Delaware Liberal

Steve Benen pauses to take stock in the generational and historical scope of this day and this agreement:

At the start of the process, the smart money said these talks would fail. The hurdles were simply too great. Indeed, plenty of very credible observers feared that the attempted diplomacy itself might be a mistake – failure would leave the world in an even more precarious position than before the talks began. President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry recognized the challenges and risks, and they took it on anyway. Their success will likely put a stop to Iran’s nuclear-weapons program, but it also marks one of the most dramatic diplomatic accomplishments in generations. I’ve seen some suggestions about this being Obama’s “Nixon goes to China” breakthrough, but the comparison is imprecise – the Obama administration’s task was far more difficult. I’m reminded of this piece from the Washington Post’s Steven Mufson, published in March.

…Obama is not Nixon, and Iran is not China, and the comparison – made in newspaper columns and by some foreign policy experts – is illuminating largely because of important differences it exposes. Nixon’s visit to China was a powerful symbol – a longtime anti-Communist president strolling along the Great Wall and dining with senior party leaders. Unlike Nixon, Obama lacked a political record that would shield him from criticism for reaching out to a longtime foe. China also welcomed Nixon’s visit, whereas Iranian leaders still harbor suspicion of the United States.

[T]he nuclear agreement with Iran is arguably a greater diplomatic accomplishment than anything we’ve seen in modern American history.

As Andrew Sullivan often said... Meep Meep Motherf*ckers. Barack Obama will go down as the greatest President since Franklin Roosevelt.

For years, the 18th Representative District was represented by the Republican Speaker of the House of Representative, Terry Spence. Spence was first elected in 1980, and he was reelected over Democrat Ronald Queen with 62.5% of the vote in 1982. Spence won two other easy reelections in 1984 and 1986, and then ran unopposed in seven of his thirteen reelection campaigns. Even though his district was becoming increasingly Democratic. Until 2006. The district, by then, was 49% registered Democratic, with only 26% registered Republican. So the Democrats finally decided to actually run a credible candidate, and they found Mike Barbieri, a behavioral health professional Mike Barbieri to run against Spence. Barbieri came close, but he lost by 12 points. In 2008, Barbieri defeated Spence 52% to 48%. In a rematch in 2010, Barbieri won 53% to 47%. And he has been unopposed ever since, save for a quixotic primary by Christopher Piecuch. Piecuch is a young man, the owner of Owner of PQ's Landscaping LLC. He garnered 18% of the vote against Barbieri's 82%. In real votes, due to a low turnout primary, the votes were actually 577 to 123. Christopher Piecuch is running again, having already announced on Twitter...

I was trying to think of what the wingnut headlines will be for this historic agreement with Iran. VIENNA (AP) — After 18 days of intense and often fractious negotiation,…

State Rep. Mike Barbieri has resigned from the General Assembly effective at the end of the month to take a job as the Director of the Department of Health and Social Services' Division of Substance Abuse. I normally balk at a situation where a State Representative takes a state job, because it normally looks just too damn convenient. Like the situation with Rebecca Walker and others before her. But this is a situation where it seems like Barbieri is the most qualified and experienced guy for a job.

Robert Reich views Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker as the most dangerous of all GOP hopefuls. Why? Because he's relatively young and charismatic. He’s David and Charles Koch’s favorite (which means…

The Washington Post's Robert Costa had a bizzare interview with renowned bankruptcy and divorce expert Donald Trump on his private plane following his seventy-minute rant of a speech in Phoenix during which he used the Nixonian phrase "the Silent Majority." Costa was wondering if Trump was concerned that he had borrowed the phrase from a disgraced President. Trump replied:

Nah. Nobody remembers that. Oh, is that why people stopped using [the phrase]? Maybe. Nobody thinks of Nixon. I don’t think of Nixon when I think of the silent majority. The silent majority today, they’re going to vote for Trump. Remember, many Republicans didn’t vote for Mitt Romney. He didn’t inspire people. They’re going to vote for me.

Actually, Mr. Trump, Republicans and conservatives did come out to vote for Mr. Romney. The reason why you lost is because Democrats and Independent also showed up. And the reason you Republicans were so surprised on election night that year is because you thought the turnout would be closer to 2010 percentages, and not 2008 percentages. Yes, the turnout would be higher, but the percentage breakdown between Democrats and Republicans and Independents would be the same. You were wrong. And then you cried. And we smiled. Some of us laughed and pointed.

According to this email, which is otherwise utterly devoid of content, for a measly $9.00 a month you can wear a pin that proves you hate Hillary Clinton as much as Charlie Copeland hates her.

Here it is in a nutshell. Going into reelection in November 2013, Chris Christie was riding high in the polls, and a virtual shoe-in to be the GOP nominee to…