by Smitty
Totally disagree with Dean Clancy at U.S. News:
And no matter how the GOP fares in November — even if it should somehow wipe the floor with the Democrats — President Obama’s veto pen will still be there, waiting to stop any plan they can manage to put on his desk. This will make the fainter-hearted among their ranks skittish about the whole “repeal” project. Why not work with the president to “get something done”? Why not — yes — “fix” Obamacare?
In short, Republicans appear to be damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
The damned thing in play at the moment is Progressivism. I’ve grown up hearing that Social Security and the other entitlements are out of control. And then we have this partisan cramdown of ObamaCare.
ObamaCare has been a river of lies from conception to delivery. Why, then, not simply articulate such to the American people: “You’ve been scammed. Here is the reform plan.”
#OccupyResoluteDesk’s veto pen isn’t a bug: it’s a feature. A potential GOP Congress, sworn in next January, would have two years to hone and refine substantial reform ideas. Republicans could lay out for the American people a comprehensive, frack-this-noise blueprint for the future of the country extending well past a 2016 rejection of Her Majesty, Empress Clinton.
Sure, #OccupyResoluteDesk is ideologically incapable of doing anything useful. I get that. His only real commitment seems to be dishonesty–how do you negotiate or compromise with a man bereft of honor? Don’t bother. If the American people have the truth and an alternative served up, then the energy of 2009 will likely return, and we’ll see a non-Progressive Republican candidate (not Jeb Bush, not John S. McCain) earn a hefty mandate.
Granted, Europe sure looks like it’s on a war trajectory. Obama’s general foreign policy impotence means that a significant portion of the GOP effort is going to have to be about foreign policy. Again, step up to the plate. Dude, I know it was more than two years ago, but the days of “support friends, oppose foes” really should be considered again for a possible return.
Down the road, the GOP should support the Convention of States and an actual return to limited government. The more Progressive the Republican party the more it deserves to, and will, lose.
and continue on through 
and 
. These have a very weird feel to them; the basic plot, in which ecosaboteurs spread genetically engineered plastic- and gasoline-eating bacteria along with nanobots designed to wreck electronics, is very reminiscent of both S. M. Stirling’s Change novels (
) and Tom Clancy’s 
, while also containing elements of Barnes’ previous apocalyptic novel, the nightmarish 
. The Daybreak novels give you a front-row ringside seat for the collapse of global civilization as scattered, seemingly anarchic ecoterrorists, religious nutjobs, and hippie fruitcakes plunge the America into bloody chaos, exacerbated by a split of the Federal government into Provisional and Temporary factions over the issue of who’s in charge and whether Daybreak is a conventional enemy that needs to be crushed by military force or a memetic weapon that needs to be countered by other means. I’ve finished the first two novels, am going back for the third today, and can attest that these are some good -if occasionally squicky- reading. Barnes makes a powerful argument in these books for the power of ideas, and also recognizes that there’s times when nothing but brute force will do.
with 
, not only has he had the massive cojones to write sequels to William Hodgson’s half-forgotten “The Night Land” (
) , he’s also put together a collection of essays: 
which I have seen excerpts of. I don’t know if Mr. Wright is the best SF author out there, but in these sad times when it seems every competent tale slinger is surrounded by packs of dull-witted, unhousebroken PC puppies with not a tenth of his talent, he’s definitely in my top ten. Go read his stuff. You’ll thank me later.
, which I snapped up when it was offered for free last month. All three stories are set in the universe of Day’s 
, and are definitely not your usual elf & dwarf crap. I thought they were all pretty good, with the nominee story the best, but they’ve accomplished their main goal, which is to get me to read -and maybe buy- more of Vox’s stuff.
. However, I haven’t read much of her fantasy, so I thought I’d try out 
, a short story involving a computer geek suddenly thrust into a leadership role in a wizards’ guild. It was a fun read, but I’m not sure it’s worth $1.99; stories like this are a good reason to have Amazon Prime, so you can borrow them for free.
by Dave Wolverton. I’m giving serious thought to picking up the movie’s source novel, 
, though I may pick up 
instead.
