Author Archives: cassandra_m

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"You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas." -Shirley Chisholm

President Obama’s Inaugural Address

If you didn’t get a chance to see or hear it all, here is a video for you (approx. 20 minutes long):

The Washington Post has the transcript of the remarks as they were to be delivered. I’ve been thinking about alot of this (and this speech *is* more progressive than the 2009 one), but the piece that really speaks to me is this one:

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.

It is tough to object to what looks like a goal of a more perfect freedom for all of us.

The conservative reaction seems to be that the President didn’t extend an olive branch to them or somehow boost their self-esteem (especially since they are not subject to the Disarray stories that so vex Democrats). But I say get your self-esteem the old-fashioned way — earn it. And I think that this President spent damn near 4 years extending an olive branch to Republicans only to have them snatch the football away like Lucy each time.

What do you think of the President’s speech today?

Inauguration Day Festivities Open Thread

Today is the public celebration and commemoration of the inauguration of President Barack Obama for his second term. There’s probably plenty of coverage on TV of the leadup to the main event, which looks like it starts around 11. For those of you following the events, this thread is for you to comment on whatever strikes your fancy. If you are at work, you can see Inauguration events live streaming from CSPAN, the White House website (not until 11:20), NBC News, CNN and others. If you can only listen, NPR will start its coverage around 11 or 11:30 and WDEL will start coverage around 11:30. The Delaware Democrats are having a watch party at Timothy’s starting around 11:30, but I think that if you haven’t RSVPed before now, they are probably all booked up.

Barack Obama’s 2nd inauguration comes on Martin Luther King day, in the year of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 100th year since the death of Harriet Tubman. So there is alot of history to think about today and while we celebrate President Obama’s 2nd term, I think we should be considering how we get engaged with the next four years of history to make the kind of changes that might honor our own ancestors’ work.

Or, you could join in with Bill in Portland Maine as he will be spending the day telling the obstructionists of the last four years to Suck It.

Happy Inauguration Day, everyone!

They Blinked

Last Friday, the House GOP emerged from their retreat waving their white flag, noting that they would not hold the economy hostage (at least for another 3 months) over extending the debt limit. Given that this weekend has been largely given over to inauguration news and thoughts on the next 4 years, there hasn’t been a ton of attention on this — which is probably why they surrendered in a Friday afternoon news dump.

Even so, the plan the GOP thinks it has moving forward isn’t exactly the plan of people with alot of cards to play. They think that they can force both Houses to pass a budget, and if either House fails to do so, they don’t get paid. There’s a fair amount of speculation as to whether interfering with the pay of Congresspeople and Senators is constitutional, but frankly I don’t care if they get paid. Nancy Pelosi calls this entire business a gimmick and she’d be correct. What this relies on (and the folks at the editorial page of the NJ have fallen for this lock, stock and barrel) is you not knowing how Congress works and how much credibility you give to wingnut talking points. While a budget may be required by law, it is a policy document ONLY — there is no obligation to follow that budget once you get to passing the Appropriations Bills. These are where the action is and where the actual authorizations to spend money happen. And do note that it is Congress to authorizes the spending of money — not the President. So raising the debt ceiling is still about getting Congress to pay the bills they rack up. Certainly they are obligated to produce a budget, but not having one doesn’t get in the way of doing Appropriations Bills to make sure that the government runs.

So while the NJ is looking for more gimmicks, how about a gimmick that might get the Senate GOP to not filibuster a budget? Because it doesn’t matter what happens in the Senate, a budget *will* be filibustered and you are back to square one. Or you are back to working on Appropriations Bills. Chuck Schumer says that the Senate will definitely produce a budget — but one with both tax reform built in AND with new revenues built in. The GOP gimmick here is that they think that they get to fight against Senate Democrats AND that the sequester is their leverage. Oddly, that sequester gets them a bunch of spending cuts, which they say they want. So you’d think that this isn’t an especially good hostage. Although I know that there are plenty of Democrats who badly want to avoid the DOD cuts that the sequester executes, at the end of the day, both parties get the spending cuts they so showily keep saying they want.

At this point, everyone is waiting for the bill that extends the debt ceiling — to see if it is a clean bill or loaded up with a bunch of teajhadi BS and to hear what President Obama’s response is. But a surrendered GOP is a good thing and it is important to make sure that they are reminded often about how bad their hand is.

Inauguration Day for Governor Markell and Lt. Governor Matt Denn

Today is the day! Both Governor Markell and Lt. Governor Matt Denn will be sworn in for their new terms TODAY at 11AM in Dover. Since bad weather is predicted, they’ve moved the ceremony indoors to the auditorium of Central Middle School, 211 Delaware Ave., Dover, 19901.

If you are going, the Press Release noting this change says that there is parking for the Public on the streets surrounding the school (Kent Avenue, Maple Lane, Delaware Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, American Avenue, Hazel Road, Smith Street). Parking is first come, first serve. There is also security screening for everyone, so they ask you to be there by 10:30 to get through that process and be seated before the ceremony starts.

The ceremony will be live streamed at the State’s website here. Not sure if there will be other broadcasts, but if anyone knows, please post that in the comments.

If you are watching the event, feel free to use the comments below to live blog or just comment MST3K style.

Governor Markell’s Press Conference Announcing Gun Safety Legislation Live Streaming Now

Governor Markell, Lt. Governor Matt Denn and Attorney General Beau Biden are holding a joint news conference to unveil proposed gun safety legislation for the state. The event should start TODAY at 10AM, and should be streaming live at the state’s website. I also believe that WDEL plans to carry this live as well.

Feel free to use this thread to discuss the event and the initiatives.

Saturday Open Thread [1.12.13]

The weekend! And it seems like the political news has slowed down some, or is that just me? Anyway, I do hope that you have plans to enjoy this warm weekend.

So the people who have been screaming about STOPPING SPENDING petitioned the White House to build a Death Star. Like a Star Wars, I am your father, Death Star. It got enough signatories for the White House to respond. And their response is: Uh, No. Staring with the very funny title — This Isn’t the Petition Response You’re Looking For — the official White House reasons for not building a Death Star include:

  • The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We’re working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.
  • The Administration does not support blowing up planets.
  • Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?

No matter what you think of these people, when they turn on the wit and humor, they’re good.

Closer to home, NCCo Assistant Attorney Edward Danberg quits over the county changing its position vis the traffic study that wasn’t done before approving the re-zoning of Barley Mill Plaza. The traffic study *should* have been done, no question. But not telling one of your Attorneys of Record in a lawsuit defending the decision that the County is changing course is an unforced error.

If you haven’t been following the crisis over Jack Lew’s signature, this should get you up to speed on the controversy:

And the Department of Homeland Security follows the lead of many others sounding the alarm bell and advises users to disable Java 7 in your browsers due to a security flaw.

What interests you today?

QOTD — Have You Gotten a Flu Shot?

The news for the last few days has been filled with stories on the numbers, geographical location and the suffering of people contracting the flu this year. Suddenly, everyone is giving you scary info and urging you to get flu shots.

Google Flu Trends is showing flu activity to be pretty intense all over the country:

So what do you do? Do you get flu shots or do you ignore the hype and expect to be OK?

Last time I got a flu shot, I got the flu. But then, it gave me time off enough to watch the first three seasons of the Sopranos AND all of the commentary. Haven’t had one since.

Let us know your strategy in the comments.

Friday Open Thread [1.11.13]

Friday! Yay! Just a few hours until Happy Hour.

You’ve probably heard of the contretemps between Piers Morgan and Alex Jones based on their interview discussing gun rights and the obligation to gun safety. Apparently Morgan pissed off Jones, who started a White House petition demanding that Morgan get deported. This petition was answered by WH Press Secretary Jay Carney, who used it as an opportunity to explain that the First Amendment means something:

Let’s not let arguments over the Constitution’s Second Amendment violate the spirit of its First. President Obama believes that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. However, the Constitution not only guarantees an individual right to bear arms, but also enshrines the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press — fundamental principles that are essential to our democracy. Americans may disagree on matters of public policy and express those disagreements vigorously, but no one should be punished by the government simply because he or she expressed a view on the Second Amendment — or any other matter of public concern.

Awesome — read your constitution, people!

Have we talked about these people? These are the Sandy Hook Truthers — people who are pushing a story that the tragedy at Sandy Hook did not happen. And it was specifically staged by the Obama Administration (for a variety of reasons) with the participation of the parents of the murdered children. Despicable, is what it is.

This is one great read — from Ezra Klein, an argument for Joe Biden running in 2016.

For a 70-year-old man, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden sure spends an awful lot of time winning the Internet. No other living politician has quite the same ratio of words spoken to memes inspired. Last week’s contribution was the patter of joyously weird, occasionally creepy, one-liners he threw off while swearing in the 113th Senate.[…]

In the continuing drama that is the Obama presidency, Biden often appears as comic relief. He’s the zany neighbor, the adorable uncle. As a result, his presidential ambitions, which burn brightly even today, have mostly been laughed off. Somehow, the sitting vice president of the United States, the former chairman of both the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee, a man who’s on a nickname basis with many of the world’s most powerful leaders, is seen in many quarters as lacking the gravitas to be president.

Yet just a few days before he was giving dating advice on C-SPAN2, Biden again proved himself perhaps the most effective member of the Obama administration. He reprised his role as the White House closer, the guy who can cut a deal with the Republicans after everyone else has failed. In the end, Biden got Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to strike a deal that the White House was happy with. That’s something neither Obama nor Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner had achieved. And it wasn’t the first time. Biden also helped close the 2011 deal that lifted the debt ceiling and the 2010 deal that extended the Bush tax cuts in return for fresh stimulus.

What interests you today?

House GOP Priorities Include a Continuation of the War on Women

Rescuing anon’s comment from the Open Thread, Paul Ryan has decided that his first signature act of this new Congress would be to cosponsor a bill that would give legal rights to a zygote. Bills like this were roundly defeated everyplace they came up in 2012, if they even survived legal challenges. So this is the signal, right? That the GOP intends to beat their own record for the Worst Congress Ever.

From the Huffington Post:

Despite the deep unpopularity of fetal personhood bills in 2012, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has again decided to cosponsor the Sanctity of Human Life Act, a bill that gives full legal rights to human zygotes from the moment of fertilization.

Ryan, who reportedly has 2016 presidential ambitions, had to de-emphasize his opposition to abortion without exceptions during the 2012 election to align his position with presidential candidate Mitt Romney. But this year, Ryan has been tapped as a keynote speaker for the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List’s sixth annual Campaign for Life Gala, and he is re-upping his support for the most extreme anti-abortion legislation in the country.

The personhood bill, first introduced in 2011 by Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) and reintroduced by Broun last week, specifies that a “one-celled human embryo,” even before it implants in the uterus to create a pregnancy, should be granted “all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood.” Similar legislation has been rejected by voters in multiple states, including the socially conservative Mississippi, because legal experts have pointed out that it could outlaw some forms of birth control and in vitro fertilization as well as criminalize abortion at all stages.

Broun said in a statement that a zygote’s right to life should be “defended vigorously and at all costs.”

Note that last statement. There are no live children with a right to life according to this world view. They want to work on a legal right to life for zygotes while there are children in Newtown and other places whose right to life was subordinate to the right of gun owners to uselessly point their guns at the government. These are the same people who are all for cutting back on child-oriented programs like SNAP or SCHIP and even education. These are the people at Ground Zero of the On Your Own Society who clearly do not get that there is NO human zygote that can survive on its own. It needs a mother who wants to carry it to term — even though a mother’s rights would now be subordinate to this new legal entity.

Wonkette does their usually snarky take on this thing, but they make a good point here that needs to be made over and over and over as this Congress gets suited up to do this kind of bullshit:

Aren’t we lucky, fellow Amercians, that someone is thinking of the children? Also, no wonder Paul Ryan got a standing ovation when he came back from the campaign. He’s in the trenches, doing the hard work of co-sponsoring legislation that has absolutely no chance of passing and has nothing to do with jobs, the economy, or the deficit.
Read more at http://wonkette.com/496338/paul-ryan-focusing-on-jobs-with-new-bill-about-one-celled-embryos#Bb03pmqavZl5RY7V.99

Thursday Open Thread [1.10.13]

President Obama nominates his Chief of Staff, Jack Lew, to head the Treasury Department and the Republicans are having a fit. Why? Jon Chait has the answer:

Lew’s disqualification, according to numerous Republicans quoted in the story, is that he doesn’t agree with Republicans on public policy issues. The quotes are sort of amazing:

Johanns said it’s also about policy, saying a Lew choice would be “controversial.”
“I just think there are economic policies in this administration that haven’t been well received, and Jack Lew is in the middle of that,” he said.
“We’ve got to have a person who has credibility with the leaders of the American and world economy, someone who has credibility with the Congress, and I would feel like Mr. Lew’s nomination would be a mistake,” Sessions said.

This is the problem with Brennan and Hagel, fundamentally too. None of these people sufficiently reflect GOP policy. Someone should remind them that they aren’t in charge. And conservatives reading should remember this next time one of their guys is in the White House. I don’t see Lew as representing policy different from that Geithner pushed, so it seems stupid of the GOP to make a federal case out of this.

Nate Silver is still on his book tour, and he did a Q&A at Reddit on Tuesday — the NYT has an edited transcript of the session:

Q. Which do you find more frustrating to analyze, politics or sports?
— doogie92

A.Politics. I don’t think its close. Between the pundits and the partisans, you’re dealing with a lot of very delusional people. And sports provides for much more frequent reality checks. If you were touting how awesome Notre Dame was, for example*, you got very much slapped back into reality last night. In politics, you can go on being delusional for years at a time.

Full disclosure: I said in a NYT video yesterday that I’d bet Notre Dame against the spread.

AIG’s Board declines to join in the lawsuit against the US for bailout terms unfavorable to shareholders. AIG also notes that it will not let Hank Greenberg’s company (Starr International) pursue any damages in AIG’s name, either. Good for them — especially since some of them (including Greenberg) who ought to be enjoying some extended time at Club Fed.

For the rock and roll geeks among us — Grantland is running a 7 part series called The Winner’s History of Rock and Roll. Part 1 covers Led Zeppelin. Why the Winner’s History?

If [Marshall] Mathers had been born in the ’50s instead of the ’70s, he probably would’ve made his dreams real by forming a rock band. For decades, rock and roll was fueled by the same greed for cultural capital that now powers the hip-hop generation. You don’t always get that impression reading the rock history books; critics have long focused inordinately on the rabble-rousers who gathered outside the gates of castles constructed by purveyors of commercial decadence and Middle American ubiquity, and cheered as these artists waved their pitchforks at mass consumer culture while asserting their autonomy from it. Rock history is written by the losers, in other words, which is why the importance of insurgents is overstated while the people inside the castles — the rich and famous rulers of middle-of-the-road rock and roll — are disregarded or flat-out ignored.

So the author wants to write a rock and roll history based on his admittedly “mainstream” music tastes rather than any tastemaker’s effete list. And then he writes this bit of hilarity:

Before Led Zeppelin was the Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin was Nickelback. Led Zeppelin was routinely slammed for being derivative and crass.

No idea how true this is, but it is a hilarious line.

So what interests you today?