Year: 2015

The evidence points to - yes. The Cape Gazette Reports that at his latest January constituent coffee meeting,Rep. Smyk expressed concerns that the State Police and Delaware National Guard are not up to the task of ensuring order in the event of some "major occurrence." And that these agencies are in need of reinforcement from a whackjob militia composed of local whackjobs.

The National Journal quotes a Republican Congressman, Rep. Charlie Dent, on how horribly the first weeks of the new Congressional session are going for the GOP:

"I prefer that we avoid these very contentious social issues," said moderate Rep. Charlie Dent, reprising comments he gave in the closed-door conference meeting. "Week one, we had a speaker election that did not go as well as a lot of us would have liked. Week two, we got into a big fight over deporting children, something that a lot of us didn't want to have a discussion about. Week three, we are now talking about rape and incest and reportable rapes and incest for minors. … I just can't wait for week four."

In week 4, you got owned by the President on national television.

Governor Markell previewed his State of the State speech that he will deliver this afternoon to WDEL's Amy Cherry. Governor Markell said his top priorities will remain centered around economic development, education and effective governance.

"Certainly, the job growth over the last year has been really good, fourth fastest in the country, 24 straight months, where it's been strong relative to the rest of the country," he said. Markell said he'll continue to build on that progress along with progress made on education and environmental issues. Without getting specific, the governor said he'll revisit themes you heard in last year's State of the State.

I'd like to know what progress he thinks was made on education. More inside...

After six years, the science of "which mascot would win in a fight" continues to confound the experts with a 100% success rate. That's right,  6 for 6 Bitches!  Suck it Terry Bradshaw! Anyhoo...let's take a look at Super Bowl XLIX (official pronunciation - "Super Bowl Ex-licks"). This could be a tough one.  A minute man style colonial militia "Patriot" vs. Bird.  Frankly I was rooting for Packers vs Colts because that would have been dead easy.  But as Dick Cheney once said, "You may pray for defenseless victims and the easy snuff out of a bewildered child or an enfeebled old lady, but in the end you get what you get." Here is what I said about the Seahawks last year....

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."