Hope for Harry

I'll be limiting myself to weekly entries for another week or two; I'm spending the holidays in the mountains of western North Carolina, learning about parts of horses I didn't know existed and how to navigate political discussions around family members who actually get their news from Fox News, and believe there's a liberal conspiracy to abolish Christmas.

I wonder what they would make of this? The Washington Post reports that nativity scenes around the country are being burgled. Says Jim Finnegan of Chicago's Nativity Scene Committee, speaking of the christ figure in Daley Plaza:

"We have him secured to the manger with a small but very secure cable...it's padlocked tight. The hay covers that part well enough, so it doesn't ruin the ambiance at all."

On a different subject entirely, I've been encouraged by some of what I've been hearing from and about Harry Reid, the resolutely low-key soon-to-be Senate Minority Leader. Chris Suellentrop in Slate gives us the skinny on Reid's history as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission, including an episide where Reid threatened to strangle LaToya Jackson's husband (and they say Democrats have no moral values!). He also rather endearingly describes Reid as being only somewhat less charismatic than Mary Lou Retton.

Then there is the WaPo article in which Reid, speaking of the Democratic response to any attempt to change the Senate filibuster rule, says:

"I know procedures around here. And I know that there will still be Senate business conducted. But I will, for lack of a better word, screw things up."

Maybe it's not going to be such a bad year after all.