Author Archives: liberalgeek

Delaware Democrats Take On Valenzuela

I just got a media advisory about a conference call about to proceed.  I’ll post more info as it comes across on the call.

Delaware Democratic Party Executive Director Joe Aronson and and small business owner Gemma Buckley will hold a press call ahead of Sher Valenzuela’s speech at the Republican National Convention on the night themed “We Built It.”  Although Sher will say she built her business all on her own, her company, First State Manufacturing, has taken OVER $2 MILLION IN SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION-GUARANTEED LOANS and has obtained more than $15 million in government contracts.

“The President believes in the importance of a partnership between government and business to help small business succeed, which is why he has fought for 18 small business tax cuts that help them hire and make job-creating investments in equipment that grow their businesses,” said Joe Aronson.  “And Ms. Valenzuela clearly does, too.  But saying she built her business all on her own – that’s just hypocritical and not true.”

“My husband and I have worked incredibly hard to conceive and build the Ninth Street Book Shop,” said Ms. Buckley.  “But as President Obama has said, we didn’t do it alone.  We even received a small business loan ourselves to open our new location in June.”

Big Idea Wednesday: Monster Mile Per Gallon

Twice a year, Dover Downs is the home of NASCAR races. As a guy that owns two hybrids and tries to be a good environmental citizen, I am appalled by the senseless waste of tires, oil, gas that goes on through the various qualifiers and races that go on throughout the weekend. But I get it. People like the personalities, drama, noise, smell and hoopla that surrounds the weekend. Fine, I have made my peace with it.

But I would love to see Delaware further the environmentalism that we already have embraced with our recent Fisker, Bloom and the unfortunate Bluewater Wind deals.  I would like to see Delaware sponsor a NASCAR-style race for electric and high-efficiency cars. Not unlike the para-Olympics which happen at the Olympic host city in the weeks following the more familiar Olympics, we could sponsor the fuel-efficient race on the weekend following a NASCAR weekend.  The beer-soaked campers of NASCAR fans in the parking lot could be replaced by the beer-soaked campers of graduate engineering students. The roar of oversized engines would be replaced by the sound of low-drag tires on the rough macadam of the banked turns.

Maybe it’s just me, but the drama of a race between a dozen cars with 3 gallons of gas to complete their 200 mile race seems much more interesting.

Big Idea Wednesday: The New Jim Crow

I have wanted to do a regular post to motivate myself to come up with content that would stimulate discussion and make my brain move. I’m hoping that this will be that vehicle.

This week’s big idea comes from my friend Phillip Bannowsky.  Some day I’ll be drummed out of the corps for having him as a friend, but his wit, wisdom and creativity will make my eventual dispatch to the Gulags of Alabama all worth it.

He has a post up on his blog that uses a book review of the new book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander to analyze the State of Delaware’s disproportionate number of black and brown citizens impacted by incarceration and it’s after-effects. It is timely, to me, because I am reading Slavery by Another Name about the Jim Cow era slavery that hinged on the systematic incarceration on petty (and often bogus) “crimes” and the indentured servitude of the deep south’s prison industrial complex.

In Delaware, this may still be an issue, since there has recently been a scandal in the Sussex prison involving a large number of inmates that have been sent out on work details for YEARS without any record of it having been done. One of the benefactors is even a legislator. If there is no records, who paid whom for the prisoners time and effort? How much did they pay? How much of it went to the inmates and their restitution that they may owe to victims or for their pocket upon release?

Phillip’s solution is to end the failing “War on Drugs” and abolition of the prison system. I am certainly on-board for te first part. The War on Drugs has been a massive failure that our politicians can’t seem to admit, for fear of looking weak on crime. The abolition of the prison system is perhaps clumsily worded, but on it’s face seems like a bridge too far to me.

What do you think?

McMurray to Challenge Carper?

Yesterday I got a tip from someone that Bill McMurray was going to try to challenge Tom Carper. I reached out to him to see what he has planned.

So far, he’s got a website, a treasurer and $500. He hopes to raise the remainder of the filing fee (another $10K) in the next few days.

He told me that his campaign was going to run to the left of Carper, as a progressive and ignite the progressives in Delaware in a way similar to the way Christine O’Donnell ignited the right-wing of the Republicans. He told me that he is a member of PDD (Progressive Democrats for Delaware) and has done a good deal of work for the American Diabetes Association in the past year.

He believes that he will be able to win over the city Democrats in Wilmington and the union votes as well.  No doubt that those two blocs and progressives would carry the day, but all three are tall orders.  It is especially difficult without name recognition or much of a campaign team (not to mention cash).

I don’t know a single progressive that doesn’t yearn for a replacement for Tom Carper, but none of his would-be opponents have really laid a glove on him in 20 years. Maybe he does have a glass jaw, but you gotta pay your 10,000 bucks to the state party to even get in the ring. So far McMurray has a long way to go in a very short time.

Guest Post: Child Abusers Astroturfing

One of our readers, Brooke Bovard, has written this guest post.

Delaware, as a ‘blue’ state, and without much to steal, is new to the game of being targeted by the Right. Sure, they tried to foist Christine O’Donnell on us, but they can’t be trying too hard, right?

Sadly, wrong. A case in point is action on SB 234, which deals with the presumably bipartisan priority of preventing child abuse. But, not so fast, L’il Pilgrim. According to the email alert sent out by the Home School Legal Defense Association:

Anti-Spanking Bill Passes House Committee

If SB 234 is passed into law, parents could go to jail for disciplining their children.

Dee Black answers questions and provides legal assistance for members in Delaware. He and his wife homeschooled all four of their children.

Dear HSLDA Members and Friends:

Bad news! Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee approved Senate Bill 234 by a unanimous vote of 7–0. It now goes to the full House of Representatives, which will vote on it either today, tomorrow, or Saturday. Your calls and emails are needed to convince members of the House that Delaware citizens do not want to make it a crime for parents to spank their own children.

Senate Bill 234, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Patricia M. Blevins (District 7), creates a definition of the term “physical injury” in the child abuse and neglect laws to include “pain.” Currently the law permits a parent to use force to punish a child for misconduct, but it prohibits any act that is likely to cause or does cause physical injury. By defining “physical injury” to include the infliction of pain on a child, spanking would become a crime in Delaware punishable by imprisonment for up to two years.

It has a sample letter to please call or email your rep, and another “action item” to forward this to every family you know who is not already on the HSLDA list.

Anyone want to make some calls on the other side?

Three ICs and a Proxy

On Tuesday night I had the pleasure of seeing 3 of the 4 Democratic Insurance Commissioners and a representative of Paul Clark.  The setting was a caucus with 4 or 5 RDs represented and conducting various business, including the first step in sending delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

The first to get up and speak was a representative from Clark’s campaign. As you all know, Clark is often accused of being an out-of-touch insider with ethical issues. In an effort to quell that impression he decided to send Vince Meconi in his stead.  Mission accomplished.

Since Karen Weldin Stewart is the incumbent, probably she should have been allowed to start, but instead Dennis Spivack stepped up first. This is the Dennis Spivack that is challenging a sitting insurance commissioner that is seeking re-election.  You would think that for someone to want to primary Stewart they would have some real, tangible complaints about the current IC office, how it’s run and who is to blame for that, right? Nope. Not one freaking word about KWS.

In fact, While Spivack spoke for almost 6 minutes (of the 5 allotted) he didn’t really say a goddamned thing for the entirety of his presentation. It consisted mostly of  “I know people that have gotten sick” and “I know business people that have health insurance” and the ever popular “I’ve lived in Delaware for all my life”.  In a nutshell, Dennis Spivack hasn’t even come up with a cover story for the real reason that he is running. And it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what the reality is. Dennis is running to dilute the anti-KWS sentiment, and to help her get re-elected. Bravo, Dennis.

Next up was Stewart herself. Her argument was about how much she was able to save for Delaware insurance consumers during her term. She threw around a lot of numbers without much evidence or explanation. She was so proud of her accomplishments, that she had to have them all written on cue cards while she told us about how hard she negotiated for Delawareans. Oh, and in an effort to out-do Spivack, she said she had been in Delaware for generations. So there.

Finally, Mitch Crane stepped up to talk. In four minutes, he blistered the KWS administration with bills that he wrote, that would have met Stewart’s campaign promises in 2008. Yet those bills sit on a shelf, still wanting for a sponsor in the legislature.  He detailed the numerous ways that Stewart’s administration has failed real consumers in Delaware from Medicare Advantage plans to holding the bag for Highmark. He also managed to highlight his plans (along with the political backing that he will use to accomplish the goals).

I was able to sit in on a discussion afterwards about what we had just witnessed. I was amazed at the uniformity of the opinion that Crane was the right candidate to carry the Democratic torch. It wasn’t even close, and every person was able to highlight a different thing that they liked about Crane.

I know that the Insurance Commissioners race isn’t a sexy, high-profile race that will inspire a lot people to get off of their asses on September 11th, but it ought to be. Democrats should take this opportunity to show the state that we police our own. To demonstrate that when a crappy person gets into office, we are capable of recognizing our mistake and resolving it in a way that benefits everyone.

Now can we have a real (unconvicted) challenger to Paul Clark, please?

Sheriff Christopher v. Sussex County

A little birdie sent in this court filing last night.  In it, Sussex County Sheriff Jeff Christopher is filing suit against Sussex County.  It is full of craziness, including the Magna Carta, English Common Law and Posse Comitatus.

Today, Sussex County responded in a press release. My favorite part of the press release is the end.

At this time, the County has not been served. Once the County has received the lawsuit officially, legal counsel will review it and put together the appropriate legal response.

I wonder why the Sheriff is too busy to serve the county.  Perhaps he has his posse trying to find the county building.

Your WTF Video of the Day

A North Carolina pastor has a pretty straight-forward way to make sure your kids don’t turn gay. Beat the shit out of them.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKDWdfTkr-o[/youtube]

Can I make it any clearer? Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up. Give him a good punch. Ok?

Honestly, this is what we are up against. This exactly the same attitude that the Taliban espouses. And it is why it takes a brave person to come out of the closet, even today.

h/t Joe C

Why Anonymous Blogging is Sometimes Essential

There are plenty of us in the blogosphere in various states of anonymity. Some are anonymous to protect their jobs. Some to lob potshots with impunity. But some people do it to protect their lives.

Lately, the Zetas, a Mexican drug cartel have been waging a war against bloggers in parts of Mexico. So far four people have been killed for using social media to communicate about the activities of the drug cartel, two by beheading.  Each of the dead have had a note attached to their bodies explaining that the reason that they were killed was for their social media activities.

“This happened to me for not understanding that I shouldn’t report on the social networks,” advised a note left before dawn with the man’s body at a key intersection in the city’s wealthier neighborhood.

Luckily, this can’t happen here, right? Wrong. There have been attempts by some to reveal the identities of bloggers here and elsewhere. I was personally called by a crazy commenter from Alabama about a gun thread here a few years ago. There are always risks associated with facts and opinion in an open society and we mitigate those risks as much as we can.

It is this sort of thing that makes outing of contributors and commenters a bannable offense here at DL.

A Crib Death for OccupyDelaware?

Not yet a month old, and already the Occupy movement in Delaware is in mortal danger. I don’t know if it is indicative of how the movement is progressing in other cities and states, but I hope not.  Allow me to explain…

Occupy is a youth movement. As such it is learning a lot of lessons that other protest movements have learned in the past (leadership, legal advice, logistics, public relations, etc.).  There is no shortcut to learning these lessons. In fact, I envy them for the fun that will have learning the lessons.

But there are a number of people from past movements that are looking to “help” these kids. These are people from Woodstock Nation, the civil rights marches and countless ill-fated progressive Presidential campaigns. These people mean well, but they must know their place. And I don’t mean that in a derogatory way, I mean that their time has passed from the perspective of their movements.

The Yippies of the 60’s had a rule of thumb to never trust anyone over 30. This should be gospel. In all fairness, I am 41, so take it with a grain of salt. But here are reasons why this is true. We are never going to spend weeks voluntarily sleeping in a park. We are comfortable living our lives of quiet desperation, driving our new-ish cars, sleeping in our comfortable beds and taking our vacations at the beach. We are easily intimidated.

The young people that are leading this movement are more capable of speaking truth to power than those of us that have celebrated a 30th birthday. We oldsters have reached the point that we have a lot invested in the status quo, whether we want to admit it or not.

Delaware has a number of these helpful oldsters that want to grind the same old axes that they have been grinding for decades. One of them has even been on several radio stations in the past week presenting their “demands”. I haven’t heard the demands, but I’ll gander a few guesses about what they are, Implementing Floyd McDowell’s single payer plan, satellite news access for everyone and the freeing of all Palestinian prisoners. I’m sure she has others, but I really can’t stand to listen to her spout off any more, and neither can anyone else.

So to the young people of Occupy Delaware, please don’t listen to us. We are happy to help in any way we can (supplies, cash, and covering the park after work so you can find a bathroom). But thank us for our support and send us on our way. This is YOUR movement. Own it and ride it as far as it will take you. It will be one of the greatest times of your life.

And to the old people that want to get back to the glory days of your youth: respect these young protesters and their ideas. Let them go on the radio and explain their positions. Let them organize in THEIR way. Let them write their own demands. Marvel at their energy, youthful idealism and freedom. Give them what they need. Then shut the hell up.

Otherwise, we will end up with the same old people, saying the same old things, to the same disinterested public. And Delaware will end up with another statistic in our infant mortality rate when we kill our own children just as they are starting to thrive.

Science is Cool or Remember When the US Did Cool Stuff?

This video was pointed out to me by @thinkgeek on Twitter.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws6AAhTw7RA[/youtube]

I can’t help thinking a few things… Why is it that this was developed in Israel and not the US? Is research like this even possible without government help? Can I have one? How quickly would Bobby Jindal refuse funding for a train based on this technology?