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 C-SPAN watchers everywhere braced for a dramatic turn of events in the Senate after weeks of talk about nonbinding resolutions related to President Bush's increase of troops to Iraq.
The stage was set for a real saga -- like "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" meets "All My Children."
Unfortunately, following a real nail biter day of political posturing, nothing was accomplished. Leaders couldn't agree on which nonbinding resolutions would come to the floor.
Predictably, both parties blamed each other for the impasse and leaders indicated the scuffle wasn't over yet.
Insert Astronaut Pun Here
The headlines were held hostage by astronaut puns by Wednesday, after news broke regarding Lisa Nowak, who became the first active astronaut to be arrested for a felony. Surely, by now you are familiar with the story in all of its bizarre and disturbing detail.
Hopefully, by next week, we will have been able to forget phrases like "Dark Side of the Loon."
YouTube: Emerging Menace
Later in the week, the Los Angeles Times informed us that American politicians are not the only people facing public humiliation via YouTube.
Some California school districts are having problems with their students taking their gripes about teachers to the Wild, Wild Web. That means they videotape teachers in potentially embarrassing situations – yelling at students, etc. – and broadcast them on YouTube.
It's a conundrum, since students first amendment rights should be protected, even in this digital age. But of course, it's probably not great publicity for the teachers involved.
"Centerfold-Turned-Media Obsession"
By the end of the week, the media machine was cluttered with news of the sudden death of 39-year-old Anna Nicole Smith, of unknown causes. The Wall Street Journal described her as most others did -- a "centerfold-turned-media obsession." Considering that reality -- and the mountain of legal issues that she leaves behind -- this story will be around for a while.
Obama Weekend 2007
Friday's headlines also found us focused back on the most pressing issue of the day: Sen. Barack Obama's real, definite, official announcement of a run in 2008, which takes place today in Abraham Lincoln's hinterland.
Tomorrow's papers should be chock-full of details on the event. Of course, if you miss those, you can catch Obama on "60 Minutes" tomorrow.
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