Saturday Open Thread [2.16.13]

5 Comments
I gotta give credit where credit is due. The freshman Republican Congressman from Michigan, Rep. Justin Amash, said the following true statement (a rarity for a Republican):
"I think it's a mistake on the part of Republicans to try to pin the sequester on Obama. It's totally disingenuous. [...] [Y]ou can't vote for something and, with a straight face, go blame the other guy for its existence in law."
This is on top of Amash's denouncing John McCain for making a racist joke earlier this year. Good job Amash.

Winners and Losers of the Week [2.16.13]

14 Comments
Angelo Cataldi has a feature every Friday morning on his talk show on 94WIP, in which he names his choice for the winner of the week and the weasel (or loser) of the week in the local and national world of sports. For example, this week the winner was an Swedish LPGA golfer who was bitten by a black widow spider while golfing. Instead of quitting the tour, and the game, she took a golf tee, but punctured the bite wound on her ankle to release the poison, and then she completed all 18 holes. The weasel of the week was new Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly, who hired lackluster assistant coaches and re-signed failed QB Michael Vick. Then, for the rest of the Friday show, callers call in to offer better choices than Angelo's for the winner and weasels of the week and Angelo's cohosts vote on which is better. I am wholly stealing this idea for a new Saturday morning column outlining my choices on who is the winner and loser of the week. I can't call the loser a weasel, because I am told the conservative blowhard Rick Jensen already awards a weasel of the week. Rick must have stole from Angelo too. Candidates for each can be from local Delaware or national politics. I will select my winner and loser based on something they did or said during the previous week (Saturday, February 9 to Friday, February 15), and then our wonderful commenters will debate my choices, and offer what they think are better options for each. And my fellow contributors can judge whose choices are better. My choices, and yours, are relegated to the world of politics and government. I can't chose that Blade Runner guy from South Africa for allegedly murdering his model wife, because he is not in politics or government. For my Loser of the week....

A Shooting In Arden?

23 Comments
As you know, I live here. Apparently, there has been a shooting at Harvey Road and Lorelei Lane, and the shooter is, or was, at large. Two victims reported, one of them seriously injured. Harvey Road was shut down, and we've had helicopters circling over us. The copters have left. Harvey Road has apparently reopened. I don't know any more than that, but it's definitely surreal.

You Can’t Be Both.

7 Comments
As I drove out of the Christiana Hilton yesterday and onto the I-95 ramp, I was following a car with a very long and loud bumper sticker that said something to the affect of "If Mary was Pro-Choice, there would be no Christmas" and "Pro-Choice or Catholic. You can't be both." Once again, the Anti-Choice brigades have purposefully confused being pro-choice with being pro-abortion and in so doing came up with some unique bumper stickers (unique only in the fact that I have never seen them before). Well, two can play that assumption game. As someone who is Catholic and who is pro-choice (and yes, I can be both since I have a proper understanding of the word "choice"), I have always assumed that since anti-choice abortion opponents, since they view abortion as murder, then they all must be in favor of imprisoning the doctors, the nurses and the pregnant women who conspire to commit murder. And since the murder involved conspiracy and aggravating factors like the death of a child, then they must be in favor of the death penalty for the doctors, the nurses and the pregnant women. For you can't call abortion murder and not punish the murderer, right? Now, deep down, my assumption is correct. The "Pro-Life" extremists do believe this. They do want this. But they know that such a position would backfire and be massively politically unpopular. At least, the smart ones now this. Iowa State Rep. Rob Bacon (R) appears to not be so smart.

The Polling Report [2.15.13]

3 Comments
Neil Newhouse, the Romney/Ryan lead pollster, warned Republicans to beware of President Obama's use of the bully pulpit this election cycle and to not count on the so-called six-year itch in the 2014 midterm election (the six year itch refers to loses by the President's party in the second midterm of a 8 year presidency).
Said Newhouse: "I kind of emphasized to the members that second midterm elections have never been friendly to the president. You can't count on that. That's not going to happen. We've got to realize that the House Republicans are going to be Obama's top target."
I think he is right. The SOTU was designed and the issues therein framed with 2014 in mind. Plus, the Six Year Itch was proven wrong in 1998 when a Democratic President was faced with an extreme obstructionist Congress that resorted to outrageous never before thought of measures. Democrats gained seats in Congress that year. So Newhouse is right to caution his brethen in this extreme obstructionist Congress that has resorted to outrageous never before thought of measures. But, given Newhouse's horrible performance as a pollster for the Romney campaign (he led Romney and the entire Fox News bubble to believe that Romney was headed for a massive landslide), it is quite likely Republicans will ignore him. Which is excellent news for us.

Marco Rubio is Confused.

12 Comments
In Senator Marco Rubo's Establishment Republican Response (as opposed to the Batshit Crazy Teabagger Republican Response from Rand Paul), he made this basic Republican statement of principle:
More government isn’t going to help you get ahead. It’s going to hold you back. More government isn’t going to create more opportunities. It’s going to limit them.
He then followed that statement of Randian principle up with a little bit of his middle class Cubano life story, during which he said this:
I believe in federal financial aid. I couldn’t have gone to college without it.
Which is it?

Friday Open Thread [2.15.13]

2 Comments
Delaware keeps its Triple A bond rating, due to the great stewardship of its Democratic leaders.
All three of the country’s major bond-rating agencies have awarded Delaware that highest rating again based on its fiscal management practices. The three agencies praised Delaware’s financial history, with Moody’s predicting that the state will come out of the recession in a stronger position than most of its peers.

Late Night Video — Coffee and Hugs

Today the NCCo Courthouse reopened for business after the horrific shootings this week, and those returning were greeted with Free Coffee and Free Hugs -- way to go Wilmington (approx. 2.5 minutes):