Month: December 2010

Christmas Eve day.

If you’re expecting anything more significant than hot cider recipes* today… prepare for disappointment.

Moe Lane

*Seriously?  OK:

  • Get a Crock-Pot.
  • Put apple cider in it.
  • Get a couple of cinnamon sticks; toss them in too.
  • Get a tea ball – those things breed in the back of the utensil drawer; you have one – put some cloves in it, and toss that in.
  • Get that simmering for most of the day.  Some people say get it to boiling, first; personal taste, I say.
  • When you drink it, add butter, brown sugar, and rum.

Merry Christmas.

Last minute shopping?

Remember: if your friend or loved one is anything like the people that frequent the Internet then he or she would probably just love an Amazon.com gift card.

For great justice.

Moe Lane

PS: Besides, at this point it’s a brave person who would risk going shopping for presents.  Or booze!  I did that today: I had remembered that the recipe for mulled wine that we had required, well, wine (plus sweet vermouth, for reasons that elude me), so I went to a liquor store to buy some.

Along with the rest of Maryland, apparently.

#rsrh QotD, Lame Duck is Over Edition.

Jennifer Rubin, on the curious way that people seem determined to score a month of the Democrats running into a wall on last-minute spending as a victory for… Democrats:

Only inside the Beltway could the passage of an arms control treaty and repeal of DADT consume so many for so long and result in such exaggerated punditry. Would Republicans have traded wins on DADT and START for their wins on the DREAM act, the tax deal and the omnibus spending bill? Not in a million years.

I had a bit of a screed here originally about how (past) elections have consequences, how practical difficulties with being this far in the minority cannot be completely ameliorated with sufficient outside willpower, and how Life Is Not Fair, So Suck It Up, Already; but then I realized that the people who needed to hear it are largely the people who do not want to hear it, and that the people prepared to listen are probably the people who already know.  So I will instead suggest that if you honestly don’t like the size of the pie that the GOP baked for you – a pie made out of a prevention of a back door amnesty; the ability to dictate the second half of this year’s budget; and the spectacle of the President being forced to break his party’s most fundamental campaign promise on taxation – then I politely suggest that you call up your local Republican group, and sign up for kitchen detail.  They’ll be happy for the help. Continue reading #rsrh QotD, Lame Duck is Over Edition.

No actual Presidential ‘evolution’ on SSM?

Both Andrew Malcolm and Allahpundit are looking somewhat… askance… at President Obama’s apparent “evolution” on same-sex marriage (SSM).  I put “evolution” in scare quotes because there’s no real evidence that he’s actually changed his official opinion on the subject in any way that matters: which should have been apparent from the fact that precisely zero action towards legalizing SSM has been proposed by the President.  Congress did pass a DADT repeal*, but there’s been no push for SSM.

And there’s a reason for that:

Bluntly?  While the population in general has shifted to disapproving of SSM only within single digits, African-Americans remain opposed to the policy by a two-to-one margin.  The President simply does not dare offend that particular demographic.  If that means lying – which the President is doing – so be it.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

Continue reading No actual Presidential ‘evolution’ on SSM?

#rsrh DEATH TO POLAR BEARS!!!!!

…suggests SE Cupp (via Hot Air Headlines) with her tongue fully in cheek; after all, it’s evolution, ain’t it? – Besides, contra certain religious groups we don’t actually know why certain species go extinct and others do not*.

The Cubslayer could not be reached for comment.

Moe Lane

*Well, except for pandas.  I’ve long taken the position that that particular species just wants to die.

#rsrh MA Democrats embrace Thunderdome.

If there’s a silver lining to not winning any Congressional races in MA in 2010, it’s this: the Democrats there are unlikely to avoid a full-bore deathmatch over redistricting.  The ‘problem’ there is that MA will be losing a Congressional seat, thanks to the 2010 Census – which means that somebody’s going to be taking it on the chin.

The Boston Herald runs down the options.  You’ve got the guy whose wife is in jail for tax fraud (Tierney), the guy who just got the scare of his electoral life and is responsible for our current home mortgage mess (Frank), the freshman (Keating), the retiree (Olver), and two guys reportedly thinking about making a run at losing to Senator Scott Brown in 2012 (Lynch, Capuano).  None of the above are acting like they want to let go of their seats… though even if they did, they wouldn’t show it.

If I had to guess, I’d say that the House member most likely to get left out after the dust clear would be… Niki Tsongas.  She’s only been in office for several years, she’s a legacy pick, and… well, she’s a female Massachusetts Democrat.  Let us just say that the Massachusetts Democratic party is not renowned for being a bulwark of feminist empowerment.

Moe Lane