Monthly Archives: December 2010

Christmas Eve Traditions

The house is ready for the big family dinner tomorrow, through no effort on my part. My contribution, so far, as picking up the standing rib roast from Bachetti Bros yesterday. [Seven bones! It is now dry aging in the fridge. If ever there was a plutocratic, over the top, trust fund looking standing rib roast, this is it.] I also bought the couple of stocking stuffers that I am responsible for. So I’m in holiday chill mode, thinking about our traditions.

– As tradition dictates I am thinking about the fact that I should have watered the tree a bit more over the past couple of weeks.

– I’m reconciling myself to the fact that I’ll be going to Church tonight, (which God and I have agreed gives me a “minimally successful” on the “goes to Church” criteria on my end of life performance review).

First in Filibusters

As Unstable Isotope mentioned yesterday, the Senate Democrats are looking to re-work the Senate rules of filibusters. It turns out that facts show us that Republicans in the 111th Congress broke the filibuster record by a large, large freaking margin.

It’s looking like that number of votes won’t change to overturn a filibuster, but what might change is what a Senator can filibuster on and how they can do it. Yeah, I know this is another video from The Last Word, but it does give a good overview of what may happen in January.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Meconi Gets Gig in New Castle County Gov’t

As RSmitty mentioned in our comments yesterday that Vince Meconi has gotten another gig, this time working for Paul Clark in New Castle County. Yes, that Meconi who headed up Delaware’s Department of Health and Social Services last decade. I’ll let the News Journal explain.

The News Journal, in more than 100 stories, chronicled allegations of rape, assault and other forms of patient abuse, as well as retaliation against staff who reported the abuse. The stories led to two federal investigations, a state probe of excessive overtime at DPC and the introduction of 16 bills and resolutions designed to overhaul hospital management and increase independent review of patient care.

Many were unhappy when the Markell Administration hired Mecconi as a consultant in 2009. Many are unhappy again that Meconi get another well-paid government gig after his not so stellar history. How bad is this hire? So bad I find myself in agreement with State Rep. Greg Lavelle (R):

“This shows Paul Clark’s commitment to recycling, and I don’t mean that in a good way. This hire shows no creativity at all.”

Tom Sheldon, Democratic candidate for council president, summed it up the best:

“As a county official, I didn’t have much contact with him, so I can’t really say much about him one way or the other. All I know is what I read in the newspaper about how he really fumbled the ball. I don’t know much about him, other than that he has a beard.”

Grrr, Meconi gives beards a bad name.

Dr. Liberal, Will I Ever Get a Pony?

Dr. Liberal is a very busy man, but he was kind enough to answer this seasonal question from a confused reader of Delaware Liberal.

Dear Dr. Liberal:
I am 35 years old and a neophyte to politics. Myself and a handful of others are upset that President Obama hasn’t given me the pony he promised. Please tell me the truth, will I ever get a pony?
Signed,
Virgin Politico

Dear Virgin Politico:

I guess it is the season of wanting to close ones eyes tight and believe in made-up shit. So I’m leery about telling you the truth for fear I might blind you. Maybe the harsh light of reality is too strong for you, or maybe what motivates your dreams is too incomprehensible for your little mind. All minds, Virgin Politico, are small and delicate. Some, like yours, are smaller and more frail than others.

But what the heck. No, Virgin Politico, you will never get a pony. Your pony does not exist. Alas, the world of politics is filled with promises of ponies. Promises made, promises implied and promises imagined. And if promises were meant to be broken, that goes double for imagined promises. So shake it off. Has you childlike faith in ponies has not brought you enjoyment? Well yes, but that is because the fun part of pony seeking is complaining and pouting, which, I’m sure, you do so well.

What heresy, right? Not to believe in ponies! You might as well not believe in fairies! Oh, you might get your parents to buy you a pony, but then youd only want a unicorn. The political life is sadly filled with comprise and mistakes. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course you have, but that doesn’t make fairies, ponies or unicorns real.

You may think that conservatives have gotten their own ponies, but that is wrong. While you think your Republican friends have ponies, they just have rather large dogs. Oh sure, they want you to think that they have gotten ponies, but look around. Do you see black people? Look at Barney Frank? Is he still alive? N’uff said. They pretend to have all the ponies because it pisses you off. You see Virgin, (now prepare to have your mind blown) Republicans understand ponies can be used to make dummies like you sad. They snuck into your little head and planted your dream of ponies as sure as Leonardo DiCaprio planted that thing in that movie about the dreams of some old Chinese dude. (I didn’t exactly see it, but I know from the trailers that it is relevant to my point.)

No ponies! Thank God! A thousand years from now, Virgin Political, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, there might be ponies, but by then no two of your current molecules will still be touching.

Have a Happy Kwanzaa,

Dr. Liberal

What Being a Liberal Is About

Earlier this month, Ken Broughton over at Resurgence wrote a post about President Obama’s tax deal called Hunger is Not Sexy. It starts off as such:

Hunger is not sexy. Hunger is not the new black. Hunger is not in style, this season or any other. President Obama knows instinctively that the most important issue is this week is whether or not millions of Americans, Americans who won’t be hired anywhere in the next six to twelve months because there are no jobs to be had, will have anything to eat.

Sometimes being a liberal means feeding people by any means necessary. Sometimes being white and privileged doesn’t give you the knowledge that there are millions of people going hungry from day to day. Sometimes being a liberal means dealing with other rich white folks so that you can feed and cloth those that need it. Sometimes being a liberal is not to look at the floor of the Senate as being the end of liberalism. Sometimes being a liberal is taking care of your neighbor while the rich get richer.

Broughton continues:

I watched the entire press conference the president gave yesterday to talk about the deal he struck with the GOP caucus in the senate that among a long list of other things extends unemployment benefits by one year to eligible citizens who may need to apply for help over the coming months. I saw a fighter – a president who was struggling mightily to stay true to himself, despite the intense and relentless pressure from all sides for him to abandon his identity and assume another, more overtly macho image. But the world we live in is too complex for machismo to really matter much, unless you believe that political theater is more important than actually getting something accomplished.

So as you sit with your family during the holidays, maybe it’s time for you to remember what it means to be a liberal.

Thursday Open Thread

Welcome to your Thursday open thread. Do you miss me yet? Today is Festivus, so you can put your airing of grievances below though I’m not sure how it’s different than a normal day. 😛

Remember arrogant Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller? He’s still contesting the results of the election, but maybe not for much longer.

The Alaska Supreme Court has upheld a lower court decision in the disputed U.S. Senate race, saying the state correctly counted write-in votes for Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

It is now up to Miller whether the election is finally over.

The court, in its decision Wednesday, said it found “no remaining issues raised by Miller that prevent this election from being certified.”

A federal judge, who had put a hold on certification to give the state courts time to rule on Miller’s claims, said he would give Miller 48 hours to plead any outstanding issues to him once the high court had ruled.

Do we have Miller to thank for freeing Lisa Murkorwski from voting with Republicans 100%? She voted with Democrats on all the legislation during the lame duck session.

Good news for people who want to see Senate reform.

All Democratic senators returning next year have signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., urging him to consider action to change long-sacrosanct filibuster rules.

The letter, delivered this week, expresses general frustration with what Democrats consider unprecedented obstruction and asks Reid to take steps to end those abuses. While it does not urge a specific solution, Democrats said it demonstrates increased backing in the majority for a proposal, championed by Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and others, weaken the minority’s ability to tie the Senate calendar into parliamentary knots.

Among the chief revisions that Democrats say will likely be offered: Senators could not initiate a filibuster of a bill before it reaches the floor unless they first muster 40 votes for it, and they would have to remain on the floor to sustain it. That is a change from current rules, which require the majority leader to file a cloture motion to overcome an anonymous objection to a motion to proceed, and then wait 30 hours for a vote on it.

“There need to be changes to the rules to allow filibusters to be conducted by people who actually want to block legislation instead of people being able to quietly say ‘I object’ and go home,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

I’m ready to see John McCain talk for hours about how bitter he is and I’d love to see Republicans explain how the rich are better and more deserving than the rest of us.

Mr. Carney Goes To Washington

The good news: for first time in 18 years we won’t have Mike Castle to kick around any more. The bad news: Only nine Democrats will be going to the House of Representatives for the 112th Congress. In late January, Former Lt. Gov. John Carney will be come Representative John Carney, Delaware’s only representative in the Congress’ lower house. Carney will also become part of the Forgotten Nine – the nine freshmen Democrats who will be sitting on the backest of back benches in DC come January.

These will be strange days in Washington, strange days indeed. In a time when it will be difficult to differentiate between a Tea Partier and a Republican as Frederica Wilson (FL) mentioned, Carney said:

“It doesn’t feel much different from what I’ve been used to. I’m comfortable in my own beliefs and skin and with working with people who have a different point of view of the world.”

One of the things I am looking forward to is having a congressman represent Delaware instead of the National Republican Committee as Castle was wont to do.

We R Who We R

The talk in the liberal media of the past few days regarding Census Data has been that the future reapportionment is leaning Republican see here and here and here and here and well, you get the point. But as dirty girl rightly pointed out yesterday, the Hispanic gains will wipe out any supposed gains the Republican have made. I’ll let the conservative National Journal explain:

Instead, the reapportionment process foretells a changing dynamic of American politics, one in which minority voters will play an increasingly important and influential role. The eight states that will gain House seats this year appear to give Republicans an advantage, but, in truth, the redistricting playing field is far more level.

Eight states–Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington state–will gain representation when the 113th Congress convenes in 2013, figures released on Tuesday by the Census Bureau showed. On its face, those states appear to give Republicans an advantage; they hold complete control of redistricting in all but Arizona and Washington, where bipartisan commissions will draw the new lines.

The outsized growth of those eight states, however, has come largely from dramatic increases in minority populations, particularly among Hispanic voters. Although exact data on race collected by the 2010 census won’t be available for a few months, trends and the American Community Survey, conducted by the Census Bureau, demonstrate that those predisposed toward voting for Democrats have constituted the bulk of the new population boosts.

Some interesting Delaware news in the census numbers: We grew 14% since 2000 and we are number 8 in population density.

Victory In The War On Christmas

Victory for the forces of evil:

Given the option of saying they prefer that stores and businesses greet customers by saying “Merry Christmas,” use non-religious terms such as “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings,” or that the choice of greeting really does not matter to them, a plurality (45%) choose this last alternative. Only 42% say they prefer “Merry Christmas,” while 12% prefer less religious terminology. Most striking is the age difference in preferences for holiday greetings. Only among those ages 65 and over, does a majority (64%) opt for “Merry Christmas.” That preference declines across younger age groups with only 28% of those under age 30 opting for the Christmas greeting while roughly six-in-ten say the choice of greeting doesn’t matter to them.

I blame Obama.