Cursor's Media Patrol - 10/05/06

House Speaker Hastert 'vows to hold on,' looking for Democrats to blame, but The Hill reports that the source who leaked Foley's suspect e-mails was a GOP staffer. And a clumsy attempt to "scapegoat" Rep. Reynolds' Chief of Staff may have transformed an ally into "the John Dean of the Foley scandal."

With a new poll showing that the U.S. public is 'unwilling to pay for more war in Iraq,' attacks in Baghdad kill 13 U.S. soldiers in three days, the highest three-day toll since the start of the war, and the total number of wounded tops 20,000.

<>"Democracy Now!" interviews the author of a study of U.S. reconstruction in Afghanistan who finds "contractors making big money for bad work," Nato takes over Afghan security, and a British charity uses muppets to teach Afghan children 'a land mine lesson.'

Although key senators say it has been outlawed by Congress, the White House refuses to explicitly rule out waterboarding, with the apparent implication that "It still won't state publicly that it won't violate the law," and a former senator decries 'The Waterboarding Republic.'

The Republicans on the National Labor Relations Board vote to define down "supervisor," potentially denying millions the right to organize, as Lou Dobbs asks 'Are you a casualty of class war? Earlier: Stephen Colbert on "forced promotions."

Two FCC public hearings on media consolidation "resembled baseball playoff games," reports the AP, "with attendees whooping, clapping wildly and even booing as the five commissioners sat quietly and listened for more than seven hours." Plus: 'The telecom slayers.'

Harper's gets a preview of an article on the recent tribulations of "Brand Kazakhstan" from 'the world's leading Boratologist,' a church offers visitors the opportunity to walk on water, and a new book takes a tour of the "fictitious parallel history of the United States" constructed by the religious right.