Once again Atrios points to a great blogger who has caught a member of the celebrity press corps being unusually stupid.

Going back to the early years of The Daily Howler, we have been documenting the atrocities for a decade. And in that time exactly what has changed? OK, maybe a little around the edges. We can stop lies, at least sometimes. Every now and then someone gets singed by a blogswarm. But we have not changed the ability of the radical right to dictate the terms of debate.

Hint: it has nothing to do with extraordinary rendition and you can find out here:

"That is because the captive insurance scam was systemic. “This was not an isolated case … AIG did that a lot,” a former insurance regulator said, speaking under condition of anonymity. “AIG helped companies set up offshore captive reinsurance companies. AIG would then overcharge on insurance and pay reinsurance premiums to the captives, giving the captive owners tax-free offshore income.”"

So over at Talkleft, Big Tent Democrat finds issue with an insinuation at (where else) Kos that Chris Dodd carried AIG's water on the bonus issue due to his being the largest* recipient of their campaign contributions. It was true he was carrying water, but it was Obama and Geithner's.

"Lessig promulgates a false implication - that Senator Chris Dodd acted as he did because of AIG contributions. It is clear now that in fact Dodd acted as he did at the behest of the Obama administration. In fact, in last week's issue of The Economist (p. 29) (before the AIG bonus scandal broke), the following was written:

Macro Man has a great suggestion of how this should be (or have been) handled.

"So to put things right, he has a compromise, market-based solution. Don't seize the bonuses via a one-off excise tax. Instead, pay them in the amounts contractually-mandated, and use normal tax treatment. But pay them in stock, and allocate shares on the basis of the average AIG share price in 2008: $27.57.

The Canadian comedy troupe This Hour Has 22 Minutes has the following appeal to viewers everywhere:

AIG didn't comply and Andrew Cuomo issued subpoenas, and now we wait for the next round in this game.

Via The Consumerist and The Business Review

Andrew Cuomo, NY Attorney General, has written to AIG and given them till 4pm TODAY to turn over names of people getting the money (i.e.receiving bonuses) in the Financial Products subdivision. If they don't, well their offices can expect a visit from his people with the legal authority to make them talk.

Copy of the letter Here

Comedy gold from Larry the Bailout Guy:

Lawrence Summers, director of the White House's National Economic Council, said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner had "scaled back" the bonuses but that the administration could only go so far.

[SUMMERS] "The whole situation at AIG is outrageous. What taxpayers are being forced to do [nice avoidance of agency. Who's doing the forcing? The Bailout Fairy?] is outrageous," he told CBS program "Face the Nation."

Well, you certainly became outraged in a timely manner, Larry! Well done!

[SUMMERS] "Secretary Geithner has negotiated very forcefully with AIG.

$450 million in bonuses to the London fraudsters who brought down AIG. Nice demonstration of mad negotiation skillz, there, Timmy!

[SUMMERS] "And [Timmy] has done everything that is legally permissible for the government to do to limit the payment of bonuses."

Oh? Like what? I mean, what would the bonuses have been if Timmy hadn't been negotiating? $450,000,001 instead of $450,000,000?

[SUMMERS] "But where there are contracts, binding contracts that were entered into long before the government put any money into AIG -- we're not a country where contracts [except for social contracts] just get abrogated willy-nilly," he added.

Why should we believe you? Show us the contracts!