National

This is total BS, and unfortunately, totally not surprising.

Florida’s State Attorney is pursuing 60 years behind bars for Marissa Alexander, a Black woman who fired a “warning shot” in the direction of her estranged husband and his two kids.

Mike Castle can sleep in his beach house soundly knowing that you are on the job heavily subsidizing his choice to live next to the unpredictable Atlantic Ocean totally risk free. You feel good about yourself, right? Castle deserves his sound sleep. Actually, I'm not crazy about the set up. I happen to think that people who decide to live in flood plains should shoulder the risk of that reckless behavior. It is the one area of common ground I had with teabags, and it was the one positive outcome from the Democratic Party's adoption of austerity mania. We can't afford to cover Mike Castles flood risk, nor should we have to. For a while it looked like we were going to get out from under having to pay Mike Castle's beach house flood insurance premiums, but now it looks like that ain't happening

Here are the results for Auditor Wagner: Approve - 59% Disapprove - 26% Meh - 16% Looks like another freep poll, but that's ok. The Republicans have so little to be happy about in Delaware that it is good to throw them a bone once and a while. I am not sure what there is to approve of regarding the job performance of the Auditor. But doing nothing is what Republicans really like and do best. Alright. Now have at Senator Carper.

In a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, McCain (R-Ariz.) said the "blatant act" by Russian President Vladi­mir Putin "cannot stand," even as he acknowledged that the United States does not have a realistic military option to force Russian troops to withdrawal.

And that, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with the Republican Party war hawks led by John McCain and Lindsay Graham. Their foreign policy vision essentially boils down to this formula: TOUGH TALK AND THREATS + ? = PROFIT Where profit can either figuratively mean policy success (i.e. regime change, or Russian withdrawal from the Crimea) or literally mean profits for defense contractors. Republicans resort first and always to military threats whenever a crisis occurs, because they truly believe it is the only way to 1) express and demonstrate the greatness of America and our strength, and 2) it is the only way to achieve American foreign policy goals. And yet, even John McCain, the belligerent war monger that he is, admits that we cannot go to war with Russia. So what is the point in threatening a military option? If you cannot back up a threat, doesn't that make you appear even weaker?

I tried to come up with a phrasing of the Coons Doctrine which captured Senator Coons' claim that the United States must constantly demonstrate Bushian levels of breathtaking and ill-conceived belligerence on a world wide scale, or else be perceived as pussies. I think I only partially captured it. We've seen this idiotic foreign policy doctrine promoted before. Usually it is territory covered by cretins like John Bolton and Dick Cheney. To hear it promoted by our blue state Democratic Senator is truly startling. Coons appears to be taking former Ct Senator Joe Lieberman as a foreign policy godfather. If it is true and Coons is guided by Lieberman on foreign policy and Carper on domestic policy - I can't help but wonder what good he can possibly be to his Delaware constituents? That isn't to say that Christine O'Donnell would have been better, but at least O'Donnell would have been a one termer. Coons, being a Democrat, has a lifetime sinecure in the Senate. Let that sink in as you consider the fact that Coons laments the fact that we didn't go to war in Syrian.

Over the weekend, I have seen it said that Putin's invasion of the Crimea in the Ukraine makes him and Russia appear strong, and the US weak by comparison. The blithering idiot pundits on the Sunday shows agreed, and David Gregory of Meet the Press said this was the premiere test of President Obama's foreign policy. Really? I see it completely differently, as do the others I link to below. This is a desperate and panicked move by Putin, one made from weakness not strength. It will not make Russia stronger. Indeed, if the crisis is not resolved shortly, it will destroy the Russian economy. Russia is not the Soviet Union of old, a strong empire equal to or greater than the United States and its Western allies. No, it is a second world country with nuclear weapons that is headed for demographic and political collapse. This is a chest thumping move designed to hide that fact. And it is going to backfire.

Some weeks ago, Delawareonline, the online home of the Wilmington News Journal, underwent a redesign. While I have heard some complaints, I actually like it. Very clean, organized, and crisp looking. The paper version though....

Senator Coons needs money to fight the horrible Tea Party, but also bipartisanship is AWESOME!!! (...or something, it made sense to the fundraising consultant.) Anyway, in addition to the philosophically hazy email, Coons is sitting on $2.9 million and has no GOP opponent, so I'll probably sit this round out. (Click through to read the muddled email)