Tom Capano, the murderer of Anne Marie Fahey back in 1996, was found dead today in his solitary cell in the state prison near Smyrna. No foul play is suspected, and it appears that Capano died of natural causes. Capano was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. He originally was sentenced to death, but certain provisions contained in Delaware’s capital punishment law were found to be unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, and thus Capano’s sentence was reduced to life without parole.

Here is the calendar of events for the rest of the month. I would like to especially highlight tomorrow night’s Newark Area Democratic Mixer at the Iron Hill Brewery in Newark, which is sponsored by the 23rd, 24th and 25th RDs.

If you have an event for a Progressive or Democratic organization in the state of Delaware taking place, email me the details at delawaredem@delawareliberal.net. The Progressive Planner will be posted every Monday and every Thursday.

Monday, September 19th
12th Representative District Committee Meeting,
Marbrook Elementary School 2101 Centerville Road, Wilmington, DE

Tuesday, September 20th
Newark Area Democratic Mixer, sponsored by the 23rd, 24th, and 25th RDs.
5:30-8pm
Iron Hill Brewery, Main St., Newark
Admission is free with a cash bar

Wednesday, September 21st
36th Representative District Committee Meeting
Ellendale Fire Hall 302 Main Street, Ellendale, DE

New Castle County Democratic Committee,
Delaware Democratic Party HQ 19 E Commons Blvd, 2nd Floor, New Castle, DE

Thursday, September 22nd
24th Representative District Committee Meeting
UAW 1183 698 Old Baltimore Pike, Newark, DE

29th Representative District Committee Meeting,
Kenton Ruritan Club Main Street, Kenton, DE

Saturday, September 24th
Kent County Breakfast Social
Kirby and Holloway’s 656 N. Dupont Highway, Dover, DE

Monday, September 26th
Western Sussex Democratic Club Meeting
Dale Duke’s Club House 28504 Dukes Lumber Road, Laurel, DE

Tuesday, September 27th
A special PDD meeting beginning at 6:30pm, at DelDems HQ, 19 E Commons Blvd, 2nd Floor, New Castle, DE. The meeting will be for a discussion with Senator Chris Coons, to discuss matters of interest to PDD’s members and progressives.

Some goodies compiled by TPM.

“I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter. And I’m not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it’s an interesting coincidence.”

The last flue pandemic happened in 1976 when Republican Gerald Ford was President, and he didn’t have anything to do with the pandemic starting either.

“And as a matter of fact, the recession that FDR had to deal with wasn’t as bad as the recession Coolidge had to deal with in the early 20’s,” Bachmann claimed. “Yet the prescription that Coolidge put on that, from history, is lower taxes, lower regulatory burden, and we saw the Roaring 20’s, where we saw markets and growth in the economy like we’d never seen before in the history of the country. FDR applied just the opposite formula — the Hoot-Smalley Act, which was a tremendous burden on tariff restrictions. And then of course, trade barriers, and the regulatory burden, and the tax barriers. That’s what we saw happen under FDR that took a recession, and blew it into a full-scale depression. The American people suffered for almost ten years under that kind of thinking.”

Whoa boy. First, Coolidge did not have a recession to combat on his watch (1923 until 1929). Second, the Smoot-Hawley bill was introduced by Republicans Sen. Reed Smoot of Utah and Rep. Willis Hawley of Oregon, and signed into law by Republican President Herbert Hoover. Third, FDR did not have to deal with a recession, he came into office having to deal with a Depression that started on October 29, 1929, some three years prior during the term of Republican Herbert Hoover. When FDR took office, unemployment had already been at 25% for some time, and he was elected because Hoover had done nothing to fight the Depression.

[w]e also know that the very founders that wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States…I think it is high time that we recognize the contribution of our forbearers who worked tirelessly — men like John Quincy Adams, who would not rest until slavery was extinguished in the country.”

John Quincy Adams was a vocal opponent of slavery, especially during his later years as a mere Congressman (the only former President to ever hold another political office). But the younger Adams was not a founding father. His father was. And the Founders that were the elder John Adams’ peers were not so hot on tirelessly working to extinguish slavery. Indeed, quite the opposite. The Founders compromised on slavery and explicitedly wrote into the founding documents that slaves were less than a man. Further, many of our Founders owned slaves.

“What I love about New Hampshire and what we have in common is our extreme love for liberty. You’re the state where the shot was heard around the world in Lexington and Concord.”

The Battle of Lexington and Concord was in Massachusetts.

Vincent M. White, a New Castle County realtor who owns a Newark real estate agency, Provest Realty Associates, and who serves on the Delaware Real Estate Commission, has announced that he will join Mitch Crane and challenge Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart for reelection.

In the News Journal article about his announcment, White appropriately criticizes Stewart’s cozy relationship with insurers in the state, and he questioned Stewart’s decision to seek a waiver from a federal health reform rule requiring health insurers to spend at least 80 cents of every premium dollar on health care.

But in an article for Delaware Black, White makes some troubling statements taht I think need clarification. For example, White stated that the next few years are critical as President Obama’s Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act is implemented. White said he “intends to be certain that the reforms do not interfere with the patient-physician relationship and these reforms do not interfere with the Insurance Commissioners ability to oversee the insurance marketplace.”

Right away I don’t like the sound of that. I want the law to interfere with the business as usual in the insurance market. I want the Insurance Commissioner to implement and execute the law, not interfere with it to make sure it doesn’t upset the insurance marketplace. Further, Mr. White states that “while it is imperative that the Insurance Commissioner have a good, solid working relationship with the [insurance] industry, it is more important that everyday families and individuals know that they are going to get a fair deal when buying a policy, and will get timely and equitable benefits from premiums already paid when disaster strikes.”

Yes, it is more important that the people be protected than the insurance industry be coddled. In fact, it should be the IC’s only concern. The IC is a regulator, regulating a business and a market place. Yeah, it is nice if everyone is friendly and gets along, but it is not a concern, and it is definitely not imperative, especially when the business actively seeks to harm the consumer at every opportunity.

I hope Mr. White clarifies his vision on what the IC office is, and his quotes here, because we already have Karen Weldin Stewart shilling for the insurance industry. We don’t need to elect another lackey.

Otherwise, I welcome him to the race.

Richard “The Dick” Cheney, the unindicted war criminal, recently said he thought Hillary Clinton should challenge President Obama for the Democratic nomination. Former President Clinton was asked about this yesterday on CBS’ Face the Nation. His answer irked me.

“Well, you know, I’m very proud of her, so I’m always gratified whenever anyone says anything nice about her. And I very much agree that she’s done a good job. But I also have a high regard for Vice President Cheney’s political skills, and I think one of those great skills is sowing discord among the opposition. So I think he’s right that she’s done a heck of a job. But she is a member of this administration, and committed to doing it. And I think he, by saying something nice about her in the way that he did, knew that it might cause a little trouble. I don’t want to help him succeed in his political strategy. But I admire that he’s still out there hitting the ball.”

Enough with the admiring Dick Cheney, Bill. You can have the grudgingly respect one has for an opponent, but keep it to yourself. Saying so in public emboldens Cheney as someone who even former President Clinton admires. Bill does this kind of thing a lot. He disarms something an opponent said by chalking it up to a political game, while at the same time bolstering his side (in this case Hillary). It was a good political manuever, but I think in this day and age where Republicans stand for true evil, it does more harm than good.

President Obama will unveil his $3 trillion deficit reduction plan at 10:30 am this morning. This time, finally, the President is not conceding the fight right away by crafting a plan designed to win GOP votes. Rather, he is pushes for multiple tax increases on the rich, and will be issuing a veto threat against anything that cuts Medicare benefits while not raising taxes.

Ezra Klein:

The White House’s strategy here isn’t to appear so reasonable that Republicans can’t help but cut a deal. They feel they tried that during the debt-ceiling debate, and it failed. The White House’s strategy here is to produce a popular plan that strikes directly at Republican vulnerabilities on taxes and Medicare. If that scares the GOP and makes them more interested in coming to an agreement in the supercommittee process, then great. If not, it gives the White House a message to base its reelection campaign off of.

Hell, they have tried it during the entire Obama presidency and it failed. Healthcare, Stimulus, you name it. It is long past time to switch to the better strategic option. And that better strategic option is to both call the Republican bluff on deficit reduction by calling for a larger reduction but by doing it your way; through new revenues via tax increases on the rich and by ending the wars. If all the Republicans can do is call it class warfare, then embrace that, and say Fuck yeah, it is a class war. The middle class and the poor versus the rich. Guess who has more votes, Mr. President?

Over the weekend, a number of you commented about how strange it was that no details had been released about the apprehended suspect in this case. No name. No booking picture. No information about indictment or arraignment. It definitely appeared strange, if not improper, for even if this monster is undoubtedly guilty and deserving of severe punishment, we still have due process of law and constitutional protections and criminal procedures that must be followed lest this animal get acquitted on a technicality.

It would appear that the delay was attributed to the suspect receiving medical treatment.

David Salasky, 32, of the 1600 block of N. Rodney St., was charged after being released from Christiana Hospital Sunday morning, Cpl. John Weglarz Sr. said. Salasky has been in custody since Szczerba was killed in the Penn Acres neighborhood early Friday. Salasky had been receiving hospital treatment for a medical condition not related to his arrest, Weglarz said.

That is interesting. Treatment for something unrelated that lasted several days. That leads me to believe that they were waiting for medication to kick in, which leads me to believe we are dealing with a non-physical ailment, which harkens back to my first thought when reading about all of this Friday: that the suspect sounded crazy, because who stabbs someone to death anymore?

Salasky is charged with first-degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony and is now a guest at the Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington. But while we finally know some details as to the suspect, the probable-cause affidavit for Salasky’s arrest has been sealed and not available for public review, according to a court employee.

Why would the affidavit be sealed? Salasky is no minor. Is there something in Salasky’s background that warrants this? A mental condition, perhaps?

The comments of a Penn Acres man who first confronted Salasky worries me further:

Kevin Byrd heard a car door slam outside his Penn Acres home. […] at about 11:50 p.m. When he looked outside, he saw the man and a light flickering from inside.
Dressed only in underwear, socks and a tank top, he bolted out the door. […] The man was out of Byrd’s car by the time Byrd got outside.

“I asked him what he was doing in my car,” Byrd said. “He looked impaired, kind of jittery and said, ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t know.’ ”

Byrd’s wife called 911 at 11:52. Byrd said the officers arrived several minutes later, after Byrd had already confronted the man.

He said the man appeared to be in his mid-20s to early 30s and was a few inches shorter than Byrd, who is 5 feet 11, with a medium build. He had a goatee and was wearing denim shorts, a red shirt, an unzipped dark-colored hoodie and had a baseball cap on backward.

“His eyes were bugged out and he acted jittery,” Byrd said. “He definitely seemed kind of amped.”

The man then ran down the sidewalk toward East Roosevelt Avenue, ducked into a yard on Byrd’s street and hid under a tree.

“He said, ‘Get away from me. I’ll stab you. I’ll stab you. I’ll stab you,’ ” Byrd said.

Byrd is soft-spoken with a gentle demeanor, but he grew up in the tough William Penn housing project in Chester, Pa. He wasn’t fazed by the threat.

“I’ve seen it all,” Byrd said. “I said, ‘You can stab me if you want, but you’re going to give me my wallet back.’ ”

The man then swung at him. Byrd has a 3-inch cut on his left forearm. Because it was dark and his adrenaline was flowing, Byrd said he doesn’t know for sure if he was stabbed or simply punched.

Byrd then landed a hard right-hand punch to the man’s stomach. The man briefly buckled over and tried to run from the yard, but he was trapped by a high fence.

“He said, ‘My issue’s not with you, my issue’s not with you,’ ” Byrd said.

Byrd asked for his wallet again and the man threw a folding knife with about a 5-inch blade, a cellphone and a pack of L&M cigarettes onto the ground. Still looking for his wallet, Byrd patted the man down and searched his pockets.

Byrd told the man to leave and to never return to the neighborhood. “He was waving his hands in front of his face, saying ‘OK, OK, OK,’ ” Byrd said. “We walked to the sidewalk and I walked one way to my house and he walked the other toward Roosevelt,” Byrd said.

Yeah, it certainly sounds like something is up with Salasky. Whether he was just high, or mentally impaired, I don’t know. But the public has a right to know all the details.

Oh where and oh what in Delaware is this?

Photo courtesy of xzmattzx.

Ms. Bachmann wins a straw poll and it is the biggest news since JonBenét Ramsey got stuck in a well with a bunch of Chilean minors. Your guy wins a big straw poll and the media yawns. I guess the media coverage (or lack thereof) reflects the reality that there is no way in hell the Republicans are going to pick their angry Grandpa to take on Obama.

Of all the major college sports, football is the most momentum based. A losing team wilts under the weight of its own low expectations, and a winning team picks up steam as the season unfolds. A wining team is like a spinning fly wheel, with each rotation multiplying the torque or some shit like that. I’m not sure, I’m no physicist. In fact, I can barely spell physicist. (My first three attempts at spelling that word confounded my poor overburden spell checker and cause it to suggest that I was trying to spell the word “psychotic.” True story.) BUT I DO KNOW THIS….

Delaware State comes to this Saturday’s trip to Newark 2-0 with wins over VMI and Division II Shaw. Delaware opened the season 1-1. Losing to Navy by more than expected and wining in West Chester by less than expected.

Put all that in your sports themed Boggle ™ cube, shake it up, turn it over and scribble this down…

Hornets 45 Hens 42

Bacon Cups!!! For BLTs without the bread.

For a pictoral glimpse of the mysterious and forbidden North Korea, check out the Boston Globe’s Big Picture. The pictures look like recently colorized black and whites from the 1950’s.