Archive for August, 2015
Thursday Open Thread [8.6.15] — All Debate Edition
![Thursday Open Thread [8.6.15] — All Debate Edition](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Open.ThreadB-240x180.png "Thursday Open Thread [8.6.15] — All Debate Edition")
New York Times: “The most pressing question that Donald Trump could face [tonight] in the first debate of the 2016 presidential race may not be about Iran or immigration, but this: Can he deploy enough adjectives (‘huge!’), superlatives (‘the worst!’) and invectives (‘loser!’) for him to use up his time without being challenged successfully on the substance of policy?”
“Mr. Trump could come away a winner if he makes cogent points without sounding too hostile, presenting himself as more of a serious-minded, anti-establishment voice in a primary crowded with career Republican politicians. But there are risks for him if he turns the debate stage in Cleveland into another episode of the reality show his campaign has sometimes resembled.”
Then again, ABC News reports that he is just going to “wing it,” which is great news for us watching for mere entertainment value:
“Candidates usually spend hours and hours preparing for a major debate — reading up the issues, going through practice Q & A sessions or mock debates and practicing lines to use when the big moment comes. Not Donald Trump,” ABC News reports.
Said one senior adviser: “Trump doesn’t rehearse… I have no idea what to expect. I’m just as clueless as you about what he’ll do.”
“It’s not that his political team hasn’t tried. Trump’s aides have prepared him memos on the issues and the expected lines of questions and potential attacks from the other candidates, but there have been no formal debate prep sessions, no mock Q & A, no practice debates.”
They don’t call him “Slick Willie” for nothing
It sounds like Bill Clinton cajoled and flattered Trump into jumping into the race. “Former President Bill Clinton encouraged Donald Trump to become more involved in GOP politics in a phone call a few weeks before the “Apprentice” star declared his presidential campaign, The Washington Post reported. The Post’s Robert Costa and Anne Gearan wrote: […]
Carper Leaning Yes. Coons Leans War.
Unthankfully, Chris Coons, supposedly the smart one, is leaning no.
Sen. Chris Coons, who was personally lobbied by President Barack Obama and national security adviser Susan Rice to back the deal during a trip to Africa in July, said the view of the accord was about evenly split in his home state of Delaware in the first few days after the announcement. But the Democrat now says telephone calls against the deal outnumber those in favor by 10-to-1 in his state, an avalanche of opposition he has no choice but to listen to.
“I am a Democrat, and I would like to be able to support this agreement,” Coons said. “But I have serious reservations about it.”
Let me make some things crystal clear for the Senator.
If you vote no, you are not a Democrat.
If you vote no, you want and desire immediate war.
The day after you vote no, you and I can meet at Elaine Manlove’s office, and I will help you fill out the forms to change your registration to the Republican Party.
Your next election is not until 2020, but I will make it my life’s work to deny you renomination and reelection. You will be the Joe Lieberman of Delaware. You think we hold Tom Carper in disdain for his moderation at times, just wait to see what we do to you.
I can give two shits about conservative astro-turf phone calls to your office. This is one of those issues where you substitute your own judgment and your knowledge for the people’s rather than just being a conduit of what an unintelligent Sussex County teabagger thinks.
And if you genuinely have reservations about this deal, let me tell you something: everyone has reservations about this deal. This is a deal with an adversary. An enemy. Someone and something we do not trust. If you did not have reservations about this deal, you would be an idiot. I have reservations about this deal. We have to see whether Iran sticks to it. That is my reservation. And if they do not, guess what Senator… WE CAN BOMB THEM THEN. WE CAN REIMPOSE SANCTIONS THEN. WE CAN GO TO WAR THEN.
To vote no now means you unequivocally want war now. It means you do not want to even give peace and inspections a chance. It means you have no brain. It means you are a Republican.
If you are really taking into account the phone calls of those who do nothing all day but sit at home and watch Fox News, please remember, they voted for Christine O’Donnell. They never voted for you. They never will. And besides, your next election is in 2020. Chances are they will be dead by then anyway.
Seriously though, to base a vote of this importance on feedback your office receives makes me question your suitability and ability to perform your job. It also makes me think you are a coward. Whether you fear the voters or you fear your donors, or both, you are still acting out of fear.
DL readers, since it appears the so wise Senator places great value on the calls he gets, take a moment and call 202-224-5042, say you are a Democrat, say that he will support the Iran Deal or he will not be the Democratic nominee in 2020. Say all that.
It’s time to clobber our mealy mouthed federal representation over the head.
Official GOP Debate Drinking Game Rules
Looking at these Rolling Stone Magazine rules, I’m thinking everyone is going to be smashed within five minutes. (Unless your cocktail of choice is, like mine, is a nice cold Bud Light Chelada) ….
A view from the 18th Special
Someone help me out. Specials are important, and Democrats typically suck at them.
I don’t know how to respond to the poll question on the right, should I pick “The Republicans” based on past performance?
I have been invited to a fundraiser for Eileen O’Shaughnessy-Coleman, and haven’t been invited to a fundraiser for David Bentz, but that doesn’t tell me anything. (I think I opted out of the DelDem mailing list because the drivel was depressing, but stayed on the DEGOP mailing list because Copeland’s drivel is hilarious.)
So what’s the scoop internet tubes? Work your crowdsourcing magic.
Five basic facts on the recent shootings in/near _Nashville_
Details of today’s shooting are still emerging, but these are the facts we have so far:
1) It is “too soon” to talk about how this shooting fits into our approach to gun control.
2) Our approach to gun control makes it easy for anyone [even people who “exhibited extreme erratic behavior and has made ominous as well as disturbing statements”] to get guns legally and kill multiple people.
3) In spite of the fact that every other western industrialized country manages to restrict criminals and the mentally deranged from obtaining guns, any changes (and I mean ANY CHANGES) in our approach to gun control are impossible because they would naturally and inexorably lead to tyranny.
4) Congress and the national headquarters of the NRA are both places which restrict 2nd Amendment rights.
5) The NRA took in over $300 million in revenue in 2013.
Wednesday Open Thread [8.5.15]
![Wednesday Open Thread [8.5.15]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Open.ThreadC-240x180.png "Wednesday Open Thread [8.5.15]")
Katrina vanden Heuvel previews tomorrow’s Republican debate and offers up a list of topics and questions:
Nervous Republican officials can take some solace that the debate is moderated by three Fox News stalwarts. They are unlikely to dwell on the irresistible questions raised by the absurdities that Republican candidates have offered up in the last months. Fox News anchors will no doubt try to get candidates to vent their venom on Hillary Clinton and President Obama rather than on each other. Candidates will have one minute to answer questions, time only for expressing an attitude, not a policy. […] But my advice — neither solicited nor likely to be followed — would be to pose questions that explore the yawning divide between these candidates and the vast majority of Americans. For example:
Inequality and stagnant wages: This is a central concern of Americans. The minimum wage today is $7.25 an hour, far below the poverty wage for a family of four. Cities and states across the country are acting to lift it. In 2014, voters in four red states — South Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas and Alaska — passed referendums to hike their minimum wages. Seventy percent of Americans agree. Obama and all Democratic presidential candidates support raising the national minimum wage. Yet, Republican leaders in the House and Senate won’t even let it come to a vote in Congress. Wisconsin’s Walker has called the minimum wage a “lame idea” that he does not believe “serves a purpose.” A question on the minimum wage would be enlightening.[…]
What’s the matter with Kansas?: Republicans have argued for decades that lower taxes, less government spending and less regulation would boost the economy. In Kansas, Republican Gov. Sam Brownback championed that program, promising that zeroing out taxes on most businesses, cutting top rates and slashing spending would generate growth, jobs and revenue. The result has been deficits as far as the eye can see, with Republicans in the state legislature now scrambling for ways to raise taxes. The candidates should be asked what’s the matter with Kansas — and how that has informed their agenda.
Fair taxes: Most Americans are bothered by the sense that the rich and corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes. Obama has urged passage of the Buffett Rule that no millionaire should pay a lower tax rate than his or her secretary. Would these candidates be willing to raise taxes on the wealthy? Would they support a minimum tax on corporations like GE that often end up paying nothing in taxes while earning billions in profits? Would they act to shut down tax havens and tax multinationals at the same rate as domestic businesses?
This is what Secretary Clinton should say….
“If Republicans were really concerned with reducing abortions, they would be for contraception. They’d be for reducing unplanned pregnancies. They be in favor of making abortion more rare, not in making it illegal. If they honestly wanted to reduce abortions, they would want to increase Planned Parenthood’s budget.
They don’t care about things that have been proven to work thought because they really aren’t concerned with stopping abortions. They are concerned with making noise and raising money.”
….And now the shooting down of the trial balloon. (Updated with Resignation Bombshell)
[UPDATE]: This will teach me to read the full article that I am linking to first before posting. Apparently, according to unnamed sources in the Times article I link to below, Vice President Joe Biden considered resigning in the aftermath of Beau Biden’s death to care for his grieving family. This further convinces me he is not running. How do you go from thinking of resigning because of family to running for President in a span of two months? The answer is you don’t. What we are seeing is a pressure campaign put on by those like Dick Harpoolitan, Biden’s South Carolina operative, to force Biden into the race.
—-
The New York Times reports that friends and supporters of Joe Biden are concerned that a third run for the Presidency could harm his legacy. Consider me among them.
“Those supporters, in the White House and the Senate, and within the political circles he has moved in for decades, fear that the legacy Mr. Biden has built as an effective partner who took on tough jobs for President Obama, not to mention the deep reservoir of public good will and sympathy he has amassed in his poignant handling of personal tragedies, could be sacrificed in the pursuit of an unsuccessful challenge to Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination.”
“They fret that Mr. Biden, as well known for his undisciplined, sometimes self-immolating comments as he is for his charm on the trail, could endanger Mr. Obama’s own legacy by injuring Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy and causing his party to lose control of the White House.”
Maybe This Is Why The City Wants State Funds For WPD Foot Patrols
Because Wilmington taxpayers spending $8,000 on Uber billboards. Not that $8K would go far in terms of additional policing, but this shows you the fiscal priorities of this Mayor while he and his Police Chief have decided that schilling for more funds from the State is their main job.
The city Office of Economic Development is spending $8,000 under a one-month contract for four billboards with the message “Wilmington proudly welcomes UBER” and a picture of Williams. The billboards also include a website address where residents can apply to become a driver for the service.
Recent Comments