DL Open Thread Saturday, April 18, 2026

Whoopee! Trump says the Strait of Iran (sic) is open again! And you can believe what Trump says, right? Especially on Friday afternoons. Tell ya what, though, you go through first. No links because at publication time nobody actually has any clear idea of what’s going on.

It seems Secretary of Belligerence Pete Hegseth isn’t the only administration official with a drinking problem. The Atlantic has a paywalled article detailing heavy boozing by FBI director Kash Patel, with details that should sound familiar to anyone who’s ever been to a frat party (the link goes to an unpaywalled summary).

Give Wilmington Mayor John Carney credit for his commitment to recycling. He’s named old standby Claire DeMatteis to serve as director of Wilmington’s Human Resources Department.

You might have heard that some Delaware lawmakers are debating a bill that would exempt tips from the swipe fees banks collect on credit card purchases. Illinois has already passed such a law, though it doesn’t take effect until July 1, and the banking industry wants very badly to make sure no other states follow suit. That’s why they’ve already spent more than $100,000 lobbying Delaware legislators to kill the bill. In the meantime, those who remember something called “cash” can always leave a tip that way.

Speaking of tips, you might have seen the stupid PR stunt Trump pulled on Monday when he had a woman now known as Doordash Grandma deliver a sack of McDonald’s burgers to the White House. The story was bullshit from top to bottom – do you really think a delivery driver would be allowed through the gates? – but Amanda Marcotte points out that the bottom is lower than you might think. Grandma actually has a tragic story – she’s making food deliveries to help pay the medical bills for her husband’s cancer treatment.

Elon Musk’s war against Delaware’s Chancery Court is in its final stages, and the court seems eager to have it over with. Bloomberg Law has the details.

The messy split between the world’s richest person and America’s corporate capital cleared another hurdle this week when a judge dismissed the last Tesla Inc. investor lawsuits filed in Delaware, effectively sending them to Texas. The ruling came days after Musk’s bias allegations led the chief of Delaware’s Chancery Court to reassign the litigation under bizarre circumstances.

If Delaware’s top tribunal upholds the April 13 decision after a likely appeal, the tech titan will get his prize: home court advantage in a jurisdiction jury-rigged to kill shareholder suits in the cradle. Texas now lets businesses restrict so-called derivative litigation to investors owning at least 3%, which for Tesla means just Musk.

“It’s time for the Delaware-Musk relationship to be severed,” said University of Richmond law professor Jessica Erickson. “It’s not healthy for anyone involved. It needs to end. But the outcome here certainly raises questions about whether other companies might try the same tactics.”

“What I think this reflects is that at least one Delaware judge just doesn’t want to be in the business of policing Elon Musk anymore,” said Colorado Law professor Ann Lipton.

For all Delaware’s problems, at least it’s not in the Arid, Arid West. The American Prospect has a long read on the looming water wars over the dwindling Colorado River supply. Meanwhile, there are more than 370 golf courses in Arizona, so cry me a river.

The floor’s yours.