Twenty Children Are Dead – Don’t You Dare Forget That

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This will be a difficult post for me. I simply cannot stop thinking about the children and the families in Newtown, Connecticut. I can't stop envisioning the parents walking past their child's empty bedroom, filled with stuffed animals and probably a pair of tiny socks that didn't make it into the hamper, and knowing that that bedroom will remain empty. I can't stop imagining how these parents are stumbling across the Christmas presents hidden in that secret hiding place. Everywhere they turn they will see the evidence of their child's existence. The Cap'n Crunch cereal. The juice boxes. The Legos. The Barbies. The candy wrapper under the bed. My heart is breaking. And all I can think is This Has Got To Stop. What The Hell Is Wrong With Us? Because this is bigger than Adam Lanza and Jared Loughner and James Holmes. This is about how we've come to accept these events; how we almost take them in stride, because, you know... Freedom. I'm so sick of that lame response. I'm sick of hearing about the freedom to arm yourself to the teeth because, you know... Government. I'm sick of hearing about how someone needs to 30 rounds per second because someone is trying to get you. I'm sick of responsible gun owners being in bed with with these paranoid, fantasy driven freaks who need to live, and act out, their delusions. And I'm sick of the body count.

Mental Illness Is A Problem, But It Isn’t The Same As Our Gun Problem

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I've been reading a great deal about the Sandy Hook shooting and shooter and have been intrigued by the effort by so very many to try to make this incident be about the astonishing inadequacy of our mental health system. If you read carefully, there aren't any credible diagnoses of Adam Lanza's mental condition (certainly by no one who could make that diagnosis). All there is are reports that he may have been on the ASD spectrum, reports that seem rooted in a comment by the shooter's brother and some comments from classmates of Lanza's. The other thing that is out there is the rationalization -- that somehow it is a given that this person was mentally ill because sane people don't perpetrate this kind of violence. Both of these narratives -- without good support -- help to shift the conversation away from the the plain fact that it is amazingly easy to acquire the means to quickly disrupt a community with massive acts of violence.

Who is more likley to get primaried by a legitimate contender?

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The poll to the right of this post is dead even. 15 to 14. I guess a more interesting question would be; who is more likely to announce a primary challenge to Coons or Carney in a mere 16 or so months? We know the strength of the Dem bench,... Markell, Denn, Flowers, Biden, Biden (Joe). Who am I forgetting? Who is legitimate, but a dark horse? The Democratic primary IS the election nowadays.

Todd Akin Isn’t Alone In His Rape Beliefs

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Superior Court Judge Derek G. Johnson: “I’m not a gynecologist, but I can tell you something, If someone doesn’t want to have sexual intercourse, the body shuts down. The body will not permit that to happen unless a lot of damage in inflicted, and we heard nothing about that in this case. "That tells me that the victim in this case, although she wasn’t necessarily willing, she didn’t put up a fight.”

The Delaware Liberal Holiday Extravaganza Tonight!

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Come join your favorite evil mindless echo-chambery socialist communist yet somehow fascist and bleeding heart godless liberals as we celebrate the holiday season. And yes, Fox News, it is called the "Holidays" and we wish people "Happy Holidays" because there are other Holidays going on right now other than Christmas, just as there are other religions than Christianity. The where and when:

Date: Tonight, December 14th

Place: Timothy’s (Riverfront)

Time: 7:00p.m.

 And we will have a mystery guest showing up. No guessing on who it might be. Alright, I'll tell you. Vice President Biden!!! Well, not really... no. But there will be a mystery guest. In keeping with tradition, please bring food for the Food Bank of Delaware. We will be collecting the goodies and necessities and then delivering them the Food Bank. Let’s make someone’s season bright! Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Family Values B*tches!!

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UPDATE2: I've opened comments because I love wielding my godlike powers indiscriminately. Happy? Track Palin, the eldest son of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, is reportedly ending his marriage to Britta Hanson after a year and a half. The couple, who were former high-school sweethearts, are jointly petitioning for divorce.

ADA’s Fiscal Town Hall: “Operationalizing” basic facts & Bryan Townsend

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I've been wanting to write a longer post on the town hall put together by Ezra Temko through ADA and moderated by Paul Baumbach. I haven't had time, but wanted to share this little piece. We were fortunate to have Senator Coons represented on the panel by his Ian Koski, his Director of Communications. Koski impressed me as a very decent, smart guy - ludicrously down to earth by the standards of Senatorial staffers I've met in the past. At some point the conversation turned to dealing with an intransigent GOP, and although I was supposed to be the sober business person on the panel, my rabid partisan blogger self is a Mr. Hyde like presence inside me that, I now realize, I don't have much control over. So I said something like, "I don't see how we can move forward until we put aside the sham bi-partisanship and just all acknowledge the simple truth that one party doesn't have any interest in bargaining in good faith. And on a larger scale, we the public, the media, Congressional Democrats.... everyone has to start calling out the GOP when they are simply lying or getting facts wrong - like tax cuts work. We need to create an environment in which the truth matters." That's probably much more cogent than what I actual said.

LG Out

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I have been trying to put together a resignation post for a while now.  It is hard to capture the joy and pain, success and frustration that I have enjoyed for the past several years as a part of the DL team. But as a wise blog founder once told me, "Never let perfect be the enemy of the good enough". So I'll be signing off as a contributor here to attend to other political, professional and personal endeavors, but I'll be here as a commentor as time permits. As always, DL can count on me for any support that they may need.