DL Open Thread: Saturday, August 15, 2020
One month until Delaware Primary Day. Do something for one of your fave candidates today.
Postal Service Says It Will Stop Removing Mailboxes. In case you hadn’t heard, yes, they were removing mailboxes. Until they were publicly shamed. Yes, we’re living in an autocracy in its infancy. The states can stop this. Some are. The IG at the postal service is investigating. Will he still have a job by Monday morning?
Trump ‘Locks’ In Private ICE Prison Detention For Another Decade. Here’s what goes on under the radar in an autocracy:
“This move by the Trump administration appears designed to lock in a decade worth of detention in Texas, benefiting private prison corporations for years to come,” said Bethany Carson, Immigration researcher and organizer at Grassroots Leadership. “Making backdoor deals to line the pockets of private prison corporations at the expense of people confined behind bars while COVID-19 is spreading like wildfire shows the complete disregard for human life in ICE custody and how perverse financial incentives are the bedrock of incarceration.”
In An Autocracy, You Can Count On One Constituency To Support Trump–Out-Of-Control Cops. ‘Out-of-control’ has defined the NYPD for decades, whose 24,000 officers endorsed Trump.
Mass. Democratic Party Helped To Set Up Sting Operation Against Opponent Of Rep. Richard Neal. Rick Reuling wrote a comment about this on our blog yesterday, and it checks out. Neal is a Corporacrat, if that’s a word. Oh, and he’s also well-versed in feathering the family nest. I hope that this smear attempt backfires big-time. Mo’ Better Democrats.
Trump Rewrites Standards For Showerheads B/C…His Hair. This is not, repeat, not, satire.
Harris Pick To Galvanize West Indian Voters? Could be, and Florida could be where it pays off.
‘Defund’ Does Not Mean ‘Eliminate’: The movement has had some success, including redirecting $1.4 billion initially allocated to the police. Keep it up.
Jennifer Cohan To Leave DELDOT. Bad news–Worse news. I think she is the best DELDOT Secretary we’ve had during my time in the political process (although I also liked Anne Canby), and she will be missed. The WORSE news? She’s headed to Leadership Delaware, another useless vestige, along with Jobs For Delaware Graduates, of the Pete duPont years. It’s basically a secret fraternity/sorority for the Delaware Way. You come out of there inculcated in that ‘go along to get along’ culture. Some shake it, most don’t even try.
What do you want to talk about?
Bald Eagle vs. Drone–God Bless America:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/14/eagle-drone-attack-lake-michigan
There are 36,000 police officers in New York City.
There may be 36,000 officers. From the article:
Trump spoke to members of the City of New York Police Benevolent Association, the union representing some 24,000 rank-and-file officers as he steps up his attacks on Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris
Interesting. That might mean that the other 12,000 are management?
1 manager for every two cops? That’s a lot of donuts, right there.
Here is a text that I sent yesterday that netted three new Scarane voters:
Hey! Were you guys planning to vote in the Dem primary on September 15th? I fucking hope so.
Let me know if you want more information about Jess Scarane. She is running to replace Chris Coons who has spent his time in Senate helping Trump appoint conservative judges. Coons is garbage.
Jane Brady straining for attention (but not relevance) for the DE GOP.
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2020/08/13/birdhouse-wilmingtons-riverfront-causes-minor-political-flap/3339677001/
In the interest of equal time, suggest we place a cuckoo clock near Tom Burke’s masterpiece, and equip the clock with a mockingbird.
Saw it, didn’t include it. At this point, the Delaware Rethuglican Party is, at best, a curiosity. Starting to think that Scott Walker just might win that primary.
The NYPD has been out of control for many years dating back to the sixties, much like the Delaware State Police they are a law unto themselves in their eyes and think they should do as they please. But hey, the Baltimore police are not far behind them and are also a huge problem. The roots of an authoritarian autocracy lie in the police and always have.
I just started rewatching “The Wire.” Interesting how the Baltimore PD was being portrayed even before the Freddie Gray case. Also interesting that the show debuted almost 20 years ago and nothing has been done about police malfeasance in the meantime.
Sadly there is no solution coming from the politicians, they openly fear the police regardless of party, that leaves protest and groups like BLM as the only real and possible answer to what is a chronic problem in America. Hope to live to see progress.
The broad support for the George Floyd protests was encouraging on that front.