It Begins: Rep. Darryl Scott to Retire

It Begins: Rep. Darryl Scott to Retire

It usually starts as spring dawns in an election year. The retirements. Always there is a surprise. Last time, the surprise was Terry Schooley. This year, this might be it:
I have decided not to run for reelection this year. The obligations of my family and career outside the General Assembly have changed, and it is apparent to me that I will not be able to provide my constituents with the level of service they require and deserve beyond the end of my term this year. If you do this right, it is the fullest part-time job you will ever have.

Wednesday Open Thread [3.5.14]

First Read reports on the Texas party primaries last night (which are as ridiculously early as Delaware's are ridiculously late):
"Yet if the GOP establishment largely won the battle last night, the Tea Party has already won the war. Every Republican running for office -- up and down the ballot -- did so by running hard to the right and hard against President Obama (even in races that have nothing to do with the president)... And in another example of how the Tea Party has already won the war, just check out the tweet that Sen. Lindsey Graham -- another establishment Republican facing a Tea Party primary field this year -- fired off yesterday regarding the situation in Ukraine: 'It started with Benghazi. When you kill Americans and nobody pays a price, you invite this type of aggression.'" "Bottom line: Establishment Republicans have figured out how to survive (for the most part) in these primaries, but the question is whether this has been good for the party in the long run."
Let me give you a hint: it will doom them in national elections, it will guarantee a Ted Cruz or Rand Paul nomination, and will result in a 400 electoral vote landslide by President Hillary Clinton. Now, some would say that is bad for the party. I disagree. I think Republicans love their base to be outraged so that they can be bilked. Nothing better for that than 16 years of Democratic control of the White House.
UPDATED:  Good Morning Suckers – You are paying Mike Castle’s flood insurance premiums, and you are going to keep paying them

UPDATED: Good Morning Suckers – You are paying Mike Castle’s flood insurance premiums, and you are going to keep paying them

Mike Castle can sleep in his beach house soundly knowing that you are on the job heavily subsidizing his choice to live next to the unpredictable Atlantic Ocean totally risk free. You feel good about yourself, right? Castle deserves his sound sleep. Actually, I'm not crazy about the set up. I happen to think that people who decide to live in flood plains should shoulder the risk of that reckless behavior. It is the one area of common ground I had with teabags, and it was the one positive outcome from the Democratic Party's adoption of austerity mania. We can't afford to cover Mike Castles flood risk, nor should we have to. For a while it looked like we were going to get out from under having to pay Mike Castle's beach house flood insurance premiums, but now it looks like that ain't happening
Daily Approval Rating — Results for Auditor Tom Wagner and Poll for Senator Tom Carper

Daily Approval Rating — Results for Auditor Tom Wagner and Poll for Senator Tom Carper

Here are the results for Auditor Wagner: Approve - 59% Disapprove - 26% Meh - 16% Looks like another freep poll, but that's ok. The Republicans have so little to be happy about in Delaware that it is good to throw them a bone once and a while. I am not sure what there is to approve of regarding the job performance of the Auditor. But doing nothing is what Republicans really like and do best. Alright. Now have at Senator Carper.
Tuesday Open Thread [3.4.14]

Tuesday Open Thread [3.4.14]

In a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, McCain (R-Ariz.) said the "blatant act" by Russian President Vladi­mir Putin "cannot stand," even as he acknowledged that the United States does not have a realistic military option to force Russian troops to withdrawal.
And that, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with the Republican Party war hawks led by John McCain and Lindsay Graham. Their foreign policy vision essentially boils down to this formula: TOUGH TALK AND THREATS + ? = PROFIT Where profit can either figuratively mean policy success (i.e. regime change, or Russian withdrawal from the Crimea) or literally mean profits for defense contractors. Republicans resort first and always to military threats whenever a crisis occurs, because they truly believe it is the only way to 1) express and demonstrate the greatness of America and our strength, and 2) it is the only way to achieve American foreign policy goals. And yet, even John McCain, the belligerent war monger that he is, admits that we cannot go to war with Russia. So what is the point in threatening a military option? If you cannot back up a threat, doesn't that make you appear even weaker?

Barney to speak at PDD Meeting Tomorrow at 7 pm

Democratic Treasurer candidate Sean Barney will be speaking at the monthly meeting of the Progressive Democrats for Delaware tomorrow night, Wednesday, March 5 at 7 pm. The meetings are held at the Delaware Democratic Party Headquarters at 19 East Commons Boulevard in New Castle, which is off Rt. 141 next to the News Journal building, south of the I-95 interchange.
The Coons Doctrine:  “The USA must constantly prove that we have the biggest dick”

The Coons Doctrine: “The USA must constantly prove that we have the biggest dick”

I tried to come up with a phrasing of the Coons Doctrine which captured Senator Coons' claim that the United States must constantly demonstrate Bushian levels of breathtaking and ill-conceived belligerence on a world wide scale, or else be perceived as pussies. I think I only partially captured it. We've seen this idiotic foreign policy doctrine promoted before. Usually it is territory covered by cretins like John Bolton and Dick Cheney. To hear it promoted by our blue state Democratic Senator is truly startling. Coons appears to be taking former Ct Senator Joe Lieberman as a foreign policy godfather. If it is true and Coons is guided by Lieberman on foreign policy and Carper on domestic policy - I can't help but wonder what good he can possibly be to his Delaware constituents? That isn't to say that Christine O'Donnell would have been better, but at least O'Donnell would have been a one termer. Coons, being a Democrat, has a lifetime sinecure in the Senate. Let that sink in as you consider the fact that Coons laments the fact that we didn't go to war in Syrian.