Warmed by the increasing heat from below, the sluggish national media begins to take notice of the campaign to run the country of the Republican Party, by the Republican Party, for the Republican Party, that it might not perish from the earth (the rest of us of course can submit or go to hell). Via LA Times:

When Karl Rove and his top deputies arrived at the White House in 2001, the Republican National Committee provided them with laptop computers and other communication devices to be used alongside their government-issued equipment.

The back-channel e-mail and paging system, paid for and maintained by the RNC, was designed to avoid charges that had vexed the Clinton White House — that federal resources were being used inappropriately for political campaign purposes.  Read more