TigerHawk

We are still a few days from Epiphany, but for most of the world Christmas is receding until next year. A colleague, though, sent me this picture of ein tannenbaum on his dock, Spirit Lake, Idaho. I thought you might enjoy it.

Because we are nothing if not devoted to the good fortune of our readers, we render for your well-being this list of New Year's Day "good luck" customs. Something tells me we will need all the luck we can get in 2012.

So, last night I was playing cocktail hour Scrabble with the THGF, who almost always beats me senseless. Lady luck and a solid red Zin, however, conspired to deliver unto me the greatest Scrabble hand I have ever had the privilege to play, a solid 83 points (including the seven-letter bonus) for the word "risible."

I rock. Less self-congratulatory blogging will resume shortly.

The short life of Ben Breedlove, as recounted by Ben, a student at Westlake High School in Austin.

Ben died on Christmas Day, leaving the world behind just a bit emptier, and not a little deprived.

In case you want to feel ignorant this morning, take the annual quiz from King William's College, Isle of Mann. If they "teach to the test" over there, the students will at least know a lot when they are done.

Via Maggie's Farm, a useful video showing on the proper use of a kitchen knife. You know, for the aspiring cooks out there.

More of the same through the link.

Two giants of the righty blogosphere, Power Line's John Hinderaker and John Hawkins of Right Wing News, have articulated the pro and con cases for Mitt Romney. Since that is a debate that has raged in the comments in this diminutive blog, we provide both links for your reading pleasure.

Hinderaker:

The “anybody but Romney” mentality that grips many Republicans is, in my view, illogical. It led them to embrace Rick Perry, who turned out to be unable to articulate a conservative thought; Newt Gingrich, whose record is far more checkered than Romney’s; Ron Paul, whose foreign policy views–indistinguishable from those of the far left–and forays into racial intolerance make him unfit to be president; and Michele Bachmann, whom I like very much, but who is more qualified to be a rabble-rouser than a chief executive....

In electing a president, we are choosing someone to run the Executive Branch. A leader, to be sure, but not a speechmaker, a bomb-thrower, a quipster, a television personality or an exemplar of ideological purity. At this point in our history, the United States desperately needs a leader who understands the economy, the world of business, and, more generally, how the world works. We have had more than enough of a leader who was good at giving speeches and was ideologically pure, but who had no clue how the economy works or how the federal government can be administered without resort to graft and corruption. It is time for a president who knows what he is doing.

Mitt Romney was a moderate governor in Massachusetts with an unimpressive record of governance. He left office with an approval rating in the thirties and his signature achievement, Romneycare, was a Hurricane Katrina style disaster for the state. Since that's the case, it's fair to ask what a Republican who's not conservative and can't even carry his own state brings to the table for GOP primary voters. The answer is always the same: Mitt Romney is supposed to be "the most electable" candidate. This is a baffling argument because many people just seem to assume it's true, despite the plethora of evidence to the contrary.

All regular readers know that I tend to agree with John Hinderaker. Mitt Romney is not a perfect candidate for the Republican Party. But we have learned something important in the last year: The Republican Party of 2012 is short on strong presidential candidates. The most promising, sober, accomplished candidates -- Mitch Daniels, Tim Pawlenty, and two or three strong senators -- either chose not to run or could not get traction (which may reveal that they were not so promising). The rising stars -- Rubio, Christie, Jindal, and Haley, to pick four out of a hat -- are nearly as green as Barack Obama was in 2008 and basically not vetted on the national stage. The rest who have chosen to run are very problematic. Rick Perry looks like Ronald Reagan and has a lot of his personal charm, but apparently only about half of Reagan's IQ. Gingrich, Santorum, Paul, and Bachmann look for the world as if they will gaff their way through the fall campaign, and even if they were elected, can you imagine any of them in charge of, say, our nuclear arsenal? If they all speak before thinking deeply, how do we know they will not shoot before thinking deeply?

There are many reasons for the lame Republican field, but first among them is that the George W. Bush Administration did not leave us any strong successors. Dick Cheney, who is superbly qualified to be president, is too old and has enormous baggage. Same for Don Rumsfeld. Condoleezza Rice may prefer the repose of private life. And, in any case, the last person elected president from the cabinet with no other experience in elective office was Herbert Hoover, perhaps the single most "qualified" person to seek the office since George Washington (which tells you that resume qualifications are at most table stakes, but hardly sufficient, for success in the White House).

Similarly, the last presidential ticket has not left the Republicans with a successor. McCain is too old and in any case vilified on the right. His running mate, Sarah Palin, wisely assessed her public image and decided to brush up her Shakespeare before making another run.

So that leaves Mitt Romney, who I endorsed with some reluctance over John McCain almost four years ago. The reasoning in that original post mostly holds, although I would revise it if I re-wrote it today.

There are conservatives who do not want to "settle" when they smell the chance for a purist to win. Is that a sound choice if it reduces the chance of winning and increases the chance of another Obama term?

Suppose, though, that John Hawkins is right and Mitt Romney is not more electable than Newt Gingrich, meaning that we have as great a chance of electing Newt as Mitt. Do you really want that guy with his finger on the button, in charge of our foreign policy, or sitting down to negotiate with Nancy Pelosi? Newt is erratic, and says the first crazy thing that pops in to his head. He has been doing that his whole life. That makes him interesting, and definitely an ideal dinner guest. He can grace my salon at any time. But Newt Gingrich has demonstrated time and again that he is not nearly measured enough to be president. We would be fools to think that will actually change.

Newt is also an egomaniac, on the scale of Obama. Not only is this unappealing, but it is dysfunctional. See, for example, this contemporaneous account of Gingrich's mishandling of the budget negotiations with the Clinton White House. It is not hard to see, between the lines, that Gingrich's control impulses and outsized sense of his own abilities led to his downfall. Gingrich supporters should read it, to refresh their memory of his poor record of leadership when last in a position of actual power.

Finally, there are those who say that there is time for a better candidate to emerge. No, there isn't. The political clock is inexorable, and only a miracle or a tragedy could create room for a heretofore unannounced Republican candidate.

Release the hounds.

Given events in Egypt, I'm not sure which revolutions to support and which to fear, so I am not sure what I think about President Obama's policies with respect thereto. That said, this picture from Syria has gotta hurt.

Late this afternoon, I walked alone.

John Hawkins of Right Wing News has a nifty list of the year's best quotations. Assuming, of course, you're right wing.

I had some spare time this morning waiting for the team to get out of bed, so I topped off my charitable giving for the year, well ahead of the usual New Year's Eve scramble.

My giving has not changed much in recent years -- I re-upped for all the charities on the 2009 list -- but I added a couple on the advice of reader comments in posts over the last few years.

Learning Ally, which used to be Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic. "Mindles Dreck," who occasionally posts here, is on the board of that great organization, which boosts the productivity of people who can bring a lot to the fight once they have a path past their disability.

Kiva, which I have mentioned before. Kiva is a portal that connects micro-lenders with small businesses in the developing world. You can lend money in increments as small as $25 dollars to any one of thousands of entrepreneurs who are working to make their own part of the world a better and more prosperous place. I make something of a specialty of lending to the growing number of micro-borrowers in Iraq, but you can pick a part of the world or type of business that floats your own particular boat. With Kiva, you can both donate to support the mission and make loans with money that you will eventually get back.

The Legal Aid Justice Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. I have family in the area, and one of them works for that organization. A local charity, to be sure, but if you live in central Virginia it is certainly worth looking in to.

And last but definitely not least, the Semper Fi Fund, which provides crucial support to wounded Marines and their families.

Since most of our readers are conservatives, we can assume you give generously. To whom do you give to make a difference?

Hard as it may be to believe, Amazon has rolled out its huge page of after Christmas deals!.

If you buy through the link above, you will help me create jobs, for America.

Simon Johnson at Baseline Scenario argues rather forcefully that Jon Huntsman is the only candidate of either party who understands how to avoid the next financial crisis. I myself like Huntsman more than any of the others -- I view him as competent and smart and sort of Romney-with-sincerity -- but despair at his inability to get traction.

Heh: If Jesus were born today, and how the media and government might react.

The son and I took a short hike yesterday afternoon, and once again I brought along my camera. Herewith, for those of you without snow, pictures from a white Christmas in the Adirondacks.

If your monitor has decent resolution, you can see a sprinkle of snow off the tree, falling to the road and sparkling in the sunshine.

In summer, this a bog at the end of a trail in the woods.

Natural spires.

And Your Blogger in "the Hat," wishing you all a very merry Christmas.

The Wikipedia entry for potato is a lot more interesting than I would have guessed, not before knowing much about potatoes. I mean, I thought I knew something about them, but it turns out I was a potatoramus.

An amusing list of ten "new" words Americans used this year.

Bill Whittle puts Barack Obama's record in, er, perspective.