Tuesday Morning Quick Hits
Longtime Delaware civil rights activist Littleton Mitchell, 90, has died in a car accident. Mitchell was a Tuskeegee Airmen and served for 30 years as president of the state’s NAACP chapter.
Governor Markell signed SB 84 yesterday, giving de facto parents official recognition for the purposes of custody and parental rights.
I rushed out to buy the dead tree version of the Washington Post this morning, and my interview for the Federal Eye column has been reduced to the following sentence: “Delaware observers expect that Castle and Biden will run [for Kaufman’s seat].” Pfft. Well duh. Obviously I was just “on background.” That is why Delaware Liberal and our counterparts on the left and right exist in Delaware blogosphere, to fill in the gaps left behind by our national and local media.
A must read Eugene Robinson this morning:
John McCain should publicly apologize for putting the nation he loves at risk by choosing Palin as his running mate … The reasons she gave for stepping down are not just contrived or implausible but literally nonsensical … The thing is, Palin’s unsuitability for high public office has been obvious all along …
There are basically two reasons the political class and the commentariat continue to speak and write about Palin as if she were a substantial figure whose presence on the national stage is anything but a cruel, unfunny joke. The first is fear — not of Palin and her know-nothing legions, but of being painted as elitist and sexist. […] The other reason Palin is taken more seriously than she deserves is that she has a constituency. Heaven help us.
Actually, she does have a constitutency, and that makes her a player in politics, but her constituency makes her so toxic that she can never be elected President of the United States and anyone thinking otherwise is so delusional that committment to a mental health institution is in their future. Thus, if Palin and her crazed legions want to run in 2012 or 2016, I say go for it, for that means Democratic victory.
The South Carolina state GOP has censured Governor Mark Sanford.
The formal reprimand passed by the SC GOP states that Governor Sanford failed to act in accordance with the core principals and beliefs of the Republican Party. The declaration called the censure appropriate and said it would be the last word on the matter.
That was quick. For when a Democratic President had an affair that he lied about, we Americans had to endure 13 months of impeachment proceedings. And Governor Palin complains about double standards.
As usual, Eugene is over the top. He is a whackjob. I can figure out Palin is a joke and an idiot without his arrogant hyperbole.
If Eugene Robinson is the liberal whackjob as compared to the whackjobs named Beck, Hannity, and Limbaugh on the right, I will take Robinson everyday of the week and twice on Sunday.
Those other guys are so crazy that whackjob is a compliment. Robinson is just a partisan hack whackjob who is condescending on a regular basis. His lens is skewed whereas the others have no lens or filter. I guess that’s my way of saying I’d agree with you and take Robinson over the ones you listed, but in a vacuum I’d take none of them.
I don’t see what is especially hyperbolic about Robinson’s piece. It isn’t like he made up any of it or even exaggerated any of the facts or circumstances like the Becks and the Hannitys would have.
While the Beast Who Slumbers doesn’t always agree w/John Young, and strongly disagrees with him over Eugene Robinson, ya got to give the man his props.
He’s got great taste in music. ‘Bulo wandered over to his site today:
http://transparentchristina.wordpress.com/
and experienced some serious ’70’s flashbacks.
He especially enjoyed (a) ‘The Cos’ introducing Steely Dan, and the Dan itself in its earliest configuration. But there’s lots of great tunes (and opinion) there.
El “He Came For the Articles, But Stayed for the Music” Somnambulo
BTW, if John would like to guest-post a ‘Music For the Masses’ sequence, ‘bulo’s all for it.
Bill Clinton was president while sanford is a governor. A big difference. Also, It was more the lying under oath than the actual affair.
Nope, Phil. For Republicans it was about the sex. It always is.
Sex is hereditary. If your parents didn’t have it, chances are, neither will you.
I hate it when people say that Rush, Hannity, et al. = some left-leaning political pundit. If that pundit makes up facts, twists and truncates quotations and promotes violence then they would have a point. If the pundit, like Eugene Robinson, is fairly mainstream it doesn’t make sense.
I would liken Robinson more to a George Will or Charles Krauthammer. Comparing him to Hannity or Limbaugh is just wrong.
No.
When Robinson makes up stuff the way that Will and Krauthammer do (or at minimum further the talking points) you might have a point. The fact that these guys are mainstream doesn’t mean much to the credibility of their work.
Robinson is just a partisan hack whackjob who is condescending on a regular basis.
John Y: Robinson is just saying what so many others are saying, only better. Exactly what forms the basis of your analysis? I assume Newark HS teachers still require students to give supporting evidence if an essay is to get a passing grade.
John, as with much in life I am offering an opinion. Perhaps it was his endless commentary on MSNBC during the election cycle in 2008 that just wore me out. He did what I consdier to be a poor job of masking his political leanings while in a position of appearing to offer actual unbiased analysis. His writing is also very hyperbolic, example:
“John McCain should publicly apologize for putting the nation he loves at risk by choosing Palin as his running mate ”
No, John McCain does not need to apologize, in my opinion. He took a chance and America called him on it, to suggest John McCain needs to apologize for exercising his right to choose Sarah Palin no matter how inept she was and is, is utterly ridiculous to me. In fact, his selection likely helped elect Obama.
Eugene should just take a chill pill and actually try toning down the rhetoric of division….like Obama would want him to, again, in my opinion.
The right wing jerks mentioned in comparison are way worse than Eugene, but he doesn’t get a pass with me, again, in my opinion.
Also, I am not employed by the Christina School District.
‘bulo, thanks for the props, would love to groove out as a “guester” one night over here.
JY – Thanks for fleshing out your answer. Bear in mind that Robinson’s terse summary – “apologize .. nation at risk” – is not much different than what McCain staffers are saying. See Purdum’s article:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/08/sarah-palin200908
After the corrupt or vapid vice presidencies of Agnew and Quayle, all agree that the quality and preparedness of a vice presidential nominee is critical. For McCain, with his age and health issues, to seek to entrust the vice presidency, by dint of his own whim, to Palin is akin to my inviting my 9-year-old neighbor to take my car on a solo onto I-95 — only with 6 billion lives at stake.
Perhaps this is just “hyperbole to me is calm and rational to you”. No harm, just a difference of opinion.
I think McCain’s poor judgment is looking even worse in hindsight.
the more important news is that Littleton Mitchell died…the man should be an inspiration to us all!
agreed: http://transparentchristina.wordpress.com/2009/07/07/delaware-has-lost-a-legend/
UI, agree 100%