The Skinny's Week In Review
The Skinny is Hillary Profita's take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.
The week kicked off with an entertaining look from the Wall Street Journal into the trials and tribulations of being an ethical member of Congress. You'll recall that some sweeping ethical reforms were made there recently, to much fanfare.
No, there are no more free meals from lobbyists. Unless, of course, as the Journal points out, the cuisine in question is "food you have to eat standing up using a toothpick," as one Washington, D.C., lawyer put it.
Three cheers for ethical appetizers.
Prilosec Loves Bunco Players
The Journal unveiled another quirky story on Tuesday – that the makers of heartburn medication Prilosec OTC were targeting none other than bunco-playing middle-aged women. Why? Because a third of the 21 million women who enjoy the game suffer from heartburn – mostly due to the "extensive array of food and drink" on display at bunco gatherings.
Showdown On The Hill
By midweek the Senate was headed toward a regular ol' showdown over the bevy of resolutions related to President Bush's decision to increase troop levels in Iraq by 21,500. By Wednesday, front pages were outlining the five plans on the table – and those were just from the GOP. Democrats were still haggling over the language for their proposal.
Joe Biden Says 'Oops'
Then of course, the news cycle was hijacked. It wasn't Sen. Joe Biden's announcement for a run for the presidency so much as what he told the New York Observer the day before. Biden described Sen. Barack Obama to the paper as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."
The Delaware Democrat spent the rest of the week trying to clean that mess up, starting appropriately enough, with an appearance on "The Daily Show."
A Grilling On The Hill
Finally, the end of the week saw front-page coverage of Gen. George Casey (outgoing top commander in Iraq who has recently been nominated to become Army Chief of Staff) being "berated," as the L.A. Times put it, by a few senators on the Armed Services Committee.
Casey was accused (most caustically by Sen. John McCain) of painting too rosy of a picture in Iraq throughout his tenure. But Sen. Carl Levin later told reporters that Casey had support of a majority of the committee and would likely be confirmed.
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