Tag Archives: Blogosphere

DEwind: The Week That Was Sept. 29th

A day late and a dollar short, but it’s here.

The big blogging news in Delaware is of a personal nature. First is that Don Viti has spawned . . . again. Congratulations to Mrs. Hot Viti, Don and Little Don Viti. The second item is that regular Republican troll mike w has been hired by his firm full-time. Hopefully, he’ll be busier at work.

Delaware Curmodgeon is supporting Jim Bowers for State Representative.

You may remember that I was quite apoplectic about the failure to override Governor Minner’s veto of Senate Bill 245. Remember that? The eminent domain bill, and all of the Senators who flipped? Dang, I’m not even a homeowner I even I could understand the simplicity and rightness of SB 245.

Mr. Bowers’ opponent, Bryon Short, abstained from voting on this bill when it was presented before the House.

. . .

I am sorry, Mr. Short. There is no “abstaining” on a constitutional right.

Oh, not suprisingly, Bowers is a Republican. Could a libertarian in Delaware ever show us that they are more than a Republican in third-party clothing by allowing their social views to trump their fiscal views?

Delaware Liberal’s interviews with the next governor of Delaware were posted last week regarding Education, Open Government, Reforming Democratic Politics in Delaware, Reforming State Government and Potential Lt. Governors

Delaware Way asks why no one is paying attention to Mike Castle’s opponent. Really, someone is running against him? I hate to be glib about Karen Hartley-Nagle’s chances, but with limited money and the common thinking Castle helps Delaware because he knows his way around, she sadly doesn’t have chance. The question that should be asked, is who will garner more vote: Hartley-Nagle or Lee? My bet is on Hartley-Nagle.

Is Workforce Housing on its last legs? I strongly believe that killing this ordinance is making some pretty strange bedfellows, though Delaware Watch hits the nail on the head:

Yet there is an obvious and increasing need for low-cost housing as the population grows and the USA economy continues its fascination with shrinking the wages of the vast majority of Americans with impunity. Two-thirds of all Americans report $50,000 or less as household income on their tax returns. Two thirds of all Americans have to live somewhere and they too want a bite at the American dream.

While I support rescinding the ordinance, I cannot support inaction on the need to provide low-cost housing. Fairness and common sense dictate that when it comes to the provision of the necessities life (e.g. shelter), majorities matter.

Mike’s Musing covers Beau’s deployment ceremony.

Jason writes about the competitive races for State Senate and the State Legislature.

Kilroy calls the Lt. Governor race for Copeland.

Just from a political perspective I call it for Senator Charles Copeland as the next Lt. Governor! Sorry Matt Denn but Copeland is out charming the voters!

Not that I am excited to make this prediction but Copeland has made some great advances into the Wilmington and New Castle County minority votes.

And while we are on the topic of Lt. Governor, here are the candidates ads.

DEwind: The Week That Was September 22nd

The big news of the week in the Delaware blogosphere has to be Delaware Liberal’s call for donations to the campaign of Rebecca Young. DL readers and staff donated $1640 dollars to Young’s campaign to unseat Joe Miro. If you pledged money or you just want to make a donation, send your check off today to:

Young 4 the 22nd
P.O. Box 1655
Hockessin, DE 19707

Earlier in the week, there were two great debates regarding John Atkins, Delaware’s unique creation, went on here and at Delaware Politics. Burris writes:

Lying profusely is what got John into trouble the first time and one would think he’d learned his lesson. Apparently, that is not the case. Unfortunately, people seem to be buying the “new” John Atkins hook, line and sinker.

And on Sunday, another debate, for those of you counting that’s over 120 comments. Mike, at Down With Absolutes!, predicts Atkins winning by a landslide and kavips skewers Atkins in Profiles of Garbage.
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Comment Rescue: The Political Place of Statewide Blogs?

Steve Newton writes in the Beating Castle Someday thread:

First, what is the proper use of the blogosphere in statewide politics. Dean, Ron Paul, Obama, and even Hillary made successful use of the blogs, primarily to sign up supporters and raise funds on a nationwide scale. But when you shrink the scale to DE I don’t think there are actually enough people on the blogosphere for them to operate that way.
Example: there were about seventy or eighty people involved in the Ron Paul meet-ups. Once that fad passed, so did they. They weren’t converts to the blogs, they were people sucked in by a particular candidate/cause, who gave money and stuck around while it was novel. Within the state I don’t think–even on the liberal Democrat side, where the blogs arguably have the most effect anywhere in the spectrum–we’ve reached the point where bloggers can be effective fundraisers.

The thing is that while the money race gets a lot of attention and publicity, looking at on-line political activism as just blogging (or commenting) or fundraising fails to recognize there are other (sometimes more) valuable aspects of the successful political sites and that is their social networking aspects. Bringing together a large and disparate group of people, giving them a basic mission, letting them make decisions on goals and how to get there and providing tools for them to execute was what made DFA a lot of fun to be a part of and is what Obama’s campaign has made work at almost every level. (DFA was hugely inspirational too — lots of activists and candidates got really launched here.) In fact, I think that Obama has been so good at this that you do see folks discussing his campaign as a bottom-up run organization, when that is awfully far from the truth.
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The Week That Was

The fantastic kavips surveys the interesting headlines of the day and wonders if we are as cocky as we were last week after Obama clinched the Democratic nomination. If I am to believe the evidence of my newsreader, Delaware Liberal doesn’t rate too highly on the cockiness meter, but I have no doubt that we provided a bit of a performance.

I’ll tell you, though, that the thing on kavips’ list that may be the biggest tell of what is to come is that even the comedian Rush Limbaugh is still calling out John McCain. On his manliness, no less. This from a guy who keeps getting caught with viagra not prescribed for him at airports. If McCain still doesn’t have the shill of all RNC shills actually, you know, shilling for him — there’s clearly a whole bunch of GOPers who are gonna be demonstrating alot of independence this election season. We should be on the lookout for the websites they create!

In the meantime, if I could add to kavips’ list:
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DelawareWatch Goes Moderate

Dana Garrett has apparently been bothered by a number of comments on his blog lately. As a result, he has started moderating comments. I guess you’ll have to somewhere else if you want to challenge Dana’s views on the world.

We had an issue a few weeks ago where a single poster was doing bad things in our comments section. That poster was banned. I think Dana tries to keep a tighter rein on comments than we ever plan to here. Besides it sounds like way too much work…

The Burris Reveal

Dave Burris posted the rest of the story on the subpoena to Mike Matthews for the source of the Bill Lee photo. The short answer is that there was a threatening note sent to Bill Lee’s family that photos like this were going to start coming out starting this week. Here’s the quick analysis:

There doesn’t appear to be a blackmail portion of the note, as there are no requests that would avoid the distribution of the pics.
While there is an assertion that the letter had a false return address, I am not sure that the mail fraud charge would stick.
Dave seems to have oversold this. There is no active investigation, thus no forthcoming subpoena.

Who has won this round? I think Matthews.

UPDATED: Congrats Tommywonk!

Tommywonk has been announced as the representative of the Delaware Blogosphere to the Democratic National Convention. The rest of us at DelawareLiberal.net will be spending the rest of the day crying in our beers.

Editor’s Note: This comment from a kos diarists bears repeating, because it ties Tommywonk’s trip to Denver to Truth Teller’s concern over Obama and Pandora’s post on those scary Republican 527’s

In the wake of the MS-01 win last night, can there be any doubt that Howard Dean has remade the Democratic Party with his 50-state strategy? Believe me, as an Idahoan, I can say it’s meant a world of difference to have a party chairman who actually cares about each state and territory. And today, Dr. Dean announced the 50-state blog strategy of one blog representing each of our states and territories, chosen from a pool of 400 applicants.

Has Dave Burris Lost It?

Go check out Down With Absolutes. Apparently Dave Burris has demanded Mike’s source for a photo that he posted last week of a possibly intoxicated Bill Lee in a Dewey Beach watering house. Apparently Dave has threatened that a subpoena will be coming Mike’s way if he doesn’t give it up soon.

So what the hell is up with that? Dave thinks that he can litigate his way out of this? Out of what? What in the world could this have to do with anything? And why get so Protackian about it?

Personally, I thought that the marks on his chest were sweat, but now I wonder.

Fundraising Drive – Autism Society of Delaware

Greetings Delaware Blogosphere! We have been asked by a friend of the blog to put up a widget to support a fund-raising walk for the Autism Society of Delaware. Please notice the widget on the right and consider clicking on the “Donate” button.

Many people don’t know that Delaware is a hotbed of autism research and instruction. I was a member of the staff at the Delaware Autism Program for many years before fully getting my geek on. The Autism Program is one of the top schools in the country and has become a magnet for both students and staff from around the country. I am friends with Theda Ellis, the director of the Autism Society of Delaware and I can vouch for the fine work that they do over there.

If any other bloggers would like to host this widget just post a comment here, or email me at liberalgeek -at- delawareliberal.net. I’ll help you install it.

Now this is biased reporting!

DOVER — Senate Republicans, frustrated by what they see as foot-dragging on their package of bills to force state agencies to open their finances — and their checkbooks — to public scrutiny, are trying to do an end run around the Senate and its desk-drawer veto.

How’s that for an opening paragraph? It’s all the Dem’s fault! I knew it!

Around The Horn Friday: Last of the Red-Hot Posters

I’d like to start this post with an announcement, of sorts. This will be the last Around the Horn Friday that will be in this exact format. I started doing ATHF over a year ago when Jason took his leave of this place for a few months. It is taxing and rewarding at the same time. There is some great content in the Delaware blogosphere and it has been a pleasure covering it. To wit, we are going to change the feature a bit.

Credit where it’s due, Donviti and Duffy got together last weekend for some beer drinking fun. This inspired Kavips to post a comment on how events like this can help us bridge other divides. The first salvo in this movement is that we are going to start rotating the Around the Horn feature from blogger to blogger. The first of our victims will be Joe M at meritboundalley.net. Joe has been a driving force in this idea and I look forward to his post next Friday.

Joe M has a great post on the Obama plagarism story. I knew I recognized that motto. Hube covers the Michelle Obama controversy. Meanwhile, the ever-annoying Art Downs has a typically licentious post about the race. Speaking of Art Downs, Steve Newton has a post about some controversy over genitalia and the religious right. Nancy Willing has a post about “Hillary the Feminist”

Ryan S is talking about why Huck is still in the race. I like the Bill Maher theory on Huck, a preacher keeps on preaching as long as someone keeps sending money. Paul Smith covers George Will on the beauty of caucuses. Joe M has a quote from a speaker at a Clinton rally, he doesn’t get it either. That’s OK, the guys at DelawarePolitics.Net don’t seem to get it either. What is it with St. Ronny?

At a local level, Kavips has some coverage on the politics of division, specifically the politics over at DelawarePolitics.Net. Tommywonk has a post calling out Harris McDowell on his lies and misrepresentations that he spews on behalf of ~~his constituents~~ DelMarVa Power. Take note of Tom’s new subtitle. I like it. Also on the environmental front, Ryan at LiberalDelight points out that whichever Democrat wins the Presidency, the Kyoto protocol is going to come up quickly.

Meanwhile, Dana is unloading on one of his favorite bad legislators, Thurman (Gomez) Adams. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Mike Matthews at DWA spotted John Carney out and about on President’s Day at Cosmos. Mike dishes on Johns’ dining partners. Bonus feature: mad photoshop skillz.

Over at Daily Delaware, DelawareDem complains about the Snooze Journal’s non-coverage of the 41st district’s attempts to avoid the embarrassment that is John Atkins. Then when they do finally pay attention, it’s to trash the 41st Dems…

Kilroy has a letter to the editor about the upcoming RedClay referendum. This time he is on the inside looking out…

Finally, Mike Mahaffie has a post about the license plate that put lil ol’ Delaware on a level with AbuDhabi. Perhaps Halliburton will want to relocate to Delaware, next.

So that’s it. I’d like to thank the academy, the little people and my agent. Around the Horn is movin’ on to bigger and better things. Fare well, my friend. And don’t forget to visit at meritboundalley.net next week.

Around The Horn Friday: The Open Source Edition

To be real honest, Around the Horn is painful sometimes. I enjoy it because it expands my mind and view, but it really does take some time. Usually, I sit in front of the TV on a Thursday night surfing around to pick out the posts that I think are interesting, or related and preferably both. Generally, by the time it is all said and done, I’ve burned between 2 and 3 hours. After the long week of politicking and blogging (not to mention work) I just don’t have it in me.

But my mind still works. I thought that this week, I would let you do Around the Horn for me. So here are the rules:

Surf around the Delaware blogosphere. Try a blog that you visit infrequently or your second favorite (besides DL)
Find an interesting post that went up in the past week.
In the comments section enter the URL of the post along with a short description of what you like or hated about the post.
You may do more than one interesting post in a single comment.
You may not quote yourself.
You do not have to have a blog to participate, new commenters are welcome.
Check back throughout the day to see what has turned up.

Have fun. If you don’t know how to make a link, just paste the address into the comment and I’ll linkify it for you.

Around The Horn Friday: Super-Duper Friday Edition

I don’t know about you, but super duper Tuesday is one of the dumbest names of an event in the history of events. Now I really hate the MSM. With the primary looming, people are weighing in left and right. On the left, the Obama camp is so happy that Tommywonk has endorsed Barack that they are flying him in on Sunday for a rally in Rodney Square. I am very impressed that little ol’ Delaware is getting the candidate himself. If you are getting up early to get in, here’s a suggestion for where to look in the sky before the sun comes up. I’ll also have some Hillary events posted here later today. It is going to be an exciting weekend.

Obama’s wife, Michelle, was here on Thursday and she impressed Steve Newton and his kids. The venue, not so much. One more reason to like Obama, Feroce thinks he’s too liberal. Maria Evans wasn’t nearly as impressed.

If you are wondering how important Tuesday is, check out Delaware Watch for the definitive guide. Oh, and Kavips has a great story; “Two conservatives walk into a bar.” And Hube covers the Clinton camp’s attempt to make Florida and Michigan count. Over at Liberal Delight, Ryan has some complaints with the MSM’s coverage of this primary. Over at CSPT, they make the case that McCain is conservative enough to be the candidate of the crazy-ass Republicans. At JttR, Gary talks about the dumbest Presidential campaign EVAR!

While we are tied up thinking about Presidential politics, John Carney has jumped in with both feet to make some progress in the Bluewater wind project. His plan is to sweeten the pot for legislators to lure them away from their corporate overlords at Delmarva by bringing the jobs. Tommy has another expose’ on Delmarva’s BS tactics.

In the Governors race this week, we had our first Dem debate. Catch the video at DWA and read the review at Delaware Watch.

Everyone’s favorite ex-superintendent, Joe Wise is back in the news. He should team up with Atkins and make a run for Governor and Lt. Governor.

There is a lot of geeky goodness in the DE blogosphere this week. Over at FSP, Smitty has a simple freaking question. Steve Newton has a story about bluetooth gone to hell. Duffy has a post highlighting the jihadi tech skillz. Finally, Gazizza has a post about some new paths in genetic engineering. I just want some of those new superpowers. Mmmm, super-strength.

Speaking of superheroes, Hube is finally coming around to the whole Bill Clinton thing…

Nancy has a post on the development of the old Hercules golf course. Guess what? Developers are running rough-shod over the county again.

Mike Mahaffie is cursing Art Garfunkel for his literacy. Paul Smith is amused by the answer to a question, but the question itself is questionable. And Duffy cracks me up because despite being so different politically, we seem to live similar work lives. And mynym again blows my mind.

Can you help a blogger out? Go fill out Mat Marshall’s political survey so that he can get his homework done.

I hope you all can come out to see Obama on Sunday afternoon in Wilmington. My hope is that he will get us out of this war in Iraq, where at least 80,744 Iraqis have perished and 3,943 of our soldiers have paid the ultimate price for George Bush’s war of vanity and greed. Peace.