Under Cover of Darkness

We've seen the tracks during the day, but never the critter leaving them. Last night, we caught him in the act!

Mr. Bunny (Sylvilagus Transitionalis,) eating up bird seed around the base of the feeders.

He's also been doing some damage to the shrubs in the LipsYard, because the deep snow gets him up to the younger, tender tips of branches. Here he is, caught with our night vision camera, heading towards the Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana.)

Under cover of their own darknes: National Security, the Bush administration has slowly and methodically hacked away at our civil rights and liberties.

They have used every available statute to root out "the terrorists among us." Wrapping themselves in the flag, they have shredded the Constitution. They have ignored or defied the courts and legislatures that are designed to provide checks and balances on unbridled executive power.

They have eroded the Bill of Rights protections of free speech, assembly, and association and its assurances of privacy, due process, equal protection, legal counsel, and a fair trial, practically everything but the right to bear arms. No wait, they did that after Katrina.

In the name of combating terrorism, the government can now freeze the release of public records, monitor political and religious gatherings, and jail Americans indefinitely without trial and with legal representation. Bush and Cheney Inc. have established a climate that stifles dissent, and put laws in place enabling them to clamp down on those who ask too many questions. Waterboarding? No problem!

My fear is that as the spys among us get used to their unspurpassed freedom to snoop into our lives and private affairs, will a new administration be able, or willing, to pull back on the reins, and give this country back to the people?