DL Open Thread: Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Delaware State Legislators Take Part In Israeli Propaganda Campaign–In Israel. Genocide? WHAT genocide? Just scroll down to ‘Day 2 of ’50 States One Israel’. The photo on the top right. With the big-ass Delaware flag. Name the legislators. I think they are Senators Paradee and Brown, and Reps. Ross Levin, Shupe and Speigelman.
The Israeli official behind this campaign is one Lior Haiat, Deputy Director General Of The Israeli Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, Head Of The North American Division. In other words, a purveyor of propaganda. I’m guessing that Israel picked up the tab for this photo op, but I’d like to know whether any state funds were spent to greenwash Israel’s ongoing genocide.
Nice to know that Delaware now has a Pro-Genocide Caucus to fill a gap that I didn’t know needed filling.
Somewhere, Bryan Townsend and Krista Griffith Are Crying Tears Of Joy. Because Elon Musk is finally getting what they think he’s worth:
Tesla’s board on Friday proposed a pay package that could make its chief executive, Elon Musk, the world’s first trillionaire as long as he meets a series of very ambitious corporate goals.
Mr. Musk, already the world’s richest person, would have to increase Tesla’s stock market value eightfold over the next decade to collect the full value of the package, according to a securities filing.
All the compensation would be in the form of Tesla shares. The package, which must be approved by the company’s shareholders, is expected to be put to a vote at an annual meeting on Nov. 6.
Take a bow, guys. Wouldn’t have been possible without you. Get your ‘thank-you’ cards yet?
‘Suicide By Lynching’. Yep, it’s back. In Mississippi. It’s being covered up:
Delta State University officials have confirmed that the student found dead on campus Monday morning was 21-year-old Demartravion “Trey” Reed, a student from Grenada.
“Our community is deeply saddened by this loss. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of all those impacted by Tre’s loss,” said Delta State University President Daniel Ennis in a statement.
Reed was discovered just after 7 a.m. hanging from a tree near the pickleball courts at the center of campus, according to Delta State University Police Chief Michael Peeler.
Oh, and the Bolivar County Coroner?:
Bolivar County Deputy Coroner Murray Roark told the press that “I don’t think I should probably discuss this any further than that, my opinion is that it was self-done, and I have reasons for that.”
Well, you just did discuss it. Gotta get the misinformation out there first.
Which reminds me, does anybody think that if anybody had any proof linking Tyler Robinson to ‘left-wing ideology’, Trump and ‘DOJ’ wouldn’t be trumpeting it 24-7? They’ve still managed to pollute the intertubes with unsubstantiated bullshit nonetheless.
Which reminds me, is Pam Biondi vying for the title of ‘Most Unhinged’ in the Trump Cabinet? (Spoiler Alert–all of Trump’s cabinet members are vying for that title.) Nevertheless (Memo to self: Try to avoid using both ‘nonetheless’ and ‘nevertheless’ in the same Open Thread going forward):
US attorney general Pam Bondi’s pledge that the Trump administration will “absolutely target” people who use “hate speech” in the wake of the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has prompted criticism of the idea from across the political spectrum, including from prominent conservatives.
Bondi said on a podcast hosted by Katie Miller, the wife of the rightwing White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, that there is “free speech and then there’s hate speech, and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society”.
Legal experts and conservative pundits have condemned the comments because there is no “hate speech” exception in the first amendment right to speech and as such, targeting people for their charged rhetoric would be unconstitutional.
“There is no unprotected category of speech in the constitution or in the case law called ‘hate speech’,” said Heidi Kitrosser, a Northwestern University law professor. “By being so vague and by talking about speech that doesn’t fit into any legal category, she is basically opening the door for taking action against anyone who engages in speech that the president or the Department of Justice or Stephen Miller doesn’t like.”
In so doing, the Trump Administration has succeeded in getting pathetic pantywaist employers to fire anybody who ever had a cross word to say about ‘Charlie’. To quote Jamelle Bouie:
It doesn’t make any logical sense, at the very least, to hold up Kirk or anyone as a defender and advocate of free speech, and then in the next breath threaten people for not speaking the correct way about the person.
Kirk was surely meaningful to many millions of people, but that doesn’t necessitate anyone in private or public life to have to respond to him a certain way. And the idea that the state itself has essentially an approved view of the situation and will try to punish people for not agreeing to that official view, not heeding that official view, is, I’d say, a direct attack on Americans’ free speech rights in the most classic sense, right?
Like, people often say the First Amendment is about what the government can do about your speech, and this is very much the government threatening to suppress people’s speech because they have an opinion that the people in power don’t like.
Hey, at least the Trump Administration has created one highly-motivated Democratic candidate. A guy who had his longtime security clearance removed by (I can’t even…) Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard:
A former CIA officer stripped of his security clearance by the Trump administration has announced he’s running for Senate as a Democratic candidate to claim Mitch McConnell’s long-held Kentucky seat.
Joel Willett launched his candidacy Wednesday, weeks after director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard revoked his clearance as part of a purge targeting 37 current and former intelligence officials.
“I’ve seen firsthand how the Trump administration and their far-right allies are trying to weaponize the government against anyone who disagrees with them,” Willett said in his announcement. “That just made me more determined to run.”
Following the revocation, Willett faced attacks from Trump-aligned online activists such as Laura Loomer and received death threats, according to his campaign. Gabbard at the time accused those targeted of “politicizing and manipulating intelligence” but provided no supporting evidence for the claims.
But for Willett, the experience has crystallized his concerns about democratic institutions and the treatment of public servants who express dissenting views.
“It’s not lost on me that this happened exactly two weeks after my name surfaced as a potential candidate,” Willett said in an early September interview with the Guardian, calling the revocations “a nakedly political act that is intended to silence dissent”.
A longshot? Yes. But a longshot worth placing a bet on.
What do you want to talk about?
Darius just wanted a free trip probably. Anyway, when you hear local elected bemoan pro Palestinian activists demonstrating in say Leg Hall because foreign policy isn’t a state/local issue just go get one of these genocidal pigs.
Here’s a photo of said swine.
https://x.com/liorhaiat/status/1967923281962619318?s=42
i am still befuddled by how universities, major conglomerates and other rich entities dont push to go to court when trump sues just to get to discovery. a trump lawsuit will never see a courtroom because he’ll never want to get to discovery.
also, i DO want to see one of these so called “arrests” that the trump org is always calling for go to trial. man i’d like to see the podcast director actually try to litigate
Isn’t Darius the guy who got sauced up and threw a drink in a woman’s face at taverna?
Old news. The voters overlooked it.
There’s lots more reasons to hope for an upgrade from Darius, but someone decent would have to step up.
He doesn’t face reelection until 2028.
A reporter at Spotlight Delaware or Delaware Public should find out how much that organization paid to cover the legislators’ expenses or if any state tax dollars were used.
Remember when we used to write “A reporter at The News Journal should find out…”
BTW, you comment should have included WHYY. A third small team doing major league work.
I have indeed passed this on to a reporter for whom I have respect.
Don’t know if anything will come of it…
United Nations Commission of Inquiry, International Association of Genocide Scholars, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam. . . these are just some of the organizations that have credibly concluded Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. (Of course, Israel’s own politicians frequently admit the same.. most recently some dude named Smotrich, Israel’s minister of the treasury who said Gaza was “a real estate bananza” and that Israel “already did the tear down, the first step in urban renewal.”) Whether tax payer dollars were used or not, we should name and shame these Delaware politicians as often as possible. And until I hear a mea culpa, they will never get a dime or a vote from me.
Mea culpas won’t even cut it.
They made clear that they were in solidarity with a country that any reasonable person would conclude has committed genocide.
Wonder if Rep. Levin was a coordinator of the trip, she works for Jewish Federation of Delaware.
As a Jew, I’m against genocide. So are a lot of Jews, seeing as how we were victims of genocide.
That clearly doesn’t resonate with ALL Jews. Rep. Levin apparently being one.
No wonder Trump loves Israel–they kill journalists–in droves:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/09/19/yemen-journalists-strike-israel-houthis/
These electeds must not have any fear of a primary