Friday Orchid Blogging

Dendrobium Blue Twinkle

Okay, finally this is a plant I actually own and it's flowering right now (yes, it's my plant in the pic). I bought this plant down in Florida a few months back. It's the first dendrobium I've ever owned. They kind of scare me, growing wise. I can never tell if the roots are dead or alive, which means I can't tell if I'm over or underwatering it. But, since I got two nice spikes of flowers, and two small new growths coming from the bottom of the plant, it's clearly happy.

Here's a close-up of the flower spike:



And here's a close-up of the flower:



Enjoy. Read More......

American Weakness courtesy of Bush/Cheney

Froomkin provides his usual excellent insight in to the minds of the Bush team today. He examines the fear that Cheney has of "weakness":

Vice President Cheney yesterday offered an unusually revealing glimpse of his worldview -- one in which a withdrawal from Iraq may have less to do with Iraq, and more to do with the message it would send to the world about the limits of American power.

In Cheney's view, withdrawal from Iraq would first and foremost make the United States look weak. And that, in turn, would have cataclysmic domino-style effects across the globe: Afghanistan could fall, and so could Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The Iranians could get nukes. And the United States itself would become dramatically more vulnerable to attack, not to mention lose its ability to shape a new century favorable to American principles and interests.

Cheney's fears of the United States looking weak have already been realized -- and it's because of the failed policies of the Bush/Cheney administration. The Iraq debacle and the actions of the past few weeks have reinforced that perception to the rest of the world.

What does it say when the leaders of the world's "lone superpower" (as Dan Bartlett described us repeatedly the other day on the Today Show) practically declared a national holiday because we killed one bad-ass terrorist? Al-zawqari was an extremely dangerous and bad man. He got what he deserved. But by making it seem like it took the entire concentration of the world's "lone superpower" to take out one terror leader in a country we occupy, well, frankly, that made us look weak -- and terrorists like Al-zarqawi strong. All this is set against the backdrop of a country that cannot locate the one terror leader, Osama Bin Laden, who killed Americans on American soil.

Also, Bush's secret photo op trip to was considered a great p.r. move here. Of course, it was viewed solely through a political lens. What message did it send to the rest of the world that the President of the U.S. had to sneak in to a country he claimed to have vanquished three years ago? If Iraq was the success Bush claimed it would be, there would have been a parade from the airport to downtown Baghdad. Instead, the President was covered with body armor -- and he didn't even tell his good friend, the Iraqi Prime Minister, that he was coming. That's supposed to show strength to the world?

The Bush team is obsessed with not making America look weak. Their failures in Iraq have produced just that result. Read More......

Speculation grows about Joe Lieberman leaving the Democratic party

The Joe Lieberman we knew left the Democratic party years ago. It will simply be one more sign that Lieberman has lost touch with himself and his constituents. Read More......

Open thread

What's the latest? Read More......

Send GOP Rep. Steve King's new-born grandkid to Baghdad

A state of emergency was declared in Baghdad today. This comes right after GOP Congressman Steve King (R-IA) went on TV yesterday and claimed that Iraq is actually MUCH SAFER than the US.

So, I googled Mr. King and found the following speech on his Web site from a few weeks ago (clearly, this is his standard stump speech):

I would point out that there is a way also to draw a measure, a measure that Americans will have a different feel for when I lay out the casualty rates for violent deaths in our cities in America. And it occurs to me when I look at these statistics that it is far more dangerous for my wife to live here in Washington, D.C. than it would be if she were living as an Iraqi civilian citizen in a random place in Iraq.... It is getting a little safer in Detroit than it is in Washington, D.C., but still far more dangerous in Detroit than it is in Iraq to be a civilian. [He goes on to claim that Iraq is safer than Baltimore, Atlanta and St. Louis.]

First off, send your wife to Iraq, please. And see if she survives. Hell, see if she'd even go. And have her bring the King's new granchild with her, since it's obviously safer in Iraq than America, you'd actually be HELPING your newborn grandchild by bringing them on the trip.

But make sure you also bring your dramamine. I hear those 50,000 feet spirals you have to do all the way down to the Baghdad airport, in order to avoid the surface to air missiles, are a bitch on the stomach. And don't forget the 25 pounds of body armor you need to wear from the airport to the embassy living quarters. I'm not sure it comes in baby sizes. Read More......

STOP using their language

Josh Marshall has an open letter to Senate Democrats about their Iraq messaging:

The Democrats have to be much more aggressive. But 'more aggressive' doesn't mean a quicker withdrawal. It means making your point forcefully, on your own terms, repeatedly.

But they're not doing that.

What I see is Republicans on TV repeating their 'cut and run' charges. And to the extent I see Democrats, it's Democrats denying the charge. No, we're not for cutting and running.

Marshall's advice is sound. I just want to focus on one small aspect of the Democratic messaging: STOP using Karl Rove's language.

I saw a snippet of Dianne Feinstein's floor speech today on CNN. The first line was "Despite what may have been said these past few days, our amendment is not about cutting and running." Now I know that wasn't the first line of her full floor statement, but it's what got picked up by CNN. Even Soledad pointed out to Carville that saying your opponent's line was bad messaging.

At the beginning of 2005, George Lakoff's book on framing, Don't Think of an Elephant, was all the rage. One of the most important lessons was to avoid using GOP frames. That's the trap they've fallen in to on the Iraq debate. STOP IT. NOW. Read More......

Southern Republican bigots are trying to kill the Voting Rights Act

Gee, first the Republicans showed last summer that they had an affinity for lynching blacks, and now they don't want blacks and Latinos to vote. Do we need any more evidence for blacks, Latinos and other minorities to realize that the Republican party hates people who aren't rich, white, straight, Amurican men?

And, you just have to love the argument from the Southern Republican Members of Congress trying to kill this landmark civil rights legislation. You see, the legislation unfairly tarnishes southern states as bigots.

First off, you southern states are the reason the law exists in the first place. Loving v. Virginia, anyone? Not to mention Virginia's penchant for being possibly the most homophobic state in the Union. It seems there is still a special place for hatred and bigotry in the soul of the south, so spare us the victim crap. And how about that old civil war war-horse you people can't seem to ever get over. A people who get beyond your past you are most certainly not. (Yes, yes, many of you are sane liberals and independents, and that's great, but far too many are not, and your representation in Congress proves what the majority of your brethren really are.)

Secondly, the very fact that you're trying to kill a civil rights law is proof enough of why it's needed. As your own Republican Representatives so often like to tell the rest of us, if you have nothing to hide, then what are you afraid of? Read More......

Bruce Unplugged

Bruce Springsteen is one of the best advocates for progessive politics in America -- and his smackdown of Coulter works, too:

O’BRIEN: In 2004 you came out very strongly in support of John Kerry and performed with him - your fellow guitarist, I think is how you introduced him to the crowd. And some people gave you a lot of flack for being a musician who took a political stand. I remember…

SPRINGSTEEN: Yeah, they should let Ann Coulter do it instead.

Think Progress has the both the video and the full transcript. Read More......

Bush is snooping into your bank records without a warrant

Let me guess: it was too hard to get a search warrant?

Whatever. The Republicans have destroyed our country, killed our troops, spat upon the Constitution and the founding principles of our democracy, and now they're violating our bank records privacy too. And we're supposed to be surprised? These people have no respect for democracy, for civil rights, for civil liberties, for blacks, for women, for gays, for Latinos, for Muslims, for democracy and for any Christian religion other than hate-filled Baptists. Republicans have become petty thugs who do whatever they please because it feels good, to hell with the law. This isn't the America we fight wars for. It's the America we fight wars to avoid becoming. Read More......

Ralph Reed: the mighty is falling...crashing...and burning

Back in the 90s, Ralph Reed was portrayed as the poster boy for GOP moral values. He was a Republican kingmaker. In return, the GOP was putting him in their pipeline to leadership -- starting with the Lieutenant Governor's office in Georgia. In reality, he's just another one of the 21st century poster boys for GOP corruption:

A bipartisan Senate report released on Thursday documented more than $5.3 million in payments to Ralph Reed, the former director of the Christian Coalition and a leading Republican Party strategist, from an influence-peddling operation run by the corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff on behalf of Indian tribe casinos.

The report by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee portrayed Mr. Reed, now a candidate for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in his home state of Georgia, as a central figure in Mr. Abramoff's lobbying operation, the focus of a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.

Mr. Reed was depicted as having used his contacts among conservative Christian groups in the South and Southwest beginning in the late 1990's to block the opening or expansion of casinos that might compete with the gambling operations of Mr. Abramoff's clients.

Ralph Reed really is the face of the GOP. Read More......

Friday Morning Open Thread

Been a long week. Read More......

While I sympathize with Costa Rica

What were they thinking when they signed on in the first place? Either way, just another indication of how bad America's image is during the Bush years. Read More......

Please ignore the 25 gangland executions in Iraq

Just because 25 Iraqis were executed, pay no attention and instead, please put your focus on the recycled-for-political-emergency troop withdrawal which is dutifully being churned out by the big brass, decisive finger pointing and supportive glances from Rummy included this time just for extra emphasis for you lefty doubters out there. (Damn I admire that man.) No, those 25 murdered Iraqis (or thousands or tens of thousands for that matter) really don't compare to the latest campaign of fear and home based terror. (It seemed to be like a "military boot camp" for god's sake! We all know those firm statements from this team means a lot. A lot, a lot, really.)

So let's all just ignore the continuing problems in Iraq and settle in again for the fear show. Dead Iraqis, dead Americans, failed reconstruction projects, you name it, they just don't matter and will only distract us all from the faithful program of terrifying the hell out of America with trumped up charges and giving us that little carrot of troop reductions that we know mean nothing. C'mon, forget about thinking and just live it. These people are experts and only they can protect us. Remember? Read More......

Open thread

Massively cool lightning storm in DC right now. Read More......