Carper Pressing Reid to drop the “talking filibuster” requirement

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Harry Reid is planning to announce at a democratic caucus TODAY that he is going to drop the talking filibuster measure from the package of reforms the caucus will push in January because of push back from Nelson, Baucus, Carper and a few others. Nelson and Bachus because they need to fund-raise and don't want to be stuck in DC for three days at a stretch. Carper...? who knows why he objects to the talking. Maybe because Nelson and Baucus did? It's a theory. Anyway, a call to Carper's office today asking him to keep the requirement for the talking filibuster in the reform package might do some good. Carper: 202 224-2441

2012 MVP Awards Announced Today At…

10 am. Simultaneously here at DL and on the Al Mascitti Show, WDEL Newsradio 1150 AM on your radio dial. Don't wait to see/hear it from others, be the first to know. BTW, time permitting, we'll also talk Port Of Wilmington, and remind Pete Schwartzkopf that he isn't the Speaker of the House just yet.

Mayor Bloomberg Wants the Violence to Stop

NYC's Mayor Bloomberg is mad as hell and he wants Congress and the President to work to stop the gun carnage. He's been at this for awhile, even creating a SuperPAC this past election that (I think) had a more winning track record than the NRA's SuperPAC did. He took to the airwaves today with a room full of victims of gun violence to call for very specific actions from Congress and the President. It is worth every minute to watch this (approx. 6 minutes):

We are coming for your guns.

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And you can do nothing to stop us. For if you do, you will be rightly and justly characterized as the defenders of the murder of children. You will accept common sense regulations, limitations and restrictions on your oh so precious right to bear arms. And you will do so without complaint, just as you have been mostly silent over the last few days. And we all know you have been silent because you have nothing to say. You can't defend this. You cannot defend yourselves. Really, your silence is an admission of guilt. You, and we, saw this coming. Really, you had to know, eventually, our most vulnerable would fall prey. It was only a matter of time. And now that time is here. Take a cue from a fellow NRA 100% approved Conservative Republican, and follow his lead.

Mike Huckabee’s puny God

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Mike Huckabee's God is not a majestic king of the universe. Huckabee's savior is a sulky, dickwad who lets children get murdered because a school doesn't allow Christian prayer.
Following the shooting on Friday, Huckabee asked why we should "be so surprised" at the violence when "we have systematically removed God from our schools."
That's a puny-ass excuse for a deity. If you are going to worship something Huckabee, try a deity that has a little more grit than the one you've got now. Try a God that wants the best for humanity even when humanity isn't kissing its ass in homeroom every morning.

Monday Open Thread [12.17.12]

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Multiple reports over the weekend have Senator John Kerry being nominated to succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. If that is the case, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (D) will have to appoint an interim Senator who will serve until a special election can be held to fill the remainder of Senator Kerry's term. That special election must be held no later than 180 and no earlier than 160 days after Senator Kerry resigns. Assuming that Kerry resigns at some point on or near January 20, then the election won't be until July 8 at the earliest. So we will need an interim Senator for six months. Jonathan Karl has heard that Governor Patrick has talked to Senator Kennedy's widow, Vicki Kennedy, "about the possibility of replacing Kerry in the Senate and that she did not rule it out." Another reported possibility is a blast from the past. Former Governor and 1988 Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis (D) "may be headed back to the political spotlight as he's considered a likely interim replacement for Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)," The Hill reports.

Tom Carper’s Email – Translated into English

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Hi there, I hear a lot about the "fiscal cliff" every day, and chances are you do too -- either in the paper or on the news. But we rarely hear the details of how we got into this mess and what it really means for Delaware and our country. So, as we used to say in the Navy, I want to give you the "straight skinny," as best as I can give it.
Hi There Peons and losers - My advisers told me to write you an email about the "fiscal cliff" so here it is. Also, I was in the Navy bitches! Unlike some squirrely looking hippy c*&cks#@ker who will remain nameless.

On Privatizing the Port of Wilmington, Bob Marshall Says ‘Not So Fast, My Friends’.

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In what I consider to be a masterfully-crafted letter, Sen. Bob Marshall has made clear that he does not intend to let Markell/Levin push a Port of Wilmington privatization proposal through without legislative oversight. As you may recall, a recent Friday news dump by the Markell Administration contained the announcement that Kinder Morgan had emerged as the 'preferred partner' to run the Port. Both Kinder and Morgan made their corporate bones at Enron, and their company specializes in pipelines and the fluids that run through them.

Twenty Children Are Dead – Don’t You Dare Forget That

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This will be a difficult post for me. I simply cannot stop thinking about the children and the families in Newtown, Connecticut. I can't stop envisioning the parents walking past their child's empty bedroom, filled with stuffed animals and probably a pair of tiny socks that didn't make it into the hamper, and knowing that that bedroom will remain empty. I can't stop imagining how these parents are stumbling across the Christmas presents hidden in that secret hiding place. Everywhere they turn they will see the evidence of their child's existence. The Cap'n Crunch cereal. The juice boxes. The Legos. The Barbies. The candy wrapper under the bed. My heart is breaking. And all I can think is This Has Got To Stop. What The Hell Is Wrong With Us? Because this is bigger than Adam Lanza and Jared Loughner and James Holmes. This is about how we've come to accept these events; how we almost take them in stride, because, you know... Freedom. I'm so sick of that lame response. I'm sick of hearing about the freedom to arm yourself to the teeth because, you know... Government. I'm sick of hearing about how someone needs to 30 rounds per second because someone is trying to get you. I'm sick of responsible gun owners being in bed with with these paranoid, fantasy driven freaks who need to live, and act out, their delusions. And I'm sick of the body count.

Mental Illness Is A Problem, But It Isn’t The Same As Our Gun Problem

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I've been reading a great deal about the Sandy Hook shooting and shooter and have been intrigued by the effort by so very many to try to make this incident be about the astonishing inadequacy of our mental health system. If you read carefully, there aren't any credible diagnoses of Adam Lanza's mental condition (certainly by no one who could make that diagnosis). All there is are reports that he may have been on the ASD spectrum, reports that seem rooted in a comment by the shooter's brother and some comments from classmates of Lanza's. The other thing that is out there is the rationalization -- that somehow it is a given that this person was mentally ill because sane people don't perpetrate this kind of violence. Both of these narratives -- without good support -- help to shift the conversation away from the the plain fact that it is amazingly easy to acquire the means to quickly disrupt a community with massive acts of violence.