Archive for April, 2015
Maybe O’Malley is running for Veep?
If so, I like it.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley had – on NPR, of all places – referred to Marco Rubio’s economic worldview as “bullshit.”
The Veep is the salty truth-slinger right? That was a role Biden excelled in.
It’s just straight up racism at this point
There is no other explanation. Republican Senators are racist and that is why they refuse to confirm this overly qualified Attorney General nominee. You disagree? Well then you call the Republicans to prove me wrong and confirm her.
DL’s GOP Fantasy League Update – Day 1
When Scott Walker went as the first pick to Pandora, I was a little surprised. But that was because I wasn’t tracking on the fact that Walker had recently won the Koch Brother’s primary, thereby tying down unlimited financial resources for the duration of the campaign. And that’s what makes this race fascinating. In the […]
Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tues., April 21, 2015
Something quite remarkable has happened over the past six months. So much so that I doubt that those most responsible for it even recognize what they’ve accomplished.
There is an emerging recognition that the state’s education policy is an unmitigated disaster that will, I believe, almost inevitably have to be reversed or, at least, deep-sixed.
An education policy that began with Jack Markell deciding to go all-in and do whatever it took to get that Race To the Top money.
Students, teachers, and parents have become victims of the Common Corporate Curriculum, and the only beneficiaries have been corporations peddling snake oil in the form of tests and texts, and the oversized education bureaucracy that Race To the Top funded. If the bureaucracy was a burger joint, it’d be called ‘240 Fat Guys’. The governor’s legacy on this issue is already sunk, but he can’t/won’t admit the inevitable. It is, after all, his legacy. Which is why legislators and emerging policy leaders are taking up the slack. First step is to make sure that the governor does no more harm before he exits. Now, if only Mike Matthews and Pandora would run for the General Assembly…
Before we refocus our attention from the Governor to the General Assembly, can someone explain to me why…four years after Markell signed the legislation, we still don’t have a single medical marijuana dispensary up and running in Delaware? This quote from Jonathan Starkey’s News-Journal article says it best:
“Why did he (Markell) sign the bill if he had no intentions of enacting it?”
Why, indeed. Incompetence or ideology? You decide.
BTW, today’s Al Show will be a Very Special Primal Scream Therapy Edition. So much bad stuff, so little time (10-12 noon). Now on 101.7 FM, as well as the traditional 1150 AM. Or, you can just tune in here.
F%#k it. We back Mrs. Clinton. Now let’s talk policy
This is a straight up grab from the Rude Pundit.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Rude Pundit feels your pain. He’d love, love, love for a real liberal to run for president. He says this pretty much every election, often supports whatever quixotic candidate is taking a shot this time until he (and, sadly, it’s only been “he”) drops out, and then votes for the moderate who he mostly agrees with on Supreme Court picks. In 2008, he supported Barack Obama because he thought the movement Obama had started would be transformative, not realizing that the president cared less about the movement than about governing from the presumptive middle (which, truth be told, Obama’s pretty damn good at). Obama didn’t move left. The middle moved right.
This time, though, it seems as if we’re not getting the token liberal. And we’re not getting anyone of color. Those who are remaining are either the white liberals who say they’re not running – Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders – and the white dude who might – Martin O’Malley. If that liberal appeared, the Rude Pundit would love to jump on that bandwagon. But he or she won’t be there this time. As much as we want to say that Hillary Clinton should have a primary candidate or whatever other bullshit we want to hide behind, the truth of the matter is, as everyone knows, very, very simple. Hillary Clinton is the nominee. She is more or less running as an incumbent. Last week, the Rude Pundit said this and was attacked on Twitter (which is the rhetorical equivalent of a gnat buzzing by you) for being racist because somehow he was dissing Obama. Sorry, but, Alan Keyes’ paranoia aside, Obama can’t run. And there is no man or woman of color who is even on the bench at this point, something that better be corrected or the Democrats will seem as out of touch as the Republicans.
So what are we left with?
Monday Open Thread [4.20.15]
![Monday Open Thread [4.20.15]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/453973647-240x180.jpg "Monday Open Thread [4.20.15]")
HILLARYMENTUM!!!! A new national CNN/ORC survey released today shows Hillary Clinton laying waste to the entire Republican field. This poll is significant because it is the first poll post the announcement by Clinton that she is running for President.
Clinton 55, Rubio 41
Clinton 56, Bush 39
Clinton 58, Christie 39
Clinton 58, Paul 39
Clinton 58, Huckabee 37
Clinton 59, Walker 37
Clinton 60, Carson 36
Clinton 60, Cruz 36
These numbers are apocalyptic for the Republicans, especially when you consider my view that the most likely nominee in such a crowded field will be Ted Cruz. Why do I believe that? First, because in such a crowded field, it will be easy for the the winner of the primary to be a person who only getws 15-20% of the total primary vote. The candidates that inspire a small but fanatical following, like Ben Carson or Ted Cruz or even Mike Huckabee, may win these crowded primaries. And if they do that, they get all of the delegates. There is no proportional split of the delegates in Republican primaries as there is in the Democratic primaries. That means the winners would walk away with the vast majority of the delegates, and then, thus, the nomination. Second, some of the more palpatable candidates to the general electorate (Bush, Rubio, Walker, Graham) will base their campaigns on their electability, about how they the best candidate to take on Hillary in a general election. If polls continue to show Hillary trouncing every possible candidate by similar margins, then the electability argument is shit and you might as well go with who you really love and then maybe, just maybe, you’ll get lucky.
Petition To Allow Parents To Opt Out Of Testing
As usual, please sign. Here’s the petition’s wording.
The Smarter Balanced Assessment is the new state assessment based on the Common Core State Standards for Delaware. Many states have adopted this assessment as part of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, of which Delaware is a part. This consortium was approved by Governor Markell without any legislative approval.
Many parents in Delaware, as well as across the country, believe the Smarter Balanced Assessment, as well as the PARCC test in other states, is not an effective standardized test. Therefore, we are electing our Constitutional right to opt our children out of this assessment. We believe it is a parental right to choose the best educational outcome for our children. We also believe our children are not the property of the state. Many of us have experienced, at a minimum, vast confusion in regards to the opt out time period, which began in earnest in February of 2015, from our Governor, our Delaware Department of Education, our schools, and several administrators from our schools.
This legislation would help codify what is already our right, and would prevent the opted out students from adversely affecting the schools in Delaware. As well, this would also put all the school districts and charter schools in the state on the same level playing field based on a clear and distinct law.
DL Approval Ratings: Tom Gordon the Freeper
So this poll attracted three times the number of votes as the average our other polls received, with a large majority being for strongly approve. Pay attention Geezer, that is the definition of freeping a poll. Freeping is a slang term going back to the early days of political blogs and online polls. There was this conservative site called Free Republic, and their denizens would be instructed to go out and find online polls and vote massively for the conservative option. They would FReep the poll, with the FR standing for Free Republic. Now the term applies across the board, generally. Obviously the call went out on Friday to Gordon loyalists to vote in this poll. Or, New Castle County residents are so deliriously happy with County Executive Gordon that they go out of their way to find online polls to indicate their approval.
So what do the results tell us:
67% approve of Gordon, 38% strongly.
29% disapprove, 22% strongly.
So either you love Gordon, or you hate him.
DL’s GOP Presidential Candidate Fantasy League
UPDATE – OKAY… Tonight 7:00. On this thread. Two, 3 person divisions. Division 1 will be, ME, Pandora and AQC. Division 1A will be Del Dem, Steve Newton and Prop Joe. I’ll deal cards to establish who has first pick in each division.
Proof that America is Not a Christian Nation
According to a new survey by the Pew Research Center, about two-thirds of Americans know that innocent people can be killed via death penalty sentences, yet still support the death penalty: The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted Mar. 25-29 among 1,500 adults, finds widespread doubts about how the death penalty is […]
Sunday Daily Delawhere [4.19.15]
The center of the Irish neighborhood of Forty Acres in Wilmington is St. Ann’s Church. The church was built in 1887.
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