Year: 2015

Jonathan Chait asks if Ben Carson is really running for President: “It is hard to tell. Conservative politics are so closely intermingled with a lucrative entertainment complex that it is frequently impossible to distinguish between a political project (that is, something designed to result in policy change) and a money-making venture. Declaring yourself a presidential candidate gives you access to millions of dollars’ worth of free media attention that can build a valuable brand. So the mere fact that Carson calls himself a presidential candidate does not prove he is actually running for president rather than taking advantage of the opportunity to build his brand. Indeed, it is possible to be actually leading the polls without seriously trying to win the presidency.” “And the notion that Carson could be president is preposterous. The problem is not only that he has never run for elected office. He has never managed a large organization; he has not worked in and around public policy, and he lacks a competent grasp of issues. His stance on health care, the closest thing to an issue with which his professional experience has brought him into contact, is gibberish. He mostly thrills audiences by scoffing at evolution and insisting Muslims be barred from the presidency, stances he cannot even defend coherently.”

Jane Sanders told Yahoo News that her husband’s presidential campaign is less about winning than about setting the agenda.

Said Sanders: “He’s doing what he aimed to do… The last election the candidates didn’t talk about inequality, they didn’t talk about fairness, they didn’t talk about climate change. He’s setting the agenda. That’s what it’s about.”

EXACTLY! And should stay in until the end.

WDEL reports that Rep. Sean Lynn (D-Dover) plans to suspend the House rules and bring Senate Bill 40, the repeal of Capital Punishment in Delaware, to the House floor come January. SB 40 passed the Senate last year 11-9, and this time we actually got a hearing and consideration of the bill in the House Judiciary Committee, which was an improvement upon the prior session.

Carperdyne Model T1000, otherwise known to us mere Democrats as Mat "Only One T" Marshall, recently highlighted a New Statesmen article in a Facebook post regarding the future of transgender politics, saying simply (yet deviously) that Sarah McBride "won't share this because she knows it doesn't stack up to my Delaware Liberal coverage, but I'm happy to take the high road."

"Lesbian and gay politics advanced on the shoulders of courageous trailblazers like Harvey Milk, Barney Frank, and Chris Smith. Georgina Beyer allowed trans people to dream big dreams when she was elected the first transgender national parliamentarian in New Zealand in 1999. Who will be the first out transgender person elected to high office in America and Britain? Sarah McBride has all the right credentials in the United States—former student body president at American University, staffer for Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, White House intern, campaign director at the Center for American Progress."

Emphasis mine. Surely this is some sort of evil plot by Emperor Palpatine... er ah, I mean Senator Carper to cloak himself in Sarah's accomplishments and glory. Nevermind that Sarah and Mat[t] have been friends since high school.

There are some common sense things we should be doing. Markell's Secretary of Finance can't be bothered with them unless they shift more of the tax burden onto the middle class.

E.J. Dionne Jr:

Maybe our definition of the Republican presidential contest is a little off. It’s often cast, accurately enough, as a choice between “outsiders” and “insiders.” But another party division may be more profound — between Republicans who still view the country’s future hopefully and those deeply gloomy about its prospects. The pessimism within significant sectors of the GOP is more than the unhappiness partisans typically feel when the other side is in power. It’s rooted in a belief that things have fundamentally changed in America, and there is an ominous possibility they just can’t be put right again. This is one of the big contrasts between the two parties: Democrats are more bullish on the future.

The things that cannot be put right are not our economy or standing in the world, etc. Rather, affordable universal healthcare is an idea that is here to stay. Marriage equality is here to stay. You can't discriminate anymore, against anyone. Racism is openly and vehemently exposed and attacked. Women and minorities no longer know their place. Yes, the idealized Conservative America of the 1950s is gone forever. Destroyed. And that is a wonderful thing to celebrate, if you are a good person. Many Republicans, however, are not good people.