Shooting gives way to a dirty war:

About 4,000 monks have been rounded up in the past week as the military government has tried to stamp out pro-democracy protests.They are being held at a disused race course and a technical college.

Sources from a government-sponsored militia said they would soon be moved away from Rangoon.

The monks have been disrobed and shackled, the sources told BBC radio’s Burmese service. There are reports that the monks are refusing to eat.

Edwards adviser Joe Trippi pooh-poohs any rumors of infighting and says he’s totally on board with the public financing decision.

Perhaps there’s a greater logic to the Edwards public financing decision than there appeared at first blush.

From The Fix:

As they mulled the idea [of public financing], Trippi said he became convinced it was the best way to draw a bright contrast between Edwards and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).”He who defines the race usually wins,” said Trippi. “This race is becoming defined by money. Hillary Clinton does not want this race to become about money.”

For Trippi, Edwards’s decision to opt in to the public financing system is a chance to reinforce the idea that Clinton is the candidate of the status quo while Edwards is the candidate of real change.

“We think it makes a very clear choice between Clinton and John Edwards,” said Trippi. “He is going to take on the special interests and not owe them a damn thing.”

So what about Trippi’s admonition to former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean in 2003/2004 that opting for public financing was political suicide?

Trippi said that his advice to Dean came in response to the prospect of a well-funded incumbent president waiting in the wings for the eventual Democratic nominee. This time around, Republicans face the prospect of a “protracted” primary fight and, even after the nominee is chosen, they won’t have the luxury that Democrats enjoy of “millions of people ready to go to the Internet” to donate. “They have to go out and ‘Pioneer’ and ‘Ranger’ it.”

“We can’t forget the fact that although at a particular point in time we never found any WMD down there, he [Saddam] clearly had had WMD.” — Fred Thompson, keeping the myth alive.

Ol’ Fred seems eager to parrot the talking points of the wingnutosphere. Here he is attempting to debunk global warming by attempting to link it to Plutonic warming.

Good luck with that $7 million, Fred.

The Edwards presidential bid may just be over. Just ask Edwards adviser Joe Trippi.

The Edwards campaign has decided to accept public matching funds in the primary — and also accept federal spending limits. This gives the campaign a cash infusion of up to $21 million that it must believe it needs to stay competitive for the nomination.

But should Edwards be fortunate enough to topple Hillary and Barrack, the decision also limits his total spending — through to the convention — to a mere $50 million. And there’s the rub. Edwards is going to need every cent of that $50 million to defeat Clinton Inc. and Obama & Co. Meaning that he would then be a sitting duck for the GOP attack machine from the first days of Spring through August.

That’s not just my argument. Listen to Edwards’ own adviser, former Dean finance guru Joe Trippi. He told me earlier this year (prior to signing onto the Edwards campaign) that opting for the limits of public financing would leave any nominee “flat broke like Mike Dukakis — getting the living shit kicked out of him all summer long.”

UPDATE: Trippi Defends Edwards’ Funding Decision
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Think Progress » Spanish Notes Reveal Bush Was Hell-Bent On War

“We must take him right now” –President Bush, in February 2003, days before lying to America: “I’ve not made up our mind about military action. Hopefully, this can be done peacefully.”