Archive for May, 2016
Voters are Idiots
American voters are, first of all, Americans. So they are woefully ill-informed about policy, history, economics, and what they know about world affairs can be written on a tab of acid, while still leaving room for a couple of Grateful Dead Dancing Bears. All of that goes double for Trump voters: Anybody who still believes […]
Wilmington Mayoral Debate on Public Safety
Last Thursday evening, there was another debate among the Mayoral candidates for Wilmington (except the current Mayor — who apparently does not think he needs to explain or be accountable for his dismal record in this area). This one was focused on public safety and was sponsored by the News Journal and WHYY and held at the Grand. There have been quite a few debates/ public forums for Mayoral candidates in the last month or so, reflecting the very high interest in this race around town. It is a perfect situation for the kind of retail politics that Delaware is famous for and is a perfect setup for all of the organisations around town who feel that they need to work at supporting the public conversation. What you know from talking to people at these events is that there is a great deal of sensitivity about the crossroads Wilmington seems to be on and a great deal of motivation to try choose someone who will move the City in a much better direction. Public safety is a very large issue — but it is almost always entwined with discussions on education, re-entry, jobs. This is important, I think, because it indicates that many of the most interested voters in Wilmington understand that public safety is a complex issue and that city government has not been a good leader in addressing these issues. While reducing shootings and other criminal behavior is a priority, Wilmingtonians seem ready to hear about long-term prevention strategies as well.
Tuesday Open Thread [5.31.16]
![Tuesday Open Thread [5.31.16]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Hillary-240x180.png "Tuesday Open Thread [5.31.16]")
Rebecca Traitor at New York Magazine has a lengthy and fascinating profile of Hillary Clinton, that is well worth a full read. But here is an excerpt:
There are a lot of reasons — internal, external, historical — for the way Clinton deals with the public, and the way we respond to her. But there is something about the candidate that is getting lost in translation. The conviction that I was in the presence of a capable, charming politician who inspires tremendous excitement would fade and in fact clash dramatically with the impressions I’d get as soon as I left her circle: of a campaign imperiled, a message muddled, unfavorables scarily high. To be near her is to feel like the campaign is in steady hands; to be at any distance is to fear for the fate of the republic. […]
When I asked her why she thinks women’s ambition is regarded as dangerous, she posited that it was about “a fear that ambition will crowd out everything else — relationships, marriage, children, family, homemaking, all the other parts [of life] that are important to me and important to most women I know.” She also mentioned the unappealing stereotyping: “We’re so accustomed to think of women’s ambition being made manifest in ways that we don’t approve of, or that we find off-putting.”
Delaware Political Weekly: May 20-26, 2016 (Delayed By the Holidays Edition).
Just stop and think about what the Mayor’s absence from last week’s Public Safety debate says. It says that the entire raison d’etre for his mayoralty (‘You won’t recognize this city in six months’) has been an utter disaster. Shooting worse than ever, the Mayor turning up his nose at professional assistance and cash from the General Assembly. His legacy so disastrous that he dare not even show up at a debate that can only serve to spotlight his abject hubris and failure as mayor. Nevertheless, the Mayor chose the week that he chose not to defend his public safety record in public to file for reelection. Somehow, that suits him. For you completists out there, Maria Cabrera has still not filed for Mayor. Nor will she.
Memorial Day Daily Delawhere [5.20.2016]
Honor our fallen today. They are the real reason we have this day.
Sunday Open Thread [5.29.2016]
![Sunday Open Thread [5.29.2016]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Delaware.Open_.Thread-240x180.png "Sunday Open Thread [5.29.2016]")
Susia Cagle looks at the big problem with the story of Peter Thiel’s secret day in court and how the 0.1% are redefining the rules.
Last week Mr. Thiel revealed that he had funneled “in the ballpark” of $10 million to legal support for plaintiffs suing Gawker Media, most notably Terry Bollea, a.k.a. Hulk Hogan, who recently won a $140 million judgment against the company for defamation. Mr. Thiel made no secret of his grudge against Gawker, since the company’s Valleywag blog revealed his homosexuality in a 2007 post that lampooned the straight male culture of Silicon Valley more than Mr. Thiel himself. (Mr. Thiel is, notably, an investor in the tech site Pando, a media property that regularly insults him in more direct terms.) …
Portraying a $10 million investment in crushing one’s enemy as a charitable act of justice that will make the world a better place is galling. But students of history can hardly be shocked. Tech’s elite, lauded for their originality, are influencing media, politics and society at large with a kind of venture philanthropy, much as their industrial predecessors did more than 100 years ago.
Saturday Open Thread [5.28.2016]
![Saturday Open Thread [5.28.2016]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Gray.Open_.Thread-240x180.png "Saturday Open Thread [5.28.2016]")
This is for Jason, from Jonathan Chait, to calm some Trump fears:
Donald Trump’s election as president of the United States would pose an unprecedented threat to the health of American democracy and possibly world stability. There is, however, an upside: Trump’s campaign is an absolute garbage fire. By all accounts it is the most organizationally and strategically inept campaign for a successful major-party nominee in recorded history. Ashley Parker and Maggie Haberman round up many of the details, but the basic story that emerges from their reports and others is that Trump has absolutely no idea what he’s doing. […]
To the extent that running a competent campaign matters, it will hurt Trump very badly. Yes, he won the Republican primary by relying on a massive imbalance of media coverage and exploiting a divided, extremely large field that failed to coalesce against him. Yes, he tapped into deep strains of anger in the conservative base that fellow Republicans ignored. But he’s not a political savant, and he hasn’t abolished the rules of politics. He’s a reality-television performer who tapped into a deep vein of cultural resentment that appeals to a decided minority of the electorate. Fortunately, many of the same qualities that would make Trump epically dangerous in the presidency — his impulsive ignorance, blustering arrogance, and contempt for data — also make him unlikely to obtain it.
Emphasis mine.
The Weekly Addresses
In this week’s address, President Obama solemnly reflected on the meaning of Memorial Day and recognized the sacrifices made by the American warriors who never made it back home.
In his weekly message, filmed at W.B. Simpson Elementary, Governor Markell highlights the World Language Immersion Initiative and announces its expansion.
Friday Open Thread [5.27.2016]
Last night, Mein Fuhrer Donald Trump, was featured with his family in an hour long special called Meet The Trumps on Fox, who are obviously auditioning to be the US version of Russia Today to Donald Trump’s Vladimir Putin. This is what state-run fascist media looks like.
Seriously, what the hell is this? pic.twitter.com/g4ebWr6ZVl
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) May 26, 2016
The special served as a decent preview of America’s dark totalitarian future. But there is good news! You can stop this. You can vote for Hillary Clinton. Yes you can. Yes we can.
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