House GOP Priorities Include a Continuation of the War on Women

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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.

The GOP’s radical embrace of nullification

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Last fall Steve Benen wrote about the GOP's attempts to nullify federal law related to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by refusing to vote on the nomination of Richard Cordray to lead the agency. My take is that the GOP's radical embrace of nullification has become their standard operating procedure and they flat out don't give a flying fuck about the effects that it could have on the country or the Constitution. If it "hurts" the President - they are for it. If it "helps" the President they are not only against it - but they are willing to go to war over it.

Delaware General Assembly Pre-Session Show: Tuesday, January 8, 2012

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2013 has all the makings of the most momentous year in recent legislative memory. The House and Senate have both undergone major institutional and leadership changes. More progressives now serve in Dover than before. A pro-business governor with aspirations for higher office must decide both what's best for the state and what's best for his political future. A host of important issues await, including, of course, Delaware's economic condition. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR NEWBIES The Delaware State Senate has 21 members,  currently 13 D's and 8 R's. The President Pro-Tempore leads the Senate, although the Lieutenant Governor often, but not always, presides over the senate sessions as a non-voting member. Here is a list of the Senate members. The House of Representatives has 41 members, currently 27 D's, 14 R's. The Speaker of the House presides over the body. You can find the House membership here. The General Assembly is in session from the second Tuesday in January through June 30 each year. The Senate often returns for a special session in the fall to consider nominations. The General Assembly breaks for six weeks at the end of January for Joint Finance Committee (budget) hearings and meetings. There is another 2-week break around Easter, and an additional week's break around Memorial Day.  The Memorial Day break often enables the 'money' committees to finish work on marking up the budget.The typical General Assembly meets in session about 50 days a year. And we are just getting started.

Keeler Fired by New Hens A.D. Ziady

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I was never a big Keeler fan, (especially after the pitiful choking loss in the 2010 championship game against Eastern Washington) but it is hard to blame him for the attendance when they mucked up the season tickets system so badly.
The move was made by new Athletic Director Eric Ziady, who took over that position in October. "A lot of different things over the course of time led me in the direction to have some serious concerns about the direction of the program in the future. As I learned and listened and got my arms around the entire program and the state and direction, it led me in the direction of the decision (Monday). " Delaware only drew 20,000 fans to Delaware Stadium for one game this season, Maine, after doing so twice in 2011 and three times in 2010, the last time they made the I-AA tournament. By comparison, Delaware's smallest home crowd in 2003 was 20,485, the year K.C. Keeler won the title.

What’s Going On In Steubenville?

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I have been following the Steubenville rape story for a while, but I haven't written about it... until now.  This post won't be about who should face criminal charges - I don't know enough to make that call.  But what I do know is vile. If you aren't familiar with the story, the NYT has written an extensive piece.
Some in the crowd, which would grow to close to 50 people, arrived with beer. Those who did not were met by cases of it and a makeshift bar of vodka, rum and whiskey, all for the taking, no identification needed. In a matter of no time, many of the partygoers — many of them were high school athletes — were imbibing from red plastic cups inside the home of a volunteer football coach at Steubenville High at what would be the first of several parties that night. “Huge party!!! Banger!!!!” Trent Mays, a sophomore quarterback on Steubenville’s team, posted on Twitter, referring to one of the bashes that evening. By sunrise, though, some people in and around Steubenville had gotten word that the night of fun on Aug. 11 might have taken a grim turn, and that members of the Steubenville High football team might have been involved. Twitter posts, videos and photographs circulated by some who attended the nightlong set of parties suggested that an unconscious girl had been sexually assaulted over several hours while others watched. She even might have been urinated on.