DL Open Thread: Friday, March 14, 2025
We now know what Delaware and national Democratic politicians have in common: Fealty/fear to/of Elon Musk.
BTW, it’s easy to predict which D’s will cave. Schumer will give dispensation to anybody running in 2026. Which demonstrates just how unpopular his selling-out of his Party is. That way, Coons can masquerade as a real D, even though we know he’s not. Add ‘cynical’ to ‘pathetic’.
Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo details the entire Schumer rope-a-dope (must-reading):
There was an afternoon caucus meeting that was apparently heated and raucous. Sen. Gillibrand led the charge to allow the CR to go through. A shutdown was worse, she insisted. But behind all this Chuck Schumer was really the driver.
24 hours earlier, Schumer went to floor and announced that Republicans didn’t have the votes for cloture. On first glance it appeared his caucus had decided to defy the President and his congressional party. But it was a ploy. He was playing his voters for fools. It soon emerged that Schumer’s plan was to engineer what amounted to a performative stand-down, a choreographed interlude of opposition followed by the passage of the GOP bill.
He had at least seven “yes” votes in hand and probably two or three more “yes” votes on top of those. And that was it. He’d wanted to keep his hands clean. But when that wasn’t possible he got them dirty. I think there’s a decent chance Schumer went forward in the afternoon precisely to halt the erosion of support for the plan he favored. I don’t like to speak ill of the politically dead, but Schumer is a weak man and a fool.
There was a recognition up in the Senate yesterday that letting the bill pass was a bad idea, but that was matched by a pained realization that the caucus wasn’t ready for the fight. They hadn’t laid any of the groundwork. They didn’t have a clear answer of what they’d be fighting for if a shutdown happened. They’d put their bets on Mike Johnson not being able to get a bill through the House without Democratic votes. When he did, they were caught flatfooted. But the “they” here is Chuck Schumer. That’s the leader’s job. He led them into a corner.
Dog Bites Man: Megachurch Pastor/Trump Ally Indicted On Child Sex Abuse Charges. Charges dropped in 3-2-1?:
On Wednesday, a multicounty Oklahoma grand jury indicted the 63-year-old former senior pastor on five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child.
Gateway, which began with 30 members gathering in Morris’s home, is among the largest churches in the United States, with nine Dallas-area campuses and more than 100,000 parishioners, according to the archived webpage.
Which reminds me–gotta catch up with the fourth and final season of The Righteous Gemstones.
Plane Mishaps Moving From Anecdotal To Empirical? Perhaps not yet, but wait awhile:
An American Airlines plane that was diverted to Denver International Airport on Thursday evening after experiencing “engine vibrations” caught fire while taxiing to a gate, prompting the evacuation of dozens of passengers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Twelve people were taken to hospitals, all with minor injuries, said Michael Konopasek, a spokesman for the airport.
The flight, a Boeing 737-800 with 172 passengers and six crew members, was traveling from Colorado Springs to Dallas but was diverted to the Denver airport, the airline said. Some of the passengers were evacuated from the aircraft using slides, the F.A.A. said.
“After landing safely and taxiing to the gate at Denver International Airport, American Airlines Flight 1006 experienced an engine-related issue,” the airline said.
Fired Workers Must Be Rehired Immediately:
A federal judge on Thursday ordered federal agencies to rehire tens of thousands of probationary employees who were fired amid President Donald Trump’s turbulent effort to drastically shrink the federal bureaucracy.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup described the mass firings as a “sham” strategy by the government’s central human resources office to sidestep legal requirements for reducing the federal workforce.
Alsup issued his ruling in a lawsuit brought by federal employee unions. He lashed out at the Justice Department over its handling of the case, saying he believes that Trump administration lawyers were hiding the facts about who directed the mass firings.
“You will not bring the people in here to be cross-examined. You’re afraid to do so because you know cross examination would reveal the truth,” the judge said to a DOJ attorney during a hearing Thursday. “I tend to doubt that you’re telling me the truth. … I’m tired of seeing you stonewall on trying to get at the truth.”
Alsup also said the administration attempted to circumvent federal laws on reducing the workforce by attributing the firings to “performance” when that was not in fact the case. The judge called the move “a gimmick.”
“It is sad, a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie,” Alsup said.
The biggest ever fatberg found in Western Australia has been pulled from a sewer, weighing in at 30,000kg.
Fatbergs are made up of material that cannot dissolve in water – such as oil, grease and wet wipes flushed down sinks and toilets – which then pile up and stick together.
The whopping mass of waste was pulled from the WA Water Corporation’s Woodman Point wastewater treatment facility south of Perth this week as part of a preventative maintenance program to “keep the pipes flowing”.
Just thought you’d like to know.
Matt Meyer’s fatuous statement about the corporate law bill:
“Since the turn of the last century, Delaware has been the most desired state for business owners—small and large—and stockholders, controlling and noncontrolling, to incorporate in the country. In part, it is because of our state’s ability to move swiftly to meet market demands. Today, we are in one of those moments. We must once again demonstrate why we retain an unparalleled reputation for clarity, predictability and fairness in global markets. (‘We need to make sure that what Elon wants, Elon gets’) That is why I am urging both chambers in the state’s legislature to move with the urgency this issue deserves and to pass Senate Bill 21 as quickly as possible.”
Ain’t ya proud to be a Democrat? If you still are one?
What do you want to talk about?
“Ain’t ya proud to be a Democrat? If you still are one?” I think Coward Schumer broke me from those final bonds yesterday. Rather than donating another dollar or making another phone call on behalf of these shams (looking at you Fetterman–I worked my ass off and gave you way too much money, you f’ing fraud), I feel my efforts would be more productive organizing a left wing paramilitary “club”.
^Like
If you start a GoFundMe you’ll have plenty of start-up scratch.
Just left voicemails for Coons & Blunt Rochester to vote No for cloture and the CR. Earlier in the week when I called, Coons was a No vote on both according to office staff. Does anyone know if that’s changed? Blunt Rochester’s staff at the time said she had not made a decision yet.
If Schumer really has the Yes votes for cloture then voting No is a free vote with no consequence and no indicator of courage. Chuck’s list of turncoats is likely those who feel vulnerable or those who are planning to retire. Coons and LBR are neither.
LBR hadn’t ‘made a decision yet’?
That, in and of itself, is pathetic.
If you’re a leader, you are by definition not going to run for a seat in the Senate.
“Schumer is a weak man and a fool.” It doesn’t seem possible to lay a glove on Trump until this generation of Democratic “leadership” get shitcanned.
Democrats seem like an NBA team choosing to tank themselves. That may be the only hope for a new generation of leaders, slim as it is.
The key there is to not flub the draft pick.
With our luck, we end up with Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz.
None of the dems actually care. if they did they would be trying to force a vote to oust shummer the way maga would every time their leader didnt do what they wanted. dems wont do that because civil and politically correct. i swear if trump waited a few years to destroy everything i may turn republican. at least they yell and scream when things dont go their way. dems just make sure their paycheck cashed
There will be some designated villains in the Senate, but there will also be a number of No votes who are relieved the Republican plan will pass without their fingerprints on it. Coons is one of them.
Now, the only act of courage is to call on Schumer to resign.
I believe I saw a video from LBR last night on social media with her saying she’s voting no today.
The invaluable Josh Marshall on the Schumer cave-in:
Meyer and Townsend being on the same side for the corporate give away is like Elon Musk forcing toddlers to wear the “no fighting” shirt. Hope they don’t mend fences, we have enough giveaways. What’s next, offer to pay all tariffs at the Port? Sell a state park to be a Tesla dealership? Ceasing all regulation on the Delaware City Refinery? (Oh wait)
Here are the so-called Democrats who voted to pass the Rethug bill that had passed the House:
“Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin (Illinois), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada), Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire), John Fetterman (Pennsylvania), Kirsten Gillibrand (New York), Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire), Gary Peters (Michigan) and Brian Schatz (Hawaii) joined Schumer and (Maine Independent Angus) King in voting for the bill.”
Shaheen and Peters are retiring, so it was a freebie for them.