Tuesday, September 21, 2010

DADT

I'm gonna get this down real quick while I'm still steamed. Then I think I'll have a drink.

The vote on the defense bill today (which would have allowed the repeal of DADT once the review was finished) was a complete setup from start to finish. There was never a chance in hell that it would pass the filibuster. None. Zero. Zip.

Aside from DADT, the bill also included the DREAM act (which is a new path to naturalization for immigrants) and language that would have allowed military doctors to perform abortions on oversea bases. That's every social hot-button issue that's guaranteed to generate Republican opposition, in One. Bill.

I have to assume that Harry Reid is not a stupid man, but he still brought this doomed bill to a vote on the Senate floor. Which means one of two things: Harry Reid has completely lost his mind, or this was a cunning plan to generate Democratic outrage in advance of the 2010 election.

Think about it. The Democrats gain nothing by failing to pass legislation that their base would love in advance of an election. But if they spin this as another example of Republican obstruction (which it demonstrably is), they gain a boost of rage-based adrenaline in their entire base. And what do angry voters do? They vote. And there is nothing the Democrats need more than more voters that are pissed off at the GOP.

Keep an eye on how the media and the Democrats spin this, and see how it plays out in the election. That will tell you a lot about what Harry Reid was thinking today.

Oh, and I'm all in favor of DADT going away for good. For the record.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Back in the Saddle

Sometimes there is nothing more motivational than having a target to aim for - in this case the possibility of another submissions window for Black Library opening soon. That may not actually happen, and I certainly haven't been promised any preferential treatment, but... well, just look at my word count for today:


1433 / 1000 words. 143% done!

Broke the daily bar! Thank you very much Christian Dunn. With any luck (and, most likely, some assistance from the Eldar codex) I'll be able to keep up this pace, or close to it.

Dan Abnett once said that less than 10,000 words in a week was too slow for him to bear. Stephen King swears by 2,000 words a day, every day. I consider these goals to aspire to, when I'm not blinded by fits of jealousy. And if I'm ever going to reach them, now's as good a time as any.

* * *

When I haven't been writing I've been grilling steaks (poorly, sad to say), battling mold outbreaks, playing StarCraft II, and learning jQuery for my day job. It's one of the JavaScript libraries that people use to do stuff like this:

This will disappear if you click on it.


Which is pretty cool, as web page toys go. I intend to get better fairly quickly, and if I come up with anything cool to use with the blog, you'll be the first to know.

It's not coming back until you reload the page. I'm sorry, but you should have thought of that before you clicked.