Archive for November, 2012
Selander Leaving
From Brian Selander’s Facebook page:
Thank you, Gov. Jack Markell for giving me the chance to serve. I’m sad to leave, but excited to help launch The Whistle with friends and create a compelling sports media destination for the next generation of fans.
Here We Go Again
On Friday night, gun collector Michael David Dunn pulled his sedan up next to the SUV in which the unarmed 17-year-old Jordan Davis sat with his three friends at a Jacksonville, Florida, gas station. Dunn, 45, allegedly asked them to turn down their loud music. According to the Orlando Sentinel, that provoked an argument with Jordan and his friends:
Jordan and Dunn exchanged words, and Dunn pulled a gun and shot eight or nine times, striking Jordan twice, [Jacksonville sheriff's Lt. Rob] Schoonover said. Jordan was sitting in the back seat. No one else was hurt.
Jordan died that night in his friend’s arms. Jordan’s father, Ron, later called Dunn a “coward” for shooting at the teens.
Guess what law Dunn is citing? You guessed it – Stand Your Ground.
Here is another case where the shooter initiated the confrontation and now says he feared for his life. If he viewed the teenagers as dangerous why would he confront them? That’s a serious question.
President Obama asks directly for your help, says Republicans are holding middle-class tax cuts “hostage”
In a blunt speech just delivered in Hatfield PA, President Obama directly asked for Americans to put pressure on congress, and called the Republicans out for taking the middle-class tax cuts hostage.
From Daily Kos live blog of the event:
9:16 AM PT: Obama says he’s counting on Americans to put pressure on Congress to extend the middle-class tax cuts. “I need you to remind members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to not get bogged down in partisan bickering. [...] I want you to call, send an email, to post on their Facebook wall.” And he mentions the #My2k hashtag on Twitter.
9:20 AM PT: “I’m going to need folks like you, here in Hatfield and in Pennsylvania and across the country, to get this done.”
9:18 AM PT: Here’s the hostage line: “It’s not acceptable to me and I don’t think it’s acceptable to you for just a handful of Republicans in Congress to hold middle-class tax cuts hostage simply because they don’t want tax rates on upper income folks to go up. Alright? That doesn’t make sense.” Applause.
Friday Open Thread [11.30.12]
![Friday Open Thread [11.30.12]](http://www.tnr.com/sites/default/files/Screen%20Shot%202012-11-29%20at%209.37.01%20PM.png "Friday Open Thread [11.30.12]")
The New Republic has obtained Romney pollster Neil Newhouse’s final poll numbers for the campaign, and so we get a glimpse into the unreal skewed world of the Republican bubble.
People In Three Nearby South Jersey Towns Advised To Stay Inside After Train Derailment
Officials are advising residents in three New Jersey towns to stay inside after a freight train and other tanker cars derailed and spilled toxic materials in a southern New Jersey creek on Friday, the Associated Press reports.
The advisory was issued in the towns of Paulsboro, West Deptford and East Greenwich Township.
Republicans Can’t Govern
Republicans are all about big, brave (and vague) talk on the campaign trail, but once they get into office and have to govern they become whiny babies. President Obama has put a plan on the table. Unsurprisingly, Republicans don’t like it. So, what do Republicans do? Counter with a different plan? Nope – because that would actually require doing work and putting their big, bad and vague campaign talk into written word.
What they’re asking for is President Obama to negotiate with himself, and that ain’t happening.
Perhaps the key lesson the White House took from the last couple of years is this: Don’t negotiate with yourself. If Republicans want to cut Medicare, let them propose the cuts. If they want to raise revenue through tax reform, let them identify the deductions. If they want deeper cuts in discretionary spending, let them settle on a number. And, above all, if they don’t like the White House’s preferred policies, let them propose their own. That way, if the White House eventually does give in and agree to some of their demands, Republicans will feel like they got one over on the president. A compromise isn’t measured by what you offer, it’s measured by what the other side feels they made you concede.
The GOP is right: This isn’t a serious proposal. But it’s not evidence that Obama isn’t serious. He’s very serious about not negotiating with himself, and his opening bid proves it. Now that they’ve leaked his initial offer, the next question is obvious: What’s their offer?
QOTD — Should Sandra Fluke Be Considered as Time’s Person of the Year?
She’s in Time’s finalist group (sorry, this is presented as serious click bait) — a group that included Gabby Douglas, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Sheldon Adelson (!?), Paul Ryan (!?), Joe Biden, The Higgs-Boson, Malala Yousafzai , among others. Conservatives are having fits that Fluke is included, with this bit being fairly representative:
![Friday Daily Delawhere [11.30.12]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8487/8218968994_13fac2faf4_z.jpg "Friday Daily Delawhere [11.30.12]")
Rachel Zylstra, that’s who….
Say your new cat can’t get a long with your old cat, or you are 21 and living with your Mom who still treats you like you are ten, or your boyfriend might be gay, and you need some advice, but you’d like that advice delivered in song… Who are you gonna call?
Zylstra’s “advice music” was a regular stop for me on the internet tubes for a while, but I haven’t check in for a while. I’m glad to see that she is still at it.
Be sure to check out WDDE 91.1 FM – Delaware’s National Public Radio
In your car at, 91.1 FM or online at WDDE.org. It has been live since August, but they are doing a ribbon cutting. So, if you didn’t know about it – now you do.
The Deliberate Destruction Of Public Education
In Michigan, Bloomfield Hills School District’s superintendent, Rob Glass, has written a letter and posted it on his District’s website. In all my years on the education front, I have never seen such a direct and urgent letter from a superintendent. Everyone needs to read this, because what he’s talking about has happened, and probably [...]
Thursday Open Thread [11.29.12]
President Obama’s national lead over Mitt Romney is now 50.9% to 47.4%. Or, given rounding, 51% to 47%. LOL. God enjoys irony.
First Read: “That’s a bigger (and more decisive) margin that Bush’s victory over John Kerry in 2004 (which was Bush 50.7% and Kerry 48.2%). What’s more, the president’s lead has grown to close to 3 points in Ohio, 4 points in Virginia and 6 points in Colorado. One doesn’t win Colorado by six points without winning swing voters; there isn’t a big-enough Democratic base to make that argument.”
Speaking of the Mittster, he is joining President Obama for lunch today at the White House. Now this is probably all for show, but it will be interpreted as “a gracious move that makes the president appear bipartisan.” But I would love to hear their private conversation. It is well known that the President, as with all of Mitt Romney’s opponents, grew to despise Romney.
Crappy Deal Emerging
This deal clearly sucks, but when you have blue state Democrats like John Carney and Chris Coons saying, “OMGZ!!! THE DEBT!!! Medicaid is wrecking the country!!” – you lose a lot of your negotiating strength.
QOTD 2 — Lunch with Obama and Romney, What Do You Think They Will Talk About?
Today, President Obama and failed Presidential candidate Mitt Romney are having a private lunch. During his acceptance speech on Election Night, President Obama noted that he would meet with Mitt to see if there is a way forward together. One of the things I like the best about Barack Obama is how easily graceful he [...]
The New Republican Leadership in the General Assembly
Senator Gary Simpson has been reelected by his Republican colleagues to continue as Senate Minority Leader. I am somewhat surprised that Lavelle did not grab the job to position himself for the 2016 Gubernatorial race. Yes, it would have been audacious for a newly elected freshman Senator to become Minority Leader, but not out of the realm of impossibility, since, after all, Lavelle did get elected as the Minority Whip, the second highest position in the Senate caucus. I think what we will see in Simpson stepping down after down the 2014 elections after six years in the leadership role to pass the mantle over to Lavelle.
QOTD — Who Should Be In Obama’s Second Term Cabinet?
So we know that there will be some departures from the first term — Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner is out; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is out (after doing a spectacular job); Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta; Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank (acting); Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar; Press Secretary Jay Carney; Attorney General Eric Holder (maybe not going for a year or so) look like they are at the top of the list to go. Other possibilities include:
![Thursday Daily Delawhere [11.29.12]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8202/8217885987_61dc8dcb52_z.jpg "Thursday Daily Delawhere [11.29.12]")
I get the feeling John Carney is being had by these charlatans
Carney via Facebook:
This morning, Rep. Jim Renacci, a Republican from Ohio, and I organized our first bipartisan policy meeting since the election. Our group — divided evenly among Democrats and Republicans — meets every other week to brainstorm legislation and try to find common ground. We had great turnout today and took the opportunity to hash out our priorities for the upcoming Congress. If you’re not familiar with the group, you can read about it in this short article from 2011.
The Partisan Republican voting record of Renacci is 99%. Keep looking Congressman. Your bipartisanship should be the kind that demands at least some small demonstration of good will by your Republican counterpart.
By Their Oppression of People Not Like Them Shall You Know Them
Dana Millbank tells the story of how Rick Santorum went back to the US Capital this week to help lobby against the human rights of disabled people. That’s right — Mr. Culture of Life is fearlessly lobbying against the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities. This treaty was actually negotiated by the George W. Bush’s administration and has been ratified by 126 nations, including China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, and Syria.
Boehner: If my taxes go up, so will yours.
House Speaker John Boehner today rejected a proposal from former NRCC head Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) to extend existing tax cuts for middle class Americans, primarily because Boehner (and other wealthy Americans whose incomes have been going up while everyone else’s has been going down) doesn’t get a piece of the tax cut action.
In Which We Find John Stapleford Blaming Black and Brown People for Big Government
That was the nicest title I could come up with after reading this new bit of stupidity from John Stapleford of the brain dead CRI. Titled What role does government aid play in elections?, we find Stapleford trying to gin up some numerical proof for Mitt Romney’s claim that Obama won because he gave out gifts to key voter groups. And as usual for Stapleford, he produces a ton of numbers that aren’t sourced anywhere, counting on readers not to notice and counting on readers to not ask questions about the numbers he provides. In other words, it is the usual CRI bullshit. And I want to know how he gets paid for this. Seriously. And explain to me how it is that wingnut welfare — which Stapleford is clearly a beneficiary of — isn’t it’s own gift to the angry white people being paid to push this bullshit to people who really need better information than this. Because I’d bet ALOT OF MONEY that the number of wingnut welfare recipients that voted for Mitt Romney approaches 100%.
Wednesday Open Thread [11.28.12]
![Wednesday Open Thread [11.28.12]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8208/8226419473_0ff0c1e245_z.jpg "Wednesday Open Thread [11.28.12]")
A new Quinnipiac poll in New Jersey finds voters overwhelmingly favor Gov. Chris Christie (R) for re-election, 67% to 25%. 95% of voters think Gov. Chris Christie (R) did an “excellent” or “good” job responding to Hurricane Sandy, and Christie now holds a sky high 72% to 21% approval rating. The strongest possible Democratic challenger, Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D), trails Christie by 18 points, 53% to 35%. I bet you that Booker abstains from the 2013 Gubernatorial race and runs to replace Frank Lautenberg in 2014 in the Senate. Christie is frankly unbeatable in New Jersey right now. Hell, even I think he deserves a second term. There is no reason for Booker to be the sacrificial lamb.
Happy 10 year Anniversary to the Delaware indoor smoking ban!!
The best thing RAM ever did.
Meanwhile, this painting was painted in the 1990′s, so it doesn’t include Obama, but I always thought it was pretty awesome:
John Carney’s Mythical Rational House Republican – DISCOVERED !
Diogenes wandered the streets of Athens with a lamp in search of an honest man. Similarly, John Carney seems to have devoted his tenure in the House to searching out a rational Republican. He feels that the Delaware electorate is really looking for a guy with he tenacity to keep searching for rationality among Republicans in spite of everything we know about the Lunatic Party.
Well, you can knock me over with a feather because a rational Republican may have just emerged.
GOP Puppetmaster, Grover Norquist, Predicts No Deal
If the GOP’s Leader, Grover Norquist, is right – taxes will reset to the pre-Bush tax cuts rates. Republicans talking about possible deals are full of it according to Norquist. Why? because they are imagining deals in which $1.00 of tax increases is matched by $10.00 in cuts to Medicaid.
Pay Attention To What Republicans Do, Not What They Say
Since losing the election, Republicans are trying to employ the “I have a black/brown friend with a vagina” strategy. Every time I turn on the television or surf the net I’m bombarded with Republican politicians and pundits performing mea culpas over their past behavior. But their words ring hollow when you look at their actions.
Take a look at this picture ….
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