Irony defined

The word 'irony' is very loosely and often incorrectly used in media circles and in colloquial use these days but these two examples via a Dailykos post perhaps are good examples of the word actually means.

• Ah, sweet irony. According to Time, the cult of individualization, minimal regulation and oversight, and some creative privatization by an employee takes a bite back at the Reagan Library as 80,000 items go missing:

  The audit was connected to an investigation into allegations that a former employee stole from the Reagans' collection of gifts from foreign leaders and other dignitaries, but sloppy record-keeping has hindered the probe, Inspector General Paul Brachfeld said.

• Sweet irony, take two: Remember the glee of financial institutions when the bankruptcy bill passed, making it much, much harder to qualify for default on credit card debt? Well, guess what. Bloomberg reports that those same debtors are now finding it easier to default on their mortgages instead--and sometimes both debts are held by the same institution:

  Washington Mutual Inc. got what it wanted in 2005: A revised bankruptcy code that no longer lets people walk away from credit card bills.

  The largest U.S. savings and loan didn't count on a housing recession. The new bankruptcy laws are helping drive foreclosures to a record as homeowners default on mortgages and struggle to pay credit card debts that might have been wiped out under the old code, said Jay Westbrook, a professor of business law at the University of Texas Law School in Austin and a former adviser to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank

Also through the same Dailykos post.

• Via Think Progress, we learn that representatives of Cheney’s office have been showing up for meetings on environmental issues for which they previously showed no interest. Hmmm ....
• Time analyzes how foreign leaders are suddenly flocking for face time with Bush, not because he’s popular (although I’d suggest the odds are highly likely the Clueless in Chief thinks he is), but because he’s seen as so disliked he may actually be forced to bargain and make concessions for the first time in his arrogant presidency.