A long awaited novel

I got my long awaited, much anticipated gift from ravenmb last night (thank you UPS!) and devoured it whole in about an hour. I think it's a new reading speed record for me, but given how long I've been waiting for this and having already listened to the soundtrack for the story, it's probably not too surprising. I called her as soon as I finished and gushed about how wonderful it was, then mildly wheedled for a book two in the series. Yes, I'm shameless.

She was also kind enough to post the story to the Moonshadow archive so I could proudly point everyone to it and say "Go read my Xmas present!" If I get home at a reasonable hour tonight and get my housework done I think I'll curl up and read it again :)

A troubled sleep

You know I've been having trouble sleeping lately, but I bet it's nothing compared to the GOP now that going down and taking more than a few fellow rats with him:

The corruption investigation surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff shows the significant political risk that Republican leaders took when they adopted what had once seemed a brilliant strategy for dominating Washington: turning the K Street lobbying corridor into a cog of the GOP political machine.

Abramoff thrived in the political climate fostered by GOP leaders, including Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), who have methodically tried to tighten the links between the party in Congress and business lobbyists, through what has become known as the "K Street Project."

GOP leaders, seeking to harness the financial and political support of K Street, urged lobbyists to support their conservative agenda, give heavily to Republican politicians and hire Republicans for top trade association jobs. Abramoff obliged on every front, and his tentacles of influence reached deep into the upper echelons of Congress and the Bush administration.

Now, in the wake of a plea agreement in which Abramoff will cooperate in an influence-peddling investigation that might target a number of lawmakers, some Republicans are saying that the party will need to take action to avoid being tarnished.

"This is going to be a huge black eye for our party," said Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.), a senior member close to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). "Denny's going to have to be very tough and really speak out against people who are indicted. He's going to have to do it quickly and decisively and frequently."

Hastert moved Tuesday to inoculate himself from the scandal by announcing that he would give to charity about $60,000 he received from Abramoff and his clients. He is the latest of several lawmakers who have returned or redirected money they received from Abramoff-related sources.


Digby adds:

We have Abramoff intimately connected with two of the most powerful movement conservatives in Washington and directly with the White house and Karl Rove. This is the kind of thing that used to set the cable gasbags afire with speculation in the Clinton White House. Victoria Toensing's head would be spinning like a top while she screeched about dirty money the rule of law. And Dan Burton and Orrin Hatch would be liberally quoted in the NY Times saying that there was a need for immediate congressional investigations to determine the length and breadth of Democratic corruption and if leads directly to the president, well, so be it.

Yet, right out of the box, the Democrat quoted in this article is an anonymous staffer discussing how afraid the Democrats are that a couple of them might be caught up in the scandal. Nancy Pelosi and others did speak out yesterday and they aren't given any prime space in this article. But the truth is that the Democrats do seem skittish and it's just plain stupid. There should be great joy and energy in Democratic circles at the idea of crippling the GOP machine --- Delay, Norquist and Rove are all in trouble and that is unalloyed good news. It won't destroy the machine entirely, but those three are extremely valuable cogs that are not easily replaced. And there is also the potential to expose these scam artists and strong arm thugs for what they are --- thus proving that we aren't actually wimps. Instead we are reinforcing that impression --- and allowing the Republicans to frame this as some sort of abstract "Washington" problem. The press, needless to say, is going where the action is. Since we are motionless, they are focusing on the GOP response.

Why we are skittish about this I do not know. There is no serious downside for us. The scandal is just the latest in a series of Republican screw ups and it's a doozy.

To say the least, where oh where are the Democratic standard bearers who can lead the charge on this? If a few Dems get taken down for being involved with this dirty money then so be it, but surely a few are clean enough to run with this. Yes, Pelosi, I'm looking at you.

No More Mister Nice Blog says:

As Yglesias's Tapped colleague Sam Rosenfeld notes, back in the early '90s Newt Gingrich didn't let the involvement of a few Republicans in the House banking scandal stop him from going after the Democrats hammer and tongs -- but press reports suggest that the Democratic response is, as usual, mixed: some Democrats plan to use the scandal as a campaign issue, others are cowering in fear.

Sorry, that won't wash. Republicans don't control everything because they win battles of ideas -- they control everything because every chance they get they portray their opponents as sick, dangerous, and evil. Sorry if this offends delicate sensibilities, but Democrats won't win until they fight fire with fire.

I doubt it'll happen. We thought Enron would critically wound the GOP; it didn't. We thought Abu Ghraib would bring down the White House; it didn't. We're still waiting for more Fitzmas presents in the Plamegate scandal; they haven't arrived. In every case, Republicans sent a message that yes, some mistakes were made, but by a small, finite number of wrongdoers who aren't D.C.'s marquee names; in every case, the public has failed to take it out on the GOP at the polls. I'd love to think this will be different, but I'm not going to get my hopes up. The right-leaners in the media will foreground any and all Democrats caught in this net, and the Democrat or Democrats will be deemed equal to however many Republicans are also caught. And so it will be a D.C. corruption story, not a GOP corruption story. And life will go on as usual. That's unless the Democrats step up now and howl in partisan outrage with one voice, for as long as necessary. Anybody really think that will happen?

Amen, brother, amen.

Jesus...

If it weren't so scary it would almost be funny:

In a clumsy effort to sabotage Iran's nuclear program, the CIA in 2004 intentionally handed Tehran some top-secret bomb designs laced with a hidden flaw that U.S. officials hoped would doom any weapon made from them, according to a new book about the U.S. intelligence agency.

But the Iranians were tipped to the scheme by the Russian defector hired by the CIA to deliver the plans and may have gleaned scientific information useful for designing a bomb, writes New York Times reporter James Risen in "State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration."...

David Albright, a former weapons inspector for the IAEA, [said] that the plans could have shaved many years off Iran's nuclear effort....


**headdesk**

Whovian music buffs

Thought some of you might enjoy this site full of remixes of the Dr. Who theme!