In Kuwait, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was asked why soldiers "had to dig through landfills to find scrap metal to up-armor vehicles." The soldier who asked the question discussed it beforehand with an embedded reporter.

Bush's second term will focus on domestic policy, specifically "creating private Social Security accounts," "revising the tax code," "limiting the size and number of lawsuits, and changing immigration laws." The PR plan to sell these policies is underway. "In the next few weeks, White House officials, including [Karl] Rove, are planning to meet with Republican activists" to coordinate the campaign.

"If a professor takes money from a company and then argues in the media for a position the company favors, is he an independent expert - or a paid shill?" asks Michael Schroeder. He cites examples such as Peter Morici, a business professor at the University of Maryland, who was paid by the the U.S. steel company Nucor Corp. to argue in favor of steel tariffs put in place by the Bush administration.