Sussex County Council Says “No” To Sheriff Holding Posse Training At County Building

Are you ready for another OMG! Constitutional Crisis! No?  Too bad... here it comes. (Warning: Delaware Politics link)
Sussex County Administrator Todd F. Lawson refused a request by Sussex County Sheriff, Jeff Christopher to use office space in the County building located at 22215 North DuPont Boulevard in Georgetown.
The reason?
While your letter requests to meet for “Constitutional training for citizens,” other documentation from the Institute that have been circulated describes the event as “Constitutional Training for Deputies, Posses, and Citizen Supporters of the Sheriff.”  This type of training is directly at odds with Sussex County’s position on the duties of the Sheriff. In addition, the training goes against the County’s policy pertaining to posses as outlined in an October 31, 2011 memorandum from then County Administrator David Baker to Sheriff Jeffrey Christopher.

I’m not tracking on this…but is Chip Flowers pulling a Jeff Christopher?

When reading Celia's blog you never know who is telling her to write what, so I'm not putting too much stock into her account but it sure sounds like Flowers is the catalyst for the turmoil.
"You have a treasurer who is a constitutional officer," Flowers said. "That's the argument of the Sussex County sheriff. We're all constitutional officers," said Jeff Bullock, the Democratic secretary of state.
I don't know if Flowers is in the wrong, but I love that "Christopherism" has now been used to identify someone as a crackpot.

The Weekly Addresses

We have a special guest for the Governor's Weekly Message this week... The Governor! We also have a video of the Governor thanking legislators for their work on the Background Check bill. We also have the President's weekly address below and the West Wing Week inside.

Behold the beauty of our “Club for Growth” style paradise

Oh the oppression of regulations industries are forced to endure in their determination to make a buck. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration most recently inspected the Texas fertilizer plant that exploded Wednesday night in 1985.Thanks to a prolonged and sustain policy of not providing the funding necessary to hire inspectors or do inspections the United States is now officially Bhopalesque.'
Nineteen, nineteen, nineteen - eight five !!! Prediction : This year more people will be killed in America by uninspected, tainted food than by terrorists.

Late Night Video — You Are More Beautiful Than You Think

John Young posted this in the Friday Open Thread. I had seen this some days back on Facebook and was not prepared for the emotional impact of this video. On the one hand, this is part of a Dove campaign. On the other hand, this is a remarkable demonstration of one of the ways women underestimate and sabotage themselves. This is close to 10 minutes long, but I think well worth every minute.

Friday Open Thread [4.19.13]

And what the hell is going on with NCCo staff? David Grimaldi has a fight in Pastabilities and NCCo Chief responds out of his jurisdiction:
“I did respond into the city,” Setting said. “That was just to make sure that everything was being done in the proper manner.” Setting referred other questions to Grimaldi.
Are all NCCo residents treated to NCCPD oversight when they are misbehaving in Wilmington enough for the WPD to be called in? This sure looks like special rules are in place for NCCo staff to misbehave with impunity.

Boston On Lockdown

Authorities are asking the entire city of Boston to "shelter in place" and not leave their homes for the time being.  There are reports that one suspect is dead, the other on the loose. TPM has a recap of the night's events.
If you’re just waking up, it’s a been a surreal night of chaos and violence north of Boston which, according to latest reports, has ended with one of the two Boston marathon suspects dead and another (apparently the so-called suspect number two with the white cap) still at large. [...] Listening to police scanners from midnight until roughly 1 AM was a surreal experience and certainly a terrifying for those involved as law enforcement officers struggled to make sense of a chaotic situation, engaged in shootouts and were targeted with explosives by fleeing suspects. Soon scores of police from different departments and federal agencies were converging on Watertown. Dynamite, hand grenades, pipe bombs were the phrases tossed out live over police scanners as the events unfolded, though all that seems certain is that there were explosives of some sort. Police held a press conference a short time ago, the details of which are here.
Use the thread inside for updates.

Delaware’s Unafraid

While all of the 13 Senators who voted for the Background Check Bill (HB 35) are unafraid in my book and deserve credit for their vote today, I want to give special recognition to three who took politically risky votes for different reasons. Without these three votes, the bill would have failed 11-10. Come inside to read why I think these three votes are relatively brave.

Delaware’s Cowards

These are the cowards so beholden to the NRA that they want terrorists and criminals and the mentally ill to have unfettered access to any weapon they can get their hands on. They deserve to be defeated at their next election on this vote alone.

Hocker announces run for Governor in 2016

So there I was driving this afternoon listening for reasons passing understanding to Rick Jensen's show on WDEL 1150. He was hosting his show from a reception for a Delaware Small Business organization (I didn't catch the full name) and was interviewing both the organization's President and Senator Hocker. The organization's President was going on and on about all the horrible fees and taxes small businesses have to pay and Rick jokes that his 3 hour show is not enough time to list all the taxes and fees (which is of course a lie). Then Hocker jumps in, and I presume that Jensen was interviewing both the Organization President and Hocker at the same time and Hocker says (paraphrasing): "Well when I am governor I will get rid of all these fees and taxes because I will surround myself with all the right people." And he said it in such a Southern accent that I thought I was momentarily transported to Mississippi. But that is besides the point. To my mind, I think this is the first time I have heard Hocker publicly announce his long rumored desire to run for Governor.