Archive for January, 2014
Friday Open Thread [1.17.14]
![Friday Open Thread [1.17.14]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Capture-240x180.png "Friday Open Thread [1.17.14]")
Yeah, the marriage equality battle is over. We won. We are tied in Utah, 48-48. Josh Marshall:
It’s even more clear now that the battle for the principle of marriage equality is genuinely over. Not just in blue states, which we knew, but even in many of the most conservative states in the country. (Nate Silver argued last year that Mississippi and Alabama are likely to be the final same sex marriage hold outs.) What we have now isn’t so much a battle as a vast moping up operation, a race between legislatures and the courts to catch up with galloping public opinion.
Since last month we know have this most recent federal court decision in Oklahoma, another state with some claim to being the most conservative state in the country, tossing out the state’s ban on same sex marriage. To play the devil’s advocate, we can note that the judges in the Utah and Oklahoma cases were Clinton and Obama appointees. (The Judge with the narrower ruling in Ohio is another Obama appointee.) We’ve yet to see a judge appointee by Republican president make a similar ruling.
But judges don’t generally like to get overruled or get too far out in front of higher court rulings. One judge going off on his or her own is one thing. Three making such a finding in short order suggests that Justice Scalia was right in stating what most others recognized: that the Court’s decision in Windsor leaves virtually no constitutional ground for states to reject same sex marriage.
Delaware Political Weekly: Jan. 11-17, 2014
It’s time to recognize the possibility, perhaps likelihood, that Beau Biden will not be able to run for reelection. I think it’s pretty clear now that he’s battling a serious health challenge He is virtually invisible in public. When he does venture out, people are concerned about what they see. There has been no official update on his condition since August. His spokesman routinely makes statements that Beau previously would have made, most recently on the failure of the Senate to muster up enough votes to restore Beau’s signature legislation to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. I wish our AG a full recovery and a long productive life.
However, someone will be elected Attorney General this November. If not Beau, then who? Matt Denn? Or some blinkered law and order type who only cares about talking tough on crime, not on protecting consumers and the public from getting ripped off? It’s time we have this conversation. I know that there may be great comfort in imagining the Biden name on the AG line. But it’s less likely to happen each passing day. Who will step up?
Beau is the only one who can talk me down on this. Right now, he’s not talking.
The Redskins name change is inevitable
For the nation’s idiots, this is going to be a hill worth dying on, but it doesn’t really matter. The Washington area NFL team will be called something other than the “redskins” in our lifetime (probably within the next ten years.)
Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder has turned DeAngelo Hall into the voice of reason. The oft-fined cornerback conceded this week that the team “probably should” change its name.
“I think eventually they will change it,” Hall responded when asked about the team’s name during an appearance on FOX Sports’ “Keeping It Real With Mike Hill.”
Just imagine a team called the Heebs, or the Chinks, or the Whites and it is easy to see that the name is not going to make it. My suggestion is …
![Friday Daily Delawhere [1.17.13]](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3829/11996179344_5128b56d07_z.jpg "Friday Daily Delawhere [1.17.13]")
Steve Newton to Run For State Rep!
A true friend of Delaware Liberal, Steve Newton, will run for the 22nd Representative District seat currently held by Republican Joe Miro. Miro, BTW, is one of those legislators who has basically retired, but never bothered to tell anybody. If any third party candidate has a real shot, Steve is at the top of the list. He is consistently one of the most thoughtful and on-point analysts of public policy in our state. Here is the press release in its entirety.. inside…..
Thursday Open Thread [1.16.14]
![Thursday Open Thread [1.16.14]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/453973647-240x180.jpg "Thursday Open Thread [1.16.14]")
Bridgegate has boosted Hillary in 2016. A new NBC/Marist Poll has found that the former Secretary of State now leads New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) 50% to 37%. Last month, Hillary’s lead was only 3 points, 48% to 45%.
Speaking of Hillary, the bipartisan Senate Benghazi report, released today, has debunked all the right wing conspiracy theories. Not that truth and facts matter to the right wing.
Support this kickstarter type fundraiser the Delaware Shakespeare Festival is doing, or I will look at you crossly
We here at the Delaware Shakespeare Festival are incredibly excited to produce Hamlet this summer (July 11-27 at Rockwood Park!), but there’s so much to talk about in this play, so much that’s relevant to the world and to Delaware, that we can’t wait for July.
And that’s why we’re launching the “I Am Hamlet” Project.
Through the “I Am Hamlet” Project, we plan to take Hamlet to the people of Delaware, from classroom workshops to retirement home discussions, from on-the-street interviews to the Twitterverse. We want to explore the themes of Hamlet that resonate strongly with Delawareans, sparking a conversation that will hopefully lead to self-reflection in ourselves and in our community. At the end, we plan to bring it all together in a big public forum, an “I Am Hamlet” Project town hall at Wilmington University.
To do all that, we need your help.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., Jan. 16, 2014
Well, one day in, and already one of my predictions has gone down in flames. (Or is it ‘up in flames’?) Thought it would be easy for the Senate to resurrect HB 88(Barbieri), which would establish procedures to try and keep guns out of the hands of the dangerously mentally-ill. We weren’t talking about passing the bill, we were just talking about restoring the bill to the Senate calendar. However, this signature initiative of Attorney General Beau Biden went nowhere on Tuesday, likely prompted by the notable absence of Beau Biden. From the News-Journal story:
Senate Minority Leader Gary Simpson, R-Milford, said he expected Biden to be in Legislative Hall to make his case.
“If this bill is that important, I would think the attorney general would be present to debate it,” Simpson said. “He should be on the job and seen and heard from, rather than his staff speaking in his name.”
Biden’s chief of staff, Timothy Mullaney, said Biden spent his day in meetings to discuss violence in Wilmington. Biden was not available for interviews to discuss a new Wilmington crime plan announced by Mayor Dennis Williams. Joe Rogalsky, who leads legislative efforts for Biden, said the attorney general would not give up on the gun-control issue.
Simpson’s right, you know. Perhaps a little cruel, but right. Were Biden up to the task, he would have been in Legislative Hall. It’s not a long drive from Wilmington. However, it proved to be a Route Too Far to revive his signature bill. You do the math.
Thursday Daily Delawhere [1.16.14]
![Thursday Daily Delawhere [1.16.14]](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5472/11314255553_c644319648_z.jpg "Thursday Daily Delawhere [1.16.14]")
From Widener Law’s Flickr, which I guess gives away the location of this shot, seen after a recent snowfall.
Teabag Republicans Cave on Budget Brinksmanship – Have Asses Handed to Them
The House has passed a $1.1 trillion spending plan that would fund the government through September. The Senate is expected to take up the measure by the end of the week. The spending bill would roll back some forced spending cuts, raise federal worker pay and protect disabled workers and some military spouses from a pension cut that is to go into effect next year. The deal is a break from several years of budget brinksmanship, stopgap funding measures and down-to-the-deadline negotiating, such as the one that forced the 16-day government shutdown in October.
I know, I know. The winners and losers will be revealed, and the teabags probably got everything they’ve ever demanded and more, but I’ve been spoiling for a little triumphalism.
‘The Unelected Cash Board’
Chip Flowers in full asshole mode. Words fail me. Count the number of times he says ‘unelected cash board’. Says Benner saved the state ‘hundreds of millions’ of dollars. BTW, Benner is no longer on the state payroll. According to Chip.
Wednesday Open Thread (01-15-14)
Here’s a story that makes me hate people. Just go read the post. Calling a dying woman’s tweets about her, you know, dying, “deathbed selfies” is vile. Seriously, what is wrong with these people? If you have other feelings about how people should live or die, you can keep them to yourself, Keller family and mouth-breathers at Fishbowl DC. No one asked you, and no one ever will.
My Pet Peeve Doesn’t Seem To Be Going Away
I really don’t understand why things like this keep happening.
Acclaimed molecular gastronomy chef Grant Achatz caused a stir over the weekend when he took to his Twitter account to ask his followers if a ban on babies was in order at his three-Michelin-starred Chicago eatery Alinea.
The clearly ruffled Achatz paused his dinner service to complain about a couple at his restaurant who brought in an eight-month-old, who promptly started to wail.
“Tbl brings 8mo.Old. It cries. Diners mad,” Achatz tweeted. “Tell ppl no kids? Subject diners 2crying? Ppl take infants 2 plays? Concerts? Hate saying no,but..”
Alinea obviously doesn’t encourage diners to bring their babies — there are no high chairs on site; the baby sat on its mother’s lap — but it doesn’t have a written policy prohibiting their presence.
The establishment uses a ticketing system which requires would-be patrons to reserve, and pay for, their entire meal (minus the drinks) weeks in advance. If something comes up at the last minute, Alinea allows customers to sell their reservations or hand them off to someone else.
Personally, I found Achatz’s tweet extremely reasonable. I would have kicked the couple out, but I’m mean and this has always been one of my pet peeves. Yes, Virginia, there are places you shouldn’t take your children.
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