Occasional Words from the Resistance

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…from the desk of R.E. Vanella. Jemand mußte Josef K. verleumdet haben, denn ohne daß er etwas Böses getan hätte, wurde er eines Morgens verhaftet. --Franz Kafka, ‘Der Proceß’ [Someone must have been telling lies about Josef K. because one morning after doing nothing wrong he was arrested. 'The Trial']

GOP takes first mover advantage: Picks Marino for Upcoming Special

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Marino's 49% against BHL probably overstates his strength a bit because a few of those percentage points can be attributed to the late breaking sign theft scandal. Still, someone running a follow-up race is typically tougher to beat than a pure newbie. Dems will probably field Earl Jaques, who is a workaday retail pol who knows to spend shoe leather.
Congratulations to Ms McBride, Order of the First State Recipient

Congratulations to Ms McBride, Order of the First State Recipient

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This is a “credit where credit is due” two for the price of one. McBride has clearly been instrumental in making the lives of Delaware’s LGBTQ community better, and Markell, for all of his retrograde trickle down economics, has been pretty good on LGBTQ issues. McBride, who was the first openly transgender speaker at a major party’s national convention, also serves on the board of Equality Delaware. She played a pivotal role in the passage of Delaware’s 2013 Gender Identity Non-Discrimination Act, which provided basic legal protections to transgender people in employment, housing, public accommodations, and insurance. “Generations of Delawareans will have better lives thanks to the work and courage of Sarah McBride,” said Gov. Markell. “On their behalf, I’m incredibly grateful.”

Maybe this is why progressive will never take over the party…?

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I can't bear the idea of going to something like this:

Please join the New Castle County Democratic Committee

with special guest

Governor-Elect John Carney

as we honor

Senator Patricia Blevins and Senator Karen Peterson

for a Holiday Brunch Reception

Sunday, December 18, 2016

11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Local 74 Executive Banquet & Conference Center

205 Executive Dr, Newark, DE 19702

$100 per person

$50 for committee members

Cash Bar

Please make checks payable to "New Castle County Democratic

Committee"

RSVP (302) 328-9036 or email at renee@deldems.org

Contributions are not tax-deductible for state or federal income tax purposes.

Congressman John Carney is appearing at this event only as a guest speaker. Congressman Carney is not asking for funds or donations.

Paid for by the Delaware Democratic Party, P.O. Box 2065, Wilmington, DE 19899 Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Open Letter of Apology to Charlie Copeland

Hi Charles, In the run-up to the election, I regularly singled you out for abuse because of your dogged loyalty to Donald Trump. You really were (are?) a stalwart Trump supporter and I was totally convinced that you would regret supporting such an "unelectable" misogynist, white supremacists, bigoted, homophobic a-hole who showed no signs of being mentally or emotionally equipped for being the President of the United States. Well, you were right and I was wrong, so sorry about all that bile I was slinging your way for months. You knew something I didn't know. Even though the odds seemed stacked against you (simply because your party picked an unsavory character to advance widely unpopular policies), you knew you had the advantage Republicans always hold in any electoral contest. You get to run against Democrats. That keeps every election close and it is a huge advantage that I don't think we'll ever be able to match.

Carper Considers Quitting

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I don't know how I missed this:

Carper hasn’t decided if he will run for re-election in 2018

Dec 5th, 2016 · by · Comments: 2
DOVER — U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, who has held elected office in Delaware continuously for 40 years, has not yet decided whether he will seek a fourth term in the Senate.
Sen. John Thune (R-SD) Looking to Carper’s Help Repealing the ACA as Early as January

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) Looking to Carper’s Help Repealing the ACA as Early as January

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Republican Senate leaders said Tuesday that they plan to charge through with their plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act as soon as the new Congress convenes in January. "Obamacare repeal resolution will be the first item up in the new year," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said at his weekly press conference after the GOP caucus lunch.
Either the GOP thinks it has Carper's vote in the bag, or they want Obamacare repeal to fail YET AGAIN in order to be able to keep it in place in order to run against it YET AGAIN in the next mid-term. Flip a coin. Both outlandish explanations make sense in the up is down world of Trump's America. If the answer is Carper's vote is in the bag, we will be hearing about "budget balancing" as the vote draws near. Thune said that Republicans will be attacking the ACA through budget reconciliation, a method that only requires a bare majority vote in the Senate. It is a method that Carper has previously supported when it entailed trading off "entitlement cuts" for debt reduction in what came to be called the "Grand Bargain."
Is Senator Chris Coons Completely Useless?

Is Senator Chris Coons Completely Useless?

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When it comes to standing up to Trump, Coons really is winning the "most spineless" derby. In a recent Slate Podcast Coons spends 15 minutes rephrasing all of Dahlia Lithwick's questions about the beating that the Constitution is already taking, without ever answering any questions. The closest he comes it an answer is to opine, from on high, about that fact that the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution sets up a "fascinating conflict" between originalists and people who think that the Constitution is a living document. Could there be a more entitled approach to Trump's multiple and egregious conflicts of interest? "fascinating conflict" JESUS!