Thursday Open Thread
Welcome to your Thursday open thread. How many of you have the day off of work tomorrow for Good Friday? I’m going to work, but I’m hoping the rest of you are off the roads tomorrow.
Wisconsin is still generating headlines. JoAnne Kloppenberg has formally filed for a recount in the Supreme Court race (she’s unlikely to prevail) and now Wisconsin Democrats are filing recall petitions for a fifth Republican state senator.
Dems will file a massive amount of signatures tomorrow to trigger a recall election against a fifth Wisconsin GOP state senator, I’m told.
Graeme Zielinski, the spokesman for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, confirms to me that Democrats will submit approximately 30,000 signatures for the recall of Alberta Darling — nearly 150 percent of the 20,343 required.
This is the fifth time Dems have collected far more signatures than necessary for a recall — all but ensuring that all five recall elections will actually happen.
This comes as there are signs that Republicans may be able to trigger two recall elections against Dems, though in one case Republicans have apparently only collected a couple of thousand more signatures than required, which isn’t much of a cushion. Republicans have less than a week until their deadline, and they still haven’t filed anything, though that appears ready to change tomorrow.
So now there’s a possibility of 7 recall elections and Democrats are still gathering signatures on three more Repiblican state senators so there is the possibility of more elections. This summer will be very interesting for election obsessives.
According to some new polls, same sex marriage is now supported by a majority of voters. It’s interesting how fast a wedge issue used by Republicans has turned against them.
The trendline — derived through regression smoothing — estimates that about 50 percent of Americans now support gay marriage and that 46 percent are opposed, with a small percentage of voters undecided. By contrast, at this time two years ago, the numbers were 42 percent in favor and 53 percent opposed, according to the same technique.
The change — about a 4 percentage-point shift in favor of gay marriage in each of the last two years — is about double the longer-term rate of progress for supporters of gay marriage, which has been between 1 and 2 percentage points per year.
I think it won’t be that long until we see full marriage equality but it will take longer than we want it to. Keep up the pressure on your elected officials and point them to these polls.
Tags: Open Thread
Missed 420 Day yesterday — where the usual Really Big Rally of legalization fans gathered in Denver to push for a grass(sorry)roots effort to legalize pot everywhere.
Obama tries to hop, skip, jump over his enthusiasm gap:
And Plouffe lays out the 50+1 strategy:
Nancy Pelosi was in attendance. I’m looking for Pelosi reaction shot photos.
Jon Chait over at TNR finds the *real* Obama scandal.
Bill Clinton in San Francisco, Feb. 1995:
*sigh*
President Obama, Donald Trump, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, et. al,
Game Over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.fox40.com/news/nationworld/la-pn-gary-johnson-gop-president-race-20110421,0,7317029.story
The Dover DMV office is a dream. 5 minutes to renew an expired license.
Carry on.
So sorry to hear your libertarian idol has SOLD OUT to the GOP DL. I guess even he knows someone can never win as a Libertarian
As if my theory: “There is is no such thing as a Libertarian” needed any MORE proof.
Let’s recall Carpetbagger.
Hey all you KWS haters here at DL what do you do now? The Insurance Commmissioner has been widely praised in the local press and editorial page as well as in mational industry circles for her handling of the BCBS medical test issue. I have found the irrational criticism by denizons of this blog curious. With much of it coming from folks who don’t know her and don’t either live near or interact with her. I am quite sure this behavior will continue but I am more confident than ever that it won’t stick.
Yea,jpconnerjr,let’s see how she handles the overwhelming amount of cash in BCBS “catastrophic”fund.They keep that money apart,off the books, so to speak, to justify their outrageous increases in PREMIUMS.
Anyone see the what went down in Wilmington yesterday?
2 kids jump in front of a car on scooters get hit by a car. The car stops I assume b/c it was an “accident” and then the idiots in the city shoot at the car and the drivers.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110421/NEWS01/104210350/Shots-fired-after-two-boys-struck-by-car-Wilmington-street?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|p
I remember a post a few weeks back about the city turning around….this and the gunning down of another kid by 95 exit are typical examples of the problem the city faces no matter how much riverfront polishing they do
I am shocked that you would think I am throwing feces at a wall.
I am like a HOWLER MONKEY.When my dander is up, I’ll throw it at YOU!
And these posts are time traveling again.
Is there a point? Or are you just throwing s–t at the wall? I suspect the latter
For the Ladies in the room (Pandora and UI I’m talkin to you!)
http://m.jezebel.com/5794445/a-ten+year+olds-rant-to-boys-around-the-world
Yea i forgot you are a class act I got to observe that in late October
Christine O’Donnell has discovered a software error that messes up your campaign expense filings. I assume she will share the problem with all other users of this terrible software to ensure they don’t have to go through her troubles with the FEC :-v
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110421/NEWS/110421053/Christine-O-Donnell-corrects-two-years-worth-fundraising-reports
The computer glitch caused her to write the rent check with her campaign money?
Thanks, V. That was awesome!
This is extremely hilarious.
“teachers who said they were not given the exact interview questions ahead of time, interviews were only 20 minutes, no other criteria were used besides the interview, and vague wording ” criticism of our RTTT plan to “turn around failing schools.” remarkably resembles complaints students and parents have of high-stakes testing, itself.
Hey all you KWS haters here at DL what do you do now?
Well I guess that’s one approach to trying to get better press for your project to rehabilitate KWS. Not exactly one that is going to help your cause any in this space, but hey — it’s an approach. But let’s not forget that all of the good press wouldn’t have been possible unless Senator Rockefeller hadn’t reached over the IC to actually look into one man’s complaint.
HACK See I spat on it.
LOVE this! What an awesome *editorial*. Thanks for posting that, V.
They were paralell investigations that complemented each other which could just possibly explain this quote from the Senetor’s press release:
On Friday, Delaware Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart released a report on BCBSD’s preauthorization of advanced imaging heart tests. Among other things, the report found that BCBSD violated Delaware law by giving a third-party company, MedSolutions, Inc., a financial incentive to deny doctors’ requests for heart tests.
A competent Elected Officialneds no rehabilitation. It will take far more than a disgruntled ex employee to lay a glove on KWS.
The sequence of events was TNJ doing an investigation (after this man couldn’t get the IC’s attention), Senator Rockefeller opening his own investigation (one that got BCBS to open their files), then KWS trying to get on the bandwagon. There is no doubt that Rockefeller and the IC’s investigations did parallel at some point — but there is certainly no doubt that she was not leading the charge here until other entities were well out in front.
A competent Elected Officialneds no rehabilitation.
And since you aren’t here fronting for a competent elected official, this is something of a non-sequitur. But keep working at this. You’ll find someone to believe you.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/21/john-ensign-resigns-reports_n_852285.html
goodbye, asshat.
by the way, how do i get a link into the words like all you tech-savvy folks?
Ensign that hypocrit resigns rather than face ethics charges! Coward! Another repuke hypocrit bites the dust…so long sucker.
KWS: the BEST is yet to come! Hold on, its coming…..
So the Senator was just being nice to the home team? No need to try very hard here. But you probably get a favorable opinion from a Pennsylvania Judge:)
Surely you jest, JP. KWS and “competent” do not belong in the same sentence, much less the same breath. She couldn’t punch her way out of a wet paper bag if Elliot didn’t tell her how.
Now if you said KWS and “corrupt” or “incompetent” in the same sentence, you might have something.
Irational hate creates blindness. Actual evidence of corruption? Zero. Best come up with something better than an angry ex-employee as an opponant.
Actual evidence of “irrational hate” isn’t exactly present except in your accusation. There has been plenty of documentation here of the cluelessness, incompetence and persistent cravenness of KWS and her cohorts. No one here needs an ex-employee for any of that — especially since there is nothing that we’ve documented that ever relied on any more than publicly available information. The fact that you’ve somehow adopted KWS as some personal project of yours doesn’t make you much better than this so-called angry ex-employee.
@heragain
“teachers who said they were not given the exact interview questions ahead of time, interviews were only 20 minutes, no other criteria were used besides the interview, and vague wording ” criticism of our RTTT plan to “turn around failing schools.”
remarkably resembles complaints students and parents have of high-stakes testing, itself.
It sure does. I said as much at the meeting on Tuesday night. John Kowalko said it today on Loudell’s blog. Read John Young’s blog for deets. Markell is in for a shit storm.
Cass! You are a major KWS hater, give it up and admit it. Joe is wasting his breath over here.
You are both wasting your breath over here, and you both know it. You may have time to provide cover for the known incompetent KWS, but I do not. But what is true is that KWS has way more time to get her supporters to run around he blogosphere making her case than in actually getting her job done.
Peace, love & gratitude to the Cannon family. Jimmy was a member of the Hockessin Fire Co. in the early ’90s & was the first person to arrive at my Mother’s house when my Dad died. He ran 2 blocks in cutoff shorts & arrived at my parents’ house less than 2 min. after my Mom hung up the phone w/ the 911 operator. Jimmy performed CPR on Dad until the NCC paramedics showed up & took over. Dad was dead before Jimmy arrived, but his efforts will never be forever be appreciated by me, my brother, sister & Mother.
James Cannon’s Obituary
I lived 2 blocks away, near the corner of Pershing & Erickson. Geezer and I were both Jimmy’s neighbors at the time.
*HIS EFFORTS WILL FOREVER BE APPRECIATED!
Nancy Willing- KWS is an unqualified political HACK. What’s not to hate?
uh, yeah, like KWS went around finding supporters to comment on DL. That stupid from Cass says it all. yeesh. HATER !!
A40: Was shocked myself to see his obit this week. Best to his family and friends.
JP: I would second the point that nobody, despite towering claims to the contrary, has produced an iota of evidence of corruption regarding KWS.
On the other hand, I know of nobody in government who doesn’t think she’s in over her head.
A. I speak for myself without prompting. B. To allege that a person is not getting work done because I am making comments is absurd in the extreme C.I hve known KWS for almost 40 years I will not sit idle while she is smeared with FAKE mud D. Geez, if these folks had anything I am confident you would be among the first to know.
in the the vernacular “Put up or shut up”
JPC – No fake mud necessary. Her office has shown incompetence in several ways during her tenure. Her fake RFQ for things-and-stuff to hire a crony, a number of exaggerations and flat-out lies during and just after the election and her staff’s previous holier-than-thou attitude has given her office a pall that she will have to overcome. One victory does not a success make.
Accusations without facts does not a case make:)
JP: I don’t care who he/she/they take it to, just do it already. Whoever this person/people might be, he/she has taken to Delaware Politics to spread the same unverified claims he/she made here during and after the election. AFter two years, the lack of evidence is a good indicator that there’s nothing illegal going on.
KWS, if she runs for re-election, will face a serious Dem primary opponent. Dem voters will have a real choice. You heard it here first. Get your checkbooks ready, for this could be an expensive race.
Now we have gone from “no facts” to “no names”. In contemporary Delaware Democratic Primary elections are not surprising. If KWS faces one I would hope the challanger is “serious” What exactly did we hear here first?
Just claiming that there are no facts — in spite of a fair bit of documentation — doesn’t make said facts disappear. And it is a little rich for the IC’s people to mobilize people to demand that their rare good press gets printed in the blogosphere — since the same ICs office couldn’t be bothered to answer even the most serious questions that we’ve had over the years. They have their excuses for this, of course, but it is intriguing that while they didn’t think we were *serious* enough to engage with when we had serious questions, apparently we are serious enough for demands to print up their press releases.
I’ll leave the readers to assess the *competence* of this particular move.
“Get your checkbooks ready, for this could be an expensive race.”
First you’d have to find someone outside the industry who cares enough to contribute. I’m more likely to give money to the guys hanging out under the trestle by Joe Biden Station.
I am nobody’s “people” I am speaking for Moi and Moi ONLY. Still waiting for that “documentation”. I am not claiming that there are no facts but merely pointing out that none have been produced.
Geez, to have a need for money one requires an opponant. The Party big wigs have asked legions to step up with no success.Perhaps if they ask the guy under the trestle:)?
There are facts for the material that writers on this blog post up. You can search for that and there is plenty there. And — as you know — we get lots of input about KWS that we never post. But then, as Geezer points out, the people with this information find a way to post it as comments all over the Delaware blogosphere.
But while you are working at walking back your “rehabilitation” project, I stand by every word I’ve ever written about KWS here.
Well I went back and read all those words “ever written” stetching to August ’08. It’s analogous to “standing by” a mountain of ice cream as in the end there is nothing there. Accusations made in September disappeared in October and so on. I can only say,”Is this all you got?”
Just saying that there is “nothing there” doesn’t make it so. The incompetence is very much on display. Nothing disappeared — the unanswered questions and the various instances of incompetence remain. And not much improved, if at all. And given much of the eye-rolling that happens when KWS’ name is mentioned among most of the people I know, the incompetence is likely all that is needed.
I can only say,”Is this all you got?”
Missing facts and now clairvoyance:) Are you in posession of the Easter Bunny as well? I’m off to hunt some eggs.
I heard you the first time and that still isn’t an argument for any competence at the ICs office.
Which you already know. But I guess your rehab project now consists of the same kind of bobbing and weaving that is the signature of the ICs office. When they deign to speak to anyone, that is.
Joe was making a bit fun, I am guessing, knowing that any achievements or competence on the part of the IC would be ignored here.
I know who Paul is no-naming, btw. It isn’t any wonder that Paul is trying to get some funding for the guy. He is not well known outside a small circle downstate.