Category Archives: Featured

‘Real Men Support Strong Women’

Guest Post By La Somnambula

I read an article today about Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and how he supports his wife Vice President Kamala Harris. He quit his job as a lawyer to follow her to Washington, D.C. (So did Michele Obama, so did Hillary Clinton, but I digress). He is a man who eschews toxic masculinity while still remaining masculine.

It made me reflect on all the real men in my life who have quietly and loudly supported me and the women in their lives. My husband is a real man. I have always made more money than he does, but it has never been an issue between us. We both support our family to the best of our abilities. My husband values my opinions, seeks my advice and is proud of me and my accomplishments. Added bonus, he brings me coffee everyday I am working because he loves me. He continues to make me laugh.

Then there is my son-in-law who believes the sun and the moon set on our daughter. Who doesn’t want that for their child? He even took her last name. (That’s a real man!). He arranged his work schedule around hers, cooks and cleans so she can not only balance her work load as a teacher but also pursue a national teaching certificate. He is a true partner to his spouse.

My brother-in-law worked a job as a line man for Verizon while my sister was an executive at a healthcare facility. The difference in their career choices only enriched their lives, bringing them a wider circle of friends. There was never any competition about who had the “better” job, only a sense of working toward a goal of fulfillment as a family.

I did not know my father-in-law as a younger man, but as Zayde to his grandchildren, he was the antithesis of toxic masculinity. He helped my husband and I care for our daughters when they were young, taking and picking them up from preschool, changing diapers, sneaking candy to them when he watched them as we napped. He adored all his grandchildren, those who lived near and those who lived far and wrote them each special notes on their birthdays to treasure in the years that would part them.

Finally, there’s my own father, product of a bad divorce, victim of Polio at age 3. My father wasn’t perfect, but he wasn’t toxic. He graduated with his BS in Chemistry when I was 9, a product of night school. My mom was a nurse, and Dad always made sure to let my brother and sister and I know how much he valued her work. “Your mom saves lives,” he always said with pride. His goal was to never be like his own parents, but to be a good partner, give his children a good example and always uphold the way forward for us, boy or girl. There is no glass ceiling if you, yourself, don’t believe in it.

As women, I feel we need to support our men, our others, our partners, as much as they support us. Together, always together, we lift each other up. I’m not naive. I know toxic masculinity is a real thing. But it does not represent REAL MEN. Real Men support us and we support them.

Just One More Thing BHL Won’t Talk To The Press About

More blatant Delaware Way shit, this time featuring all her buddies at the Department Of Elections. Tell me again why the State Senate didn’t bother asking Anthony Albence any questions when Carney reappointed him:

State election officials in Delaware communicated directly with one or more aides in Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long’s office last year amid a scandal involving her campaign finance reports, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press.

The emails show that Elections Commissioner Anthony Albence, a fellow Democrat, wanted to keep Hall-Long’s office apprised of queries by the AP about amendments to years of campaign finance reports in which Hall-Long failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans.

On Oct. 23, the AP emailed election officials with questions about apparent errors in amended filings by Hall-Long. Citing technical issues, officials sent a follow-up response the next day — while also alerting a top aide in Hall-Long’s office.

“FYI,” Albence wrote in an email to Andrew Volturo, strategic advisor for policy and special projects in the lieutenant governor’s office. The email was sent to Volturo’s Gmail account, not his state government account. It’s unclear how Albence knew Volturo had a Gmail account.

Later that day, Albence directed his staff to send Volturo another update.

“Would you like to let Drew V. know about these updates, so that he is aware?” he wrote in an email to Patrick Jackson, campaign finance manager for the department. Frank Broujos, the deputy attorney general from Jennings’ office assigned to the Department of Elections, was copied on the email.

“Called Drew, who’s now in his happy place,” Jackson responded minutes later. Broujos was also copied on that email, as well as Albence’s reply.

Volturo has previously rebuffed questions from the AP about Hall-Long’s campaign finances, implying he had no involvement in or knowledge about the campaign. He did not respond to emails Thursday.

There’s more.  Just read it.  Know that this is merely the casual corruption of the Delaware Way.

Just one more reason to clean house, starting on or before September 10.

Delaware’s Most Intriguing Primaries Of 2024: #5A–Wilmington Mayor

Yes, kids, somehow I ended up with 11 races on my list of the 10 most intriguing primaries.  (Not the first time this has happened–imagine you’re unveiling your list of your 50 fave songs of the year.  You’re down to the top 20–and realize you only have nineteen songs remaining.  I’ve been there.)

I chose this race as the one I overlooked b/c nobody in Delaware politics is more likely to be overlooked, and is more deserving of being overlooked, than the Cipher That Is John Carney.  Substance has never entered into any race on his behalf.  That lack of substance cost him the governorship against Jack Markell despite the Party insiders doing everything in their power to elect him (hmmm, sound familiar?).

He for all intents and purposes didn’t even run a campaign when elected in 2016, instead deferring any discussion of issues out of deference to his ‘dear (dead) friend Beau’.  He has governed with no substantive beliefs save keeping information from the public and doing as little as he can get away with for eight years.

Oh, let’s not forget that Carney wouldn’t even have had a political career had Tom Carper not forced him onto the ticket with Ruth Ann Minner in exchange for Carper’s support.

He’s now decided he wants to keep feeding at the public trough by trading in his marching orders from the Chamber to doing Buccini/Pollin’s bidding, neither of which require him to engage his alleged brain.  You know what that means–more development at the Riverfront and continued neglect of Wilmington’s neighborhoods.  Except, of course, the razing of housing to make way for more high-end condos and such.  He, of course, has raised a shitload of money from his prospective beneficiaries and will mindlessly parrot their interests.

His opponent, Velma Jones-Potter, ran into her own conflicts-of-interest while working for then-Mayor Dennis Williams.  As such, she is an imperfect challenger.  However, I was very impressed with this interview that she gave to Peter MacArthur of WDEL.  I know it’s a low bar, but it’s at least refreshing that one candidate has thought about what they want to do as Mayor.  You know, as opposed to out-sourcing it.

As you know, one candidate is white and the other is Black.  But the City doesn’t break down as simply as all that.  I think the race will be decided by the answers to the following questions:

1. To what extent can Potter consolidate the Black vote?  What will Nnamdi do, publicly or otherwise?  Can Black progressives set aside their memories of the worst Potter shenanigans to vote against Carney?

2. Will Black turnout continue to under-perform?  This has traditionally been a problem, especially on the Eastside.  Doesn’t matter if you technically have a registration advantage if you don’t vote.  It’s why former Rep. Al O. Plant had a bumper sticker that read “Don’t Vote, Don’t Bitch”.

3.  To what extent will progressives and supporters of LGBTQ rights rally to Velda?  Carney has never been their friend, and they know it.  There’s a reason why Sarah McBride and Carney don’t exchange Christmas cards.  I think this may be the key for this race.

4.  This one’s pretty interesting.  I notice, especially in SD 1, a lot of Meyer support.  Will Carney’s strapping of BHL to his back actually hurt him among voters there?

I know people who think Velda will win.  Sure, it’s possible.  I mean, Markell beat Carney.  But Markell had a shitload of money and a whole lot of volunteers.  I was one of them.

If I lived in the City, I’d vote against Carney, which means I’d (sorta) vote for Velda.

What do you folks who live there think of this race?

DL Open Thread: Friday, August 23, 2024

You can all post your impressions of the Convention.  Apparently it was a very successful night.  Watching Leon Panetta babble on was my cue to go to sleep.  Who thought that was a good idea?  Also–no Beyonce??  What can I say?  I’m hyper-critical.  Loved the appearance of the Central Park Five.  Saw no reason why they wouldn’t let the person expressing concern about Gaza and the Palestinian people speak.  That’s all I’ve got.

Trump To Hold Fundraiser–For Jan. 6 Rioters??  This can’t be true, can it?:

Donald Trump is hosting a fundraiser for domestic terrorists convicted of assaulting police officers, and some defendants still facing those charges, as part of his Jan. 6, 2021, coup attempt to remain in power.

The event is to take place on Sept. 5 at his country club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and is being staged by The America Project, a pro-Trump nonprofit based in Florida that is calling the reception and dinner “the J6 Awards Gala.”

A video promoting the event features clips of Trump praising those who are being prosecuted for taking part in the Capitol assault. “They ought to release the J6 hostages. They’ve suffered enough,” Trump says in the video from one of his campaign speeches. “I call them hostages. Some people call them prisoners. I call them hostages.”

Michael Fanone, a former Washington, D.C., police officer who suffered a heart attack after being repeatedly tasered by one of Trump’s followers on Jan. 6, said Americans cannot afford to forget what happened that day. “Wake the fuck up, America,” he told HuffPost. “This is who Donald Trump is, a sick motherfucker who fetishizes violence committed on his behalf.”

“And the winner for Best Use Of A Battering Ram On A Human Skull is…”

Oh, I think we know the answer to this question:

Also unknown is whether Trump is donating the use of his golf club to the group or if America Project is paying rent and catering costs, which can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. When Trump’s “Save America” political committee, which he uses to pay his legal bills, staged an event at Bedminster in May, for example, it paid $80,533.74 to the country club — the profits from which go directly into Trump’s pocket.

Just a comment on the polls.  I see questions being asked as to whether she will get that post-convention bounce.  Might I say that she has already gotten quite a bounce?  We don’t have any polls measuring gains from the beginning of the convention until now, however the momentum has clearly moved in her direction.  The latest 538 poll of polls has her up by 3.6%.  I don’t think it’s gonna get any closer.  One reason?:  I think you can rename the ‘Blue Wall’ states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan as the ‘Blue Walz’ states.  Yeahyeah, I know, the Veep doesn’t make a real difference.  Except until it does.  This time, it does.

Cebela’s Insists On Remaining A Scofflaw.  AG and Courts disagree:

A Superior Court judge ruled that Cabela’s needs to give the Delaware Department of Justice more information about stolen ammunition their Christiana location.

The Attorney General’s office believes up to 500,000 rounds of ammunition in a one year period was stolen from the store near the Christiana Mall, but their latest subpoena was met with a one-page job description, a redacted loss data report, and 53 pages of objections from the national outdoor goods retailer.

Cabela has twice attempted to quash the investigation, arguing, among other items, that providing Delaware with their policies would expose trade secrets, and was unconstitutional.

Yikes! Turns out I somehow had 11 races on my list of 10 most intriguing primary races.  Not the first time I’ve miscounted during one of my interminable countdowns.  Gotta get ’em all done before the polls for early voting open at the end of next week.  So I’m outta here.

What do you want to talk about?

DL Open Thread: Thursday, August 22, 2024

Missed the proceedings last night.  Did Bill Clinton bite his lower lip?

The Case Of The Missing Pancreata:  At least 7000 have vanished without a trace:

There are some mysteries that I fear I’ll never see resolved. Who was DB Cooper and what happened to him? Who robbed the Gardner Museum of its Vermeer and Rembrandts in 1990? And, most pressingly: where are the thousands of pancreases taken out of Americans’ dead bodies in 2021, 2022, and 2023 that were never transplanted into anybody?

Let me back up. Pancreata (the correct plural form of “pancreas”) are one of those organs you can’t live without. Without one, you don’t have insulin to regulate blood sugar or enzymes necessary to digest food. So all donated pancreata come from dead people who register as organ donors. In the US, we outsource the job of collecting organs from dead bodies to private groups called organ procurement organizations, or OPOs. Each OPO has a monopoly on organs in a particular geographic area; there are 56 groups total, some of which only cover part of a state and some of which cover multiple states.

The Federal government (even Trump!) tried to make these private groups more accountable.  However, in a way that BHL’s numerous campaign treasurers would envy:

The rule had the potential to force OPOs to collect more organs and save thousands more lives every year. But the OPOs quickly figured out a new loophole. (AKA ‘The Pancreas Loophole).

But while OPOs couldn’t muck with the denominator anymore, they could still muck with the numerators. Being a donor generally means that your organs are used in a transplant, but there’s a carve-out for one organ: the pancreas.

A narrow 2004 law allows researchers running clinical trials to conduct transplants of islet cells (the parts of the pancreas that produce insulin) as a potential cure for diabetes. Because of that law, OPOs could “recover” pancreases for islet cell transplant research, and get credit for recovering more organs under the new rule. But the federal government never asked for any proof that these organs were part of any FDA-approved research.

Sure enough, the total number of pancreata that OPOs labeled as for “research” grew from 513 in 2020 to a whopping 3,238 in 2023. The number of donors whose only recovered organ was a pancreas designated for research grew from 25 to 429, according to the Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network. That’s an over tenfold increase in three years.

Come to think of it, the Feds really should hire Dana Long.  They need someone who thinks like a criminal to ferret out the criminals.

But I digress. Nations around the world have sent fleets of planes to scour the far-flung Isles Of Langerhans in search of the missing pancreata.  Been told that the livers and kidneys are on a slow boat to Sydney.  Hmmm, has anyone been in contact with Peru?  Portugal? Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico?  Where the hell are my goddamn meds??!!

Deep cleansing breaths.  Regardless of what ‘they’ do with my other organs, I’m Saving My Heart For You.

Quite the impressive 500-word vamp, if I say so myself.  (Pauses to admire work, eschews humility.)  Now, where was I?

“The Highly-Overrated Jewish Governor Of The Great Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania”.  Trump’s not winning any Jewish voters with this one.  Miriam Adelson might be one-and-done:

The highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, made a really bad and poorly delivered speech talking about freedom and fighting for Comrade Kamala Harris for President, yet she hates Israel…

Yet Shapiro, for political purposes, refused to acknowledge that I am the best friend that Israel, and the Jewish people, ever had.

He goes on,  you can read the whole thing if you have brain cells that need killing.

Oh, The Other Guy?:

The senator’s speech was given at the launch of a “counterrevolutionary” book – praised by the now Republican vice-presidential candidate as “great” – which was edited and mostly written by employees of the far-right Claremont Institute.

In the book, Up from Conservatism, the authors advocate for the repeal of the Civil Rights Act, for politicians to conduct “deep investigations into what the gay lifestyle actually does to people”, that college and childcare be defunded and that rightwing governments “promote male-dominated industries” in order to discourage female participation in the workplace.

‘Kamala Harris Is Right About Price-Gouging’.  The economists are wrong, according to this piece:

Last week, the economics commentariat and much of the mainstream media erupted with contempt toward Kamala Harris’s proposed federal price-gouging law. Op-eds, social-media posts, and straight news reports mocked Harris for economically illiterate pandering and warned of Soviet-style “price controls” that would lead to shortages and runaway inflation.

The strange thing about these complaints is that what Harris actually proposed was neither radical nor new—and it certainly wasn’t price controls. In fact, almost every state already has a law restricting at least some forms of price gouging. Although Harris has not specified the exact design of her proposal, one hopes that it would follow the basic outline of state-level bans: forbidding unwarranted price hikes for necessary goods during emergencies.

Price gouging in the popular imagination has a “know it when you see it” quality, but it is actually a well-developed body of law. A typical price-gouging claim has four elements. First, a triggering event, sometimes called an “abnormal market disruption,” such as a natural disaster or power outage, must have occurred. Second, in most states, the claim must concern essential goods and services. (No one cares if you overcharge for Louis Vuitton handbags during a hurricane.) Third, a price increase must be “excessive” or “unconscionable,” which most states define as exceeding a certain percentage, typically 10 to 25 percent. Finally, the elevated price must be in excess of the seller’s increased cost. This is crucial: Even during emergencies, sellers are allowed to maintain their existing profit margins. They just can’t increase those margins excessively.

Better quit now.  Don’t want to be accused of being someone who ‘can’t find their pancreas using both hands’.  Although, come to think of it, I can’t.

What do you want to talk about?

Margie Lopez Waite: A Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest

Guest Post By The One-And-Only Kevin Ohlandt Of Exceptional Delaware.

In the 27th State Rep. District, incumbent Eric Morrison will have a primary against Margie Lopez-Waite on September 10th. I felt it was necessary for the voters to know what Lopez-Waite stands for. It is all about positions she is already in that would create major conflicts of interest for her if she were to be elected.

As of this writing, Lopez-Waite is the CEO of Aspira of Delaware Charter Operations. In this role, she is the boss of both the Las Americas Aspira schools in Newark, the K-8 school and the high school. But the many boards she sits in are already present conflicts of interest for the role she currently has.

Lopez-Waite sits on the board of the Delaware Community Foundation (DCF). On their 2023 990 tax form, Margie’s charter school received $10,000 in donations from DCF. Margie also sits on the board of the Rodel Foundation of Delaware. Rodel donated $100,000 to Aspira as well. Margie sits on the board of the Community Education Building (CEB), the home of two Delaware charter schools in Wilmington. CEB received $86,350 from DCF in 2023.

Margie also sits on the board of the Delaware Charter Schools Network, a non-profit supporting charter schools in Delaware but they are also one of the biggest lobbying groups at Legislative Hall. It is this role that would create major conflict for Margie should she be elected.

The Delaware Charter Schools Network pushes legislation aimed to benefit charter schools, often to the detriment of the public school districts that provide the students for charter schools through school choice. Margie has been on their board for over 10 years, during the development of some very controversial charter school legislation. One example: In the epilogue language every year is what is known as the “charter school transportation slush fund.” If the Delaware charters do not use all their transportation funds, they get to keep the surplus. For some charters this has resulted in adding hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money being diverted from its intended use into discretionary spending.

Lopez-Waite’s attempted intervention at the former Delaware Academy of Safety and Security (DAPSS) eventually caused the charter school to shut down prematurely. They were already facing formal review from the Delaware Dept. of Education due to low enrollment in 2017. Margie came in and took over as the President of their Board of Directors. Within months, she managed to tick off parents so much they began disenrolling their children from the school. She wanted to turn the first responder-themed charter school into a dual language school. At the time, ASPIRA did not have a high school. Her aim was to morph DAPSS into a high school for ASPIRA.

By the summer of 2018, she resigned as President of the Board and was appointed Head of School. Financial shenanigans and low enrollment caused the school to shut down for good that September when students had just returned to school.

A former board member of both ASPIRA and DAPSS, Donald Patton, currently serves as President of the Christina Board of Education. Patton, who has come under heavy fire recently due to his leading the effort to oust beloved Christina Superintendent Dan Shelton, is good friends with Margie. Despite the public outcry against him, Patton had Margie give public comment at the May Christina board meeting to talk about how great Patton is.

While not proven yet, it is widely rumored Lopez-Waite and the DCSN have been helping Patton in an effort to get more charter schools going that he could be in charge of in Wilmington. Because of these efforts, it is actually interfering with the eventual goal of the Redding Consortium to have the Christina Wilmington schools moved to the Red Clay and Brandywine school districts. (Editor’s Note:  Nobody, but NOBODY, is covering the scandal in the Christina SD like Kevin.  Read all about it!)

Lopez-Waite also served on the board at Delaware State University. There was a bit of controversy during her tenure there concerning the University’s Kirkwood Highway address. Margie wanted the university to finish building the site and then turn it over for her charter school rent-free for a period of time. Thankfully, Lopez-Waite resigned from the board this past January, probably in anticipation of her State Rep. candidacy.

This did not sit well with then-Provost Tony Allen, despite their years of friendship. A State Representative votes on many budget issues and education legislation. Margie has far too many conflicts of interest that would only further her own education ambitions for not only her own charter school, but all charter schools in the state given her board roles. This is not someone who would be able to truly represent her constituents but would do what she has been doing for years, furthering her own charter school interests.

The General Assembly, over the years, had legislators that served various functions throughout the state. Never before has a candidate with voting power on the boards of so many non-profits that seek funding from the state also a seat  in the General Assembly. Her hand is in too many pockets that send money to her own school and also to each other. It is dangerous and would not serve her constituents or the State of Delaware well at all.

Delaware’s Most Intriguing Primaries: #5: RD 29

Perhaps nobody is more ill-suited to his district than is Bill Bush.  A Delaware Way insider, he served as a House Attorney to the Kop Kabal, destroyed the choice of the Del-Tech Board of Directors in order to install Lonnie George’s Chosen One as Del-Tech President, and perhaps has been the leading pro-business/anti-grassroots Democratic legislator in Dover.  He successfully led House efforts to shut residents out of the development process, something that John Carney deeply appreciated.

He got the position when Trey Paradee moved up to the Senate,  and he took advantage of the opening.  Trey has helped Bush amass his campaign war chest at least in part through a ‘bundling’ party sponsored by corporate lobbyist friends of Paradee, including developers who benefited from the legislation Bush sponsored.    He has represented the Delaware Way in Dover, but has not reflected the needs of his district.  He has all the endorsements you would expect an insider like him to have.

His opponent in the Kent County Democratic primary is Monica Shockley Porter, and she has a true grassroots background.    She is the Advocacy Chair of Delaware Community Foundation, the Recording Secretary for The National Coalition Of 100 Black Women, and the Treasurer for Network Delaware. She has an M. B. A. and a Master’s.  The district has a large minority population, and she has a lot of connections in the community.

Here is a map of the 29th.  You will note that there’s a lot of new suburban development, most of it in the northern two-thirds of the district.  Meaning, a lot of people not cognizant of the Delaware Way.  The district is strongly Democratic–9783 D; 5288 R; and 6025 I.  The winner of this primary will be the State Rep from the 29th.

Monica Shockley Porter has been endorsed by the Working Families Party, which has had a lot of success in races very similar to this one.  The Usual Suspects have circled the wagons around Bush, including some who shouldn’t–like LBR (this is why I can never fully support her as she always runs with the Overdogs) and Val hench-person Melissa Minor-Brown.  You no doubt already suspected that Chris Coons, BHL, and Trey Paradee would show up in photo ops, and they have.

This is a winnable race, but one that won’t be easy.  If you’ve got some time these next two weeks, and especially if you live in Kent County, now’s the time to jump in and bring this one home.  The benefits of adding Monica and ridding the General Assembly of Bill Bush cannot be overstated.

How Low Will Brain-Dead John Carney Sink?

Cut-and-pasting this:

Friend,

Thank you for everything you’ve done to support my campaign for Mayor.

Today, I wanted to send a different message. I’m urging you to support Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long to be the next Governor for the State of Delaware.

Over the last several weeks, Bethany’s opponents have distorted the truth and misrepresented the facts about her record.

I know Bethany as well as anyone in public life. We’ve served together for 20 years. Bethany has the heart of a public servant, and will work tirelessly for the people of Delaware as our next Governor.

Together over the last eight years, Bethany and I have:

  • Invested in raises for educators and more funding for low-income students.
  • Turned a $400 million state budget deficit into a $500 million surplus.
  • Rebuilt our economy, creating more than 30,000 new jobs.

Bethany has been a real partner during my time as Governor. And I have full confidence that she is the right person to take on this job next.

 

Click here to donate to Bethany’s campaignand help beat back the distortions spread by her opponents. 

Thank you again for your support, and let’s go win on September 10th!

John

Bethany’s opponents apparently including the Department Of Elections, the Attorney General, the State Auditor, and members of the press.  In other words, honest people.

BREAKING: Red Clay Teachers Call For DSEA To Withdraw Its Endorsement Of BHL

Never knew I had so many teacher friends. (Stating the obvious, none had to deal with me in the classroom.)  But, starting this morning, several were in touch with me about this as I guess they all received the letter either at home or at school (I think this was the first day back for many teachers).  Here is the body of the letter:

RED CLAY EDUCATION
ASSOCIATION, INC.
4135 Ogletown Stanton Road, Suite 100,
Newark, Delaware 19713-4180
Phone: (302) 366-8440 Fax: (302) 366-0287

August 5th, 2024

To the Delaware State Education Association Leadership Team and Executive Board:

On behalf of the Red Clay Education Association, I am writing to formally request the immediate withdrawal of the DSEA endorsement of Bethany Hall-Long for Governor, and
to cease all political action contributions associated with this endorsement. This decision has not been made lightly. Our executive board has reviewed multiple news reports of improprieties in the campaign’s finances. Additionally, the Lt. Governor’s campaign has demonstrated continued disregard for rectifying concerns regarding these financial reports.

Over the last few weeks, a steady number of reports have come to light with respect to the instances during which the Lt. Governor’s campaign has broken campaign finance reporting
laws (WHYY), and attempted to keep a forensic review hidden from the public (WaPo, TNJ). We take this pattern of behavior as an urgent warning against the Lt. Governor’s political ethics.
These reports go against what our endorsement, let alone our organization, stands for.

There is precedent for rescinding an endorsement. Back in 2018, RCEA endorsed a candidate for school board. We initially believed the candidate was the best choice to represent
the interests of our members. Not long after the endorsement, the candidate made controversial and inflammatory statements at a public event. The DSEA Director of Legislative and Political
Strategy immediately called RCEA to request that we walk back the endorsement. DSEA did not feel it was in our members’ best interests, and they would not be able to add their name to our
endorsement. The RCEA executive board reconvened and voted to endorse no candidate.

We are asking DSEA to consider the same process.

      We believe it is our duty as engaged union members to hold DSEA-endorsed candidates to the highest standards regarding both legislation and morality. We recognize Bethany Hall-Long has supported many of our organization’s goals in Dover. Our appreciation for this work cannot overlook serious lapses in judgement. Our endorsement is, and should continue to be, the gold standard. Respected organizations like ours should not give our seal of approval to candidates who cannot meet simple litmus tests of honesty, transparency, and integrity.

In Solidarity,

Steven Fackenthall
President, Red Clay Education Association

Will other district chapters join them, or have they already done so?  I think what RCEA did reflects positively on the ethics and honesty of their members.

BTW, don’t think this story has appeared elsewhere.  So, if someone wishes to pick it up, at least give us a shout-out.  We do that every time we highlight a story we think is worth reading.  Oh, and we provide a link.  Reflects positively on our ethics and honesty.

DL Open Thread: Sunday, August 18, 2024

A Bleepload Of Political Mailers.  Here’s what I got yesterday: Two mailers from Collin, at least a month too late; two anti-BHL mailers–gotta say, they were artfully produced; one mailer from Melanie Ross Levin or, more accurately, DSEA, addressed to my daughter, who does live in her district but doesn’t live here; one mailer for BHL, stressing her endorsement by the Party, which seems to be all she’s running on.

Which brings me to the DELDEMS Pride Caucus, which is indeed an entity under the Democratic State Party.  Their endorsements were supposed to play a role in the state endorsement process, but I’ve been told that BHL put the kibosh on them.  Here they are.  You will note that the Pride Caucus endorsed Matt Meyer, something you won’t see in BHL’s lit.  The entire process was rigged.  A few insiders on the state committee endorsed Bethany, it in no way reflected the rank-and-file at all.  Just something to keep in mind when you hear how she’s the endorsed candidate.  Oh, let me just quote from BHL’s piece:

That’s why the Delaware Democratic Party took the rare step of endorsing her for Governor.

The Sussex County Democratic Party didn’t endorse her, or anybody.  Many NCC districts supported nobody, as did Kent County.  The Pride Caucus endorsed Matt Meyer.  Despite my friend’s heaping of praise on the Party endorsement process, the fix was in.  I’m also told that, despite all the pressure from various elements within the Party, Bethany’s people have exerted a stranglehold on the State Committee to prevent the removal of their endorsement.  Bottom line: The vast majority of Democrats who are engaged with the Party at the RD level did not support the endorsement of BHL.    But the insiders, controlled by Carney and BHL, overrode the wishes of those Democrats.  So spare me all this talk about the wonderful democratic endorsement process.

How Harris Can Change Biden’s Policy On Israel: Just Enforce The Law:

Without supporting an arms embargo, she can still signal a clear break with Joe Biden’s near-unconditional support for an Israeli war effort that many legal scholars believe has led to genocide. And she can do so in a way befitting a former prosecutor: When it comes to Israel, Ms. Harris should simply say that she’ll enforce the law.

The law in question has been on the books for more than a decade. It prohibits the United States from assisting any unit of a foreign security force that commits “gross violations” of human rights. Aid can be reinstated if the foreign country adequately punishes the perpetrators. Passed by Congress in 1997, it bears the name of former Senator Patrick Leahy — and it has been applied hundreds of times — including reportedly against U.S. allies like Colombia and Mexico.

But it has never been applied to Israel, the country that over the past eight decades has received more U.S. aid, by far, than any other. That’s not because the Israel Defense Forces don’t commit serious abuses. “There are literally dozens of Israeli security force units that have committed gross violations of human rights” and should thus be ineligible for U.S. aid, a former State Department official, Charles Blaha, told ProPublica in May.

Food Fight At The RWNJ Table.  For amusement purposes only:

Some of the internet’s most influential far-right figures are turning against former president Donald Trump’s campaign, threatening a digital “war” against the Republican candidate’s aides and allies that could complicate the party’s calls for unity in the final weeks of the presidential race.

Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist and podcaster who dined with Trump at his Palm Beach resort Mar-a-Lago in 2022, said on X that Trump’s campaign was “blowing it” by not positioning itself more to the right and was “headed for a catastrophic loss,” in a post that by Wednesday had been viewed 2.6 million times.

Laura Loomer, a far-right activist whom Trump last year called “very special,” said his “weak” surrogates had unraveled his momentum and that his approach “needs to change FAST because we can’t talk about a stolen election for another 4 years,” in an X post that was “liked” more than 8,000 times.

They’re also warring with each other over, wait for it, who deserves the credit for bringing back Corey Lewandowski:

Trump’s retooling of his campaign on Thursday, including rehiring his 2016 campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, prompted Fuentes to declare a “first victory” of his campaign, despite Trump’s public praise for LaCivita and Wiles. Online, Loomer mocked Fuentes as having “nothing to do” with the return of Lewandowski — co-author of the book “Let Trump Be Trump” — and said he should “stop pretending like he is calling the shots.”

Speaking of food fights, Trump said this yesterday:

“In her speech yesterday, Kamala went full communist,” he said. “Comrade Kamala announced that she wants to institute socialist price controls. You saw that never worked before … It will cause rationing, hunger and skyrocketing prices.”

Plutocrat Jared Kushner Seeks To Despoil Albania.  Yep, the Saudis and all sorts of Trump people are involved:

Now, Kushner is seeking to transform this stretch of Albania into the kind of luxury resort that his father-in-law, former president Donald Trump, would brag about. It would be Kushner’s biggest project yet using part of his roughly $3 billion private equity fund — financed largelyby investors in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East petrostates — bringing international tourism to an area that stagnated under years of communism and neglect.

But Kushner’s planned development is facing local and international blowback because of its potential environmental harm. Conservation groups warn that construction of the villas and hotel rooms could destroy a habitat for pelicans, flamingos and several endangered species and undermine international efforts to preserve one of the last wild, coastal ecosystems in the Mediterranean.

“I have huge concerns,” said Ryan Gellert, the CEO of the outdoors company Patagonia, which has worked with Albania to preserve a wild river system not far from Kushner’s prospective site. In an interview, Gellert said the river system hinges on a healthy delta. “It is a stunning area, unique across the Mediterranean. And the idea of them developing this, particularly in the absence of a master plan, is a really bad idea.”

The development is at least the second time Kushner has partneredwith governments in the Balkans friendly to the former president, with the assistance of at least one former Trump administration official with deep ties to those nation’s leaders — a business practice that many Democrats and other critics say is a conflict of interest.

The former senior White House adviser has accepted billions from the sovereign investment funds of countries that he dealt with as a government official, and is now investing in countries his father-in-law would deal with if reelected. Kushner makes an estimated $40 million in management fees, regardless of what happens to the investment, and stands to make much more if the deals are profitable, according to a recent letter from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon.

B-b-but Hunter Biden…

What do you want to talk about?

DL Open Thread: Saturday, August 17, 2024

Linda McMahon To Help Trump Transition.  See what I did there?

Tulsi Gabbard To Play The Role Of Kamala For Trump’s Debate Prep.  Surely I’m not the only one who thinks he chose her b/c he thinks she’s hot.  Wonder what his plan is for a diaper workaround.  BTW, turns out she campaigned for the role:

Tulsi Gabbard said she would be “honored” to be former President Trump’s  running mate, a day before he was convicted on 34 felony charges in his hush money trial.

“I have dedicated my entire adult life to serving our country and if asked to serve in that way, I’d be honored,” she said at an event Wednesday at the Richard Nixon Library and Museum in California.

The former Hawaii congresswoman, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, was speaking to a crowd of supporters to promote her book, “For Love of Country: Leave the Democrat Party Behind.”

Oops, turned out she was campaigning for Veep.  Had to settle for debate prep and a likely cabinet position.  And, um, diaper duty?

Shower Cap’s Back!  When I grow up  revert to adolescence, I want to be Shower Cap.  Read.  You’ll thank me.

Santos To Plead Guilty.  Not clear which of his multiple personalities will take the rap.  Plus, is ripping off Rethuglican donors wrong?

When You’ve Lost The VFW…:

The Veterans of Foreign Wars criticized Donald Trump’s “flippant” comments on Friday after the former president called a civilian award “much better” than the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration.

“These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation’s highest award for valor, but also crassly characterizes the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty,” said VFW National Commander Al Lipphardt in a statement.

Lipphardt said that when a candidate for the military’s commander-in-chief “so brazenly dismisses the valor and reverence symbolized” by the Medal of Honor and its recipients, they must ask whether they can take on the responsibilities with “seriousness and discernment necessary for such a powerful position.”

Inside An American Militia. ProPublica with an in-depth piece you should read:

Last February, some 20 men and their wives gathered for dinner at an upscale restaurant in Spokane, Washington, for their annual Valentine’s Day celebration. The men weren’t just friends; they did community service work together. They had been featured on local television, in khakis and baseball caps, delivering 1,200 pounds of food to an area veterans’ center; they were gearing up for their next food drive, which they called Operation Hunger Smash. A few days after the holiday, the men went camping in the snow-speckled mountains outside Spokane, where they grilled rib-eyes and bacon-wrapped asparagus over a bonfire.

They also engaged in more menacing activities. They assembled regularly — sometimes wearing night-vision goggles in the dark — to practice storming buildings together with semiautomatic rifles. Their drills included using sniper rifles to shoot targets from distances of half a mile. And they belonged to a shadowy organization whose members were debating, with ever more intensity, whether they should engage in mass-scale political violence.

They were among the thousands of members of American Patriots Three Percent, a militia that has long been one of the largest in the United States and has mostly managed to avoid scrutiny. Its ranks included cops and convicted criminals, active-duty U.S. soldiers and small-business owners, truck drivers and health care professionals. Like other militias, AP3 has a vague but militant right-wing ideology, a pronounced sense of grievance and a commitment to armed action. It has already sought to shape American life through vigilante operations: AP3 members have “rounded up” immigrants at the Texas border, assaulted Black Lives Matter protesters and attempted to crack down on people casting absentee ballots.

Now with the presidential election less than 100 days away, AP3 members see the fate of their country turning on a turbulent, charged campaign. They’re certain that Democrats will try to steal — not for the first time, in their view — the White House from Donald Trump. “The next election won’t be decided at a Ballot Box,” an AP3 leader wrote several months ago in a private Telegram chat. “It’ll be decided at the ammo box.” He has said he is ready to force his way into voting centers if need be, or “whatever it takes.”

Turned into ‘heroes’ by Rethuglican politicians who call the Jan. 6 convicts ‘political prisoners’.  Highly-recommended.

As if you needed it–more proof that Pete Schwartzkopf is one of Delaware’s all-time political assholes.  Skip past the banalities to the last ten minutes where Pete tries to verbally destroy Claire Snyder-Hall.  That tells you that she is the biggest threat to KMG, and, in all likelihood, is whipping her ass.  Time for a contribution…

What do you want to talk about?

DL Open Thread: Friday, August 16, 2024

Kamala’s Populist Agenda:

Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday unveiled an aggressively populist economic agenda, providing the most detailed vision yet of her governing priorities since becoming the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.

Ahead of a speech in North Carolina, Harris’s campaign announced support for more than a dozen economic policies aimed at “lowering costs for American families,” including some that went beyond what President Biden had promised.

The most striking proposals were for the elimination of medical debt for millions of Americans; the “first-ever” ban on price gouging for groceries and food; a cap on prescription drug costs; a $25,000 subsidy for first-time homebuyers; and a Child Tax Credit that would provide $6,000 per child to families for the first year of a baby’s life.

The last item followed a suggestion earlier this month from J.D. Vance, the GOP vice-presidential nominee, that the credit be raised from $2,000 per child to $5,000. Harris is also calling for restoring the Biden administration Child Tax Credit that expired at the end of 2021, which raised the benefit for most families from $2,000 per kid to $3,000.

It’s not a great leap from ‘populist’ to ‘popular’.

Offshore Wind Companies Bet On Harris:

An Interior Department auction to lease federal waters for wind projects off the coasts of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia drew nearly $93 million in bids — an amount that appeared to quell nerves about the industry’s ability to withstand its political and economic headwinds.

While Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to carry Biden’s mantle on offshore wind, Trump has been vocally hostile to it, prompting concern that he could derail Democrats’ plans.

Trump has already pledged to sign an executive order “on Day One” targeting the offshore wind industry if he is elected to a second term.

Trump’s disdain for wind power stretches back to his fight against an offshore development in Scotland that he contended in legal challenges would spoil the views from a golf course he owns nearby. The U.K. Supreme Court rejected his claims in 2015, but the GOP presidential nominee has kept up his attacks on wind power, falsely claiming wind turbines don’t work, destroy property values, cause cancer and kill whales.

Oh, something he said at that no-question press conference yesterday?:

For more than 45 minutes at the top of what was billed as a press conference, Trump attacked Harris and revisited the economic proposals he talked about on Wednesday. Among his targets were green energy initiatives like electric vehicles and wind power.

“You want to see a bird cemetery? Just go under a windmill,” Trump said. “It’s a green scam.”

Everything he does is about him, and only him.

Ex-President Bone Spurs Does It Again.  Claims the Presidential Medal Of Honor he gave to a billionaire donor’s wife is ‘better than the Congressional Medal Of Honor’ because those recipients are either ‘riddled with bullets or dead’.    He’s truly proud of having avoided service.  Sickening stuff.  The good news?  This won’t play well.  For those w/o the time to watch the video:

Trump: I have to say Miriam … I watched Sheldon sitting so proud in the White House when we gave Miriam the Presidential Medal of Freedom … that’s the highest award you can get as a civilian. It’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor, but civilian version — it’s actually much better because everyone who gets the Congressional Medal, they’re soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead. She gets it and she’s a healthy beautiful woman …. And they’re rated equal…”

Cooler Buildings Using A Zig-Zag Pattern?  Sounds promising:

A research team led by Qilong Cheng at Columbia University in New York has developed a promising solution that could help reduce energy use, by redirecting the sun’s energy away from buildings.

Cheng’s team has proposed a structural wall design featuring a zigzag pattern that can reduce a building’s surface temperature by up to 3C compared with flat walls, without consuming any energy.

The design consists of walls with a series of protrusions that create a zigzag shape when viewed from the side.

This configuration takes advantage of radiative cooling – a passive cooling strategy that reflects sunlight and emits long-wave infrared radiation through the Earth’s atmosphere into outer space.

What do you want to talk about?