Brian Bushweller A Yes For HB 75
Senator Brian Bushweller has announced in a letter to constituents who have contacted him about the upcoming vote on HB 75, the Marriage Equality bill, that he will be voting yes. Come inside to read his letter.
Thursday Open Thread [4.25.13]
As George W. Bush is disgustingly lauded today by the other living Presidents, including President Obama, during the opening of his presidential museum (it's not a library, its a museum with exhibits and displays, so everyone stop calling it a library) in Dallas, a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds just 35% of Americans view Bush favorably, versus 44% who view him negatively. That negative number has improved for W, probably because people don't care about him anymore.
Meanwhile, here is Barbara Bush on her favorite son's possible run for the Presidency in 2016:
Appearing in an interview Thursday on NBC's "Today" show, Mrs. Bush was asked how she felt about Jeb, the former governor of Florida, seeking the presidency in 2016. Mrs. Bush replied, quote, "We've had enough Bushes." She went on to say she thought there were many worthy candidates, telling anchor Matt Lauer, "There are people out there" who are qualified. Mrs. Bush, who had a reputation for bluntness when her husband George H.W. Bush was president, spoke from the site of the presidential library.Mrs. Bush, I couldn't agree with you more. But I wouldn't expect much from Jeb on Mother's Day.
The Stories Keep Coming
I'm probably going to regret this, but we need to talk about rape culture. We'll begin by looking at recent news.
1. Steubenville's football coach keeps his job.
Given Coach Saccoccia’s controversial behavior before and during the trial, which drew national scrutiny, many of us thought he at the very least would be shown the door after three decades of service. We all thought wrong. Today we learned that “Coach Sac,” as he is known, has been granted a two-year contract extension by the Steubenville school board. They made this decision despite the fact that a grand jury is meeting next week to assess whether he and others obstructed justice in the case. Saccoccia was legally required to report the sexual assault as soon as he was aware it took place. The grand jury will determine whether or not he in fact knew and tried to sweep it under the turf. Whatever the conclusions of the grand jury, the question of whether Saccoccia should remain in a position to mold the minds of young men should not have been difficult to answer. Not when there are text messages sent by now-convicted team quarterback Trent Mays that read, "I got Reno. He took care of it and shit ain't gonna happen, even if they did take it to court. Like he was joking about it so I’m not worried." Not when, after the boys were arrested and charged, Saccocia kept them on the team for eight more games in their ten game season. Not when Saccoccia went nose-to-nose with a woman reporter looking into the rape case and said, "You're gonna get yours. And if you don't get yours, somebody close to you will." Not when Coach Sac oversaw a locker room where the jock culture become inextricably connected to a rape culture.I'm with Dave Zirin, author of the linked article. Getting rid of Coach Saccoccia seemed to be a no-brainer. The guy's behavior, across the board, was indefensible. And yet he keeps his job. Why?
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., April 25, 2013
The big news, as predicted here by one of the death penalty repeal opponents, is that SB 19(Peterson) did not have sufficient votes to make it out of the House Judiciary Committee. Opponents included families of victims, law enforcement, and the Attorney General. I apologize for somehow missing this during my preview yesterday. I don't understand how I did not see that this bill was being considered, but I didn't. Probably the most egregious (among scores of them) mistake I've ever made since I started doing these reports. Mea Culpa.
According to Jonathan Starkey's coverage in the News-Journal, the bill is probably dead for this year. But this is the first year of a two-year legislative session, and things can change. This bill was a close call in the Senate, and it was destined to be close in the House as well. We've also learned that, in Delaware, the police get what the police want, including a lack of transparency (aka the Police 'Bill of Rights', which tramples on the very notion of a bill of rights), so this is to be expected. Don't lose heart. These things often take time, so just keep working at it.
