Wonkette

• ABC News is convinced that foreign diplomats in the US are the most passive-aggressive people on the planet. [The Blotter]

• Congress to Smithsonian: eat shit and die. [LA Times]
• Mojo Nixon campaigns in Texas, “If your state don’t have Kinky Friedman, than your state could use some votin’.” [Mojo Nixon]
• The 2006 federal budget deficit is just barely out of medal contention. [Think Progress]
• The exact price Chris Matthews will pay for transparent knowledge of your soul. [Fishbowl DC]
• College Democrats are sure that you can’t raise money for something unless you dress like a five-dollar hooker. [Truth Caucus]
• Controversy at HUD! Agency only hires women with first names ending in “ee”! Some are cute, some are felons! [The Smoking Gun]

• Bush commits federal resources to Gulf Coast: “The challenges that we face on the ground are unprecedented. But there’s no doubt in my mind we’re going to succeed.” Pollster: “To the degree that he is the consoler and healer of the nation, it helps.” [WP, WP, WSJ, USAT]
• Financial burden of recovery strikes at federal budget deficit; over $20b will be requested. [WSJ, WP, USAT]
• Katrina sends oil prices over $3 a gallon, possibly beyond $4; Europeans may lend their stockpiles. [WSJ, MarketWatch, Bloomberg, NYT]
• Commodity prices jump. Supply-chain expert: “The Mississippi River is the aorta of the American economy, and New Orleans is the access point to it.” [WP]
• In Baghdad, nearly 1,000 Iraqis die in stampede sparked by panic; greatest loss of life since the invasion. [NYT, USAT]
• Bush tested again by circumstances, but will he deliver? Professor: “It is usually the case with large-scale disasters that it centralizes power in the presidency and improves the president’s ratings in public opinion.” [NYT, LAT]

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