We've got the blues

The Virginia Bluebells ( Mertensia virginica) are in bloom in the LipsYard garden. They're one of the first to give color to the backyard. They also attract butterflies.

The flowers can be pollinated by bumblebees, but due to their funnel shape, bumblebees must hover, making them a rare pollinator. Butterflies are the most common pollinators, because they can easily perch on the edges and still enjoy the nectar.

We're not the only one with the blues. FBI agents on Tuesday raided the Office of Special Counsel and closed down its e-mail system in what appears to be a probe into political misuse of the agency. The agents seized computers and documents belonging to the head of the agency, Scott Bloch, and his staff. Bloch was nominated by President Bush in 2003.

The Office of Special Counsel, created after the Watergate political scandal of the 1970s, is an independent agency is charged with protecting federal employees, and looking into whether whistleblower complaints deserve investigations. It also enforces a law forbidding government workers from engaging in partisan politics.

The Feds are investigating claims that Bloch abused his authority to investigate cases, retaliated against employees, and dismissed whistleblower cases with little examination.

Bloch has long been accused of rolling back protections for federal workers who face sexual-orientation discrimination; installing staffers in key posts who share his religious-conservative worldview; wielding his prosecutorial power for partisan purposes; and turning his agency into a "black hole" for whistleblower disclosures and complaints of reprisal.