Day: January 21, 2015

I remember back with Governor Markell nominated Chief Justice Leo Strine, some wrote that Strine may be too brash to fill the normally stoic and silent role of a Delaware Chief Justice. I thought of that when I heard that a war of words has erupted today between Senate Minority Leader Greg Lavelle (R) and Chief Justice Strine.

[Lavelle] called out [Strine] on the floor of the Delaware Senate[!!!], saying Strine owes law enforcement an explanation, "if not an apology," for comments on Monday that Lavelle said inappropriately compared Delaware's rate of incarceration to North Korea. Strine delivered the remarks to a Chase Center crowd on Monday at a Delaware State Bar Association breakfast honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The chief justice said Delaware can't "incarcerate our way to public safety" and noted "shocking disparities" for blacks in Delaware. Strine added, "You don't want to be in a state where incarceration rates are associated with North Korea."

Lavelle wants Strine to apologize for that? Pardon my french, Mr. Lavelle, but go fuck yourself. The Chief Justice owes no apology to anyone. You, however, owe an apology to all Delaware citizens for trying to create a false controversy. Strine's office bitchslapped Lavelle as well with the following statement inside....

Andrew Sullivan, in remarks prior to the Speech, congratulated President Obama for showing the Democratic party where their cajones actually were located.

I have to say that, as rumors and reports came in last week that Obama was going to propose a straightforward redistribution from the mega-mega-rich to the struggling middle classes, I could scarcely believe it. I mean: how often does the Democratic party actually exercise solid pro-active political judgment? How often do they seize the policy initiative from Republicans? How often do they propose things thay passionately believe in and unabashedly direct the message to the vast majority of Americans treading water in rougher and rougher seas? How often does a winning Congressional party get effectively marginalized in the public debate just after a stunning mid-term win?

We have the Drop Mic Moment and more of my favorite moments from last night's State of the Union speech inside. We also have some reactions from the punditry... like this: Andrew Sullivan: "This is a speech that revealed to us the president we might have had without the extraordinary crises – foreign and domestic – he inherited. I’ve always believed in his long game and in his bent toward pragmatism over ideology. Events can still upend things, but this is a president very much shaping the agenda past his own legacy. He’s showing Hillary Clinton the way, and has the midterms to point to as the result of the defensive crouch. If his standing improves still further, he will box her in, and she’ll have to decide if she’s going to be a Wall Street tool and proto-neocon or a more populist and confident middle class agenda-setter. One of his best. And for the first time in his six years, he has the economic winds behind him."