The Primary’s Over, But BHL’s Corruption/Ineptitude Continues Unabated. Turns out she handles her office’s FOIA duties as well as she and Dana handle the family finances:
The office of Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long may have violated Delaware’s open records laws by not responding to Freedom of Information Act requests for several years encompassing nearly her entire time in office, from early 2017 to as late as October 2023, according to email correspondence and internal government records acquired by Delaware Call.
After the lieutenant governor’s office failed to comply with a FOIA request filed by Delaware Call on Aug. 16, Hall-Long’s director of communications admitted in an email today that there are no records of the office receiving or responding to FOIA requests prior 2023.
It gets better, just read Jordan Howell’s excellent reporting in Delaware Call.
Oh, and she handled her office’s FOIA duties as well as she handled her time cards at the University of Delaware. Right, Lydia? Lydia??
This raises a question, and I’m serious: Is it possible to place the office of a demonstrably corrupt and incompetent elected official into something like receivership? Failing that, what guardrails are in place to ensure that BHL doesn’t hand out that opioid slush money as party favors (I mean, any more than she already has)? Does SHE write the checks, or does someone else?
A brief rant: Can we stop all this focusing on voters who say they’re undecided, fer Chrissakes? They become in essence reality stars, as if the inner workings of the brain of someone who STILL can’t make up their mind will reveal profundities. All we learn is that these people are attention hounds.
Aaah, feel better.
The one video you must watch today:
This is as good a time as any to share Kamela Smith’s post-election message. Because it, like Aiden Clark’s dad, appeals to our Better Angels:
I am beyond humbled and grateful to announce that we have won the Democratic primary for State Representative in District 15! Twenty years ago, I made the decision to move my family to Delaware in search of a safer environment and better opportunities for our kids. Today, I am so proud to call this state our home.
I stand here today filled with gratitude for the trust and support you have shown me. This victory belongs to the people who believed in change, and together, we proved that our voice is strong.
My vision for the future is rooted in the need for change. We’ve seen the cost of inaction, and now it’s time to push for policies that improve the lives of working families across our district. We will pursue rent stabilization, stronger protections for tenants and homeowners, healthcare for all, and fair wages. A critical part of my platform is ensuring that mental healthcare is no longer an afterthought. I am committed to increasing access to affordable mental health services.
This journey has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life. Every story shared, every person I met, and every challenge we faced strengthened my resolve to serve our community. I’m honored to have been part of this movement with you, and I’m excited about what lies ahead as we move toward the general election.
Thank you for believing in me and our shared vision. Let’s keep the momentum going as we work together to bring real change to Delaware.
With gratitude and determination,
Kamela Smith
Not only is Val Longhurst gone, but she has been replaced by a person who seeks to lift up, not divide. She is a good person.
Frank Luntz Is An Asshole. However, he’s pretty good at his job. His take?:
Longtime Republican pollster Frank Luntz said the presidential election is basically over after Vice President Kamala Harris drubbed Donald Trump at Tuesday night’s debate.
“I’m trying to decide if I want to go on record and the answer is yes,” he told Piers Morgan on Wednesday. “I think that he loses because of this debate performance.”
He said Trump’s treatment of Harris and his refusal to even look at the vice president will hurt him especially with women.
“Donald Trump reminds women of their first husband’s divorce lawyer,” he said. “That is just absolutely disastrous.”
Luntz predicted that the effects of the debate will start to appear in polls within four or five days.
NYPD Worse Than Tiny Tony DeLuca’s Labor Law Enforcement Agency. They just toss out complaints w/o looking at them:
The New York Police Department has tossed out hundreds of civilian complaints about police misconduct this year without looking at the evidence.
The cases were fully investigated and substantiated by the city’s police oversight agency, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, and sent to the NYPD for disciplinary action. They included officers wrongfully searching vehicles and homes, as well as using excessive force against New Yorkers.
The practice of killing cases without review began three years ago as a way to cope with escalating caseloads that were approaching a deadline for discipline. But ProPublica found it has become more frequent under Police Commissioner Edward Caban.
The commissioner may not be in his position for long. He is under pressure to resign after his phone was seized in a federal corruption investigation. He has also faced criticism for failing to hold officers accountable for misconduct.
Since he took office last July, the NYPD has ended without review more than 500 incidents, about half the cases the oversight board referred to it, according to an analysis of board data. That rate has climbed to nearly 60% this year. Under Caban’s predecessor, Keechant Sewell, the department faced roughly the same number of cases, but about 40% were tossed without review. (Neither Caban nor Sewell responded to requests for comment.)
The tactic is part of a broader pattern under Caban, who has repeatedly used the powers of his office to intervene in misconduct cases brought by the oversight agency. This summer, ProPublica and The New York Times detailed how the commissioner has used an authority known as “retention” to short-circuit some of the most serious cases, which otherwise would face public disciplinary trials.
Oh, the Tony DeLuca reference? Once in that position, Tony DeLuca basically shredded every discrimination complaint that made it to its desk. BTW, my fave excerpt?:
OK, let me see if I’ve got this straight: Union electrician Tony DeLuca, who Tom Sharp recruited to run for the State Senate, and for whom Mark Brainard ran his election campaigns, is appointed by Secretary of Labor and former Senate Majority Leader/President Pro Tem Tom Sharp, who was appointed by Minner Chief-of-Staff Mark Brainard, to a newly-created position in the Department of Labor which just happens not to receive any Federal funds.
The very idea that, of all Delawareans, union electrician Tony DeLuca was most qualified to head the anti-discrimination unit of the Department of Labor was Tom Sharp’s and Mark Brainard’s idea of a sick joke. Kinda like Henry Ford naming the company town that housed black auto workers ‘Inkster, Michigan’, which at least brought us the Marvelettes (h/t to Dave Marsh). After all, no one stands up against discrimination more than trade unionists, especially electricians. The Plumbers’, Electricians’, Carpenters’, et al, locals are notorious for severely limiting minority opportunities in their shops. Unless you consider the Irish, Italians, et al, minorities. These have traditionally been closed shops which have been forced, by laws, of all things, to grudgingly admit more qualified minorities. Something that falls under the purview of ‘anti-discrimination’.
But, I digress. Y’know, though, the primaries are over, the results were (largely) immensely satisfying, and I can literally smell the coffee. Mmmm, coffee.
Well, I’m caffeinating. And still basking in the afterglow of Val’s demise. So I’ll stop here. Which is where you come in:
What do you want to talk about?