Free Republic

Democratic congressional leaders aren't happy with the way Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is spending money. At a private meeting last month, they let him know. Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) challenged the former Vermont governor during a session in Pelosi's office, according to Democratic sources. The leaders complained about Dean's priorities -- funding organizers for state parties in strongly Republican states such as Mississippi -- rather than targeting states with crucial races this fall. Neither side was willing to give ground, according to several accounts of the meeting. Dean...

NEW YORK A delegation of progressive Los Angeles Times readers angry with last month's firing of columnist Robert Scheer met Dec. 13 with Times editors -- and have devised an "inside-outside" protest strategy. That's according to an LAObserved.com report linked Tuesday on Jim Romenesko's media blog at Poynter.org. The delegation -- which said it met for 90 minutes with Times Editorial Page Editor Andres Martinez and Op-Ed Editor Nicholas Goldberg -- wants more liberal voices in the Times to balance conservative columnists such as Max Boot and the Tribune Media Services-syndicated Jonah Goldberg. Martinez and Goldberg said the Times does...