Via TPM: “I defy you not to be charmed.”

And the fact is daniels IS charming. And funny: listen to her basically call Vitter a pervert, saying “I guess the biggest difference is I’m open with my sexual activity“, and then say he should be in jail, saying “i might be a porn star, but at least i haven’t done anything illegal. And I guess the big question is not just ‘why is David Vitter in office’ but ‘why is he not in jail’? I think he’s setting a horrible example…if they think thart I’m a better choice, what does that say?”

You go Stormy Daniels, you GO!

Harry Reid, the telecom’s best friend and the not-so-secret ally of the opposition Republicans, has been humiliated:

Amid deep and growing divisions among Senate Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) last night abruptly withdrew legislation that would have changed surveillance law and granted the nation’s telecommunications companies retroactive immunity from lawsuits charging they had violated privacy rights.
[snip]
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) — a presidential candidate who returned from Iowa Sunday night to fight the measure — quickly claimed victory after the bill’s withdrawal, and he again vowed to “utilize all the tools available” to block passage once Reid calls it up in January.

“He blinked,” Caroline Fredrickson, director of the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union, said of Reid. “It’s clear that this was not going to be easy. On the one hand he wanted to rush this process and think he could strong-arm everybody to giving up their rights as senators. They threw sand in the gears.”

Reid spokesman Jim Manley said the decision had nothing to do with the efforts of Dodd and his allies. Indeed, for most of yesterday, Dodd appeared to be fighting a losing battle. His initial filibuster effort was steamrolled when the Senate voted 76 to 10 to take up the measure at noon.

Dodd vowed he will continue to try to scuttle the bill, which passed with bipartisan support out of the Senate intelligence committee, but he acknowledged “significant divisions” among his fellow Democrats.

Chris Dodd bought us time. Reward good behavior.

And then have some fun: Harry Reid’s office can be reached at 202-224-3542. Dial “1″ to speak to a staffer, and ask them to extend your congratulations to Chris Dodd, because boy oh boy are they PISSED today in Harry Pussy’s office. Here’s how my call went:

“Sir, you’re aware that you’ve called Harry Reid’s office and we can’t pass along that message to Senator Dodd?”

“Sure I am. But I’m not asking you to send that message to Chris Dodd. I want you to send my message to Senator Reid. Please tell the Senator that I support Chris Dodd 100% and that if the vote comes to the floor again, I’m going to urge him to do it all over again. I think Senator Dodd is a GREAT leader, and maybe he should have Senator Reid’s job.”

The woman’s response was dripping with venom. Hilarious, impotent, humiliated venom. After that, call Chris Dodd’s office, and give him the thanks he deserves for standing up for our inalienable right against undue search and seizure.
Dodd’s never going to win the presidency, even though he deserves it far more than Bigmouth Dolittles like Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton, none of who could be bothered to honor their promises to support their colleague’s efforts to defend our Fourth Amendment rights.

Kinda surprising about Biden: I would have figured he’d welcome any opportunity to flap his gums for a few hours. I’ve never seen a politician so in love with the sound of his own voice, droning on and on and on.

Again, reward good behavior.

It’s so difficult, for obvious reasons, to parent when Sam is away, but the two worst obstacles are his understandable difficulty carrying on a phone conversation, and my physical absence: he simply doesn’t get much face time with me.

But last night on the phone, Mummy made a great suggestion. “Why don’t we invest in webcams, Brendan?” she asked. “When I was at Penn, I always used a webcam to talk to people online, and since the phone isn’t involved, there shouldn’t be any long distance charges. You and Sam would be able to see each other, and it might make phone conversations easier.”

It IS an excellent idea. After work, I have to figure out if my computer is capable of doing that.

So if you’re reading today, kudos: it’s a great idea, and if we can make it work… well, I still don’t owe you one, but you scored some brownie points with your notoriously dickish ex.