Friday Open Thread

The Governor honors Lt. Szczerba in his weekly message. Meanwhile House Republicans last night passed a government funding bill that pays for new disaster aid with partisan budget cuts. The bill now is dead in the Senate. From yesterday you recall Boehner had three choices. He chose option three.

Debate Debriefing: Will Teabag Bile Be Enough For Perry?

Not wishing to roll around in excrement, I didn't watch the most recent GOP "debate." From what I'm reading about it though, Perry screwed the pooch. By all reports, he garbled a gimme "bomb the shit out of them" defense policy question, defended his HPV vaccine when he should have been claiming that it was a Kenyan plot, and looked more than a little outclassed by Romney. So, the question is still, will the teabags push back against the GOP shot callers?

News-Journal Exposes General Assembly Pension Scam…More To Follow

Every couple of years, retired state employees get something like a 2% pension increase. If they're lucky. If there's money for it. If the legislators are in a giving mood. However, for a not-particularly small, but select, group of state legislators, a pension windfall is realized whenever certain veteran legislators retire or, in the case of the ethically-compromised Terry Spence, are defeated.

Thinking Way Ahead

Assuming Governor Markell, Lt. Governor Denn, Senator Carper and Congressman Carney win reelection next year, and assuming Attorney General Biden wins a third term in 2014 and Senator Coons and State Treasurer Chip Flowers win reelection to their respective offices in 2014, it sets up 2016 as an interesting year for possible confrontation and primaries among the deep Democratic statewide lineup.

Traffic Alert for Tomorrow Morning

Due to the funeral procession for Lt. Joe Szczerba tomorrow morning, I-95 North, from Route 141 to Exit 6 (Maryland Avenue) will be closed from 7:30 a.m. until 8:00 a.m. In addition, Route 141 South from Route 2 (Kirkwood Highway) to I-95 will be closed during this time. Once the funeral procession exits I-95, there will be intersection closures along Maryland Avenue, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and Justison Street. Wilmington Police will be manning all of these intersections.

Why Does Rick Perry Hate America?

Remember all the hey in conservative circles a certain picture of Barack Obama not having his hand over his heart during the National Anthem during the 2008 Iowa primary. It was proof, according to them, that Barack Obama was not an American, or that he hated America, or something. So conservatives, what does this picture prove: