Good question. Why not just hold off all important business until the new Senate is sworn in, where the party would have stronger negotiating position and get more of what it wants?

Harry Reid's brilliance? Um, seems to be too remote a possibility to bother considering.

Blame the RINOs, pure and simple, who do in fact have Washingtonitis -- the belief that they have a sort of Divine Right of Kings to decide the affairs of men, rather than voting according to their constituents' aspirations -- and see themselves as defending the gate from the barbarians.

The answer, I think, is that there are plenty of Senate Republicans who aren't too comfortable with the class of conservatives who got elected in 2010. These legislators knew they had to stick with McConnell before the election, as you can't win back the majority by handing the president lots of legislative accomplishments. But now that the election was over, the bills that had piled up were, in many cases, good bills, and if they didn't pass now, it wasn't clear that they'd be able to pass later.

The incumbent -- and the outgoing -- Republicans know that the fact that Republicans will have more power in 2011 doesn't necessarily mean that they'll use that power to pass sensible legislation. So those of them who wanted to pass sensible legislation decided to get it all done now, even if that meant handing Reid and Obama a slew of apparent victories in the lame-duck session.

That's Ezra Klein, but I think he's right.

Culture is thicker than ideology. It is often noted by Tea Partiers (and before that, what used to just be called grassroots conservatives before they had a more evocative name) that the leadership class, even the "conservative" parts of the leadership class, shares the same basic culture -- tastes, preferences, religiosity, manners, mods of thought -- with all other members of the leadership class, and that culture is largely liberal in almost all ways.

When offered a choice between their own culture -- shared with liberal senators -- and a culture to them which looks a lot like The Other, alien and frightening, they will do what human beings usually do, behave in a xenophobic, tribal fashion and align with the people they know and respect, and they respect them primarily because they agree with them so much.

And that usually means selling out their putative ideology, which The Other they're so frightened of does in fact believe in, and better understand, far better than they do.

And in reacting in a xenophobic, hatred-of-The-Other tribalistic fashion, they congratulate themselves on being "sophisticated" and "open-minded."

This I think is the reason many grassroots conservatives hate Mitt Romney and love Sarah Palin. Even though they agree on most issues, they sense Mitt Romney is from that leadership class, and will sell them out at the drop of a hat to keep in the good graces of the culture he admires and identifies with, and Sarah Palin is definitely from their own class -- what the establishment regards as The Barbaric Other -- and will tend to support them.

I don't think that's quite fair to Romney -- Ann Coulter thinks that below his chameleon act he is in fact mostly The Barbaric Other, same as we -- but that accounts for the open hostility to him. And I understand that, as he has reinforced that perception by joining the liberal leadership class (or at least ran his ship under their flag of convenience) when it served his purposes.

Posted by: Ace at 08:11 AM | Comments (163)
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Okay, now I can say it: I'm Chris Christie, and I'm seriously thinking about running for President.

Gov. Chris Christie defended fellow Republicans amid criticism that the GOP is holding up legislation to provide health benefits to 9/11 rescue workers, many of whom live in New Jersey.

"I donÂ’t think my party is opposed to this bill," Christie said at an event in Wayne today. "This bill should be done, but it should be done in a way that is fiscally responsible."

...

When asked about the legislation last week, Christie deferred, saying it was a federal matter. Asked again yesterday, this time with the caveat that heÂ’s a "rising star in the Republican Party," Christie reiterated his position that itÂ’s a federal issue.

"I believe itÂ’s the responsible and humane thing to do," the governor said. "There has to be a responsible way to pay for this, and they need to come to an agreement to pay for it."

The issue is about the high price tag and funding. Democrats like showing their patriotism the only way they know how (big government spending on politically-attractive groups) and Republicans don't feel like paying so much for a Democratic talking point about patriotism. On the funding front, the Democrats say it's revenue neutral because they're going to... raise taxes. Or close tax loopholes, as they say, which is the same thing.

Posted by: Ace at 07:45 AM | Comments (66)
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So here is a weird non-political thread for you: what are some of the truly bizarre Christmas traditions you and your family partake in?

Mine is slightly evil, but pays off every time: the gift-inside-a-box-inside-a-box-inside-a-box tradition.

When I was a kid, my siblings and I tore through our gifts in about 5 minutes. I wanted the experience to last longer, so every subsequent Christmas I picked one of my siblings or parents at random, and would put their gift inside a small box and insert that into slightly larger and so on. My record before moving out was 11 layers of boxes, wrapping, and bags- unfortunately my sister was targeted that year and broke her wrist 4 days before Christmas.

Unless you bought your girlfriend or wife diamonds, I suggest against pranking them in this manner. Of course if you don't mind the doghouse for a bit, it is hilarious to see them tear through layer after layer after layer to get a gift card. Just hide any sharp objects and bullets.

So share your offbeat moron traditions here. No art thread today by the way, I am too busy with painting and a modification of the above tradition.

Posted by: CAC at 07:40 AM | Comments (165)
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First a bit of non-heroic housekeeping, Obama signed DADT repeal.

Now that that is out of the way, let's talk about some real military stories.

Army Sgt. J.D. Williams is 23 years old. He's married and has an infant daughter. He is currently at Brooke Army Medical Center recuperating from wounds that resulted him losing three limbs.

What does he say?

"I'm just glad I stepped on that IED. Otherwise, it would have been one of my buddies."

More on this incredible man and how you can send him a note here.

Via Lex...meet British soldier Lance Corporal Craig Murfitt, currently serving in Afghanistan.

“I spotted three men with a child on a compound roof, about 300 yards in front of the vehicles. Suddenly two of the men moved off, leaving one man with the child. It was a girl, no more than 10.

“The man picked up a rifle and moved behind the child, taking aim at me. I knew I could take him down but, being a dad myself, I didn’t want to run the risk of killing a child. So I waited, hoping the girl would drop down and give me a clear shot.” Instead, the sniper fired, hitting LCpl Murfitt in the head. It was only his helmet that saved him, leaving him dazed but uninjured. The child fled at the sound of the shot - leaving his colleagues the chance to open fire.

The brave soldiers of Islam hide behind children while the crusaders take shots to the head to avoid putting them at risk.

Compare and contrast.

Personally, I'm damn glad and incredibly grateful that Sgt Williams and LCpl Murfitt are on our side.

One last bit of housekeeping... more...

Posted by: DrewM at 06:56 AM | Comments (135)
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How'd you like it if someone came along and picked an apple off of YOU?

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 03:35 AM | Comments (243)
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Another week of glory for the geniuses and mediocrity from the perpetually lame pro-pickers. I'm starting to think some of you are going with your hearts instead of your heads now. I'm lookin at you Tom Coughlin.

Electoral Pickups:

joltin' j: 126
Reggie Bush's Birth Cert: 126
JetFanMike: 122
daddio412: 122

New York and Ohioans:

Ben: 115
Russ from Winterset: 110
DreM: 107
CDR M: 105
DiT: 98

Also, after 3 bowl games, the top 4 morons in the College thing (games and points):

1 lowandslow Allan 3 of 3, 60
2 Allahpundit's A-noos MikeB 2 of 3, 59
3 raiderdav DavidH 2 of 3, 54
4 Jay in Ames Jay 3 of 3, 53

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 06:04 PM | Comments (9)
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H-Bombs In Spaaaace

Back in the summer of 1962 the US set off a hydrogen bomb 250 miles in space over the Pacific as part of Starfish Prime. And it created quite a show for Hawaii:

In Honolulu, the explosions were front page news. "N-Blast Tonight May Be Dazzling: Good View Likely," said the Honolulu Advertiser. Hotels held what they called "Rainbow Bomb Parties" on rooftops and verandas. When the bomb burst, people told of blackouts and strange electrical malfunctions, like garage doors opening and closing on their own. But the big show was in the sky.

So why did we nuke space? Well it was an experimental age - the Van Allen belts had only been discovered a few years before and we figured that if we didn't do it, the Soviets would. So why let them get all the glory and secret data from it. Plus it was a good chance to show the aliens that we were totally willing to nuke things from orbit.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 05:36 PM | Comments (467)
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Here's the big map. Click on the thumbnail to see the new electoral battlefield.

His conclusion? Well, mostly what I wrote already. Republicans have to win all the states we won in 2008, plus the reddish states we lost in 2008 (VA, OH, that NE at-large district, NC, FL), plus pick up one of the following Obama 2008 states...

Colorado (Cook Partisan index 0), or
Nevada (D+1), or
Iowa (D+1), or
New Hampshire (D+2), or
New Mexico (D+2)

Eesh! Nevada is actually D+1? Horrible. I thought it was like R+3.

It's always possible we win Pennsylvania, I guess. We've thought we could win Pennsylvania for like six presidential elections in a row. Gotta be right one of these times.

Posted by: Ace at 03:36 PM | Comments (234)
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Aircraft carriers launch by some kind of steam-based hydraulic canon, but this new system is electromagnetic.

So what's the advantage? I think, if I'm reading this right, it's that the e-mag can be dialed up or down in power to launch a whole bunch of differently-weighted planes, whereas the steam catapults were pretty much limited to launching a plane of one weight (within small parameters of variation). Correction: Sorta right. The steam cats could launch a variety of weights, but could not get low enough to launch UAVs and couldn't be dialed up to launch heavier planes.

Among other advantages, that system promises to allow the Navy to launch a wider range of aircraft from a carrier -- including everything from lightweight unmanned aircraft to heavy strike fighters -- and do so while also bringing "substantial improvements" to weight, maintenance, and efficiency.

Video below. more...

Posted by: Ace at 03:28 PM | Comments (59)
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What the Funk and Wagnall's.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) lashed out at fellow Republicans Tuesday for a "capitulation ... of dramatic proportions" to Democrats and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in the lame-duck Congress.

Graham said Republicans have no one to blame but themselves for allowing ratification of the New START Treaty and other legislation in the period before new lawmakers are sworn in in January.

"When it's all going to be said and done, Harry Reid has eaten our lunch," Graham said on Fox News radio. "This has been a capitulation in two weeks of dramatic proportions of policies that wouldn't have passed in the new Congress."

At Hot Air, by the way: Lamar Alexander has said he'll support START, which almost guarantees its passage.

So here's what's going to happen: Russia says that any missile-defense site we want to build violates the "spirit of the agreement" thanks to that preamble in the treaty that is supposedly without effect, and threatens to withdraw from the treaty unless we scrap the site, and then Obama says "Oh we can't have that" and capitulates.

All this for a weak-verification agreement which even its supporters do not praise for its direct effects, which border on the nonexistent, but for hypothetical secondary bank-shot effects, like somehow strengthening the hand of Putin's rivals in Russia.

Thanks to DrewM.

Posted by: Ace at 12:52 PM | Comments (189)
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