Quotes From Around Yon Blogosphere

There were no obvious signs of foul play.

The corpse had no broken bones, its skull was intact, and it had a full set of teeth. There was no evidence of a vitamin deficiency or previous trauma. And the bony tips of the fingers allowed examiners to rule out degenerative diseases.

“The normality of it all is what is so surprising,” said Dr. Lawrence Boxt, the director of cardiac MRIs and CT scans at North Shore University Hospital (in Manhasset, N.Y.), as he surveyed images on a series of computer screens. “He may have died a quiet, natural death.”

As Demetrios, a 2,000-year-old Egyptian mummy belonging to the Brooklyn Museum, lay on the table of the “64-slice” CT scanner, a cluster of art curators, conservators and medical specialists looked on, riveted by the macabre spectacle.

--CAROL VOGEL

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has refused to accept the resignations of the six Sunni members who quit last week, probably because he loves them so much and can't imagine Cabinet meetings without them. That kind of make-believe response may be enough to convince those Americans who want to be convinced that he's trying, though.

-- MARC LYNCH

In conversations I've had this week with Republican activists in Iowa and New Hampshire, the comments about John McCain's campaign have been of a piece. It's not just that they don't think he has a chance. They've moved past that. They're now trading theories about the real reason he's staying in the race. The prevailing view is that McCain is hanging on until January so he can claim federal matching funds to pay off his debts.

McCain and his campaign insist they're earnestly trying to win, but that's not going to stop the chatter. He doesn't have enough money for ads. His campaign is so broke, in fact, the candidate is flying coach and carrying his own bags.

If McCain wants to prove he's still committed to winning, it's time for him to throw his Hail Mary pass. That can only mean one thing: doubling down on his support for continuing the war in Iraq and taking on his opponents for being half-hearted about it. His big chance to do this will come in Sunday's early morning Republican debate, the first since the McCain campaign went into its graveyard spiral.

-- JOHN DICKERSON

There's one vote that Rudy Giuliani definitely can't count on in his 2008 presidential bid: his own daughter's. According to the 17-year-old Caroline Giuliani's Facebook profile, she's supporting Barack Obama.

-- LUCY MORROW CALDWELL

The Washington Post has a simply lovely article on Jeri Thompson that paints her as a former cheerleader who lived in sin with a guy for years, didn't pay her bills (and I would be lying if I didn't admit that I wonder about the medical bills that went unpaid...cough*boobjob*cough) , and managed to move up the Republican food chain based upon her looks and who she was sleeping with at the time.

-- TBOGG

I will sound this warning to the GOP and conservatives a lot between now and next summer. Ignore or make sport of the netroots at your own peril. Underestimate them and you will get the holy living crap kicked out of you in 2008. These people are organizing far beyond blogs and blog readers. And that organization extends almost down to the precinct level as I’m sure next year’s Netroots Convention will show . . .

They are determined, well funded, optimistic, committed, and excited. The GOP is uncertain, underfunded, hopeful but pessimistic, dispirited, and seemingly leaderless, rudderless, and without an agenda.

Who do you think is in better shape going into next year’s contest?

-- RICK MORAN

Mohamed Al Fayed is a grieving father and a businessman.

Ten years after the death of his son Dodi and the Princess of Wales, Al Fayed is still trying to prove they were killed under orders from Buckingham Palace by the British Secret Service with help from the C.I.A.

The lead item on Al Fayed’s web site reports his attendance at a court hearing to challenge the finding that the driver of his son's limousine was drunk at the time of the accident.

Next to it is a report on the Harrods summer sale, with a photograph of Mr. Al Fayed, the Chairman, greeting Sarah Michelle Gellar arriving in a horse-drawn carriage to open the Summer Sale. The star of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Scooby Doo" was dressed in "a show-stoppingly sexy hot-pant suit by Jasmine di Milo, teamed with sky-high Louboutin heels."

Grief is eternal, but life must go on.

-- ROBERT STEIN

Justice Is A Wonderful Thing. Too bad there isn't more of it. How many people convicted of a deliberately planned rape and murder, complete with accomplices, are sentenced to 110 years and know they won't have to serve it all? It seems that raping a 14 year old girl, killing her and her family to cover it up and then lying about it is okay if you do it in the military. But if you are black, live in the state of Texas and were driving a car when your friend loses his mind and kills someone, you get the death penalty. Oh well, I guess time, place and the race of the convicted do mean everything. Especially when it comes to the death penalty.

-- DEB

There was nothing deliberate or attractive about it. Yet I soon discovered that what should be impossible (When did the absence of a number become a dress size? How did we make nothing into something?) was actually highly desirable, at least to the whisper-thin crowd that floats through Chicago’s upscale fashion boutiques.

"Don’t even look at the 2s, you’re a 0," a Damen Avenue shop owner trilled triumphantly while a fellow shopper looked on, not with pity for a woman emaciated by a Third World virus, but with envy.

"You’ve lost so much weight!" an acquaintance rejoiced later that week. "It’s fantastic! Who is your nutritionist?"

-- ANNE REAM

"Underdog" had some hilarious trailers during the last couple of family films I've attended. The kids have been patient while I've plowed through some work this week, so I decided to reward them with a trip to the movies. The irony is that I pulled them away from the television, where they had been zombified in front of a Scooby Doo Marathon. Maybe that isn't ironic, maybe it is just a sad statement on my parenting skills.

-- JENNY LAUCK

Photograph by Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times