Friday Orchid Blogging

Been a while. I've been taking a respite from the orchids, cut back on my stock a bit so I could focus on the ones I really like. And this is one that I really like. It's a Blc. Chia Lin 'New City' AM/AOS. It's a cattleya-type orchid, and it's the first time I've ever been able to get a catt to bloom. The picture doesn't do it justice - the color is a deep royal purple that practically glows. Catts need a ton of sunlight, and even then I worry about rotting their roots. I'm growing this one, like most of my orchids now, in an inert medium made up of lava rock and baked clay pellets. That way is always stays moist, but not wet, and it seems to be doing well. Maybe next year I'll have several blossoms at once, that will be a real show. Enjoy. Read More......

I'm kind of over everyone at this point

TPMmuckraker has a new article up entitled, "Reid Chooses Admin-Friendly Measure as Basis for Surveillance Bill." You can read the article for yourselves, but bottom line is that Harry Reid is being accused of caving to the Bush-enablers in his own party who are pushing for legislation to grant retroactive immunity to AT&T;, Verizon and other telecom companies that helped the Bush administration illegally spy on innocent Americans.

At this point, I don't know who to blame. Harry Reid for not getting firm with his own Democratic caucus? Democratic committee chairs like Patrick Leahy and Jay Rockefeller, either of whom has the power to throw a wrench in Bush's plans? Organizations like the ACLU, who are taking the lead on this issue, but whose "campaign" on this issue, and privacy overall, still remains a mystery?

I do know that the blogs (including Glenn Greenwald, Christy at FireDogLake, and our gang, to name a few) have been going nuts on this issue, and the issue of privacy overall. But the blogs aren't enough. We don't have election certificates. We don't have multi-million dollar advocacy budgets. And those who do don't seem to understand anymore how to win, or how to even fight back.
(After the jump: Where was the non-profit advocacy?)

And before anyone says that lots of money and time was spent on advocacy on this issue, I'm sorry, but what do we have to show for it? Where is the nationwide buzz about privacy (hell, where is the nationwide campaign about privacy?) Where are the Harry and Louise TV ads? Where is the discussion about how this issue affects every American who has ever had phone sex, committed adultery, or had a bit too much fun explicitly chatting with someone online? You better believe our current crop of politicians, and our current crop of non-profits advocates, wouldn't touch that side of these issues with a ten foot pole (no pun intended). But they're the very issues that affect real Americans, and they're the issues that would get America's attention and make them understand that what Bush did, what AT&T; and Verizon did, and what Congress is about to do, have actual real-life impacts on their lives. But launching a campaign like that might embarrass our politicians and our board members and our donors. So, better to lose with our heads held high while our country falls apart around us.

Once again, push comes to shove and liberals are caught unprepared. The politicians on the Hill and the big-money non-profits failed to lay the groundwork that would enable everyone to do the right thing on yet another core progressive issue. It's the Alito nomination all over again. After months of inadequate hearings and inadequate non-profit advocacy, the vote was a foregone conclusion because our side kind of sucked.

I really don't know what to say any more. Our side, on the Hill and in the non-profit sector, honestly believes that there is no other option than failure. They honestly believe that no matter what they do they'll lose. So they give it the old college try, "knowing" that failure is the only option.

I'm tired of failing. I'm tired of having to rely on people who don't know how to win. Whether it's our leadership, the Dems in the caucus, our national non-profits, or the whole freaking party, something has got to give. We are losing our country. Read More......

Giuliani profited from invading your privacy, possibly illegally

Raw Story has the story, including a Keith Olbermann clip explaining the details. Read More......

FOX News declares WAR on Christmas

Reader melpaige alerted me to the fact that FOX News, which led the war on the "war on Christmas" last year, is now apparently leading its own war on the war on the war on Christmas. According to Google, FOX uses the word "holiday" 1,000 times on their Web site. Holiday is PC (pagan code) for "Christmas." So why would FOX lead the charge against the ubiquitous word "holiday" and then use it themselves all over the place? Could it be that FOX is simply a propaganda network and not a real news network?

There are so many references to HOLIDAY on the FOX site that I had to shrink the first hundred really really small just to fit them in this post comfortably. You can click the miniscule image to the left to see the first 100 references, i.e., only 10% of the damage that FOX has done to Santa's PC-clogged arteries).

(Beyond the jump, proof that O'Reilly's own "Christmas Shop" is selling "holiday" gifts!)

UPDATE: Well, you'll never guess what I found in Bill O'Reilly's "Christmas shop." A "holiday" gift. Not a Christmas gift, but a "holiday" gift. Maybe O'Reilly declared victory in the war on Christmas a bit too soon.

Read More......

Reuters: Obama edges ahead of Clinton in New Hampshire poll

From Reuters:

Democratic Sen. Barack Obama has edged ahead of rival Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire less than a month before the state's nominating primary in the 2008 race for the White House, a new poll showed on Friday.

The Concord Monitor newspaper poll showed the U.S. senator from Illinois leading Clinton 32 percent to 31 percent in New Hampshire, which on January 8 holds the first primary in the run-up to the November 2008 presidential election. The survey had a 4 percentage point error margin.

It mirrors other polls this week showing the New York senator's lead vanishing in New Hampshire, suggesting a fiercely competitive race in a state where the former first lady led by a comfortable margin just weeks ago.

On Wednesday, a WMUR-TV/CNN poll showed the race a statistical dead heat with Clinton leading Obama 31 percent to 30 percent. In September, Clinton enjoyed a commanding lead of more than 20 points over Obama.

(After the jump, more from Reuters and a good recap of Joe's previous analysis of why things are looking more ominous for Hillary.) Joe has explained several times why now is a bad time to be losing momentum, including here:

This is a bad time to be losing momentum for any candidate. Tomorrow starts the holiday season. Even in the early states, it's going to be hard for voters to focus on caucuses and primaries which fall in early January. It's going to be very difficult for Clinton to regain momentum during December. The first caucus in Iowa is January 3rd. There's almost no time to refocus the attention of voters after the holidays but before voting actually starts.

More of Joe's analysis here:

Hillary Clinton has been the frontrunner -- and is the closest thing to an incumbent in the race for President on either side. It's hard for me to understand how anyone who doesn't support Clinton now will somehow learn something new about her that will garner their vote between now and early January. On the other hand, it seems that since late October, voters have been learning things they don't like about Hillary Clinton -- or are having doubts about her confirmed....

A lot of people are trying to figure out what it all means. We'll know for sure in early January. Clearly, there is concern over at the Clinton camp, because Hillary's guru, Mark Penn, felt it necessary to provide his spin on the polls over at the Clinton blog. (He's more optimistic than Hunt or Rasmussen).

Now, if any campaign staff is capable of turning this one around, it's Team Hillary. But, then again, Team Hillary got themselves into this mess. So unless someone turns around Team Hillary first, we may be seeing an upset.

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UK sailors criticized for selling stories

They must have missed the memo that said only top brass or politicians can sell their stories. Commoners without titles simply can't do this. Then again, commoners can't really wrap up $10 million deals either, can they? It's good to be the king. Read More......

Reid may block Bush recess appointments again at Christmas

*May* is the operative word. It's not clear why the article is presenting this as only a possibility. What possible reason would there be for not doing this? Because Bush got upset the last time the Dems did it at Thanksgiving? That's a reason TO do this. Another reason: It is critically important that Bush not be allowed to jam radical appointees, like his Surgeon General nominee, down our throats without confirmation. There is only one year left, and with a slim majority in the Senate there are few things the Democrats can do to impede Bush doing even more damage to the country and to show their constituents, and the public at large, that the Congress is in fact relevant. Blocking Bush's recess appointments - appointments he is making to thwart Congress - is one of them.

Another reason for Dems to keep blocking Bush's recess appointments: The public likes seeing the Dems stand up to Bush. There have been numerous polls showing that the public wants the Democratic Congress to play the role of counterweight to Bush. Interestingly, I saw this first-hand with a recent post I did about Harry Reid blocking Bush's recess appointments at Thanksgiving. The story got 1,572 Diggs.



Those weren't just Diggs from my readers - a popular story on my site usually gets 20 Diggs, not 1,500 - that was a surge of support from Digg readers, readers across the Internet (that's also a damn good showing for a story on Digg itself). In other words, people across America liked what they saw, or at the very least, it caught their interest. And if the Democratic Congress needs anything, it's catching the interest of the American people, doing something that suggests that it's doing anything.

More from the Washington Post:

Christmas is usually a time when controversial nominees for top federal jobs wait for Santa, in the form of the president of the United States, to come down the chimney with their recess appointments.

Maybe not this year. Word is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), in order to prevent President Bush from handing out those goodies, is now thinking about keeping the Senate in session during the Christmas-New Year's break, which starts at the end of next week and continues until the Senate returns in mid- to late January.

The unusual maneuver, which Reid first used during the recent Thanksgiving vacation, would block Bush from using his constitutional power -- derived from the days when the Senate could be out of session for months -- to fill vacancies. Such appointments made now would be valid through the end of Bush's presidency.

As a practical matter, if Reid decides to keep the Senate in session, such folks as Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), who came in from across the river to wield the gavel during the Thanksgiving break, would once again briefly open and close the Senate twice a week, in what are called pro forma sessions.

Senate Democrats have been particularly upset over several of Bush's recess appointees, including Charles Pickering to an appeals court seat and, more recently, Republican donor and Swift Boat ad-campaign contributor Sam Fox as ambassador to Belgium.

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Bush will veto torture ban

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a ban on torture. Actually, per The Gavel, the House adopted the Army's rules prohibiting torture for other agencies. Seems the Army doesn't want to condone a practice that could be used on our soldiers. Not Bush, though. He will veto that ban:

The White House vowed to veto the measure. Limiting the CIA to interrogation techniques authorized by the Army Field Manual "would prevent the United States from conducting lawful interrogations of senior al Qaeda terrorists to obtain intelligence needed to protect Americans from attack," the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement.

Bush: Just because he says we don't torture, doesn't mean we don't torture. Read More......

Republicans protect their special interests in new energy bill

Is it really so hard to promote new energy that is good for America and good for the world? The GOP is completely unable to do anything that doesn't prop up their special interests such as Big Oil, Wall Street and Big Pharma. It's always too easy to shift costs to the middle class and give away the farm to the wealthiest, who are already doing pretty well. The Democrats are right, that we need a stronger majority but they're also going to have to start fighting back much more.

But for now, why do the Republicans hate America and promote special interests? Read More......

Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning. Quite the week of bad weather. D.C. is under a "winter storm watch." This city doesn't handle winter well. And, Olga? A tropical storm in December?

Stormy weather. Stormy politics. What are you hearing? Read More......

Miami Seven: terrifying "terrorists" but no convictions

As CNN says, 0 of 7 convicted in Sears Tower terror plot. Stopping terrorists is obviously important, but was this really a very good use of resources and tax dollars? Obviously it was helpful to the Bush Administration who was desperate to have a big terror announcement and scare the hell out of citizens, though I fail to see where this helped the US as a country. Taxpayer dollars aren't there to be used for political manipulation, though the Bush team is perfectly fine with doing just that.

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High oil prices hit economy hard

Not only is the dollar hitting 30 year plus lows, now wholesale prices shot up the highest amount in 34 years. In Europe, where the euro has been strong (too strong, really) we have not noticed the increase in oil-related costs because oil is sold in dollars. The price at the pump for gas is still hovering around €1.35/liter or €5.11 per gallon or $7.50. This is about the same as it was a year ago and even two years ago, on a euro cost basis. The big difference is the collapse of the dollar. When some people in the media and in politics say the weak dollar means nothing to Americans who are staying at home, this is where they are wrong.

European prices are already painfully high, though at least they are not moving upward. The increase gasoline costs impact driving, heating, food shipment costs and more. No matter what Dick Cheney thinks about the US economy being resilient to high oil costs, regular people are feeling the pinch. Read More......