Tuesday Open Thread [4.23.13]

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Of course we all know that our Democratic congressional delegation has for a long time assumed that Delaware was a more conservative state, or at least its residents possessed a more conservative politics, and hence there was a need always for a Democratic candidate to always always moderate their message and move to the right (and this applies more so to Carper and Carney, and less so to Coons). And now we have statistical proof of this phenomena. David Broockman and Christopher Skovron looked at legislators’s perceptions of their constituents and compare to estimates of the the actual issue attitudes of people living in their districts.
There is a striking conservative bias in politicians’ perceptions, particularly among conservatives: conservative politicians systematically believe their constituents are more conservative than they actually are by over 20 percentage points, while liberal politicians also typically overestimate their constituents’ conservatism by several percentage points. A follow-up survey demonstrates that politicians appear to learn nothing from democratic campaigns or elections that leads them to correct these shortcomings. [...] These findings suggest a substantial conservative bias in American political representation and bleak prospects for constituency control of politicians when voters’ collective preferences are less than unambiguous.

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., April 23, 2013

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One bill dominates the upcoming legislative week. Both because of its import and because of the relative dearth of other pieces of notable legislation. HB 75(Smith) would legalize gay marriage in Delaware. The bill is on today's House Agenda. I believe that the votes are there for House passage. The question is whether certain wavering legislators listen to their constituents and, in most cases, to their consciences. Or will they give in to the arguments of the religious absolutists? Here are some who were wavering. Please let me know if they've committed to support HB 75 since I first posted this:
Charles Potter, 1st RD: He has been a strong advocate for civil liberties, there are many marriage equality supporters in his north Wilmington district, but he has not yet taken a position; Deborah Hudson, 12th RD: She has generally been a moderate on social issues and, again, there are many marriage equality proponents in her Chateau Country district; John Mitchell, 13th RD: He was ‘almost’ Speaker, and he could wind up there someday…if he does the right thing; Joe Miro, 22nd RD: This Pike Creek R has lots of marriage equality proponents in his district.
And if you support HB 75, but haven't contacted your legislator, why not? BTW, major props to Reps. Mike Ramone and James 'J. J.' Johnson. Both have made clear that they support HB 75 since I posted my initial list last week, and that their votes are not in question. I'm putting the over/under at 24 yes votes. Ladeez and gentlemen, place your bets. Here is today's House Agenda. The only other substantive bill (as opposed to technical housekeeping stuff) is HB 42(Barbieri), which 'adds adult aunts and uncles to the list of relatives who may act as a surrogate to make health care decisions for an adult patient if the patient lacks capacity and there is no agent or guardian...'.

Monday Open Thread [4.22.13]

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Those results are actually somewhat heartening since they either involved terrorists who were not American citizens or whose citizenship was left unclear. I can see the argument that noncitizen terrorists do not have constitutional rights and are enemy combatants. But citizens? Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev is an American citizen. Yes, he is a terrorist too, but he is an American too. Just as Jeffrey Dahmer was a serial killer, but also an American citizen. Just as Eric Rudolph was a right wing bomber, but he was also an American citizen. So since he is an American citizen, he has constitutional rights. That means Tsarnaev has his 5th Amendment rights and 6th Amendment rights, which are, respectively....

Sussex County Council Says “No” To Sheriff Holding Posse Training At County Building

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Are you ready for another OMG! Constitutional Crisis! No?  Too bad... here it comes. (Warning: Delaware Politics link)
Sussex County Administrator Todd F. Lawson refused a request by Sussex County Sheriff, Jeff Christopher to use office space in the County building located at 22215 North DuPont Boulevard in Georgetown.
The reason?
While your letter requests to meet for “Constitutional training for citizens,” other documentation from the Institute that have been circulated describes the event as “Constitutional Training for Deputies, Posses, and Citizen Supporters of the Sheriff.”  This type of training is directly at odds with Sussex County’s position on the duties of the Sheriff. In addition, the training goes against the County’s policy pertaining to posses as outlined in an October 31, 2011 memorandum from then County Administrator David Baker to Sheriff Jeffrey Christopher.

I’m not tracking on this…but is Chip Flowers pulling a Jeff Christopher?

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When reading Celia's blog you never know who is telling her to write what, so I'm not putting too much stock into her account but it sure sounds like Flowers is the catalyst for the turmoil.
"You have a treasurer who is a constitutional officer," Flowers said. "That's the argument of the Sussex County sheriff. We're all constitutional officers," said Jeff Bullock, the Democratic secretary of state.
I don't know if Flowers is in the wrong, but I love that "Christopherism" has now been used to identify someone as a crackpot.

The Weekly Addresses

We have a special guest for the Governor's Weekly Message this week... The Governor! We also have a video of the Governor thanking legislators for their work on the Background Check bill. We also have the President's weekly address below and the West Wing Week inside.

Behold the beauty of our “Club for Growth” style paradise

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Oh the oppression of regulations industries are forced to endure in their determination to make a buck. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration most recently inspected the Texas fertilizer plant that exploded Wednesday night in 1985.Thanks to a prolonged and sustain policy of not providing the funding necessary to hire inspectors or do inspections the United States is now officially Bhopalesque.'
Nineteen, nineteen, nineteen - eight five !!! Prediction : This year more people will be killed in America by uninspected, tainted food than by terrorists.

Late Night Video — You Are More Beautiful Than You Think

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John Young posted this in the Friday Open Thread. I had seen this some days back on Facebook and was not prepared for the emotional impact of this video. On the one hand, this is part of a Dove campaign. On the other hand, this is a remarkable demonstration of one of the ways women underestimate and sabotage themselves. This is close to 10 minutes long, but I think well worth every minute.