Worth the read: The New York Times' lengthy Sunday piece on the role retired military officers have played in trying to build support for the Bush administration and the war in Iraq. The officers serve as military analysts on network television shows and give the appearance that they're objective. But they were recruited by the Pentagon and have been offered unusual access to Pentagon information and briefings. And most of them, says the Times story, "have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air."

Coming to the Wall Street Journal: a weekly column by Thomas Frank, whose 2004 book "What's the Matter with Kansas" argued that middle-class Americans often vote against their own interests. The book was popular with Democrats, particularly liberal Democrats. Frank's column will begin on a regular basis on May 14 (running on Wednesdays), but the Journal printed an opinion piece by him this morning that discusses the charges of elitism against Barack Obama.