Category Archives: Featured

DL Open Thread: Thursday, August 15, 2024

State Auditor Sets Up Opioid Slush Fund Tracker.  Great work that would be absolutely unnecessary if BHL had not used it as her personal slush fund to benefit her political allies.  It goes w/o saying that BHL and her ‘staff’ are the last people who should be auditing this.  We can now add over $90K gifted to an agency run by Anne Farley, one of the only staffers remaining on Bethany’s team.  Oh, and the person who is charged with overseeing this program, Susan Holloway?  She’s the V-P of Anne’s organization.  The casual corruption of the Delaware Way, with names of the Usual Suspects attached.  Utterly sickening.

A Big Effin’ Deal On The Pharmaceutical Front:

The Biden administration on Thursday announced the results of landmark price negotiations between Medicare and the pharmaceutical companies over the prices of 10 costly or common medications taken by millions of older Americans.

Had the new prices been in effect last year, Medicare would have saved $6 billion, administration officials said.

The prices of the drugs, which include widely used blood thinners and arthritis medications, will take effect in 2026. They represent the first time that the federal government has directly negotiated with drugmakers on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries, and will reshape the federal government’s role in a program that covers tens of millions of older and disabled Americans.

“It’s a relief for the millions of seniors that take these drugs to treat everything from heart failure, blood clots, diabetes, arthritis, Crohn’s disease and more,” President Biden said in a statement. “And it’s a relief for American taxpayers.”

If you’re of a certain age (mine) and watch TV that is age-appropriate, you’re bombarded with commercials from the drug manufacturers who make these drugs.  If a byproduct of this agreement is that we’ll never have to suffer through another Jardiance jingle, I’ll be overjoyed.  Good Democratic government.

One More Reason The  NYTimes Sucks.  Check Out This Headline:  “Harris Set To Lay Out An Economic Message Light On Detail”.  Wonder where the equivalent Trump dismissive headline is.  For context, here’s the Guardian headline on the same upcoming speech:  “Kamala Harris economic plan to focus on groceries, housing and healthcare”.

‘The Postmenopausal Female’.  They should embrace their inner grandma, according to J. D. Vance.

JD Vance agreed with the notion that raising grandchildren was “the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female,” an unearthed 2020 podcast shows.

Vance also seemed to concur when the host suggested that having grandparents help raise children was a “weird, unadvertised feature of marrying an Indian woman.”

It’s the latest in comments from the Republican nominee for vice presdident about women and “traditional” roles that have drawn ire. Vance has faced intense criticism in recent weeks for previous sexist comments, including his remarks about “cat ladies.”

“Plastics”.  Trying to persuade the Feds to label plastic bags ‘recyclable’:

They rip and tear. They float away in the slightest breeze. Left in the wild, their mangled remains entangle birds and choke sea turtles that mistake them for edible jellyfish. It takes 1,000 years for the bags to disintegrate, shedding hormone-disrupting chemicals as they do. And that outcome is all but inevitable, because no system exists to routinely recycle them. It’s no wonder some states have banned them and stores give discounts to customers with reusable bags.

But the plastics industry is working to make the public feel OK about using them again.

Companies whose futures depend on plastic production, including oil and gas giant ExxonMobil, are trying to persuade the federal government to allow them to put the label “recyclable” on bags and other plastic items virtually guaranteed to end up in landfills and incinerators.

They argue that “recyclable” should apply to anything that’s capable of being recycled. And they point to newer technologies that have been able to remake plastic bags into new products.

I spent months investigating one of those technologies, a form of chemical recycling called pyrolysis, only to find that it is largely a mirage. It’s inefficient, dirty and so limited in capacity that no one expects it to process meaningful amounts of plastic waste any time soon.

That shouldn’t matter, say proponents of the industry’s argument. If it’s physically capable of being recycled — even in extremely limited scenarios — it should be labeled “recyclable.”

What do you want to talk about?

BREAKING: BHL, Staff, Did Campaign Work On State’s Time

From Randall Chase of the Associated Press:

Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long’s office staff was in regular communication last year with her husband and other people involved in her campaign for Delaware governor and worked during office hours to help facilitate the use of campaign funds, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press.

The emails, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, show that Hall-Long enlisted her office staff, working with her husband, to help with matters bearing little if any relevance to her role as lieutenant governor. They include renewing her memberships in various women’s groups and making donations to community groups. Some of those expenditures were made with campaign funds.

Under Delaware law, state employees are prohibited from engaging in any political activity during work hours. As an elected official, Hall-Long is exempt from that provision, but her office staff is not.

This reminds me, Speaker Our PAL Val Longhurst illegally enlisted her Chief Of Staff, who was parked there by Bethany Hall-Long, to call an ’emergency caucus meeting’ to address BHL’s financial misdeeds  when the story broke in late September of 2023.  How do I know?  Because multiple members of the Caucus complained that they were called to the Caucus via state e-mail.  (Randall, feel free to ask for the e-mails.)
I think this is a Big Story.  But BHL has gone full-Trump, brazening out violation after violation.  It remains to be seen whether Delaware Democrats will deliberately ignore the obvious the way that Rethugs did, and continue to do, with Trump.  The State Party is already in the tank.

 

Collin O’Mara Can Still Win IF…

Guest Post by the MoMo:

“It’s not too late” – me, an undecided voter.

This is a message to O’Mara, the candidate with the most to gain. Summer sucks the lifeblood from voter contact, paid and grassroots for all candidates. Speaking to officials and Party members and primary voters, the clear message is that it is not too late.

Acknowledge in your messaging that you’ve been unable to breakthrough the media blitz of bad behavior on all sides. Frame yourself as a ‘Policy not Politics’ type of leader. Capitalize on infighting. Point your finger at problems without being part of them. Continue highlighting the need for reform but be better at showing that you’re the one to do it — whether it’s campaign finance law or LEOBOR reform, everywhere these politicians have an issue you can have policy.

>Make quips about wanting a Governor who isn’t on the news every day but a Governor who is doing the job. The media should cover the issues, not just people causing them, etc.

Bolster your messaging with polling, but ask questions about voter opinions on other candidates, not just horse race questions. “X% of voters aren’t happy with Meyer and Hall-Long as options for Governor — and I’ve got good news.”

Let’s talk targets:

Text: All new D registrants since 2020. And I’m talking two-way texting with a question-based script not blast texting.

Call: D’s voting in primaries at least once in the last 4 cycles, D’s voting in at least 1 School Board or Referendum election in the last 4 years. Purchase a dialer. Must be over 30 to call.

Doors: Focus on Wilmington and MOT voters in line with the above.

Paid Ads: Target democratic/dem-lean viewers of non-cable video according to all of the above. With something other than the bad diaper video, please. Stop paying for social video and buy banner ads instead.

Don’t rely solely on democratic scoring or propensity to vote. You stand to benefit most from the education scores the party has now.

And most importantly, watch for the Harris-Walz data and mine it and use it to your advantage.

Here are your other tasks:

Emails. Buy some damn email lists and start promoting your sign-up. It’s not hard to find the candidates paying firms for their communications. It’s insane I haven’t gotten an email from you yet as a 100% voter under 40.

Bump your SEO and give money to Google. It’s dumb your campaign website doesn’t come up first and it’s easy to make it do so.

Events: Any  group more than 20 people is where you should be. Get the spouse on the stump spiel and get 4-5 other surrogates too.

O’Mara, people want to vote for you. We here on the blog may know enough to see campaign failures here. But we want to see policy success. It’s not too late for Harris, and it’s not too late for you.

Lest we forget, there were many a Never Matt Democrat before BHL, and there are many especially in the city, in unions, and below the canal who remain unwilling to bite the bullet and mark their ballots for him despite everything Bethany has done. Message yourself in a way that acknowledges both what you are not, and have not done, and what you could be. We don’t want to leave our ballots blank.

Delaware’s Most Intriguing Primaries: #6–Democratic Lieutenant Governor

I think this primary becomes less intriguing with each passing day.  The three candidates are State Senator Kyle Evans Gay, State Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker, and Dr. Debbie Harrington. 

I’m not saying that the race is over, but Kyle Evans Gay appears to be the front-runner.  I reported on her campaign finance windfall this morning, and mentioned that she had a lot of money yet to be deployed. Well, she’s deploying it.  I saw a great TV ad for her about an hour after I wrote about her report.  A testimonial from all sorts of ‘just folks’.  You remember what TV ads did for LBR back during that Primary for Congress? I think that will happen here unless either of the other two candidates are able to afford TV ads.

Kyle Evans Gay represents SD 5, which is centered in Brandywine Hundred, the Ardens, and Claymont.  She defeated longtime incumbent Cathy Cloutier to win the seat.

Sherry Dorsey Walker represents RD 3, located primarily in western Wilmington.  She previously ran for Lieutenant Governor, and also lost a close race for the State Senate seat then held by Robert Marshall.

Debbie Harrington has largely made her military career the center of her appeal.  She previously ran for State Rep. against R Kevin Hensley in 2020, and got about 45% of the vote.  She is also a Vice-Chair of the State Democratic Party.

The Party has endorsed Kyle Evans Gay. Although I’m a big fan of Sen. Gay and will vote for her, I don’t believe that the Party had any business endorsing in this race, or any of the races for that matter.  All three candidates are, at the least, credible.

Regardless, demographics, along with money, favor Kyle Evans Gay.  We have two Black candidates and a white candidate.  And, as you can see from the TV ad (you won’t be able to avoid it),  Kyle is not limiting her appeal to white voters.  She has already built an admirable list of legislative accomplishments, including on child care, voting rights, and abortion rights.  I think she’s a future Governor.

Three good candidates.  But only one great campaign.

That’s how I see it.

The 30-Day Campaign Finance Reports

The filing deadline for the Delaware primary is Wednesday, August 14.  As I start this, there are already 10 pages of filings at the Department Of Elections site.

This article will be a work-in-progress as we will update it as the DOE site is updated, and as I get around to stuff.  There’s simply too much to catch up on all at once.

The Big Story, though, is likely to remain the Big Story.  That is the overriding involvement of Third Party advertisers in the election for Governor.

We’ll start there.  I’ll first say that we don’t necessarily have the final 30-day reports from those Third Party advertisers as the deadline for activity to be covered in the reports is August 12.

Having said that, here’s what we have so far.

Citizens For A New Delaware Way is the 3rd Party Advertiser set up by TransPerfect sorehead Phil Shawe.  Pretty sure they’re behind those anti-BHL TV ads.  So far, they have reported spending over $234 K.  There will be more.

Remember People For A Healthy Delaware?  The Little PAC That Could?  Well, it now has served as a pass-through to funnel $475 K to Bethany Hall-Long’s campaign.  Literally.  It raised about $475 K this year, and then, on July 12, transferred the entire amount to the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association, which is the primary Third Party advertiser for BHL. An incredible amount of money was ferried to People For A Healthy Delaware through the Delaware and New Jersey Laborers’ Unions.  Is that Jimmy Maravelias?  I want to know.  Because here are the figures:  Laborers’ Political League of Delaware–$100,000; New Jersey State Laborers’ PAC–$100,000; Growing Economic Opportunities–$100,000.  So, who, I wondered, was behind the Growing Economic Opportunities PAC.  I checked with Open Secrets.  All of its contributions came from, wait for it, the Laborers Eastern Region Organizing Fund.  That’s a total of $300,000 from the Laborers to fund BHL’s campaign.  I want to know:  Who is behind this? 

The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association has spent virtually the entire $475K already on media for Bethany Hall Long, according to their finance reports.  All funneled from various Laborers’ PACs controlled by Jimmy Maravelias.

His raiding the Laborers’ PAC’s is even more obscene when one looks at the Delaware Building Trades PAC reports.  Two filings: In both instances, their balance starts at zero, there are no recorded receipts, but there are two expenditures–one for $5000 for a airplane banner on behalf of BHL, and another for over $12 K for both printed and digital media for BHL.  Why use your members’ dues when you can raid regional Laborers’ PACs? Are there any remaining honest union people who can sanction Jimmy M for this?

Collin O’Mara has more modest expenditures on his behalf through the League Of Conservation Voters ($193 K, virtually all of it for digital media) and the NRDC Action Votes Federal PAC ($100 K, all of it for digital media).

You may notice quite a few committees with negligible balances that have filed both the 30-day report and filed all the rest of their reports for the remainder of the year.  They represent committees that aren’t active, but have chosen not to fold their committees.  The multiple reports reflect the committees’ intent to engage in no activity for the rest of the year.

Attention–Reporters: There may be a story here for you.  If you go to page 10 of the DOE Campaign Finance Reports (at least as of 11:55 am today), you will note that Ernest ‘Trippi’ Congo has just amended every single one of his campaign finance reports dating back to 2016.  One does not do this without some, um, strong encouragement from someone in authority.  Either the Department of Elections and/or the AG’s office.  This story takes on more urgency in light of the fact that Bethany Hall-Long has seen fit to hand Congo $475,000 to, pardon the expression, undertake some sort of opioid prevention project despite his not having any experience whatsoever in the field.  Oh, and yet more in the form of an ’emergency’ grant.  This stinks.  Perhaps BHL found a kindred spirit in a fellow campaign scofflaw.  $475K could buy Congo a lot of sympathy–and other stuff.  Gee, ya think that him amending those reports and the State Auditor inspecting his grant proposal could be related?

Let’s see what Jeff Taschner’s DSEA is up to.  Specifically, the DSEA Third Party PAC.  It appears that, each time they engage in activity, they file a new report.  Nothing wrong with that:

August 5:  $12.5K for design for several D legislators.

August 6:  $57.5K for design and placement–$42K for BHL, $15K for Kyle Evans Gay

August 8:  $40K for design and placement for direct mail for BHL.

August 9: $16K for four D legislative challengers.  Some good ones, including Branden FletcherDominguez, Frank Burns, and Claire Snyder-Hall.  So, not everything they do sucks.

You can tell a campaign’s priorities by their contributors.  Take Marjorie Lopez Waite, for example.  Please.  Let’s see–the anti-union Merit PAC: $6oo.  ‘Act Together For Kids’, yet another PAC affiliated with that First State Educate network: $600.  Eleuthere DuPont (will someone tell me his American name?): $600 (he tried to give $1200, but the second $600 was returned).  Noted developers Christopher Schell and Jerome Heisler: $600 each.  Debra (Tony’s wife and BHL’s  fundraising chair) DeLuca: $250.   I’m sure you can find many more.

Remember No Labels?  $100,000 in the bank and no place to send it.

Kathy McGuiness raised $68K.  Let’s see who the miscreants who contributed are.  Alan Levin: $300.  Christopher Schell: $600.  Lumpy Carson: $500.  Delaware Building & Construction Trades:  $600.  Friends (?) For Pete Schwartzkopf: $600.  John Paradee: $300.  Hmmm–something called SIABAG, LLC–$600, and something called Sibag, LLC–$600–both with the identical address.  Somebody? Anybody?  Tatiana Copeland: $600.

Both Mark Rendon and Claire Snyder Hall have raised admirable war chests.  Unlike KMG, virtually all of the contributions are from individuals, and the vast majority of the donations come from Delawareans.  While I’m not involved in that campaign, I have to think that KMG is headed for a third place finish.

Just saw Stephen Jankovic‘s campaign report.  He’s running in that three-way D primary in RD 10 to replace the retiring Sean Matthews.  Stick a fork in that campaign. $540 raised.

Memo to the American Council Of Engineering Companies Of Delaware:  You can’t contribute $1200 for a state legislative race. You contributed $1200 to both  Rep. Mike Smith  and Kevin Hensley.  Make sure they give that money back.

Who do the cops want?  The TROOPERS PAC maxed out to Our PAL Val, Bill Bush, and Trinidad Navarro.

Progressive Dems Of Delaware maxed out to Claire Snyder-Hall, Coby Owens, Eric Morrison, Kamela Smith, Monica Shockley-Porter, and Terrell Williams.

The FOP State PAC maxed out to Bill Bush and sent $1200 to Ruth Briggs King, a Republican running for Lt. Governor.

Not only do the Western Region Rethugs invite Election Deniers to speak at their soirees, they too have exceeded legal campaign limits with their contributions.  $1300 to Brenda Menella For House and $1300 to Friends Of David Hansperger.   Now you know.  Now you know what to do.

Say…do we have a John Carney Dark Money Third Party PAC?  Sure looks like it.  It’s called PAC 302, with contributions from Citigroup, three ‘Complete Care’ facilities, $35 K from something called the ‘Grow Delaware PAC’, $5K from Highmark and $10K from Riverfront Hotel.  Wait, we’re not done with the money three-card monte yet.  After raising this money, PAC 302 has sent virtually the entire amount to something called Citizens For Wilmington’s Future, based, as you might expect, in Alexandria, Virginia.   Only one direct contribution to a candidate.  Yep, John Carney.

Holy fuck!  This Change Can’t Wait PAC.  Virtually every plutocrat you can name.  They raised over $800K this cycle and spent almost $700K of it.  Is this PAC backing Matt Meyer?  Can’t tell from the expenditures.  If so, it’s scary.

The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association reports ponying up $125K for Bethany.

Kyle Evans Gay‘s report is up, and it reflects a juggernaut.  It combines grassroots donors and some of Delaware’s highly-connected.  She raised over $223,000, and has around $184K available for the stretch run. Was planning to  write up that race today.  Nothing I see here changes my perspective on how this contest will play out.

This is as good a time as any to give a shout-out to Patrick Jackson of the Department Of Elections.  I don’t know how he and his team are doing it, but they are posting these reports really quickly.

Kidskidskids, for the umpteenth time, you can’t donate more than $600 to a state legislative campaign.  PAC Local Union 451 (Ironworkers) either didn’t get the memo or didn’t give a shit.  $1200 to Ed Osienski’s campaign, $750 to Our PAL Val’s campaign, and $1200 for Walsh For The 9th (Sen. Jack Walsh).

A couple of days ago, we speculated about a Carney Third Party PAC.  No further need to speculate.  Citizens For Wilmington’s Future filed their report.  It’s a Carney Third Party PAC.  Not sure that the report is accurate as it does not reflect the cash bomb that PAC 302 dumped into Citizens For Wilmington’s Future.  It reports about $13K in receipts, with all of it being spent on a Carney mailer.

Ex-cop Bob Williams, who is running for NCC Council President, raised money from cops and, of course, the Building Trades.  Among his expenditures: $100 to Our PAL Val, who has run interference for the cops since she got her ‘job’ as Executive Director of the Police Athletic League.

In marked contrast, Jason Hoover, who is running for the same position, raised 3 times as much as Williams ($22K to Williams’ approximate $7K), all of it from individual donors.

Citizens For A New Delaware Way, sore loser Phil Shawe’s PAC, received an infusion of, wait for it, $1 million from Shawe.  Has about $600K remaining.  Those anti-BHL ads aren’t going anywhere.

Tracey Miller has won the $$ battle over Ade Kuforiji in RD 34.  In fact, doesn’t look like Kuforiji joined the battle.  He started with about $5000 and raised–$300.  Spent less than $1000.  Meaning, he should have enough left over for his next vanity campaign.  Miller started with $8K,  raised $14K, and has spent $5000.  For some reason, she paid $298 for Friends Of Val Longhurst.  You’d have to ask her why.  Yes, she’ll need to raise more for the General, but she will be competitive, at least.

Mike Ramone has raised over $76K for his gubernatorial primary campaign.  The duPonts and Copelands are well represented as they likely (and incorrectly) view this as a belated return to relevance.  I mean, even Dr. Oz won the primary.  The general, though?

Glad to see that Eric Morrison has raised a lot of money to try to stave off the challenge of Charter School advocate Marjorie Lopez Waite.  Started with $40K, raised another $25K, and has plenty left for the homestretch.  Several legislators and retired legislators. Not Our PAL Val, though.

If/when John Carney loses in his run to be Mayor of Wilmington, it won’t be due to a lack of funding.  Setting aside his dark money third party PAC we mentioned earlier, he added $162K to his existing $108 K, which was presumably transferred over from his Governor’s campaign.   The miscreants who contributed are too numerous to mention.  Check out the report and choose the ones you can’t stand.  He’s spent a lot as well. Over $200K.  Makes you wonder why he hasn’t put this contest away…until you realize it’s John Carney we’re talking about.  I do have one question, though, and perhaps someone can answer it.  Why are all these liquor stores, at least half of which aren’t in Wilmington, ponying up $250 each?  I also found notable the number of returned contributions.

Val Gould, candidate for NCC Council President, raised about $11K, and, with loans, raised about $15.5K.  Regardless of how this campaign turns out, they have a bright political future should they choose to pursue it.  I’m all for it–and yes, Val has my vote.

Our PAL Val Longhurst has raised a lot of money–and she’ll need all of it.  Started the year with $160K, and raised another $100K.  This doesn’t reflect overwhelming support for Longhurst, this reflects the recognition that, if you don’t pony up and if she wins, she will exact retribution on you.  As in, your bills won’t go anywhere.  I’ve spent a lot of time campaigning on behalf of Kamela Smith down in that district.  I’m telling you–all the money in the world can’t overcome a great grassroots campaign.  Betcha Tony DeLuca and Dave McBride would agree with that statement.  Kam and her team are running a great grassroots campaign.  Just sayin’.

Kinda thought that Sherry Dorsey Walker would have raised more money.  Started the year at $47K, raised over $38K.  It doesn’t suck, but I don’t think it’s enough to be competitive.  Especially with Kyle Evans Gay up with what I consider a real good TV ad.

Debbie Harrington raised a pretty similar amount in her bid for Lt. Governor.  Unfortunately, it pales in comparison to what Kyle Evans Gay has raised.  Started with $52K  and added $23K.  She also has loaned the campaign $20 K.

Monica Shockley-Porter raised about $11K to go along with her initial balance of just over $7K.  She’s facing Bill Bush, who will have a shitload of money from the special interests bankrolling him.  She has enough to be competitive, but if you’re gonna make a donation anywhere, make it here.

Kamela Smith is in a similar situation.  Started the year with just over $3200, and has raised $21K.  Very respectable, but an additional contribution could well make the difference against Val Longhurst.

Marcus Henry raised $79K this year, to go along with $86K in loans and his initial balance of about $140 K.  In other words, he’s got plenty of money for the stretch run in the race for NCC Executive.

You can pretty much stick a fork in the campaign of Karen Hartley-Nagle.  Despite some huge contributions from developers, she raised only about $20,500 this year after starting the year with $13K in the bank.  Larry Tarabicos’ law firm contributed $1200, and Tarabicos personally contributed another $1000.  BTW, I saw one of the first signs of her campaign today–signs on I-95.  Didn’t know it was legal to post such signs on an interstate.  She’s the only one.  She’s also a loser.

Monique Johns raised almost nothing, yet seems to be the favorite in the race for NCC Council President.  Started the year with $944, and raised $6725.  Also loaned her campaign $4K.  A lot of ‘unknown’ addresses among her contributors, BTW.

Dennis E. Williams:  Still a bleeping joke.  He’s not heading back to Dover.  Not with the grand total of $3600 raised and another $1500 in loans.

Branden Fletcher Dominguez‘ grassroots-based campaign started the year with $11,500 banked and raised another $12K.  More than enough for his campaign to succeed in RD 3.

For those of you who didn’t think that BHL could still raise money (looks at self in mirror), she raised a shitload of money, much of it from people I’ve never heard of.  The bad news for her?  She’s burned through most of it.  She started the year with $687K and raised $531K.  The bad news?  She burned through over $1 mill, leaving her with $218K for the stretch run.  I just focused on the max ($1200 each) donors.  A lot of them are from tony out-of-state addresses, many in Pa.  Plus, a bleepload from Suxco.  I’m guessing that the guy from the Democratic Lieutenant Governors’ Association riffled through his contact list.

Matt Meyer started the year with $1.7 mill in the bank and raised another $823K.  He has $1.6 mill remaining to spend.  While that likely makes him the favorite, it all depends on how he spends the money.

Collin O’Mara’s report just went up and, it makes me angry.  He started out the year with a balance of $870K, $750K of which was from loans.  He raised another $101K.  Here’s the kicker, though–he only spent slightly over $54K.  While in theory this leaves him with over $917,000 to spend, I think we’ve learned a different lesson.  He doesn’t intend, and likely never intended, to spend the $750 K he lent the campaign.  $54 K in a statewide race doesn’t give you much name recognition.  He’s toast.  God damn.

You wanna see a finance report showing a candidate who is completely beholden to the special interests and not to their constituents?  Look no farther than State Rep. Bill Bush‘s report.  An additional $23 K added to his starting balance of $47K.  Virtually all special interest money.  Yes, including $500 from the guy who Bill Bush made head of Del-Tech–‘Dr.’ Mark Brainard.  Did I mention that Monica Shockley Porter is running against him?

 

DL Open Thread: Sunday, August 11, 2024

We’re gonna start our review of the Campaign Finance reports tomorrow.  We will update a lot in the coming days.  However, the Big Story is right there for everyone to see:  I can safely say that at no time in Delaware campaign history has there been such an influx of Third Party money into our campaigns.  Virtually all of it centered on the Governor’s race.  The vast majority of it, but by no means all of it, being spent on making Bethany Hall-Long Governor.  We know why: Her finances are in such shambles that the deep-pocketed Delaware Way denizens have created this work-around.  Gee-wonder how members of the New Jersey Laborers’ Union feel about having their dues go to this vainglorious miscreant.  But that’s for tomorrow. Not that you can’t comment on it today.

Here’s a prediction from me that might not age well:  If Trump’s floor is 45%, he’s getting 45%.  No more.  Ain’t nobody knocking doors for him.  Betcha those small donor contributions are drying up, leaving only the plutocrats.  Even they know when they’re throwing good money after bad.

Ukraine–Didn’t See That Coming:

Vladimir Putin fixed the commander in chief of Russia’s military, General Valery Gerasimov, with a cold stare and a look of exasperation. The video, released Wednesday by the Kremlin, showed the Russian president was not happy with news from the southern region of Kursk.

At that moment, hundreds of Ukrainian troops, backed by tanks and protected by air defenses, were advancing into the region. Russian soldiers were surrendering; hundreds of Russian civilians in and around the town of Sudzha were fleeing with anything they could grab.

In two-and-a-half years of warfare, it was an unprecedented Ukrainian incursion into Russia. Putin told the Kremlin meeting that it was “another major provocation” by Kyiv. The region’s acting governor declared a state of emergency, describing the situation as “very difficult.”

Above all, it was humiliating for a Russian state that prides itself on protecting the motherland.

Celine Dion Mic-Drops On Trump.  Asking the question that everyone asked:

“Today, Celine Dion’s management team and her record label, Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc., became aware of the unauthorized usage of the video, recording, musical performance, and likeness of Celine Dion singing ‘My Heart Will Go On’ at a Donald Trump / JD Vance campaign rally in Montana,” said a statement shared on Dion’s official social media pages.

“In no way is this use authorized, and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use,” the statement said.

The management team then questioned the song choice itself, asking: “And really, THAT song?”

Israel Continues War Against Palestinians.  Guess we stay in ‘wag the dog’ mode until the dog’s tail falls off.  At which point, an Israeli soldier will shoot it:

Israel expanded evacuation orders in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip overnight, forcing tens of thousands of Palestinian residents and displaced families to leave in the dark as explosions from tank shelling reverberated around them.

The Israeli military said it was attacking militants from the Hamas group – which administered Gaza before the war – who were using those areas to stage attacks and fire rockets. On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike on a school where displaced Palestinians were sheltering in Gaza City killed at least 90 people, according to the civil defence service, prompting an international outcry.

The Israeli military said it had struck a Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant command post, an allegation the two groups rejected as a pretext, and killed 19 militants, Reuters reported.

In Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, the evacuation instruction covered districts in the centre, east and west, making it one of the largest such orders in the 10-month-old conflict, two days after tanks returned to the east of the city.

The announcement was posted on X and in text and audio messages to residents’ phones: “For your own safety, you must evacuate immediately to the newly created humanitarian zone. The area you are in is considered a dangerous combat zone.”

Yo, Biden, enough’s enough.  Don’t get drawn in any further.  Time to tell Bibi, KMAGYOYO:

“Kiss My Ass Goodbye, You’re On Your Own.”

The ‘Bias Of Coherence’.  Write what you saw and heard, won’tcha??:

Donald Trump’s public events are a challenge for anyone who writes about him. His rallies and press conferences are rich sources of material, fountains of molten weirdness that blurp up stuff that would sink the career of any other politician. By the time they’re over, all of the attendees are covered in gloppy nonsense.

And then, once everyone cleans up and shakes the debris off their phones and laptops, so much of what Trump said seems too bonkers to have come from a former president and the nominee of a major party that journalists are left trying to piece together a story as if Trump were a normal person. This is what The Atlantic’seditor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, has described as the “bias toward coherence,” and it leads to careful circumlocutions instead of stunned headlines.

Reporters might listen to Trump and then understandably be reluctant to start typing stories that must feel like spec scripts for The West Wing pieced together by a creative-writing circle:

The former president, lying about abortion laws, said women murder their own babies in the delivery room. He megalomaniacally claimed that he gets bigger crowds than anyone in history, and compared himself to Martin Luther King Jr. He descended into fantasy by telling a story about surviving a helicopter emergency that never happened with a man who wasn’t there.

Instead, The New York Times ran this headline: “Trump Tries to Wrestle Back Attention at Mar-a-Lago News Conference.” The Washington Post said: “Trump Holds Meandering News Conference, Where He Agrees to Debate Harris.” The British paper The Independent got closer with: “Trump Holds Seemingly Pointless Press Conference Filled With False Claims,” but CNN went with “Trump Attacks Harris and Walz During First News Conference Since Democratic Ticket Was Announced.”

All of these headlines are technically true, but they miss the point: The Republican nominee, the man who could return to office and regain the sole authority to use American nuclear weapons, is a serial liar and can’t tell the difference between reality and fantasy.

Donald Trump is not well. He is not stable. There’s something deeply wrong with him.

Any of those would have been important—and accurate—headlines.

Shane Darby Proposes Limitations On Rent Increases.  The Usual Wilmington Suspects use pretzel logic to oppose rent stabilization:

A new proposal is seeking to slow the rise in rents in Wilmington after Delaware experienced some of the highest increases in the nation since the COVID pandemic began.

Wilmington City Councilwoman Shané Darby has proposed an ambitious rent-stabilization ordinance that would provide relief for tenants. However, city developers and the mayor’s office say the ordinance will only hinder their progress in creating affordable housing.

Average rent costs in Delaware surged almost 24% in 2021 – marking the second highest increase nationwide behind only Florida, according to a report from Rent.com. The following year, the average continued upward another 14.5%.

The proposed ordinance would prohibit landlords of private apartment complexes from raising rents by more than 3% a year, or by even less during years that the consumer price index falls below that figure.

The bold legislation would only apply to multi-unit residential properties that are not owner-occupied and not operated by public housing authorities – which puts it in the crosshairs of some of the city’s biggest landlords, such as Buccini/Pollin Group, who already list most of their units at rates well above the housing authority maximums in private market competition.

This is what I call a ‘defining issue’.  As in Whose Side Are You On and/or Whose City Is it Anyway?  The other side?:

BPG also says they are “anxious” about the legislation.

Mike Hare, executive vice president for development of BPG, said they believe there are better options to resolve the issue such as increasing housing vouchers, and raising the amount of low-income tax credits to create more affordable housing.

“​​For our portfolio, we have about a 65% inherent retention rate year to year. So, we would like to at least be a voice toward a solution toward the problem. I’m not sure that rent stabilization is the way to get there,” Hare said.

BPG has almost 2,000 rental units in the city and over 600 more are currently under construction. Their monthly rents typically range between $1,100 and $3,200 for a 12-month term, depending on the number of bedrooms, according to online listings. Most units at BPG’s newest communities are priced between $1,700 and $2,100 a month.

While some may see shades of gray, this, to me, is a battle between Good and Evil.

What do you want to talk about?

DL Open Thread: Saturday, August 10, 2024

Oh, man.  Got my work cut out for me next week as we wade through the campaign finance reports.

I start today, though, with a blank canvas (oops, almost spelled it canvass, which is what I’m doing after I write this Open Thread and get caffeinated).  Let’s color it in.

‘Dog Bites Man’ Headline:

The GOP’s new worry: Trump can’t drive a coherent message

Ya think?:

Trump has for years been prone to tangents and riffs and generalities, but even by his standards this session was unfocused. And that was despite the apparent reason for calling the news conference in the first place: to take on an opponent who was rising in the polls.

Trump said repeatedly that Harris and Walz were bad on issues, but often without saying how or even clearly describing the issue. He dwelled on process and polling, as well as Biden and Harris’s replacement of him, rather than Harris herself. And he for whatever reason didn’t even summon Walz’s name — referring to him as Harris’s pick, the “new governor from Minnesota” (Walz was first elected six years ago), the “Minnesota gentleman” and Harris’s “new friend.” (Sometimes politicians avoid naming their opponents while lodging attacks, but Trump was perfectly happy to cite Harris by name, repeatedly.)

He. Can’t. Remember. His. Name.  There. Said it.

Remember those NYTimes Siena Polls We Couldn’t Stand?  538 ranks them as the most accurate in the nation.  And now:

Vice President Kamala Harris leads former President Donald J. Trump in three crucial battleground states, according to new surveys by The New York Times and Siena College, the latest indication of a dramatic reversal in standing for Democrats after President Biden’s departure from the presidential race remade it.

Ms. Harris is ahead of Mr. Trump by four percentage points in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, 50 percent to 46 percent among likely voters in each state. The surveys were conducted from Aug. 5 to 9.

The polls, some of the first high-quality surveys in those states since Mr. Biden announced he would no longer run for re-election, come after nearly a year of surveys that showed either a tied contest or a slight lead for Mr. Trump over Mr. Biden.

If these results hold, pretty sure that’s ballgame right there.  Y’know, if this continues, it might not hurt to make a play in Texas.  Biden only lost the state by 5 points.  And that was back when they both were (more or less) lucid.  If Trump’s support is melting down, why not play in a state where a D Senate candidate has a fighting chance?

When You’ve Lost The White Supremacists…:

White supremacist, Hitler fan, and far-right political pundit Nick Fuentes shockingly revoked his support from Donald Trump’s campaign early Friday, announcing on social media that he and his allies believed that the presidential bid is headed for a “catastrophic loss.”

“Tonight I declared a new Groyper War against the Trump campaign,” Fuentes wrote on X (formerly Twitter) shortly after midnight, referring to a group of far-right activists known as groypers.

Fuentes explained that he and his far-right squad of online trolls “support Trump” but that they view his 2024 campaign as being “hijacked” by lobbyists, consultants, and donors that had aided Trump’s 2016 Republican opponents. All in all, Fuentes believed they were “blowing it.”

“Without serious changes we are headed for a catastrophic loss,” Fuentes wrote.

“This is NOT a purity spiral, this is about living up to the AMERICA FIRST credo put forth by Trump in 2016 which will ensure VICTORY in 2024,” Fuentes continued. “On Monday I will present a detailed statement of the facts, a mission statement, and a plan of action on my Rumble channel. STAY TUNED.”

Groyper? Purity Spiral? Is Esperanto finally the Language Of The Land?

Oh, Lordy, We Have Tapes!  Of Project 2025 Training Sessions:

Project 2025, the controversial playbook and policy agenda for a right-wing presidential administration, has lost its director and faced scathing criticism from both Democratic groups and former President Donald Trump. But Project 2025’s plan to train an army of political appointees who could battle against the so-called deep state government bureaucracy on behalf of a future Trump administration remains on track.

One centerpiece of that program is dozens of never-before-published videos created for Project 2025’s Presidential Administration Academy. The vast majority of these videos — 23 in all, totaling more than 14 hours of content — were provided to ProPublica and Documented by a person who had access to them.

The Project 2025 videos coach future appointees on everything from the nuts and bolts of governing to how to outwit bureaucrats. There are strategies for avoiding embarrassing Freedom of Information Act disclosures and ensuring that conservative policies aren’t struck down by “left-wing judges.” Some of the content is routine advice that any incoming political appointee might be told. Other segments of the training offer guidance on radically changing how the federal government works and what it does.

In one video, Bethany Kozma, a conservative activist and former deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Agency for International Development in the Trump administration, downplays the seriousness of climate change and says the movement to combat it is really part of a ploy to “control people.”

A review of the training videos shows that 29 of the 36 speakers have worked for Trump in some capacity — on his 2016-17 transition team, in the administration or on his 2024 reelection campaign. The videos appear to have been recorded before the resignation two weeks ago of Paul Dans, the leader of the 2025 project, and they are referenced on the project’s website. The Heritage Foundation said in a statement at the time of Dans’ resignation that it would end Project 2025’s policy-related work, but that its “collective efforts to build a personnel apparatus for policymakers of all levels — federal, state, and local — will continue.”

You can watch all 14 hours of these sessions designed to subvert government on Pro Publica.  Should you so choose.  Feel free to report back.

Olympic Athletes Can Barely Afford Rent?  That must change:

Many viewers tune in to the Olympics for these wholesome stories—an individual fighting through adversity to pull themself up onto the medal podium. But should we consider why these arduous journeys are needed in the first place?

There are some athlete groups that have been questioning this idea. Global Athlete, which describes itself as “an international athlete-led movement,” is among them. According to the organization’s website, its members are “collectively addressing the imbalance of power between athletes and administrators” by pushing for better pay and working conditions, as well as rights like freedom of expression.

Rob Koehler, the director general at Global Athlete, said in an interview that most of the problems the group is confronting come from the “outdated model” used by the International Olympic Committee, the non-governmental sports organization in charge of organizing the Summer, Winter, and Youth Olympic Games.

“The majority of athletes can barely pay rent. The facade of when you become an Olympian, you’re set for life is so far from the truth,” he said. “They’ve invested 15, sometimes 20 years of their lives, putting school aside, putting jobs aside, and committing to the goal of going to the Olympics. And when they’ve finished, they sit in their bed lying awake at night, wondering, ‘What am I going to do next?’ There’s no career path for them afterward. That’s the reality.”

According to public financial information posted on the IOC’s website, the committee—a privately funded non-profit association—earned $7.6 billion from 2017 to 2021. The IOC says that 90 percent of that revenue goes toward the Olympic Games, athlete development, and the Olympic Movement, which encompasses the IOC, the International Sports Federations, and the National Olympic Committees.

But Global Athlete sees the situation differently. “They use rhetoric to say that the National Olympic Committees pay for gold medals. Not every country does, but that’s not the point here,” Koehler said. “Every single athlete attending the Games should be able to earn from the revenues.”

Koehler highlighted a study his group published in April 2020 in partnership with Ryerson University and the Ted Rogers School of Management that found that athletes only receive 4.1 percent of the Olympic Movement’s revenues via scholarships, grants, and achievement awards. In addition, just 0.5 percent of IOC funds go directly toward athletes, according to the study. Athletes are not allowed to negotiate these numbers. 

A blatant imbalance of power.  Anybody shocked?

We close with this genuine headline from the News Journal:

Prisoner indicted after fleeing custody, stealing tractor pulling manure spreader

Well, if ya gotta steal something…

What do you want to talk about?

DL Open Thread: Friday, August 9, 2024

Just A Note Before We Go…Onto Something Other Than The Attempted Swift-Boating Of Tim Walz.  Two notes, actually.

The guy who swift-boated John Kerry is the same guy trying to pull the same dirty trick on Walz:

The common denominator in both efforts: Trump campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita.

LaCivita played a key role in the political advocacy group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which ran the TV ad campaign questioning Kerry’s military service. It’s a playbook that the Trump campaign appears to be re-running after Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Walz, a 24-year veteran of the Army National Guard, as her running mate.

The hits on Walz’s military service align with Trump’s penchant for personal attacks against his political opponents, while also harkening back to the effort to sully Kerry’s military record two decades ago.

LaCivita even connected the two in an interview with RealClearPolitics on Wednesday. “Birds of a feather,” he said of Walz and Kerry, “will be tarred together.”

Somebody’s high on his own supply.  The second note?  Guess who underwrote the so-called ‘Swift Boat Veterans for Truth’.  That would be one Harlan Crow:

On Thursday, amid the swiftboating of newly-minted Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, The New Yorker’s award-winning Jane Mayer wrote: “Remember when John Kerry was Swiftboated by Chris LaCivita who is doing it to Tim Walz now? Guess who funded it? Harlan Crow, the billionaire who has been lavishing freebies on Clarence Thomas.”

Back in 2004, that massively-funded multi-million dollar machine, or “millions of dollars in shadowy contributions,” as New York Magazine explains it, spent $22,565,360, according to Open Secrets. (That’s about $34 million in current U.S. dollars.)

One of Swift Boat’s top donors was conservative GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, the Texas billionaire whose financial relationship with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been the subject of numerous bombshell investigative reports.

I watched about 2/3rds of that Trump ‘press conference’ yesterday.  Other than the fact that he surrendered and says he now will, in fact, debate Kamala Harris on ABC on September 10, the big news was his meandering.  Oh, and his obsession with crowd size.  Bragged that he drew 88,000 in South Carolina.  Turns out (I’m not making this up) that he attended a bowl game there that drew the crowd.  Says that his January 6 crowd was bigger than the DC crowd for MLK’s I Have A Dream Speech.  Lost his train of thought, appeared uninterested.  Unfit to be President.  But you already knew that.  OK, can’t resist, just one tidbit from the press conference:

At times, he did not hide his visible frustration. “What a stupid question,” he said, when asked why Harris was campaigning more frequently than he was.

“I am doing tremendous amounts of taping here. We have commercials at a level I don’t think anybody has ever done before,” he said.

That can take a toll on a guy.

OK, on to other topics.  I promise.

Know Your Newest RWNJ’s:  Meet Bronze Age Pervert, Raw Egg Nationalist,  Mencius Moldbug, and others.  The names may be humorous, but what they do is dangerous.

Israel Holding Palestinians In Torture Camps?  Is this their version of ‘an eye for an eye’?:

Israel is facing mounting pressure from the international community and human rights groups as more evidence surfaces of the military’s severe punishment of Palestinians held in what are being described as torture camps, including a notorious prison in the desert where soldiers have for months been accused of sexual abuse.

The Israeli Supreme Court said Wednesday that it will consider a petition from rights groups to close down Sde Teiman, the main military facility holding Palestinians captured in large-scale raids during the past 10 months of Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Whistleblowers and dozens of Palestinian captives who have since been released told the rights groups and media outlets of the inhumane treatment they faced while incarcerated with no formal charges, no trial and often no legal counsel.

There’s that pesky Israeli Supreme Court again.  Bibi hatches another scheme to abolish it in 3–2–1.

Torture In Prison Not Just For Bibi.  Texas roasts prisoners to death:

With Texas reaching its summer temperature peak over the next few days, the complaint says that prisoners suffer 100F-plus heat on a daily basis. On average, 14 people die of extreme heat in their cells annually, the plaintiffs say – a figure the state disputes.

The legal action aims to force the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to air condition all its prisons, about two-thirds of which currently lack AC. As a result, about 85,000 prisoners across dozens of correctional institutions are estimated to be at risk of heat stroke, exhaustion, nausea and other heat-related conditions, even to the point of death.

It’s long past time for the Feds step in and make Texas honor the Constitution, at least.

Carney and Potter Engage In First Public Forum.  Read, see if there’s any meat there.  Comment.

One more thing: every time I see that BHL ad where the very first thing mentioned is that she’s the endorsed candidate of the Delaware Democratic Party, I am reminded of what an unmitigated hack Betsy Maron is.  Yes, I like John Daniello.  Yes, I like Betsy.  But, her steering of this endorsement, and her refusal to reconsider in light of all the ethical and criminal findings and allegations against Bethany, is political malpractice of the highest order.  She can’t vacate the premises soon enough.

What do you want to talk about?

DL Open Thread: Thursday, August 8, 2024

Vance Tries To Swift-Boat Walz.  Could work. Nobody thought it would work against John Kerry either:

Speaking in Michigan, Donald Trump’s Republican running mate said: “You know what really bothers me about Tim Walz? When the United States Marine Corps … asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it. I did what they asked me to do and I did it honorably, and I’m very proud of that service.

When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the army and allowed his unit to go without him.”

Now a US senator from Ohio, Vance, 40, deployed to Iraq in 2005, as a military journalist. Despite his title – combat correspondent – he did not experience combat.

Walz, 60, was in the army national guard for 24 years, in infantry and artillery, deploying in response to natural disasters on US soil and to Europe in support of operations in Afghanistan. He retired in 2005, to run for Congress, shortly before his unit deployed to Iraq.

A soldier who served under Walz, Al Bonnifield, said: “Would the soldier look down on him because he didn’t go with us? Would the common soldier say, ‘Hey, he didn’t go with us, he’s trying to skip out on a deployment?’ And he wasn’t.

“… He weighed that decision to run for Congress very heavy. He loved the military, he loved the guard, he loved the soldiers he worked with.”

Calling Walz “very caring” and a “very good leader”, Bonnifield said Walz helped him and other soldiers when they returned from Iraq.

Not Vance’s first attempt at swiftboating.  The first one didn’t go so well:

During his candidacy for the Senate in 2022, the Ohio lawmaker appeared on the right-wing Real America’s Voice Network, where he discussed his stance on Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression. He said: “I think it’s ridiculous that we are focused on this border in Ukraine. I got to be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.”

At the time, former NBC News commentator and retired Army General Barry McCaffrey replied to a clip of Vance’s interview via X (formerly Twitter), writing: “JD Vance is a shameful person unsuitable for public office. His comments are those of a stooge for Russian aggression.”

Vance shot back at McCaffrey, saying: “Your entire time in military leadership we won zero wars. You drank fine wine at bulls—t security conferences while thousands of working class kids died on the battlefield. Oh, by the way, how much do you stand to gain financially from a war with Russia, Barry?”

Like McCaffrey, New York Times columnist David French also slammed Vance, writing: “He’s talking about a guy with three Purple Hearts, two silver stars, and who commanded 24th ID in Desert Storm, leading the attack that led to one of the most decisive military victories in American history. This is such a sad and shameful attack on an honorable man.”

I don’t even need to go into Vance’s pathetic Stalking Tour of the Harris/Walz Campaign.  You know, because Trump isn’t available.  OK, I will–because the Meidas Touch is so damn quotable:

Vance singled Harris out by name in a clip I unearthed last month as his Poster Lady for bitter, miserable women who fail to procreate. JD Eugenics, like prolific procreator Elon Musk, thinks that women in America aren’t breeding enough (the quiet part is they really mean WHITE women) and is determined to do something about it. But, where Elon sought to remedy the problem personally with each woman who entered his orbit, Vance seeks to do it with shaming women who fail to comply with his plan for their lives.

But Vance wasn’t done with his creepy weirdo obsession with Harris.

He recently decided that his campaign for VP would consist of following the VP all around the country, everywhere she goes like a weirdo stalker who can’t take a hint until he gets served with a restraining order. After getting humiliated with VERY sparse attendance at his attempts to upstage Harris in PA and WI, the Fake Hillbilly decided he had enough loneliness on the road and needed to get a little closer to the woman who simply didn’t understand how much she needed him in her life.

Since Vance is unable to get anyone to turn out to see him, he decided to walk over to Air Force Two to try and steal some of Kamala’s vibe. Although Vance never got close to the woman whose attention he demands, he attempted to commiserate with the press covering her campaign to complain that she also ignores them.

Harris seems content to focus her campaign on talking to voters, not Vance or the press, but Vance isn’t the kind of guy that takes “no” for an answer from childless cat ladies who don’t realize how much they need an Alpha Male like JD in their lives.

Weirdest Veep Candidate ever.

Jee-zus, over 800 words in and I’ve only talked about J. D. Vance…

Can’t stop now.  Remember that foreword he wrote for the Project 2025 Masterplan?  Well, they’ve decided that said plan can’t withstand public scrutiny before the election.  So…:

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts’ book will be published after the November elections, according to a report from Real Clear Politics.

The effort to hide the ball is futile, as Media Matters has obtained a galley copy of the book.

A review found Roberts rails against birth control, in vitro fertilization, abortion, and dog parks. He says that having children should not be considered an “optional individual choice” but “a social expectation or a transcendent gift,” and describes “contraceptive technologies” as “revolutionary inventions that shape American culture away from abundance, marriage, and family.” He labels reproductive choice methods as a “snake strangling the American family.”

Against dog parks and cat ladies.  Are gerbils next?

Speaking of Vance and literary blurbs–he has praised to high heaven this release from–wait for it–the Pizzzagate Conspiracy Guy.

The book, Unhumans: The Secret History of Communist Revolutions (and How to Crush Them), was written by Jack Posobiec and Joshua Lisec. Posobiec is a well-known alt-right agitator and conservative media personality who promoted the bonkers Pizzagate conspiracy theory. Lisec is a professional ghostwriter. And their book professes to be a history of communist and leftist revolutionary abuses over the decades—but with a twist. They claim, “For as long as there have been beauty and truth, love and life, there have also been the ugly liars who hate and kill.” And these “people of anti-civilization” have always gone by different names: communists, socialists, leftists, and progressives. The pair contend these folks—be they the Bolsheviks of Russia or the BLM activists of this decade—are better called “unhumans.”

“With power, unhumans undo civilization itself,” Posobiec and Lisec write. “They undo order. They undo the basic bonds of society that make communities and nations possible. They destroy the human rights of life, liberty, and property—and undo their own humanity in the process by fully embracing nihilism, cynicism, and envy.”

Here is Vance’s blurb:

In the past, communists marched in the streets waving red flags. Today, they march through HR [Human Resources], college campuses, and courtrooms to wage lawfare against good, honest people. In Unhumans, Jack Posobiec and Joshua Lisec reveal their plans and show us what to do to fight back.

The foreword is written by Steve Bannon.  Presumably before he went to jail.

Vance and his–wait for it–ilk are weird and scary.

In other news…too late!

What do you want to talk about?

Delaware’s Most Intriguing Primaries #7: RD 29

This presents a great pick-up opportunity and a chance to strike a blow against the Delaware Way.  How ‘Delaware Way’ is Bill Bush?  He shepherded Delaware Way developer shortcuts through the General Assembly.  As Lonnie George’s consigliere, he almost single-handedly overthrew the decision of the Del-Tech board to install ‘Dr.’ Mark Brainard as president.  If there is Delaware Way skulduggery afoot, Bush, who served as an attorney under the House Kop Kabal leadership, is part of it.

He is being challenged by Monica Shockley Porter, who is as grassroots as one can get.  Her bio:

A native of Harrisburg, PA, Monica Shockley-Porter moved to Kent County, Delaware in January 2019. Since her family’s relocation to Delaware, Monica has become an active member of Network Delaware, Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, Fund for Women at Delaware Community Foundation and National Coalition of 100 Black Women (DE Chapter).

With over 20 years of combined experience in both social services and business development, Monica has been responsible for marketing, outreach and management of several programs during the course of her career. In previous roles, Monica served as Community Relations Director, Director of Business Development and Director of Therapeutic Foster Care. Monica earned a BS in Criminal Justice from Savannah State University and MS in Administration of Justice from the University of Louisville. She resides in Clayton with her husband, US Army retiree, Justin and daughter, Justice Marie. Monica is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. (yes, one of the Divine Nine). 

A little historical fact about the sorority:

Expanding beyond Howard, Zeta Phi Beta established chapters in New York City and Atlanta. It began a publication called Archon, initially titled X-Ray, and instituted the tradition of Finer Womanhood Week. The organization aligned itself with the NAACP and the National Negro Congress. Notably, Zeta embarked on the Zeta Housing Project of 1943, identifying housing vacancies and registering them with the National Housing Association. Many of these homes sheltered numerous war workers during World War II.

The district extends from just SE of Clayton down to the Wild Quail Golf & Country Club in Camden-Wyoming. Here is the map:

https://elections.delaware.gov/maps/rd/2023/kent/rep-district-29.pdf

There is a lot of new development in the district, meaning less attachment and attraction to the Delaware Way tradition that Bush exemplifies.  Bush succeeded Trey Paradee when Paradee was elected to the Senate, which in large part explains the presence of both Paradee and Bush at that notorious bundlers’ party in the lobbying offices of Scott and Rebecca Kidner.

BTW, since Trey Paradee came on here to castigate that post, I think it is only fair to share his response and my response to his response.  I leave it up to you to decide whether lobbyist bundling parties are good or bad for Delaware:

Paradee: 

So, someone brought this to my attention. Why am I even posting a response, knowing that anything I say will be summarily dismissed and ridiculed? But, whatever, here it goes…

Steve, (It’s okay to call you “Steve”, right? Or do you prefer your nom de guerre?)
First of all, I did not “organize” this event. You got your facts wrong AGAIN. Shocker. In fact, I did not develop the graphic that was used for fliers and the email that I sent to friends, and, apparently, to some people who clearly are not friends. I was invited to participate in the event, as were the other participants. You might notice that the four legislators who were asked to participate are the chairs and co-chairs of the business/economic development committees of both the House and Senate. I have known Rebecca Kidner for nearly 40 years – since I was a teenager, obviously long before I ever considered entering politics. I have known her husband, Scott, for over 30 years. I consider them friends. They also happen to be my constituents. One is a lifelong Democrat – the other, not so much. During the years that I have served in the General Assembly, we have found ourselves on opposite sides of several issues. There have been times when we have fought bitterly against each other. But I have always respected them and been willing to consider their point of view, which is what every public servant should do. Scott and Becky are wonderful, smart, honest, hardworking people, who are widely respected by legislators on both sides of the aisle. The reality is that the Kidners’ names and the names of their clients appear on the campaign finance reports of MANY of the darlings of this website, but I am not surprised by your hypocrisy. It’s pretty much what you do here. When friends and/or constituents offer to open up their home to me in order to raise campaign funds, I am very grateful, and, on this occasion, I accepted the offer. Apparently, you think that campaigns are free. They’re not. Billboards, mailers, signs, and all the other various forms of advertising cost money – a lot of money. Like everything else in this world, the cost of campaigns continues to increase year after year. In fact, over the past decade, the cost of postage, which happens to be one the largest expenditures for every campaign, has increased 32%. Look it up. Meanwhile, the maximum campaign contribution that can be made by an individual of $600 has remained the same for four decades, making it more and more difficult to raise sufficient funds to pay for all the signs, mailers, brochures, etcetera. Meanwhile, the Republicans in this state have mastered the use of PACs that allow their supporters to make contributions in the tens of thousands of dollars every year. I cannot be bought for $600. I cannot be bought for any sum of money. That what makes your post and assertions so preposterous to me. I LOVE representing my hometown. It has been the greatest honor of my life. I vote my district, and always put my constituents first. I am proud that I am regularly endorsed by organizations like the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, and Stonewall PAC. They know that I am committed to supporting their causes. I am also proud of all the tremendous work that the Joint Finance Committee has done over the past few years under my leadership. We have put a tremendous amount of money into creating opportunities at our higher eds and funding pre-school and pre-K for children in disadvantaged communities. I could write volumes about all the great work the JFC has done in recent years. I am fortunate to serve with such great people! It never ceases to amaze me how this site is so preoccupied with tearing down Democrats – especially some of those who are doing great work. Sure, there are some members of our party who need to be criticized from time to time, and there have been times when I have not been on the same page as this website. I get that. I don’t mind being questioned or criticized when it comes to policy. I signed up for that, and I am happy to defend every vote I have ever taken – even if there are 2 or 3 that I wish I could do over. But the personal attacks and these ridiculous conspiracy theories that are literally lifted from the imaginations of Sam Chick, Kim Petters, and their merry band of Young Republicans only serves to diminish what this website could be and used to be a decade ago: engaging, substantive, and relevant. So, I wish you well. I hope everyone who is reading this has a glorious weekend. Keep being you, and I will keep working fiendishly to serve my constituents to the best of my ability.
Warmest regards,
Trey

El Som:

Please. You’re in an overwhelmingly D district. R’s generally get no more than 36% of the vote in your district. You’re from a wealthy family that has been a power broker in D politics since I started working in the General Assembly back in 1983.

So spare me the cost of billboards is going up.

Oh, as of now, you don’t have an opponent. Lumpy doesn’t have an opponent. Spiros doesn’t have an opponent. Only Del-Tech consigliere Bill Bush has an opponent, but raising money is pretty much the only problem he DOESN’T have in facing a legit grassroots challenger.

YOU sent out the notice about the fundraiser, and YOUR name was the only one listed with the ‘make checks payable to’ info. Maybe I should have said ‘promoted’ instead of ‘organized’. But you were the lead legislator on this event. Like you said, you’ve known Becky Batson since high school.

Lumpy Carson and Bill Bush are the worst sort of Delaware Way politicians, and have helped the House leadership kill progressive legislation since they’ve been in office.

The fact that you see nothing wrong with having a bundling party at the offices of corporate lobbyists reflects on you, not on me or anybody else. It pretty much illustrates everything that’s wrong with the Delaware Way. I, too, knew Becky Batson. She was a Senate Attorney who referred to the President Pro-Tem as ‘Uncle Thurm’, because he was her uncle. She and her Republican husband represent some of the most powerful corporate interests in Delaware.

You’ve done some good things and, as you know, I’ve praised you for them. You ALSO took part in the blatant Delaware Way-ism of the athletic complex in Frederica, as did your lobbyist brother. So you’re far from immune from taking part in Delaware Way inside baseball.

I think that both the reality and appearance of what you did on this sucks, as does your unwillingness to recognize that there’s something wrong with this political incest.

One more thing–and feel free to respond.

You correctly pointed out:

“You might notice that the four legislators who were asked to participate are the chairs and co-chairs of the business/economic development committees of both the House and Senate.”

Yes, I noticed. That’s why I urged all of them and you yesterday to cancel their participation. As you know, but tried to gloss over, we’re not talking one $600 check, we’re talking checks from the Kidners’ corporate clients. $600 times ??

This is designed to benefit the Kidners’ clients. I would argue at the expense of the people you and the others actually represent. The casual corruption of the Delaware Way is so casual that you, among others, see no harm in these bundling parties.

There was no further response from Trey.

This district is overwhelmingly Democratic.  The current registration numbers are 9783 D; 5288 R; 6025 I.  The primary is the general.

It’s this simple:  This race is a classic example of Delaware Way insiderism vs. the Democratic grassroots.  Monica Shockley Porter would be a huge upgrade over this deeply-embedded insider.  If you agree, here’s a link.  You know what to do.

The Sanest (Ex-) President Ever!

In his own words:

This is the most Radical Left duo in American history. There has never been anything like it, and there never will be again. Crazy Kamabla is, indeed, CRAZY. I HEAR THERE IS A BIG MOVEMENT TO “BRING BACK CROOKED JOE.”

Oh, and:

What are the chances that Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST President in the history of the U.S., whose Presidency was Unconstitutionally STOLEN from him by Kamabla, Barrack HUSSEIN Obama, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Shifty Adam Schiff, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, and others on the Lunatic Left, CRASHES the Democrat National Convention and tries to take back the Nomination, beginning with challenging me to another DEBATE. He feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the U.S. Presidency, a COUP, to the people in the World he most hates, and he wants it back, NOW!!!

Just a fact check:  Isn’t Biden still President?  Thought so.

Here’s another ‘sad’ for the former President:

The Kamala Harris campaign mocked Donald Trump on his own social media platform, comparing the number of attendees at the Democrat and Republican rallies on Truth Social.

Harris’ campaign has a verified account on the platform, and used it to post a jibe at Trump.

“Harris rally vs. @realDonaldTrump rally. Same arena in Philly,” they posted on Tuesday, alongside two photos of Temple University’s Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where both presidential candidates have recently held rallies.

One photo shows Harris and her newly announced running mate Tim Waltz on stage with the crowd filling the blue-decorated space. The second photo is a lot more blurry and appears to show Trump onstage during his rally with the top tier of seats empty, a visual that raised questions at the time.
As in:
Donald Trump has been mocked on social media after footage from his rally at Temple University’s Liacouras Center, a 10,000-seat venue, showed large numbers of open seats and entire sections of the upper level completely empty.
More of this, please.
Let’s not lose the lede, though:  Trump is mentally-ill, and is totally unfit to be President.

DL Open Thread: Monday, August 5, 2024

Who Will It Be?  Who Do You Want It To Be?  I want it to be that folksy Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz.  I think it will be Joel Shapiro.  So that James Carville can gloat about owning the libs.  I hate that beady-eyed sumbitch.  This is the Open Thread, so predict away!

Bangladeshi PM Resigns, Flees.  Ahead of protestors:

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country Monday afternoon, ending a 15-year rule that has faced violent opposition in recent months.

According to local Bangladeshi news agencies, Hasina escaped her residence minutes before it was stormed by protesters. She left for India and was accompanied by her younger sister Sheikh Rehana on the helicopter, local media reported.

Not knowledgeable at all about this.  If you are, please share your thoughts.

Josh Marshall’s Take:  I’m not a big poll guy, recognizing that, at best, they’re barely accurate snapshots in time.  But I am a big Josh Marshall guy (and TPM supporter):

The short version is that Harris is now slightly but measurably ahead in the Blue Wall states. She remains behind but now only barely in the southern tier states of Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina. The margins in both directions are mostly between one and two points. Those are nominally margin of error numbers. But when they’re based on multiple polls they become a bit sturdier than that. (I’m following 538’s averages on this. They have Nevada tied.)

What this means is that Harris now has very small leads in the states she needs to win the election. Just as critically she’s now in shooting distance in all of the southern tier states, now including North Carolina. Together these represent a pro-Harris shift of 3 to 4 percentage points which is more or less matched by the shift at the national level.

Harris’s net favorability has soared. On July 4th, her net favorability was -17.4 percentage points. Today it’s -6.7 percentage points. I suspect not only the direction but the fluidity and dynamism of those numbers scare the Trump campaign far more than the horse race numbers I mentioned up top. Trump’s favorability also improved after the assassination attempt and his convention. But much more modestly and the positive movement appears to halted.

Trump just isn’t the candidate he was eight years ago or even four years ago. He didn’t need to be as long as he held that small but persistent lead over Biden. But battling back is a different thing than coasting. As I noted when things seemed much worse for Democrats, having all lived through the historic presidential campaign month of July 2024 we’d be fools to assume that the remainder of the campaign will be a straight line from today to November 5th. But the sense of panic you now see in the Trump campaign is that they fear they’re going to get swamped by the Harris surge and that there won’t be enough time to shift the dynamic of the campaign. They’re right to be worried.

RFK Jr. Still Not Weird Enough For You?  He’s determined to change that opinion:

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted in a video posted to his social media Sunday that about a decade ago, he dumped a dead bear cub in Central Park to make it look like it got hit by a bicycle.

In the video, in which actor Roseanne Barr also appears, Kennedy tells a story of driving in upstate New York when a woman driving in front of him hit a cub bear and killed it. He said he pulled over and put the bear in the back of his van to eventually skin the bear “because it was in very good condition” and put the meat in his refrigerator.

After he put the bear in his van, he went hawking with friends and he didn’t have time to go to his home in Westchester and put the bear away. Instead, he was due for dinner in the city. The dinner went late and he had to go to the airport, but the bear was still in his car.

“I didn’t want to leave the bear in the car because that would have been bad,” he said.

The presidential candidate said at the time there had been a series of bicycle accidents in Central Park because of the new bicycle lanes. A few people who were with him, who Kennedy said had been drinking, thought Kennedy’s “redneck” idea to put the bear in Central Park was a good idea, along with an old bike that was also in his car.

“I said let’s go put the bear in Central Park, and we’ll make it look like he got hit by a bike.

Ho-kay.

This JD Vance…:

Campaigning in Atlanta on Saturday, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance blamed Democrats without any evidence for the recent assassination attempt against Donald Trump.

In his brief remarks introducing the former president at a Georgia State University arena, Vance told the crowd: “They couldn’t beat him politically, so they tried to bankrupt him. They failed at that, so they tried to impeach him. They failed at that, so they tried to put him in prison.” Then, gesturing emphatically, Vance declared: “They even tried to kill him.”

Gee, that won’t rile up the mouth-breathers.

A WDEL headline:

Del. Troopers round up school supplies

For loitering?

What do you want to talk about?

DL Open Thread: Sunday, August 4, 2024

The Agony And Joy Of Defeat.  You really thought I’d miss this story?:

French athlete Anthony Ammiratiwas getting in his own way at the Summer 2024 Olympics.

The 21-year-old pole vaulter missed out on the chance to win an Olympic medal on Saturday, Aug. 3, after he missed his target height when his crotch got caught on the crossbar.

As seen in the now-viral video circulating on X (formerly Twitter), the bulge in Ammirati’s shorts stopped him from making it over the bar, and he fell to the ground in defeat instead.

The unexpected issue caused him to finish in 12th place, disqualifying him for the next round and squashing his chances of competing for a medal.
The bad news?  Out of the Olympics.  The good news?  Most in-demand athlete in the Olympic Village.
Trump Tries To Lose Georgia.  Always makes sense to blister a popular Republican Governor in his home state:
Former president Donald Trump unleashed a fusillade of personal and sometimes false attacks against the popular governor of Georgia on Saturday night, reigniting an intraparty feud three months ahead of the presidential election in this battleground state.

At a rally where his advisers wanted him to sharply attack presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and focus on Democratic policies, Trump repeatedly veered off script to attack Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in personal and increasingly aggressive terms — and seemed fixated on the past.

Trump mocked him sarcastically and called him “Little Brian”; repeatedly called him “disloyal”; blamed Kemp for Trump being charged in Georgia by a prosecutor whom Kemp has criticized; suggested Kemp wanted Republicans to lose elections; and argued Georgia would have better crime and economic numbers if Kemp were no longer governor.

One person familiar with Georgia politics said Republican elected officials were frustrated because they believe the remarks will hurt Trump and could cost him the state. “Republicans were lined up to give positive comments tonight, and now some of them are scared to,” the person said.

“Makes absolutely no sense at all,” a second person involved in Georgia politics said. “Unless Trump wants to lose the state.”

I  can’t even…except to say, “Keep it up.”   No, not a reference to the French pole vaulter.  (Further proof, as if required, that sophomoric humor is not the sole province of sophomores.  Been skating on it for decades.)

Don’t Think Trump’s Debate Dodge Is Gonna Work.  Pretty sure his ‘agreement’ with Fox News for a debate before an audience of his rabid supporters is a non-starter:

Trump:

Donald Trump discusses a Fox News debate on Truth Social.

Harris:

Harris has consistently said she plans on attending the Sept. 10 debate hosted by ABC News that has been on the calendar for months.

“We’re happy to discuss further debates after the one both campaigns have already agreed to,” Michael Tyler, her campaign communications director, said in a statement on Saturday.

“Mr. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace should have no problem with that unless he’s too scared to show up on the 10th,” Tyler added.

Double-Down On ‘Weird’.  It works, and it’s what Trump has done from the very beginning:

Going low is a new tactic for the civility-obsessed Democrats. But Trump has always understood the power of an on-the-nose insult. Coming up with nasty nicknames for his detractors is a longstanding strategy of his, one that has proved effective in the past. I mean, remember Jeb Bush? Or perhaps you don’t – which proves the point. Back in 2015 Bush, the second son of former president George HW Bush and a younger brother of former president George W Bush, decided to run in the Republican primaries. His name alone would have taken him far were it not for the fact that Trump labelled him “low energy Jeb”. Trump managed to capture Bush’s off-putting essence in that phrase and the insult repeatedly came up in focus groups as an example of why people didn’t like him. His campaign basically became a futile attempt to shed the low-energy label. Eventually he ran out of energy entirely and dropped out.

In the same way that Trump managed to boil down Bush’s biggest weakness into a pithy attack line, “weird” perfectly encapsulates the modern Republican party. “I don’t know who came up with the message, but I salute them,” David Karpf, a strategic communication professor at George Washington University, told the Associated Press. Not only is it a concise summation of the general off-putting Republican vibe, “it frustrates opponents, leading them to further amplify it through off-balance responses”.

In other words: being called a bunch of weirdos has driven Republicans stark raving mad. Honestly, if you want a quick pick-me-up, just take a look at some of the videos of them melting down about it. Their overwhelming response has been to shout WE’RE NOT WEIRD, YOU’RE WEIRD at the top of their lungs. JD Vance, for example, in something of an own goal, tweeted a video of Harris telling everyone her pronouns with the caption “JD Vance is weird”.

While politicians trading silly insults may seem like a step back for US politics, Democrats emphasizing how weird Republicans are is actually progress. For far too long Democrats have made the mistake of treating fanatics on the right like they’re reasonable people who want to have good-faith debates. But there is no way to have a good-faith debate with people who call their opponents “childless cat ladies”, defend 12-year-olds getting married and think 10-year-old rape victims should be forced to give birth.

Can I get an ‘Amen’?

What do you want to talk about?