National

“National Guard troops fanned out through Baltimore, shield-bearing police officers blocked the streets and firefighters doused still-simmering blazes early Tuesday after riots, looting and violent unrest engulfed swaths of the city Monday,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The unrest came just hours after thousands of people attended a funeral for Freddie Gray , a 25-year-old black man who died in police custody earlier this month. Fifteen officers were injured, and at least 27 people were arrested as Baltimore became the latest national flash point for race relations and law enforcement.” The Baltimore Sun, of course, has the best coverage, as local news always does. And yes, the "Purge" rumor was/is real. And in case you are confused over my stance on this issue: I believe the riots are justified. The Baltimore Police Department is a thug operation with a long history of past crimes and abuses perpetrated on the community it is supposed to protect, and it should be cleaned out:

Over the past four years, more than 100 people have won court judgments or settlements related to allegations of brutality and civil rights violations [by the Baltimore police department]. Victims include a 15-year-old boy riding a dirt bike, a 26-year-old pregnant accountant who had witnessed a beating, a 50-year-old woman selling church raffle tickets, a 65-year-old church deacon rolling a cigarette and an 87-year-old grandmother aiding her wounded grandson.

That is the backdrop and the spark. Riots don't start in a vacuum by bad people. If that were the case, there would be riots everyday. No, you need community involvement to start it. You need a community that is fed up and that has had enough. This has been building up for a long, long time in Baltimore and around the country. There have been decades of systemic inequality, bad policing, a war on drugs and a biased criminal justice system. This country is damned lucky we don't have more riots in more cities. But if we don't fix this country now, that is where we are headed.

The 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership is a well known steaming pile of shit. Tom Carper says that the TTP gives him a huge boner because f#cking the American worker in the ass is what his paymasters sent him to Congress to do. And by GOD he is gonna do it. (paraphrasing) That said, the NJ's Nicole Gaudiano gives Claire Snyder-Hall the last word in this write up. "Fast Track and TPP are bad for American workers, but they are also bad for democracy," Claire Snyder-Hall of Delaware Americans for Democratic Action said in a statement. "TPP erodes the ability of the American people to make laws for themselves. Laws passed to protect American workers, the environment, local industries, or food safety could be deemed unfair trade practices under TPP, and there will be nothing we can do about it."

As you may know, a 25 year old Baltimore resident, Freddie Gray, was arrested by Baltimore City Police on April 12. At some point after his arrest, likely as he was being transported to jail in a 'paddywagon,' Gray suffered a spinal injury that eventually killed him seven days later. Six city police officers have been suspended pending an investigation into Gray’s death. A big protest in downtown Baltimore on Saturday turned a little violent in the evening hours. A Baltimore sportscaster, Brett Hollander, took to Twitter to say that demonstrations that negatively impact the daily lives of fellow citizens are counter-productive. I have found that this is usually the position of those who oppose protests: "Hey, I am all for what they are doing, but they are inconveniencing me, and therefore they must be stopped." Baltimore Orioles COO John Angelos, the son of owner Peter Angelos, responded on Twitter with a pretty amazing explanation and defense of why protests are happening. I mean, this is movement type stuff.

“Today’s Democratic Party has decided there is no room for Christians. There is a liberal fascism that is going after Christian believers.” — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), quoted by The Hill. LOL. I am Christian, Mr. Cruz. I am a follower of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ never said a damn thing about hating gays. He preached and taught and lived the example of compassion for the needy, the hundry, the sick, the elderly, and the poor. Jesus Christ was and is a liberal. So if you are a true Christian, a follower of Christ, you have a natural and welcome home in the Democratic Party. If you a hate filled bigoted piece of shit who thinks your right to discriminate is superior to all other human rights just because a null and void Old Testament book says so, then yes, there is no room for you in the Democratic Party or in government or in society. We will actively seek to destroy you, and we do so in defense of those you would seek to oppress and sent away to concentration camps if you had your way.

I've spent a few weeks thinking about how bad the GOP field is, but I haven't turned the table upside down to think about which candidate would be a better President than the others. Obviously, we'd be talking about shades of differences...mere whips of perceived virtues where no real virtue abides. But let's give it a go, shall we?

...about Opt Out passing that he's offering Republicans his support for Right-to-Work legislation if they vote "No" on HB 50. If that deal happens, the Governor should at the very least be expelled from the Democratic Party by Chairman John Daniello and then attempts should be made by the General Assembly to remove him from office. I am looking up the impeachment procedure under the Delaware Constitution as we speak.

Eric Holder is free! The Senate confirmed Loretta Lynch yesterday in a 56-43 roll call after a long delay necessitated by Republican racism. The Republican senators who voted for Lynch are Susan Collins of Maine, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Rob Portman of Ohio and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Johnson, Kirk, Portman, and Ayotte all face tough reelection battles in blue states, and a no vote would have guaranteed their immediate defeat in a presidential year. Flake, Graham, and Hatch had approved her previously, in their roles as members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. So a no vote now would have made them look like fools. More so than normal. Collins is a Maine "Moderate." The enduring mysteries are Cochran and McConnell. Cochran is an old school Senate hand, so that may explain his vote. McConnell's vote is, I suppose, an apology. The Washington Post:

SENATORS VOTED Thursday to confirm Loretta Lynch as the next attorney general by an embarrassingly thin margin of 56 to 43. It was embarrassing not to Ms. Lynch, who clearly deserved confirmation, but to the Republicans who voted against a nominee who should have breezed through.

“A week before a closely watched U.S. Supreme Court hearing on the issue, public support for gay marriage reached a new high in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, with 61 percent of Americans – more than six in 10 for the first time – saying gays and lesbians should be allowed to marry legally.” “Identical or similar majorities favor gay marriage on two key issues before the court: Sixty-one percent oppose allowing individual states to prohibit same-sex marriages. And 62 percent support requiring states to recognize gay marriages performed legally in other states.”