Archive for March, 2013
Hall-Long outed as gay marriage swing vote
I don’t know how true this is with regard to BHL being a gay marriage swing vote, but I think the more pressing question is – when did Bruce Vilanch start writing for Pray4de.org?
“Please pray for the technology of the righteous to work speedily and properly and the technology of the unrighteous to fail!!”
Really? That’s a thing now?
Thursday Open Thread [3.14.13]
Ever wanted to know what it was like to fall off a mountain? Here you go:
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., March 14, 2013
Ladies and gentlemen, to the barricades! Or, at least, to your phones, your e-mail, you know the drill.
The Forces of Ee-vil are afoot in Leg Hall. The gun nuts, the Chamber of Commerce shills. Their goal: Stop progressive legislation from passing. For the gun nuts, it’s the backgrounds check on gun purchases. For the Chamber fat-cats, it’s minimum wage. I believe that there is enough legislative support to pass both bills. But it won’t happen unless you contact your legislators, and either let them know that you’ve got their back, or that you expect them to do the right thing.
The background check bill is in House committee. An outpouring of gun nuts prevented the bill from moving out of committee yesterday. So, the committee meets again, next Wednesday, starting at 11:30 a.m. until…whenever all those who wish to speak have spoken. Here’s what you can and should do. Contact your own State Rep and politely tell them that you support HB 35 and ask them to do the same. The odds are that you will speak to a staffer first. These are good people. Be polite and friendly. Make sure that they’ve gotten the message correctly. If you wish to participate in the discussion, either directly or via correspondence, here’s how….
![Thursday Daily Delawhere [3.14.13]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8227/8550171962_f89308bf51_z.jpg "Thursday Daily Delawhere [3.14.13]")
Breaking: Florida Rethug Lt. Governor Resigns Amidst Scandal
Close ties to both Mitt Romney and former (that sounds so good) Rep. Allen West. Read the gory details here. Some excerpts: Florida’s embattled Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll (R), the first African American elected statewide and first woman to serve as lieutenant governor, has resigned amid a gambling, racketeering, and conflict-of-interest scandal. “Effective immediately, I […]
Wednesday Open Thread [3.13.13]
Today’s edition in restoring your faith in humanity:
The man who secretly filmed Mitt Romney’s 47% fundraiser speech to the 1% will be interviewed tonight on MSNBC by Ed Shultz. Why did he do it? Well, it turns out that simple manners, and respect and concern for the staff goes a long way.
Prior to his political fame, the filmmaker worked as a bartender for a high-end catering company. Before that company was hired for the Romney event, it catered a dinner at which Bill Clinton spoke. The bartender/Romney-ruiner told the Huffington Post that after the speech, Clinton went to the kitchen to thank the staff, posing for photographs and signing autographs.
So when the bartender heard about the Romney event, he decided to bring his camera with him, just in case the candidate met with the staff like Clinton did. But because he’s Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate didn’t greet or thank any of the staff working the event, and rushed out shortly after his speech, though not before bartender secretly filmed it, noting that Romney told the dinner guests it was off the record but not the staff working the event.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up: Wed., March 13, 2013
Delaware now has a proposal to eliminate the death penalty for capital crimes. I support it. In the past, I have been an agnostic when it came to the issue of the death penalty. But when I saw Thomas Capano, who carried out one of the most vile and grisly homicides/cover-ups in Delaware history, escape the death penalty (though not death) through legal legerdemain, my decision was made for me. The Tom Capanos of this world don’t get the death penalty. Therefore, those with less influence shouldn’t, either. Any death penalty statute should be administered equally, not on the basis of the (lack of) legal resources that one has at their disposal, IMHO. It’s not, it never has been, and it should go.
I note that police of virtually all stripes have aligned in near-unanimity in opposition. Need I remind you or them that, thanks to DNA projects all over this country, death row inhabitants are being cleared of homicide convictions, often caused by ‘thin blue line’ corruption and/or ineptitude? Yeah, yeah, I know, not in Delaware. Really? How can you be certain?
This is a courageous stand by the sponsors. In case you haven’t noticed, police are a potent political force in this state. Legislators, in general, prefer to take the path of least political resistance. They haven’t done that here, and I thank them. By name: Senators Peterson, Simpson, McDowell, Bushweller, Henry, Sokola, and Townsend; Reps. Scott, Miro, Barbieri, Baumbach, Keeley, Potter, M. Smith, Williams, Kowalko, B. Short. Thank you.
What Guest Worker Programs Look Like
Last week, there was a surprise strike at multiple McDonald’s restaurants in Central PA — of student guest workers from Asia and Latin America who are here on J-1 visas. First, though, I’m pretty stunned that these restaurants can’t find workers closer to home. It isn’t as though we don’t have millions of people looking for work, but I’d love to know why it is so difficult to hire American fast food workers.
![Wednesday Daily Delawhere [3.13.13]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8508/8549072875_d4c268dd90_z.jpg "Wednesday Daily Delawhere [3.13.13]")
Just don’t mess with the muskrat
The Food Network’s “Restaurant Impossible” show is headed to Smyrna next week as the eatery rehab program will be filming at the Wagon Wheel Family Restaurant on U.S. 13 March 21 and 22.
In two days and with only $10,000, chef Robert Irvine and his team of designers will revamp the local restaurant. At the end of the second day, the Wagon Wheel will hold a grand re-opening where they will open the doors to the public and film the service as part of the show.
Tuesday Open Thread [3.12.13]
![Tuesday Open Thread [3.12.13]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8515/8549240211_abb1b85be5_o.png "Tuesday Open Thread [3.12.13]")
More facts for the Fact Averse:
Peter Beinart is now convinced that “Jeb Bush will never seriously challenge for the presidency—because to seriously challenge for the presidency, a Republican will have to pointedly distance himself from Jeb’s older brother”:
No Republican will enjoy credibility as a deficit hawk unless he or she acknowledges that George W. Bush squandered the budget surplus he inherited. No Republican will be able to promise foreign-policy competence unless he or she acknowledges the Bush administration’s disastrous mismanagement in Afghanistan and Iraq. It won’t be enough for a candidate merely to keep his or her distance from W. John McCain and Mitt Romney tried that, and they failed because the Obama campaign hung Bush around their neck every chance it got. To seriously compete, the next Republican candidate for president will have to preempt that Democratic line of attack by repudiating key aspects of Bush’s legacy. Jeb Bush would find that excruciatingly hard even if he wanted to. And as his interviews Sunday make clear, he doesn’t event want to try.
Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Coming off its six-week break for Joint Finance Committee, the Delaware General Assembly begins in earnest its legislative sprint to…Easter break, three weeks hence.
At least, this should prove to be an action-packed three weeks–especially when it comes to the introduction of key bills. Assuming that the Attorney General’s and the Governor’s legal counsel are productive, we could well have the major pieces of the gun control package finalized and introduced. Marriage equality could also surface. We’ll also get a much better sense as to what budgetary issues remain to be resolved.
Plus, we don’t need to wait for some intriguing story lines to develop. Take today, for example. Please. HB 10 (Keeley), which would immediately restore voting rights to convicted felons who have paid their debt to society, is scheduled for floor debate. This is the second leg of a constitutional amendment, meaning that it has already passed both houses of the General Assembly during the preceding legislative session. Should it pass this time, it will become law. I think it will. In fact, the only obstacle that could stand in the way of its passage would be near-unanimous opposition from House R’s. With Republican Rep. Don Blakey a certain yes, I don’t see it happening. And, with Senators Lavelle and Cloutier co-sponsoring the bill, the Senate looks solid as well.
Much much more inside….
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