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Tuesday Daily Delawhere [5.7.13]
Looming south of Newark is Iron Hill, which is an outcropping of the Piedmont Plateau. The hill, named for the iron deposits mined on it, is 331 feet above sea level.
7May2013 | Delaware Dem | 4 comments | Continued
Monday Open Thread [5.6.13]
At this weekend’s NRA convention you could buy ‘Obama’ mannequins designed for use as target practice which actually bleed when shot. It is things like that which makes me have almost no sympathy for families like the Sparks family in Kentucky, the family that had a five year old son shoot and kill his 2 year sister with his “My First Rifle.” That family may be suffering horribly, but in my opinion they deserve that suffering for their irrespondibility and negligence. I know the two things are not directly connected, and I don’t know the particular political views of Mr. and Mrs. Sparks as it relates to the NRA v. Obama, but still. Irresponsibility and selling and marketing guns to children has been a direct result of the NRA’s efforts to fight any and all regulations. So when children of gun lovers actually die, it is very difficult to feel sympathy for the parents.
6May2013 | Delaware Dem | 9 comments | Continued
QOTD — What to Do About Syria?
This morning, I listened as NPR gave John McCain more air time to call for some type of intervention in the Syrian mess. Lindsay Graham has been screeching for more capability for someone over there to have better capacity to kill one another. Even Mitt Romney has gotten into the act to call President Obama weak over his handling of Syria. In the meantime, we have a press running all over the place certain that chemical weapons have been used in Syria, when that is far from certain:
6May2013 | cassandra_m | 7 comments | Continued
The NRA’s Declaration Of War
When I was growing up the NRA was all about guns. Oh, they were political, but more along geographical lines (red state/blue state, urban/rural) than political parties. And while we still see this today there’s change in the air – and that change is being driven by the NRA.
There was a time when being a gun owner was the only ideology one needed to be an NRA member. Republican/Democrat/Independent/Liberal/Conservative didn’t matter. If you liked guns, the NRA was the group for you.
But liking guns isn’t enough anymore. Today, the NRA has dropped any attempt at being a nonpartisan group of gun owners. They have gone full Tea Party. If you’re a gun owning Dem or liberal the NRA has made it clear you’re not welcome. Of course, any sane person is no longer welcome because the NRA has finally revealed their crazy in stunning, splendid glory.
Many of us have always known the crazy was there, but the NRA use to be somewhat politically savvy. They spoke about the 2nd Amendment, protecting yourself, hunting and responsible gun ownership – they wore a mask of reasonableness. That mask has been ripped off.
6May2013 | pandora | 14 comments | Continued
Monday Daily Delawhere [5.6.13]
The William Todd Memorial, in Brandywine Park at Baynard Boulevard and Washington Street in Wilmington. The memorial, the Soldiers and Sailors of Delaware Monument, was dedicated in 1925.
6May2013 | Delaware Dem | Comments Off | Continued
Sunday Open Thread [5.5.13]
And WTF is up with Tom Gordon’s CAO?
Grimaldi, who is County Executive Tom Gordon’s chief administrative officer, got in a shoving match during a Delaware Police Athletic League meeting in late 2011 or early 2012, witnesses said. And he was charged with offensive touching after a 2010 altercation that Grimaldi said was his reaction to an attack, court records show.
Having a government gig apparently means never having to be accountable, I guess.
5May2013 | cassandra_m | 10 comments | Continued
Late Night Video — Gun Lobby PSA Preserving Background Check Loopholes
Too close to true for comfort, really. (Approx 1:30 mins)
4May2013 | cassandra_m | 3 comments | Continued
Saturday Open Thread [5.4.2013]
4May2013 | cassandra_m | 38 comments | Continued[...]If your “way of life” involves handing deadly weapons to five-year olds, your way of life is completely screwed up and you should change it immediately because it is stupid and wrong. (And, again, also, too: goddammit, “learning to use and respect a gun” means at least knowing that the fking thing is loaded when it’s sitting in the corner of the parlor like it’s a damn umbrella stand or something, and we should talk about that part, too.) It is not in any way “normal” to hand a kindergartner a firearm. If a mother from the inner-city of, say, Philadelphia did that, and the kid subsequently shot his sister to death, Fox News never would stop yelling about the crisis in African American communities and the Culture Of Death, and rap music, too. If your culture is telling you that children who have only recently emerged from toddlerhood should have their own guns, then your culture is deadly and dangerous and that should concern you, too. If your culture demands that, in the face of a general national outrage over the killing of other children, your politics work to loosen the gun laws you have, as they apparently did in Kentucky, then your culture is making your politics stupid and wrong and you should change them, too.[...]
Friday Open Thread [5.3.13]
The U.S. economy added 165,000 jobs in April, which is a good not great number, but the better news is the revisions for February (a great month that is now Clintonian Great) and March (a Bushian bad month of low job growth that has now become Obamian Good).
3May2013 | Delaware Dem | 10 comments | ContinuedThe change in total nonfarm payroll employment for February was revised from +268,000 to +332,000, and the change for March was revised from +88,000 to +138,000. With these revisions, employment gains in February and March combined were 114,000 higher than previously reported.
This is why Cathy Cloutier keeps getting reelected…
… yeah, you can say it is the well timed moderate votes recently and over the last several years that have pretty well placed her in the “sane Republican” and “moderate” categories, but never ever underestimate the personal touches. For example, most politicians, if they are worth their stuff, send out happy birthday messages to their constitutuents, mostly in the form of mass produced postcards or cards, like the one my State Representative Debbie Hudson sent me….
3May2013 | Delaware Dem | 22 comments | Continued
A Hopeful School Solution
What if you fired all of the security guards at a struggling elementary school and spent that money on Art programs? That is the Big Idea from this NBC news report telling the story of this Roxbury, MA school that appears to have found a path to improvement by reclaiming one of the features the school was built for.
2May2013 | cassandra_m | 5 comments | Continued
Thursday Open Thread [5.2.13]
Michael Tomasky: “How stupid does the Senate background-check vote look now, I ask the pundits and others who thought it was dumb politics for Obama and the Democrats to push for a vote that they obviously knew they were going to lose. I’d say not very stupid at all. The nosedive taken in the polls by a number of senators who voted against the bill, most of them in red states, makes public sentiment here crystal clear. And now, for the first time since arguably right after the Reagan assassination attempt–a damn long time, in other words–legislators in Washington are feeling political heat on guns that isn’t coming from the NRA. This bill will come back to the Senate, maybe before the August recess, and it already seems possible and maybe even likely to have 60 votes next time.”
2May2013 | Delaware Dem | 7 comments | Continued
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., May 2, 2013
The question of the day: ‘Why Tuesday, Why Not Today?’ Why is HB 75 (Marriage Equality), which cleared the Senate Executive Committee yesterday, not being worked today? The questions, and my highly-speculative answer are herein reprinted in their entirety:
Dale: Does anyone have any insight as to why the Senate vote on HB 75 was scheduled for next Tuesday, a full week (not actually) after the committee vote?
El Somnambulo thought that it might be scheduled for the very next day. And I read on the site of the conservative DE Family Policy Council that they thought the same thing. Why put it off a week? Could this mean that the 2 “undecided” senators are not simply keeping their intentions under wraps, but instead might genuinely be undecided and need more time? Is Hall Long requesting the extra time so that she can “poll” her district, as the News Journal reported?
El Somnambulo: Good questions, Dale. Blevins knows what she’s doing here, and your speculation could well be accurate. If she thinks that they need a little room to come to grips with their decisions, then I think that’s the right thing to do.
There might, repeat, MIGHT, even be an Alphonse/Gaston situation here. What if two senators are reluctant to be the ‘deciding’ vote on an issue, but would each conceivably be ‘yes’ votes if theirs was the 12th rather than the 11th vote? That way, they’d have cover that their vote in essence made no difference. Seems crazy, I know, but stranger things have happened.
I know that this issue is a ‘no-brainer’ for a lot of us, but there’s lots more at play than meets the eye with some legislators. I DO know that HB 75 has a superb grassroots lobbying effort behind it, so I don’t think we’ll lose ground between now and next Tuesday. Might just gain some.
Anyone have anything to add? Keep in mind that the goal of supporters should be to help these senators get to ‘yes’.
2May2013 | El Somnambulo | 18 comments | Continued
Wednesday Open Thread [5.1.13]
McKay Coppins notes that with teabagging criticism of the immigration reform effort “grow[ing] louder, many Republican operatives, donors, and consultants are bracing for an outcome that would be even worse, politically, than the demise of the bill: A fierce, national, right-wing backlash that drowns out the GOP’s friendlier voices, dominates Telemundo and Univision, and dashes any hopes the party had of making inroads to the Hispanic electorate by 2016.”
I personally think we are going to get both nightmare outcomes for the GOP. The demise of the bill will be accomplished by having the right act all explicitly racist, anti-immigrant and insane.
1May2013 | Delaware Dem | 6 comments | Continued
This Is Not An Accident
BURKESVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Authorities in southern Kentucky say a 2-year-old girl has been accidentally shot and killed by her 5-year-old brother, who was playing with a .22-caliber rifle he received as a gift.
[...]
White told the newspaper that the boy received the rifle made for youths last year and is used to shooting it. He said the gun was kept in a corner and the family didn’t realize a shell was left inside it.
White said the shooting will be ruled accidental. (Emphasis mine)
Who, in their right mind, gives a 4 year old a gun?
Who, after giving (or accepting) a gun to a flippin’ 4 year old, keeps it in a flippin’ corner?
Who, with a functioning brain cell, would ever call this an accident?
1May2013 | pandora | 17 comments | Continued
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., May 1, 2013
Yes, SB 19(Peterson) was tabled in the House Judiciary Committee, which disappoints death penalty repeal supporters like myself. However, keep in mind that this is the first of a two-year General Assembly session, so the bill is not dead, just ’sitting in limbo.’ House sponsor Rep. Darryl Scott has stated that he may try to petition the bill out of committee. Not sure if that’s the best strategy for now, think I’d only do it if I knew that I had the votes for the bill on the floor. Timing is everything, and this might not be the best timing.
Sen. Bruce Ennis introduced SB 33 yesterday, which would require owners of manufactured home communities to seek approval for any increase above the average inflation rate.
1May2013 | El Somnambulo | 12 comments | Continued
PDD-DL Vote Tracker for April 30, 2013
Not to steal any thunder from El Somnanbulo, but tomorrow is a big day for legislation in both the House and Senate. In the Senate, the Senate Executive Committee will consider the Marriage Equality Bill, HB 75. In the House, the Administration Committee will consider HB51, the large capacity magazine ban. To keep up to date on all legislation that is of priority to liberals and progressives, DL has partnered with the Progressive Democrats for Delaware (PDD) to compile this Vote Tracker. Now, this chart does not follow all the legislation that has been filed. We don’t report on perfunctory bills like the ones about the charter of Georgetown or ticket scalping. Nor do we follow the progress of judicial nominations, executive nominations, or Concurrent or Joint Resolutions unless they are a matter of controversy. So the legislation that is listed is a matter of concern and priority for those of us on the liberal / progressive side of the aisle.
Come inside to view and download the Vote Tracker charts.
30Apr2013 | Delaware Dem | 4 comments | Continued
Tuesday Open Thread [4.30.13]
In Pennsylvania, a new Quinnipiac poll has such horrible numbers for the Republican Governor that I am now worried that he will bag a reelection campaign all together, in favor of a Republican that might have a chance. Gov. Tom Corbett trails all three major Democratic challengers.
30Apr2013 | Delaware Dem | 7 comments | Continued
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Report: Tues., April 30, 2013
A HUGE week coming up in Dover.
HB 75(Smith) will be considered in the Senate Executive Committee this Wednesday. If you have not yet contacted your senators, especially if your senator is either Cathy Cloutier or Bethany Hall-Long, now is the time to do so. Be friendly and positive, and encourage them to do the right thing. Marriage equality is RIGHT THERE, do everything you can to help push it over the top.
Residents in manufactured homes communities are back and they’re seeking justice. So are the overlords, who have thrown campaign cash around to legislators in large quantities. Except, of course, in their case, they’re paying to ensure a continuation of injustice. Meaning that, this year, legislators will either have to do the right thing or face the electoral consequences for siding with their wealthy (and amoral) contributors. And, yes, we will be naming names, both legislators and contributors. SB 33 will be introduced this week, and, once again, all it asks is that these landlords be required to justify rent increases that are larger than the rate of inflation. There will likely not be a more important legislative battle between Good and Ee-vil to be fought this year. Choose sides.
After a disorganized committee meeting last week, the House Judiciary Committee convenes solely to consider a motion to release the death penalty repeal bill from committee:
30Apr2013 | El Somnambulo | 7 comments | ContinuedDue to time constraints at the end of the April 24 Judiciary Committee meeting because the House Chamber needed to be vacated for session, action on a motion on Senate Bill 19 was not completed. This April 30 (Tuesday) meeting on Senate Bill 19 is being held solely for the purpose of taking action on a motion regarding the bill. There will not be an additional public comment period.
THE 147TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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