Cursor's Media Patrol - 04/17/06

Interviewing former Gen. Bernard Trainor, "Countdown's" Keith Olbermann observes that "It's not 'Seven Days in May,' but six generals in April," one-time U.S. Marine Stephen Pizzo terms events "extraordinary," and BTC News asks: "Is the military assault on Rumsfeld about Iran, not Iraq?"

Although Iran claims to have 40,000 ready and willing suicide bombers, the AP reports that even supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are "starting to question his tactics," and an Independent' correspondent writes from Tehran that "behind the facade, the cracks are very real."

Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for the first suicide bombing inside Israel since Hamas took power, while a Palestinian analyst argues that without significant Arab aid the pressured Hamas-led government could collapse, and the Economist examines 'The Last Conquest of Jerusalem.'

David Sirota criticizes Democrats for relying in 2006 on a strategy which is "about nothing," and Nathan Newman explains why "so many folks don't trust liberal leaders."

With the "huge symbolic impact" of recent demonstrations still reverberating, economists tell the New York Times that illegal immigration has had "only a small impact" on the income of U.S. workers -- particularly compared with the long-stagnant minimum wage.

One review of 'Stuff Happens,' David Hare's play about the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, notes that an audience member stood up and shouted, "Please, somebody tell me this is fiction."