Delaware Political Weekly: May 13-19, 2016

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We have a Democratic Primary in the 9th RD. OK, kids, some of you (well, LG) will remember that this was the district that Rebecca Walker vacated after the filing deadline in 2014, meaning that the voters didn't get to pick the D nominee. R Kevin Hensley defeated D appointee and Walker choice Jason Hortiz, a former R candidate for Clerk of the Peace, 3290-2950 in the 2014 General Election. You may also remember that, back in 2010, Walker, who had lost to Dick Cathcart back in 2008, told the RD committee that she wasn't running.  Into the breach stepped one Richard Griffiths, who was endorsed by the committee. Then Cathcart 'retired', after his dirty dealings at Del-State were revealed, and Walker jumped back in. She defeated Griffiths handily in the primary, 970-258, and edged out John Marino in the general, 5583-5301. Then, of course, she got a job where she can help the police cover up evidence that police might, just might, have been engaged in wrongdoing.  (Have I mentioned lately just how corrupt and incestuous the politicians in this state are? Oh, and did I mention that her husband is an ex-cop?) But, I digress. Richard Griffiths has filed to run in the 9th, and he has a primary opponent, one Monique Johns.  All I've got for Griffiths is his 2010 announcement notice. Johns appears to be, uh, the wife ('First Lady') to a Bible Fellowship pastor.  I know that Liberal Geek was real high on Griffiths back in 2010, can you fill us in on what's going on, Big Guy? Can a D knock off Hensley this year?

Friday Open Thread [5.20.16]

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Matt Taibbi asks if this is the end for Republicans: “If this isn’t the end for the Republican Party, it’ll be a shame. They dominated American political life for 50 years and were never anything but monsters. They bred in their voters the incredible attitude that Republicans were the only people within our borders who raised children, loved their country, died in battle or paid taxes. They even sullied the word ‘American’ by insisting they were the only real ones. They preferred Lubbock to Paris, and their idea of an intellectual was Newt Gingrich. Their leaders, from Ralph Reed to Bill Frist to Tom DeLay to Rick Santorum to Romney and Ryan, were an interminable assembly line of shrieking, witch-hunting celibates, all with the same haircut – the kind of people who thought Iran-Contra was nothing, but would grind the affairs of state to a halt over a blow job or Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube.” “A century ago, the small-town American was Gary Cooper: tough, silent, upright and confident. The modern Republican Party changed that person into a haranguing neurotic who couldn’t make it through a dinner without quizzing you about your politics. They destroyed the American character. No hell is hot enough for them. And when Trump came along, they rolled over like the weaklings they’ve always been, bowing more or less instantly to his parodic show of strength.”