DL Open Thread: Saturday, August 30, 2025

Arden Fair Day!  I’ll be working the Book Sale in the Gild Hall from 10-12.  I noticed an incredible number of books that would fascinate cinephiles amongst this year’s offerings.  Just sayin’.

The Supreme Court Will Ultimately Determine Whether Fascism Triumphs.  Removal Of Immigrants.  Tariffs.  Journalism. Firing Of Independent Federal Officials.  Those are just today’s examples.  They will ultimately rule on virtually every excessive action taken by Trump.  All of which challenge the traditional (and often constitutional) roles of governmental institutions.  Were I making predictions, I’d predict:  Fascism triumphs.

Bobby Brainworm Must Go.  He and his like-minded cult members are destroying America’s public health system.  I think that ultimately his anti-vaxx obsession will do him in.  We can only hope it happens before it does us in:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called for a bipartisan investigation into the firing of Susan Monarez as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), slamming the administration for making a “reckless” and “dangerous” decision.

“We need leaders at the CDC and [Department of Health and Human Services] who are committed to improving public health and have the courage to stand up for science, not officials who have a history of spreading bogus conspiracy theories and disinformation,” Sanders, the ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said on Thursday.

“When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda. For that, she has been targeted,” Washington, D.C., attorney Mark Zaid said in a statement on Monarez’s behalf.

My wife is a pharmacist.  People are terrified they won’t be able to get vaccines.  They are already being limited in some states, but not in Delaware.  The new COVID vaccine will likely be available in about another week or so.

Right-Wing Wisconsin Jurist Will Not Seek Reelection.  Can you say ‘reading the tea leaves’?:

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley will not seek reelection next spring, saying the best path in her “fight for liberty is not as a minority member of the Court.”

The decision puts to bed speculation about the intentions of Bradley, a stalwart of the court’s conservative minority.

Bradley had indicated she would seek an additional term on the court in April, after the election of liberal Justice Susan Crawford solidified the high court’s majority for years to come.

In a statement sent to WisPolitics, Bradley said she is seeking to “rebuild the conservative movement.”

“For years I have warned that under the control of judicial activists, the court will make itself more powerful than the legislature, more powerful than the governor,” she said. “That warning went unheeded, and Wisconsin has seen only the beginning of what is an alarming shift from thoughtful, principled judicial service toward bitter partisanship, personal attacks, and political gamesmanship that have no place in court.”

We all know what she means–activist judges suck because they are no longer conservative activist judges.  You know, like when Scott Walker was governor.

I Trust Jesse Chadderdon:

Gov. Matt Meyer says he did not make a deal to allow a marijuana zoning bill to become law, but the Senate Democrats chief of staff argues otherwise.  (Meaning, the entire Senate Democratic Caucus argues otherwise.)

Delaware Public Media spoke with Senate Democrats Chief of Staff Jesse Chadderdon for clarity on the deal, which he says was discussed repeatedly prior to the governor’s veto.

“It was a deal that ended in a handshake and a hug between the two of them [Sen. Paradee and John Kane]. It was a deal that was discussed at the [communications] level. It was a deal that was discussed between me and John and other members of senior staff, and it was discussed repeatedly when June 30 came and went,” Chadderdon said. “I touched base with the governor’s office almost weekly about where things stood with certain bills, and I asked about SB 75, and it was reiterated to me that, yes, that was still the plan. They were just kind of working through operations on their side, that maybe they had to have another conversation with the governor. But there was no indication, frankly, until they picked up the bill last Thursday and suggested they were going to veto it, that there was a problem here.”

If Meyer thinks that engaging in cunning linguistics will make this go away, he thinks wrong.  Don’t think he can unring this bell.  How can he reach compromises on anything after breaking his word on something this important and cut-and-dried?

We’ll let Jesse (meaning the entire Senate Democratic Caucus) have the final word:

“When Sen. Paradee says the governor is untrustworthy, he’s speaking for a number of his colleagues. And when the next day comes, and the governor’s response to that is to essentially double-down and say he has no idea about any deal, I think it enhances the feeling that we’re not always dealing with an honest broker in the governor’s office, and that’s something that we’ve got to figure out how to navigate,” Chadderdon said.

“Our job as the legislature going forward is figuring out how we can work with this administration. How we can, if we need to, work around this administration, but still be productive. And I hope that when the smoke clears of this incident and there’s some reflection that happens, this can be a learning experience for how not to handle relations with the legislature, for how not to handle negotiations over a piece of legislation,” Chadderdon said, further arguing the governor attaching draft legislation to a veto statement is “not productive,” and that talks should have been had during the legislative session when dialogs could have ensued over reaching a compromise.

Couldn’t agree more.

What do you want to talk about?