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The Right Hook, a weekly segment which covers the machinations of the right wing, from the Republican Party to the Tea Party Patriots, and beyond. By Chris Bennett

A week after the midterm elections, the Republican victory tsunami turned out to be an uneven wave. Californians voted against the hard right policies of Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina. And in Nevada, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid won a decisive victory against his Tea Party opponent Sharron Angle. This race was hyped as a nail-biter, and the end-of-the-road for Reid. Specifically, Scott Rasmussen of Rasmussen Reports conducted at least four surveys in a row which showed Angle ahead of Reid with only days to go in the race. Why then, was there such a huge discrepancy between the polls and the results? The New York Times’ Nate Silver reported that Rasmussen Reports consistently overstated the performance of Republican candidates. Silver found that Rasmussen analysis dovetailed with election narratives of right wing media outlets. Fox News has cited Rasmussen polls at least 94 times in the last three months. However, Reid’s own pollster, Mark Mellman got it right. Mellman does not restrict himself to polling only “likely voters.” He polls “unlikely voters” as well because a significant number of them actually do turn out to vote. As they did in Nevada last Tuesday.

During his post-victory interview on CNN, Reid said he had “had some close [races]. This wasn’t close.” In keeping with the fact that there was barely a mention of the word “war” during the campaign season, there was an unknown missile launch off the coast of Los Angeles Monday night. A KCBS helicopter captured images of the launch which occurred 35 miles out at sea and north of Catalina Island. The military has said nothing about the mystery launch. KFMB showed tape of the missile to former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Ellsworth to get his thoughts. Ellsworth said the missile could be a submarine-launched ICBM intended to show Asia, or China, just what the U.S. is capable of. And while ICBMs are reminiscent of the Cold War, the newest game in town is Southern California’s own drone industry. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems makes most of America’s drones, and business is booming. Since 2001, the Pentagon has spent at least $20 Billion on drone programs.

The CIA and Congress have put up a few Billion dollars more. And now, other countries want their own drone programs too. As a sign of growth in California’s red-hot war economy, General Atomics has received U.S. State Department approval to export unarmed Predators to the Middle East. General Atomics says they see a market for at least 100 Predator XP models in the Middle East and Pakistan. Already in Pakistan, General David Petraeus’ increased drone and gunship attacks have destabilized the country. Pakistan’s High Commissioner to London, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, said that the attacks have “set the country on fire.” As the Wall Street Journal reported, “Pakistan’s main spy agency says homegrown Islamist militants have overtaken the Indian army as the greatest threat to national security … for the first time in 63 years.” And AlterNet’s Fred Branfmam reports that Petraeus’ so-called Af-Pak strategy has left nuclear-armed Pakistan on the brink of implosion.

Indeed, the deadlier Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy is Petraeus’– whereby Americans don’t ask why we’re at war or who with, and Petraeus don’t tell.

The Right Hook– Reality Based News and Views.