Wonkette

Some of you wonder why the Wonk’d famous-for-DC posts don’t appear with more frequency. The sad truth is that people don’t send us much. Perhaps you don’t understand: The bar is VERY LOW. Matt Cooper in line in at Starbucks? Counts. Margaret Carlson picking up her dry cleaning? Totally. Matthew Yglesias looking lost on M Street? That too. You want more Wonk’d? Send us more sightings: . Come on, you can’t walk a block in this town without tripping over George Stephanopolous and he counts, too! In this issue: Bennett, Kidman (of course), Jenna and Barbara Bush, Scalia, Stein, Carter, Alito (8″ thick! Not the way you think.), Chalabi at Kiehls, Greenspan, Bradgalina, and, yes, Stephanopolous. After the jump.

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• Cheney has “waged an intense” private campaign to reject changes to the guidelines concerning detainee treatment; the position is facing increased opposition from other officials and lawmakers. [WP]
• Senators express concern about misuse of the Patriot Act. Tom Coburn: “We should not ever give up freedom on the basis of fear, and any freedom that we give up should be limited in time and limited in scope.” [NYT, WP]
• Bush, in Brazil: “Our goal is to promote opportunity for people throughout the Americas, whether you live in Minnesota or Brazil, and the best way to do this is by expanding free and fair trade.” On the protests: “I expect there to be dissent. That’s what freedom is all about.” [WP, USAT, ]
• Latin America Summit proved to be no reprieve for Bush; on the first day, he did not return to his hotel until after midnight. [WP]
• New York Times on Alito: “An examination of several chapters in his life suggests he is conservative by temperament, upbringing and experience - conditions that appear to have shaped his approach to life and his work more than any narrow ideological niche.” Los Angeles Times: Alito’s “15 years’ worth of legal opinions do not promise fealty to any ideology.” [NYT, LAT]

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