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Sit and Wait

By Daniel Politi
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006, at 5:00 AM ET

(Continued from page 1)

The NYT fronts news that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told Vice President Dick Cheney that his country might give financial support to Iraqi Sunnis if the United States pulls out of Iraq and a sectarian war breaks out. The message was passed along during Cheney's trip to Saudi Arabia two weeks ago. The Saudi ambassador to the United States fired a consultant who wrote an opinion piece in the Post two weeks ago that said a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would lead to a "massive Saudi intervention." But Arab diplomats said members of the Saudi government share the views expressed in the column. Although the WP reported yesterday that the Saudi ambassador to the United States is resigning after only 15 months, the NYT mentions there hasn't been an official announcement.

The LAT fronts*, the WSJ goes high, and everyone else stuffs, yesterday's early morning suicide bombings in Baghdad that killed 70 people, mostly day laborers who were at the square hoping to get a job. Including the dead bodies found, yesterday's death toll was at least 131, which is the highest since the bombing last month that killed 200 people. An Associated Press cameraman was also killed yesterday.

The Post goes inside with a dispatch from Chile, where approximately 60,000 people went to see Gen. Augusto Pinochet's body on Monday as it lay in a military chapel. About 5,000 people attended the former dictator's funeral.

The WP and USAT front news of an immigration raid yesterday on meatpacking plants in six states. Hundreds of workers were arrested on the charge of identity theft. There were no exact numbers, but officials said those who were detained had used stolen Social Security numbers when they were hired. The world's second-largest meat processing company was shut down for much of the day yesterday.

The NYT and WP note inside that a Democratic candidate won a longtime Republican House seat in the last congressional election of the midterms. Ciro Rodriguez beat Rep. Henry Bonilla in a runoff in Texas' 23rd Congressional District. Now, Democrats have 233 seats in the House, compared to 202 for the Republicans.

Why didn't anybody tell me? … The Post's Al Kamen publishes the content of an e-mail invitation for a telework meeting sent out by the Interior Department. The department includes several reasons why telecommuting could be beneficial to its employees: "With the wintry weather fast approaching, the price of gas fluctuating, and the threat of pandemic on the horizon, telecommuting is seen as a valuable option for eligible employees." No word on what exactly this risky pandemic consists of.

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Daniel Politi writes "Today's Papers" for Slate. He can be reached at .
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