UPDATED: TPN on WDEL 1150 at 1:00
Breaking News: Young Democrat activist and one time KHN campaign staffer, Mat Marshall has announced he’s recently registered as a Republican.
Filling in for host Rick Jensen (who is off having his cloven hooves filed today) is Tyler Patrick Nixon who is a Republican with common sense. (That is to say he one of two Republicans I know that thought lying about Iraq being responsible for 9/11 and invading that country with no plan was a bad idea.)
Anyway, it should be an iteresting show. Can the Republican Party of old be saved? (You know, the Republican party in which “conservative” meant to me thrifty and level headed instead of a religious freak.)
Can Wilmington be a place to be somebody, instead of a place to be some body?
Tune in to find out.
I can’t get to a radio today. How is this going?
Mat Marshall has announced he’s recently registered as a Republican!
Good for him. Sarah Palin must be a Mommy-figure to him.
right after you.Oh sure, get rid of our snarky comments and leave me looking like the fool! You owe me a beer!
You ever notice my common denominator around here? đ
Mat is a good guy. (He’s my surrender monkey from the protest days.) I wish he would comment more over here, but I treated his mother poorly, so I understand.
Anyway, he’s young so I guess he is searching. If he can bring some clear thinking to the shrieking mob on the other side, I say more power to him. Although I suspect he’ll get a load of the people he has just signed up to hang around with and run toward the fire exit.
Democratic activist.
Of course, he isn’t (anymore?), so c’est la vie.
Damn, I thought Matt was smart beyond naivete.
I’m telling you. He will not last. Once he gets a earful of the craziness firsthand it will be all over.
maybe I need to get a hold of him in the building of the Smitty coalition. I’m humble enough to call it the Smitty-Marshall coalition.
Then we can create copious self-gratuitous videos on any issue we dream up, claim we are moderate, but scream RINO in every corner and then spam blogs with our links and disparage the character of any person that disagrees with us!
Oh, wait, I forgot. That’s already being done now. I don’t want to duplicate those tedious efforts of our favorite pilotician.
OK, back to the Smitty-Marshall coalition! Mat, I’m looking at you (or in your direction, I have no clue where you are).
(Mat) We are all aware of the dangers of intellectual masterbation and snobbery….
See my review of this afternoon’s TPN radio program in the ‘Open Thread’ above.
Welcome Matt–Smart move,because as a Republican, you are allowed to vote Democrat if there is just cause.
Mat…likewise you can be registered a Democrat and still vote for a Republican “if there is just cause.”
The rub comes in the primary elections….Republicans are reluctant to encourage competition among the ranks…..so you miss voting in the Democrat primaries where you can have a say.
Well, when it comes to Delaware politics, I can think of several Republican state legislators more liberal than several of their Democratic peers (Venables and Atkins come to mind). Adding Marshall to the GOP’s left flank has its upsides, in a way. How anyone can register with the GOP after 8 years of Cheney, I’ll never know, but I have a feeling this has more to do with local politics than national. But God help me, if he starts idolizing Jeff Sessions, Rush Limbaugh, James Inhofe, Ann Coulter, and Michelle Bachmann, that would be a disgrace.
…but I have a feeling this has more to do with local politics than national…
Until Mat tells us, no one can really say for sure, but that is my feeling as well. I know I lasted as long as I did because of the state-level. If I were using the national as my barometer, I would have been gone years ago. I finally became fed up over the passive treatment in handling slanderous and libelous attacks from a certain sect, which in my mind is akin to approval. The ideology, though, is certainly ripe for the picking. If someone with actual constructive thought (not self-serving thought) has the will and the bandwidth, they can absolutely shape the state-level party for years to come. Heck, Tom Ross can still very well be that person, but I’d like to see a bit more confrontation-style come from him in dealing with certain sects.
my understanding is that it is more national – massive gov’t spending, stimulus, social security, high income taxes, etc.
he remains a big markell fan – the de facto leader, as Gov, of the Delaware Dem party
two things happened recently in mat’s life that brought him to this decision: he took an economics class and he got his first real paycheck.
he is bright enough to understand what this administration’s reckless spending and cavalier attitude about our tax dollars means for his generation. when he saw the $54 in taxes that were taken from his paycheck, the camel collapsed and he pinned the GOP elephant on his wall.
it’s easy for the uber-rich and uber-poor to crow about the importance of big government programs that do little more than encourage complacency and discourage ingenuity. it’s a little different for those of us in the middle who need every dollar. we take it kind of personally when our government pisses away our hard-earned money.
i say good for the boy. he has always been wise beyond his years. this is just further proof of that.
Hey, to each his own. Mat is a great guy, and you should be very proud of him, Dominique.
Politically, I would be interested to hear him reconcile his support of the Governor with his new found hatred of taxes. And since he is entering college, I sure hope he is not accepting any Stafford loans or government-back loan interest loans, since that would be pissing away my tax dollars.
“And since he is entering college, I sure hope he is not accepting any Stafford loans or government-back loan interest loans, since that would be pissing away my tax dollars.”
An investment in Mat Marshall is the exact opposite of pissing away tax dollars.
Precisely, Mr. Burris. We use our tax dollars to invest in our future. Taxes are the price we pay for civilization. Mat and his generation are the future of our civilization, and so we choose to invest in them by making a college education affordable.
“Unless he goes back to the Democrats, in which case, a pox upon socialist education wealth redistribution!”
This is priceless. So when he saw the tax cut he got from Democrats, he decided to turn to the party that turned Clinton’s surplus into the largest deficit in history? Because Democrats wanted to spend his tax dollars on creating jobs and moving away from dependence on rapidly dwindling middle eastern oil reserves, instead of spending it on wars in Iraq, Iran, and wherever else the neocon cowboys wanna bomb (not to mention abstinence-only sex-ed).
Seriously, I understand frustration with national Democrats, local Democrats, big budget deficits, taxes, etc. But really, why on earth would anyone turn to the GOP instead of becoming an independent? The GOP has zero credibility whatsoever on any of these issues. That’s like saying your doctor gave you bad advice, so from now on, you’re only going to faith healers when you need medical attention.
“Precisely, Mr. Burris”
I was using your language and worldview to rebut your claim. It’s a frickin’ loan, not an investment. But student loan programs do fall way behind “radical expansion of government” and “miserably failed trillion dollar stimulus programs” on the waste scale.
I stand by my observation Dom. When your smart boy gets a load of the stupid greedy freaks he has chosen to associate with he will rush into a gossamer nether world betwixt “R” and “D” and have a cup of tea with ISmitty.
X,
If Hilary Clinton had been in position to make the same moves as Obama, suffice to say that Dom would be cheering the glorious victory she delivered to the middle class.
Ah, yes, Dominique has stepped back into the pit of “vipers” to defend her son’s choice of political party. How quaint. Let us remember that she once demonstrated her brilliant knowledge of federal budgets by writing “We could give each citizen a little over three million dollars if we had a billion dollars. And thatâs if we only had ONE billion dollars.”
Mat’s choice to join the repub party once again lends credence to the adage that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Welcome back, Dominique.
Thank you to those of you who left kind/constructive remarks. As for the rest, Jason, this is why I read, but never comment on, your blog, or any other for that matter. People spend absurd amounts of time spitting venom for something that, at the end of the day, serves them no purpose. I don’t like it for a minute. It didn’t exactly hurt that I would be leaving behind people like A1 on this one.
Yes, I registered GOP because of the economy. I don’t for a moment agree with the direction in which the neoconservatives have taken this country (much as I’m sure you guys don’t agree with the direction in which the populist/conservative/progressive… take your pick… Democrats have taken your party), but speaking as a libertarian, I’m much more likely to find a match in a candidate on this side of the aisle.
Taxes are the price we pay for civilization, yes. Excessive taxes, however, are the price we pay for bad government. I frankly don’t trust the government to be nearly as efficient as the market on a day-to-day basis at creating jobs and allocating resources, nor do I like the resistance to creative destruction that the government is giving to, just as an example, autoworkers and farmers. I think the Dems have been overrun with protectionists, and I want nothing to do with it. The market is not perfect; the government is far further from it.
Thanks for commenting Mat and good luck. It is odd to me that you say the economy is a factor in your choice while allowing that it was your new party that drove the economy over the cliff by being “pro-business” to a fault.
But hey – like I said above, if you can bring some measure of reason and clear thinking to the party of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh then you will be doing God’s work,
“Yes, I registered GOP because of the economy.”
Is there anything more that needs to be said? The sheer idiocy of that statement speaks for itself.
Well, maybe there is more:
“Iâm much more likely to find a match in a candidate on this side of the aisle.”
Who, for example? Palin? Huckabee? Mittins? Gingrich? Or Protack? O’Donnell? Copeland?
“I think the Dems have been overrun with protectionists, and I want nothing to do with it.”
More unsupported nonsense. You are perfect for the young repubs. You make up stuff, cite banalities unsupported by any data, and ignore the evidence that America’s economy virtually always does better under Democratic administrations.
A1
I happen to know for a fact that he is no idiot. The road of life is long with many a winding turn.
I didn’t say he is an idiot. I don’t know him. But I know for a fact that the stuff he writes is the same kind of idiotic nonsense you can read on Redstate.com.
His last paragraph could have been written by Protack.
Mat, good luck with that. I understand libertarianism as a philosophical standpoint (it’s consistent, at least), although you’ll likely find that the GOP has as much use for you as it did for Ron Paul. Keep in mind, though, that you’ll find yourself outnumbered in GOP primaries by the David Andersons of the world. It is my sincerest hope that you will change the GOP rather than vice versa. But given the direction of the GOP’s most prominent thought leaders (Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Hannity, Coulter, Beck, Malkin, and Savage), I’d doubt it.
But student loan programs do fall way behind âradical expansion of governmentâ and âmiserably failed trillion dollar stimulus programsâ on the waste scale.
The Bushies were the radicalists: an entire humongous layer of govt. in Homeland Security Department that sent tax payer cash to such worthy projects as $50 K to the Hockessin Fire Company for scrubbers (justified -I kid you not- so when school kids came to see the engines they wouldn’t have to breathe the C02). HSD across the states spends money because it can like state departments using up their budgets before year’s end Because They Can. Horrible.
Burris might note how much of the stimulus money has yet to be released:
http://rutledgecapital.com/2009/06/03/how-much-of-the-stimulus-money-has-already-been-spent/
donât trust the government to be nearly as efficient as the market
*
I fear for the kids at your school if your teacher didn’t teach you how much Greenspan recently moaned –admitting culpability in his failure to understand that the invisible hand is just a myth or that deregulation and the FED’s failure to intervene led to the near collapse of the global economy under GOP principles.
That the markets are captive to insider trading and unfettered hedgers etc. is what broke the economy. Yes, Mat, did your teacher show you how Bushie’s pushed for too-big-to-fail bailouts for the monstrosities they created?
Comment in moderation above?
Cleared. Not sure why that got snagged.
jason – i forgot to mention i really like your new format. it’s unfortunate that you’re still allowing people like A1 to litter it. imagine how much more respectable a site this would be without his worthless ‘contributions’. you’ve lost way more than you’ve gained by allowing his kind to participate. people who are interested in real debate have gone elsewhere to find it because real grown ups don’t have any interest in debating with insolent children. most of us have jobs and busy lives. if we only have 5-10 minutes a day to visit a blog (unlike the most venomous of your posters who apparently have absolutely nothing else in their lives…sad, really,) why would we choose one that encourages that sort of discourse?
i always respected mike matthews’ ‘anyone can post’ rule because it was his site, but i never agreed with it. if you were inviting guests into your home and you insisted on including someone known to sucker-punch people when he didn’t agree with what they were saying, your higher quality guests would likely choose not to accept future invitations. allowing people like A1 dumbs down the site – not because he’s stupid (god knows he’s the smartest one in the room at any given time,) but because only stupid people would continue to engage with him.
it’s your site; do with it as you wish. know, however, that you could take it from being a bit of a joke to being a bit of a powerhouse if you just clean house a little bit.
Dominique…
Some would say the same about you, some would say the same about me, some would say the same about Nancy, and I could go on and on and on. When we launched this new redesign, we announced the Rules for comments, and granted amnesty to all commenters who had been previously banned. The rules is at this link: http://delawareliberal.net//2009/07/12/the-new-rules/
A1 had not been previously banned, and unless he breaks one of those rules, he will not be.
I hail from Daily Kos, where we ban conservatives and neocons when they begin spewing GOP talking points. For the first six months at Delaware Liberal, I was tempted to ban every conservative commenter we have, and I do admit a little desire to ban you for your PUMA and now conservative thoughts. But if we ban everyone we disagree with and do not like, then what are we left with? DL is left with 10 commenters, problably, and probably less, since the contributors all don’t agree with each other from time to time. But that is what you are asking us to do: remove someone you disagree with and don’t like.
Dominique, it is time for you to grow up. Either ignore A1 or challenge him with a counterargument. Stop pretending you are Barbara Bush where you cannot allow a disagreeable thought to “waste your beautiful mind.”
Ah, it’s always cute when a budding conservative looks at his paycheck and says, “Hey! That’s MY money!”
What Mat will probably learn, in good time, is that the Republicans are at least as far from enacting their stated goals as the Democrats are, and that all the nice things they claim to stand for is simply cover for the ugliness that politics invariably descends into.
As for anonone, I’ve had as strong and long-running an argument with that person as anyone who comments regularly here, and I have no complaints about his or her conduct.
Dominique, if you don’t like hearing nasty comments about your son, either convince him not to enter the public arena, or close your eyes when he does (meaning don’t read the blog items about him).
Jason: Some of us aren’t the least bit interested in a debating society. We read what’s here for information and entertainment. Dominique has been full of advice for all and sundry since the day she hit the blogosphere. This advice is about as worthwhile as everything she wrote during the campaign.
In practical terms, there is more opportunity for a young person in the GOP right now. There is nowhere to go but up. Hopefully Mat has some natural disgust for the bigotry and social Darwinism he will encounter. If so then he will have to compartmentalize heavily to get by.
“Republican because of the economy” is misguided; the economy does better under Democrats historically. That is not an accident.
when he saw the $54 in taxes that were taken from his paycheck, the camel collapsed and he pinned the GOP elephant on his wall.
So Dominique – I take this to mean that when the time comes, you won’t be filing for your Social Security benefits?
Poor Dominique can’t stand to have her pedestal knocked from under her. Read just about any thread that she has participated in here or on DWA, and it won’t take long to see how she descends in to name-calling when her ever-suspect facts are challenged or vapid writing is highlighted. She can add hypocrisy to the top of her rĂŠsumĂŠ.
Of course, she’d like to see me banned. To her, I am “the biggest asshole in the blogosphere” for openly challenging her nonsense. Too bad. Don’t read my comments, then. Or better yet, bring some facts to the table with the references to backs them up and critically challenge your own writing before you hit the “Submit” button.