Archive for November, 2012

Selander Leaving

Filed in National by on November 30, 2012 27 Comments

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.

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Here We Go Again

Filed in National by on November 30, 2012 6 Comments

Florida has a problem.

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.

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President Obama asks directly for your help, says Republicans are holding middle-class tax cuts “hostage”

Filed in National by on November 30, 2012 4 Comments

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.

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Friday Open Thread [11.30.12]

Filed in Open Thread by on November 30, 2012 2 Comments
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.

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People In Three Nearby South Jersey Towns Advised To Stay Inside After Train Derailment

Filed in National by on November 30, 2012 4 Comments

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.

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Republicans Can’t Govern

Filed in National by on November 30, 2012 28 Comments

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?

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QOTD — Should Sandra Fluke Be Considered as Time’s Person of the Year?

Filed in National by on November 30, 2012 31 Comments

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:

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Friday Daily Delawhere [11.30.12]

Filed in Delaware by on November 30, 2012 1 Comment
Friday Daily Delawhere [11.30.12]

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Rachel Zylstra, that’s who….

Filed in National by on November 29, 2012 2 Comments

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.

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Be sure to check out WDDE 91.1 FM – Delaware’s National Public Radio

Filed in National by on November 29, 2012 11 Comments

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.

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The Deliberate Destruction Of Public Education

Filed in Delaware, National by on November 29, 2012 39 Comments

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 […]

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Thursday Open Thread [11.29.12]

Filed in Open Thread by on November 29, 2012 23 Comments

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.

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Crappy Deal Emerging

Filed in National by on November 29, 2012 31 Comments

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.

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