Lame Thursday Morning Update: Oniongate's First Victim

Lame. So lame I thought at first it was a joke. It might still turn out to be one. NYT excerpts:

You might have thought that the White House had enough on its plate late last month, what with its search for a new Supreme Court nominee, the continuing war in Iraq and the C.I.A. leak investigation. But it found time to add another item to its agenda - stopping The Onion, the satirical newspaper, from using the presidential seal.

"It has come to my attention that The Onion is using the presidential seal on its Web site," Grant M. Dixton, associate counsel to the president, wrote to The Onion on Sept. 28. (At the time, Mr. Dixton's office was also helping Mr. Bush find a Supreme Court nominee; days later his boss, Harriet E. Miers, was nominated.)

Onion response here. Excerpt:

It started on Sept. 28, when Grant Dixton, associate counsel to President Bush, sent a letter to The Onion. The classy thing is that it was written on White House stationery. The not so classy thing is that it was addressed, "To Whom It May Concern."

The Moderate Voice opines here. Also, comments from across the Atlantic and across the Pacific. And, Wikipedia is already on the job. Does the Bush White House not know that there is such a thing as the Blogosphere? Lame.

Oniongate Update: 8:19 AM, Thursday 10/27/05: Oniongate has claimed its first victim! Less than 24 hours after media-fueled outrage percolated over the Office of the White House Counsel's harrassment of The Onion, Harriet Miers has withdrawn her name from consideration for the Supreme Court. The announcement of her nomination (noted above) coincided with the "Seal" letter to the editors of The Onion. What did The Onion know, and when did they know it? Hmmm... Ann Althouse is a Madisonian, just like the Onion editors. (Adjective for Ann applies to both the Wisconsin city and the author of the Constitution.) I wonder if she has any insights about the obvious connections.