Our Sleeping Watchmen
My Congressman, at least willing to state the obvious…
In an interview last week, Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, said “it’s a fair comment” that the GOP-controlled Congress has done insufficient oversight and “ought to be” doing more.
“Republican Congresses tend to overinvestigate Democratic administrations and underinvestigate their own,” said Davis, who added that he has tried to pick up some of the slack with his committee. “I get concerned we lose our separation of powers when one party controls both branches.”
Democrats on the committee said the panel issued 1,052 subpoenas to probe alleged misconduct by the Clinton administration and the Democratic Party between 1997 and 2002, at a cost of more than $35 million. By contrast, the committee under Davis has issued three subpoenas to the Bush administration, two to the Energy Department over nuclear waste disposal at Yucca Mountain, and one last week to the Defense Department over Katrina documents.
read more:
Bush’s Fumbles Spur New Talk of Oversight on Hill
The Washington Post, 12/18/05
Under the Tree 2
Our tree skirt is in high demand among the household cats. But our oldest one, Figaro the black cat, has laid the firmest claim to the primo holiday cat bed.
Headlines to make you proud to be an American
Ironic Title!
from today’s Washington Post…
Bush Authorized Domestic Spying
President Relents, Backs Torture Ban
UPDATE: A mid-day headline offers a ray of hope…
Christmas Tree, All Grown Up
We are the third owners of a house that was built in 1982. You can tell by the cool date brick. Earlier this year, while I was out doing some yard work, a man that looked to be in his 20s approached and told me that this had been his childhood home. He was about to head on an extended trip to central America, and since he was in the area he thought he’d come by and pay the place a visit. As one that has been know to make pilgrimiges to previous homes myself, I appreciated his desire to drop by and was glad to show him around.
I learned something very special about the large pine tree in our yard from our visitor. It has been a wonderful climbing tree for our kids, and a place to hang our bird feeder. The family we bought the home from told us they used to decorate it with Christmas lights until it grew too large. But what I learned was that during their first Christmas in our house, they had a live Christmas tree, and following the holiday they planted that tree in the yard of their new home. I love the fact that their 1982 Christmas tree became a gift to this house, and now it’s grown so large, our house almost looks like a gift beneath it.The “War” on Christmas
You can skip the below rant it you’d like, and just watch this video. There’s little I can add to it to make it better. But if you’d like to read my attempt, then read on…
All this nonsense in the media about a “War on Christmas” is really beginning to bug me. It will soon be added to previous empty platitudes such as our ‘Wars’ on poverty, drugs and terrorism. It’s a slogan, not a war. It’s a war on nouns.
As my own recent blog entries attest, I am not at war with Christmas. I have embraced Christmas heartily, it is a wonderful holiday. I don’t care a bit if someone chooses to wish me a “Merry Christmas” or more generically “Happy Holidays”. In both instances, they are wishing me well and I would gladly accept it and return it in kind. Wish me a “Happy” Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, Winter Solstice, New Year or Festivus, and I’ll wish you one too.
Thank heaven for those who will take on such nonsense. If you’ve read this far, treat yourself to another video clip, this one of the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart responding to Bill O’Reilly’s claim that he’s part of this ‘war’.
with thanks to Think Progress and Crooks and Liars for the vids
Under the Tree
It’s almost 1:30 am on Saturday morning, and Spaz and I both realized we’ve missed out on Friday Cat Blogging this week. Better late than never I guess. Here’s some Saturday Tree Blogging instead.
St. Nicholas Snow Day
As a kid, there were a few holiday traditions brought over from the old world family roots in Bohemia. Some were food related, like the braided Hoska bread, or the Kolacky pastries. But the other meant gifts, and that’s why I enjoyed the fact that we celebrated St. Nicholas day in our house.
St. Nicholas of Myra lived in the 4th Century in what is today the country of Turkey. According to Wikipedia, he was known for secret gift giving and “is revered by many as the patron saint of seamen, merchants, archers, children, prostitutes, pharmacists, lawyers, pawnbrokers, prisoners, the city of Amsterdam and of Russia.” Happily, as a child, I fell into the child category and so was glad to celebrate his feast day on December 6th.
Although I’m not sure we really celebrated it as they did in the the Czech Republic. To me, celebrating St. Nicholas day meant an early visit by the historical predecessor to the coming visit by Santa which followed three weeks later. We’d get some toys and some candy (always a Lifesavers Sweet Storybook). That’s all that mattered.
St. Nicholas was known to travel with some less appealing companions. Good children would receive gifts from St. Nicholas, while bad once received beatings. My mother recalls that her Grandfather would dress as Black Pete to scare his siblings and later his children. Presumably they were beaten.
Yesterday we had enough snow that today the schools were closed and my wife and kids enjoyed a bonus day off. There was candy and gifts in their shoes (thanks folks), as there had been in mine. And while, like me, they know little more about the day than I did, I’m glad to carry on the tradition. Maybe this year I’ll try and make a Hoska. Next year, I’ll be Black Pete.
That would be a big, YES!
The most impressive thing really is how quickly and firmly he has established his hold on this position. It would have been the case already with a single term, but it’s a distinction he’ll hold for the ages after two.
IS GEORGE BUSH THE WORST PRESIDENT — EVER?
by Richard Reeves
Old School Xmas Lights
“You taught me everything I know about exterior illumination.“
Clark Griswold to his father in Christmas Vacation