far more damage to the Russians than the Jewish people, 25 or 30 [million killed.]"