THIS IS NOT ->Delawareliberal

Delaware Liberal has move !!!

2007-05-31T16:46:00.000-04:00

Go to Delawareliberal.net for all the new stuff.

Screw Blogger

2006-10-29T09:31:00.000-04:00

I'm sick of fighting to get things posted.

My new home is

http://delawareliberal.wordpress.com/

Predictions

2006-10-29T09:15:00.000-04:00

Morrison .51 Cloutier .49
Vaughn .48 Feroce .47 Allsopp .05
Walker .54 Cathcart .46
Biden .53 Wharton .47
Carper .54 Ting .41 Peterson .04 O’Donnell .01
Castle .49 Spivack .48 Berg .02 Nagel .01 (…sniff. wipes away a tear.)
Sokola .52 Ramone .48
Manolokos .50 Korn .50 [followed by a six-year multimillion dollar court battle]
Kowalko .51 Ulbrich .49
Kleimo .54 Blakey .46
Nixon .41 McDowell .39 Chambers .18

Bonus Pick:
Markell .57 Carney .43

MOT Newbie wants your predictions. [Tommywonk tells me he is going to want you REAL predictions - not your spin-miester predictions.]

Quote-a-palooza (c)

2006-10-29T08:08:00.000-04:00

Drew Volturo at the Delaware State News rips off Paul Smith's idea.

Since when does jamming a bunch of quotes together count as journalism?

Howard Dean

2006-10-29T07:53:00.000-04:00

The clip is 6 minutes long. Watch the whole thing.

Tommywonk's Gregory Peck

2006-10-28T18:32:00.000-04:00

If I'm the crazed William Holden from the movie Network yelling, "I'm mad as hell at Republicanism and I'm not going to take it anymore"

...then Tom Noyes is Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.

I get the feeling that he reasonably and slowly building up a case that will shame the jury out of its moral sloth with it's undeniable humanity and logical clarity.

Piss off Fulchsen: Vote for Beau Biden

2006-10-28T13:39:00.000-04:00

I could flip a coin and decide who I am going to vote for AG, or I could base my vote on something more meaningful.

I think I've found that meaningful thing. The protest vote. I'm protesting Gerry "left ass cheek" Fulcher and Steve "right ass cheek" Jensen, and the non-stop, wall to wall, six month long, advertisement for Ferris Wharton they call a radio show.

While I try to avoid the inane abortion that is the "Lies & Yokels" radio show, I heard them praising Ferris while I was in the car again and the arrogant stupidity was overwhelming. Not only that, it was the exact same arrogant stupidity (even, I'd say, down to the wording) that I heard months ago. I could only imagine that they have been polluting the airwaves with their unhinged Ferris sycophancy and Biden hatred steadily for months.

Checked with some people who manage to listen to that crap confirmed my assumption. (Ferris must owe WDEL over $500,000 for free advertising.) So, as a lover of democracy and a sworn enemy of MSM control of civil debate, I'm voting to piss off Fulcher and Jensen. Go Biden!
...................................
NOTE: To wrap this up I wanted to provide a link to someone at WDEL or Delmarva Broadcasting company in the event that anyone wanted to alert management to the sickeningly over the top partisanship of Fulchsen.

All I could turn up was a little information about a shadowy figure known as Julian H "Pete" Booker. Booker appears to be the President of Delmarva Broadcasting and the President of the Wilmington Rotary. He is a RNC contributor and other than that he has a very low web profile. If anyone knows anything about Mr. Booker, I'd be interested in hearing about it. I'll keep looking at if it appears that Booker is a Wharton contributor - maybe the Department of elections should know about all the free advertising he is giving to the Wharton campaign.

Terry Spence wants to let the average drunk drivers off the hook I guess....?

2006-10-28T12:37:00.000-04:00

This must be one of those Republican loopholes they use to protect members of the General Assembly from embarrassment.

Stick a fork in Castle, he is done.

2006-10-28T09:56:00.000-04:00

[Let me preface all of this with the acknowledgment that I still think Spivack has a chance. Given the very high distrust people have for Bush and republican rubber stampers like Michael Castle, the polls may not tell the whole story. If this turns out to be a low turnout election that leaves the middle-of-the-roaders standing on the sidelines, Spivack could win.] Having said that...

...no matter what happens on November 7th Castle's cowardly stint as congressman is nearly over.

Based on how fragile and out of it Michael Castle looked at the rotary debate, and given the fact that he is ducking these last debates, the conventional wisdom is that Castle's health is a very significant issue.

Most people I've spoken too are looking at an "open seat" race either 24 months from now or sooner. If Castle wins on the 7th it is now seems very likely that there will be a special election sometime in the next year to replace him. So the field is wide open and both Republicans and Democrats have people jockeying for position.

On the R side the word is that Rhode Island interloper John Feroce is making some people uncomfortable with his hypothetical musing. The fact that his entire campaign seemed to be directed to a statewide audience rather that the senate district that he claims to want to represent tends to support this line of thought.

Unless some backroom deal is cut, the Democrats will have a crowded field. With such a weak Republican bench many regard it as a given that whoever wins the Democratic primary for the special election will go on to Washington.

I'll have to check with Celia to see if having every statewide office (other than auditor) in Democratic hands violates some unwritten rule of Delaware poltics. Even if it does, recent events prove that unwritten rules were meant to be broken.

Jim Webb is Ryan at JTTR's "Hack of the Week"

2006-10-28T08:38:00.000-04:00

James Webb's Navy Cross

The Virginian-Pilot
© October 27, 2006

Editor's note: The Navy Cross is the nation's second-highest award for bravery in facing an enemy. James Webb has refused to use it in his campaign. We are publishing it with our endorsement of him because we believe it testifies to his character.

The Navy Cross is presented to James H. Webb, Jr., First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving as a Platoon Commander with Company D, First Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam.

On 10 July 1969, while participating in a company-sized search and destroy operation deep in hostile territory, First Lieutenant Webb's platoon discovered a well-camouflaged bunker complex which appeared to be unoccupied. Deploying his men into defensive positions, First Lieutenant Webb was advancing to the first bunker when three enemy soldiers armed with hand grenades jumped out.

Reacting instantly, he grabbed the closest man and, brandishing his .45 caliber pistol at the others, apprehended all three of the soldiers.

Accompanied by one of his men, he then approached the second bunker and called for the enemy to surrender. When the hostile soldiers failed to answer him and threw a grenade which detonated dangerously close to him, First Lieutenant Webb detonated a claymore mine in the bunker aperture, accounting for two enemy casualties and disclosing the entrance to a tunnel.

Despite the smoke and debris from the explosion and the possibility of enemy soldiers hiding in the tunnel, he then conducted a thorough search which yielded several items of equipment and numerous documents containing valuable intelligence data. Continuing the assault, he approached a third bunker and was preparing to fire into it when the enemy threw another grenade.

Observing the grenade land dangerously close to his companion, First Lieutenant Webb simultaneously fired his weapon at the enemy, pushed the Marine away from the grenade, and shielded him from the explosion with his own body.

Although sustaining painful fragmentation wounds from the explosion, he managed to throw a grenade into the aperture and completely destroy the remaining bunker.

By his courage, aggressive leadership, and selfless devotion to duty, First Lieutenant Webb upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.
..................................

What was George Allen doing? Why does Ryan hate our men and women in uniform so much?

Dana deserves a lot of credit

2006-10-27T19:41:00.000-04:00

Dana has really pushed this open government issue forward consitently. I don't think that it is an overstatement to say that Dana Garrett has changed how poltics are done in Delaware.

DE GOP threatens to circumvent the new FOIA plan if enacted

2006-10-27T15:36:00.000-04:00

Only hours old, the Delaware Republican Caucus said they would meet in the "bathroom" if the five point plan is enacted in it's ~~full~~ Democratic version propsed by Karen Peterson.

The fact that they are already trying to open loopholes in the plan speaks volumes about John Still's seriousness in forwarding this plan 10 days prior to an election.

I believe it was Liane M. Sorenson of Hockessin who proposed the "bathroom strategy" for thwarting the FOIA requirements if passed. I'm working on getting the audio. More on this as it develops.

UPDATE: To her credit, Sorenson was a sponsor of Peterson's bill which was not so much a full plan, but full in it's simplicity.

SYNOPSIS
This Bill would include the General Assembly as a “public body” covered by the Freedom of Information Act.

Author: Senator Peterson

Stu Rothenberg:

2006-10-27T15:30:00.000-04:00

With only a couple of weeks until Election Day, we know there will be a Democratic wave on Nov. 7. And we can be fairly certain that by historical standards it will be high - possibly very high. But we still don't know how many Republicans once considered safe will be swept out of office.

The national political environment currently is worse than it was in 1994, when the Democrats lost 52 House seats, eight Senate seats and 10 governorships, and when Republicans won GOP control of the House for the first time in decades.

You heard me right: It's worse this year than it was in 1994, when voters were dissatisfied with the first two years of the Bill Clinton presidency.

Phew...I needed that. Say it with me Hap and Steamy, "Speaker Pelosi!"

Progressive Democrats for Delware Leading on FOIA

2006-10-27T13:39:00.000-04:00

UPDATE: I think I just heard someone saying that the Republicans will caucus in the bathroon if this FOIA thing takes effect. So the five point plan is only an hour old and they are already looking for loopholes. Great.

The DE GOP is high fiving itself right now, but even as they bask in the glow of putting on some good theater, Nancy Willing reports that: "Karen Peterson is on the radio right now to get (Still & Feroce), on record to whether or not they will support a bill not just sign a petition and take it out of committee. [Cloutier worked to kill the bill by not petitioning it out of committee.]

She is making the point that she has repeatedly brought up the same issues and that these people were no where at all in support unitl now just up to election.

For the Record:

As a member of a fiesty upstart group called Progressive Democrats for Delaware I have to say it is nice to see our proposals for improving our state government being picked up and discussed by a wider audience. Here is a portion of our cadidate endorsement survey:

Please respond to the appropriate sections of this survey by circling the number that corresponds to your position. The 5-point scale is:

1 – strongly agree
2 – agree
3 – neutral
4 – disagree
5 – strongly disagree
Space is provided for comments at the end.
(snip)

SECTION THREE – to be answered by candidates for STATE OFFICES only – General Assembly, Attorney General, Treasurer, and Auditor:

1. The State should re-regulate electric and gas utilities.
(1)..(2)..(3)..(4)..(5)

2. The Freedom of Information Act should apply to the General Assembly.
(1)..(2)..(3)..(4)..(5)
.......................
If the DE GOP wants other documents from the PDD to turn into party platform planks - I'd be happy to provide them.

Spivack blasts Castle on ducking debates

2006-10-27T13:17:00.000-04:00

This press release does not pull punches.

CASTLE’S WITHDRAWAL FROM DEBATES UNDERSCORES INABILITY TO SERVE DELAWAREANS IN CONGRESS

Spivack’s strong performance in debates this week prompts Castle to quit again

NEWARK, Del. – Dennis Spivack, Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress, today chided Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., for again retreating from the campaign because of poor performances in two debates this week.

“So on Wednesday he’s fine, and on Thursday he’s too weak to sit in a chair and talk for a half-hour?” Spivack said. “Mike doesn’t want Delaware voters to know that doesn’t have a good answer for why he continues to support George Bush. It’s insulting to Delawareans, myself included, that he thinks he can cruise through this campaign on his name alone. People deserve to hold their elected officials accountable for their votes.”

Spivack called on Castle to return to the campaign once and for all, and tell Delawareans where he really stands on important issues. Spivack pointed out that he has offered to accept any modifications to the format of the debates to accommodate Castle’s failing health.

“If he isn’t physically capable of participating in a couple of low-key debates a week on his own territory and on his own terms, how is he possibly going to serve us in Congress? The whole job of a congressman is to debate tough issues, hash out agreements, and negotiate high-pressure situations,” Spivack said. “We only send one. Let’s send one who can fight for what Delawareans really need and deserve – not one who thinks George Bush is doing a good job.”

....................

Castle sucked in the Rotary debate. I'm not at all surprised that he does not want anyone to see him side by side with Spivack.

Ego-a-go-go

2006-10-27T11:24:00.000-04:00

Being an inconsistent and empty headed contrarian is fun. Just look at Dana.

Now Dana not only supports John Feroce(fine Vaughn sucks), but he also supports Mike Ramone in favor of Dave Sokola. Not only that but he is also withholding support for Pat Morrison, in favor of noted DIP(Delaware Incumpbent Party) candidate Cathy Coultier. [Backstory: Dana's ass-kissing buddy Gerry Fulcher has a nut for Cloutier so Dana does not play the DIP card in her case.] Dana either does not get the big picture (and I don't think he is that dumb) or is just getting off on being the state's biggest contrarian. I know, it is mind boggling.

By supporting these low-lifes for the State Senate he is in effect supporting the king low-life,John Still. If Ramone, Feroce and Clouiter win Still will stand a very good chance of being the State Senate majorty leader that will be a dark day for Delaware. Tyler Nixon even said of Still, "Mr. Still has permanently earned from me, in all his pursuits, whatever the opposite of aid and comfort are." For Dana to even suggest that he is a liberal while working for this outcome is laughable. It is the very definition of farce.

UPDATE: I'm not the opnly one who is onto Dana's Bullshit. From DW comments:

"Let's see if we can get the Republi-Green Noise Machine to acknowledge that SB 94, which forces the General Assembly to become open and accountable to the FOIA was sponsored by Karen Peterson and co-sponsored by Dave Sokola, and is only held up by the execrable Vaughan."

Rush Limbaugh To Armless Iraq Vet:

2006-10-27T10:27:00.000-04:00

"Stop faking it!"

"This guy is acting."

The NJ Endorsment of Castle

2006-10-27T08:31:00.000-04:00

Shorter Doug Williams:

The rest of the country is going to do our work for us and elect Democrats to congress who will provide some oversight for this out of control moron of a President - so vote for Castle.

Even Shorter Doug Willams:

I am an idiot and a Castle shill.

Other Spivack/Castle Debate Reports

2006-10-26T18:56:00.000-04:00

"This (the war in Iraq) is a mistake, Mike. Take a position. Tell the president this is wrong. Stand up. Do something," Spivack said.

Castle admits the handling of the war's aftermath has not been good, but he's still against cutting and running. (snip) Castle's team hasn't committed to future debates yet, but at least two are pending: the first will be Friday at 7PM on PBS's WHYY and the the other next Wednesday on WDEL. - WMDT

Patrick Jackson at the News Journal asks Wenk about why Castle pulled out of the WHYY debate: “We’ve said all along that debate scheduling is a day-to-day matter,” Wenk said.”Congressman Castle has done two debates in two days and we’re still trying to keep him on a limited schedule and give him some downtime.”

Translation: Standing up and not really answering questions for an hour is hard work. We are having our ass handed to us and need a break.

Highlights From Spivack/Castle Rotary Debate

2006-10-26T14:45:00.000-04:00

Here is the flash news - updates to follow

1) Spivack stared out kind of slow, but warmed up well and did a great job. His best line was regarding our health insurance crisis: "What good is stem cell research when so many American can't afford the benefits that stem cell research offers?"

2) Castle was surprisingly bad. I honestly excpected Castle to kill Spivack. Castle has been doing these for 30 years - so I felt like I was probably going to Spivack's funeral. Castle had one attempted zinger that fell flat (see #3) and other than that is was the emptiest of empty political rhetoic. Castle's repsponse to a question about our national debt was typical. After bloviating for what seemed like three minutes he finally said the debt was, "a significant problem. Something has to be done about it."

3) The most reported sound bite might be be this attempted zinger that fell flat. Castle fished around in a notebook and picked up a piece of papaer, all happy like a two year old fishing a penny out of a dirty diaper and asks Spivak, "Dennis, you say that you opposed the war from day one and yet I have this check for $100 from you dated the day after the Iraq war vote - how does that square with you opposing the war from day one?"

Spivack totally stomped on the zinger by simply replying "Of course I contributed money to you, like probably everyone in this room I voted for you and what choice did I have? I gave you money and right after that saw you at an event and said What are you doing? Why are you voting for this war? And I saw Joe Biden at an event and I said, "Joe everyone can see this war is bogus - why did you vote for it."

5) I ran up to Castle after the debate and asked, "Congressman, after your stem cell bill was vetoed - did you regret supporting George Bush in the election?" And then a miracle happened. After eight months of asking that question, I got a direct answer. "No." he said. I was a little shocked but recovered to ask, "Do you think Bush should fire Rumsfeld?" Castle looked flustered and said something like "I'm not commenting on that." So I asked, "Do you think Preisdent Bush's failure to fire Rumsfeld in spite of his abject failure makes Bush seem weak?" At that he started to walk away.

Later I was aking Dennis questions and I was pretty wired so I asked, "Mr. Castle does not think Bush should fire Rumsfeld, what do you..." At that Castle poked his ogre head into the little semi-circle of journailsts talking to Spivack and yelped, "I did not say that I said 'No Comment'" So I rolled my eyes and said, "Mr Castle has no comment about whether Bush should fire Rumsfeld and if Bush not firing Rumsfeld makes Bush look weak. What do you think?" The WBOC camera was right there and I hope they got Spivack's answer because it was great. [The funny part about all of this is that Castle was real proud of himself for corrcting the record. That's right. He is proud of the fact that he has "no comment" on the question of whether Rumsfeld should be fired. That tells the whole story.]

4) Elizabeth Wenk hates my guts. After the debate I asked Elizabeth if she got my email and she said, "No." I said, "really" and she said "No. I'm busy. I get a lot of emails." All bitchy and crazy. So I said that I'd try again and I said, "So after the election are you taking a vacation? A little lobbyist paid junket or something?" At that she did an about face and started walking away. So I was not doing anything so I followed for a few steps asking "Aruba..? Jamaca...? No? I'll take that as a no comment." At another lul I was standing next to one of Castle's peep named Matt and I asked him the same question. He said "No". Then I said, "Elizabeth says no comment to that question - do you think I should take that as a yes?"

Matt did not say anything to that and I said, kind of in passing "I don't know how you guys can sleep at night." And that pissed him off a bit so he shot back "You have a problem with me?" To which I replied, "I have a problem with the way this country is being run and I wonder why you don't."

Drinking Liberally TONIGHT!

2006-10-26T11:50:00.000-04:00

The third *Delaware* Drinking Liberally group will meet Thursday, October 26, 8:00pm at Iron HIll - Riverfront upstairs bar

It seems this is going to be a fairly well attended event (maybe we'll have enough codgers to form a codger caucus). Anyway, hopefully a few beers will make November 7th hurry up and get here.

The idiotic, insane, stupid, dumb AG race

2006-10-26T10:20:00.000-04:00

Check out this list of typical AG powers:

Typical powers of the Attorneys General include the authority to:

* institute civil suits;

* represent state agencies and defend and/or challenge the constitutionality of legislative or administrative actions;

* enforce open meetings and records laws;

* revoke corporate charters;

* enforce antitrust prohibitions against monopolistic enterprises;

* enforce air, water pollution, and hazardous waste laws in a majority of states;

* handle criminal appeals and serious statewide criminal prosecutions;

* intervene in public utility rate cases; and

* enforce the provisions of charitable trusts.

Now ask yourself - why is the race not dealing with ANY of these issues?

Honestly, who did not see this coming?

2006-10-26T09:36:00.000-04:00

This latest development [200 jobs being cut] comes as Delaware's banking sector, long considered a pillar of the state's economy, has been losing jobs. Most notably, Bank of America shed hundreds of jobs this year following its acquisition of Wilmington-based credit card giant MBNA Corp. The banking sector suffered a net loss of 700 jobs over the past year, dropping to 26,800 from 27,500, according to September data, the latest available, said Edward L. Simon, director of labor market information at the Delaware Department of Labor.

Pssst....all you free traders. Your jobs can be done in India at 1/30th the cost.

Ramone's moaning

2006-10-26T08:55:00.000-04:00

The much spoken of Sokola mailer that lays out the facts.{The image will be up soon) The facts are plain spoken about what a lazy used car salesman Ramone is, but put the lawsuits in context of this race.

1) He kicked off his campaign with a dirty tricks robo-call straight out of the Rove handbook.

2) He is trying to pass himself off as this great businessman (making his business acumen a public issue) and when he is called on the fact that his business man skills are not what they are cracked up to be - he pretends that it is Sokola who is running a dirty campaign.

Even Celia Cohen calls Ramone out here:

(Sokola's flier) painted Ramone as being on the wrong side of the Court of Chancery, the state's revered business forum, by quoting from an opinion written earlier this year by Vice Chancellor Leo E. Strine Jr., calling Ramone's business practices "leisurely and erratic" and "lackadaisical."

Believe it or not, Strine's words come from a case that Ramone won. Ramone went to court when a gentleman's agreement he had to run a swimming program in Newark unraveled, and he argued it would be unfair if the pool were leased to his principal competitor. Strine sided with Ramone but only after noting his laid-back approach contributed to the deal's collapse.

The Bottom Line: Ramone has a "do as I say, not as I MOAN" approach to business and politics. He moans about frivolous lawsuits but that does not keep him from FILING THEM. He jumps in the gutter to attack Sokola and then moans about "attack ads".

Spivack Castle Debate

2006-10-26T08:05:00.000-04:00

There is a debate today and Michael Castle is going to try to make himself out to be a big hero because he got a stem cell bill vetoed by George Bush. (That is Castle's great success, a vetoed bill. Hurray!)

The stem cell issue, and every other issue in this race is subservient to the fact that Michael Castle voted for Bush's "plan" for Iraq. Although that "plan" was never released or discussed, Kos has pieced it together from the events of the past five years.

The Bush PLAN for Iraq

1) Bomb the daylights out of Iraq, 2000 pound JDAMS and cruise missiles, day and night, into heavily populated areas, utterly destroy the government at every level and eliminate key infrastructure, literally burn it to the underground bunkers.

2) Rumble north from Kuwait in multiple armored columns ten miles long tearing up the highways with tank treads micromanaged by Donald Rumsfeld while, 2a) spraying entire towns with heavy caliber depleted uranium rounds left and right along the way, and 2b) strafing anything that moves from the air.

3) Upon arrival in a now devastated Baghdad, suffering from power blackout and reeking to high heaven thanks to no water or sewer services -- not to mention homes, gutters, and waterways full of rotting bloated corpses -- detain or snuff every policemen and military member dumb enough to still be wearing a uniform, shoot the city full of gaping holes, crater the roadways. Drag terrified civilians, men, women, kids, out of their homes or cars at gunpoint, shackle them, and strip search them in broad daylight. Pack them off to Saddam's old prisons marked for further torture and depraved sexual humiliation.

4) Passively watch the city looted of what little of value remains by criminal elements without lifting a trigger-finger.

5) Start loading US oil tankers with Iraqi crude.

6) Send in college kids whose qualifications for rebuilding an entire nation bombed into the stone-age consists of phone banking for the GOP and opposing reproductive rights for women.

7) Here's where the real neocon genius kicks in ... The Iraqis are going to swoon with pro US gratitude. See? The lucky survivors will be so smitten with the American occupiers after this experience that they'll forget decades of dictatorship and propaganda, put aside centuries of ethnic and tribal conflict, and a millennium of hostility and resentment for the west ... and they'll spontaneously rise up, self organize, and peacefully model their government and culture after our own. See?

Voting for this plan was bad enough - but Castle continues to endorse this plan. He has no business representing Delaware in the US Congress.

Michael Berg in his own words

2006-10-25T20:18:00.000-04:00

AMY GOODMAN [Democracy Now]: So why are you running for Congress?

MICHAEL BERG: Well, I can't do anything about my son's death at this point. Nothing will ever bring him back. But I am running for Congress in the same way that a parent who loses a child in a bicycle accident when they didn't have a helmet on, you know, and then they go out on a crusade to try to get everyone to put helmets on their children when they ride their bicycles. It's the same thing with me.

This war, this stupid war that was based on lies to begin with, that is going on just for George Bush to save face -- which is backfiring anyhow -- is killing people at the rate of one every three minutes. Someone is having the experience that I had every three minutes. Someone is losing a son, someone is losing a father, someone is losing a loved one every three minutes in Iraq, and IÂm running for Congress to stop it.

Michael Berg has a bearing and dignity that cuts through the BS and overheated hyperbole that surounds him. While Karen Hartly Nagel is running to satisfy her vanity - I believe that Berg clearly has the public interest at heart. As I've written previously, I sincerely wish he decided to take a tact that helped undermine the Bush cabal rather than support Bush by fragmenting the opposition.

Crossan Bashing

2006-10-25T16:52:00.000-04:00

From down below.

If Ferris loses it falls squarely on Crossan's desk and on Strine's manicured Pennsylvania lawn. Crossan took on the mission of not just being GOP director but also Wharton head campaign hack. A Wharton loss without Strine and Crossan's immediate ouster will be proof positive that the GOP is finished in Delaware and will never get it."

I care too much about the future of our state and country to hope for that Crossan somhow escapes the blame and continues to screw up the Republican party.

Reasonable

2006-10-25T16:35:00.000-04:00

HELD: Denying committed same-sex couples the financial and social benefits and privileges given to their married
heterosexual counterparts bears no substantial relationship to a legitimate governmental purpose. The Court holds
that under the equal protection guarantee of Article I, Paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, committed samesex
couples must be afforded on equal terms the same rights and benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex couples under the
civil marriage statutes. The name to be given to the statutory scheme that provides full rights and benefits to samesex
couples, whether marriage or some other term, is a matter left to the democratic process.

Of course the fact that this is perfectly reasonable will not prevent the right-winger from going insane and using this finding to their fullest GOTV advantage. In fact I bet Crossan is probably ringing up some churches right now.

How Michael Castle's buddies spent your money

2006-10-25T14:37:00.000-04:00

Castle's blind faith in Halliburton to manage your money was established here:

"Rep. Castle voted to continue awarding contracts to Halliburton even after the Pentagon's own audit processes found that more than $100 million of their contractor's costs in Iraq were unreasonable."

Now Donviti contributes the fact that KBR (a Halliburton subsidiary) charged 55% of their contracts to "overhead".

I don't know about you but I think a "for profit" company charging 55% to overhead is a bit much. But, someone like Michael Castle might say, "What's the big deal? Companies are supposed to make money. So what if we had to borrow from future tax revenue - we are safer now than we were two years ago?"

To people like Castle I would say, "Read tommywonk and get back to me" "

"Unless you somehow believe, despite the evidence, that deficits don't matter, you cannot avoid the fiscal failure of our federal government."

NOTE:Down below a reader asks, "are the debates on Thursday between Spivak and McCastle for the public?" I don't know. I'll try to get some info. If anyone knows please put something in the comments section.

Radio Delawareliberal

2006-10-25T13:05:00.000-04:00

This afternoon (3-4pm) I will be on WILM (AM 1450) with Dave Burris of First State Poltics. This week we are hadicapping the races and looking at where things stand from the blogs-eye view.

If you are outside of the listening area try the stream and let me know if it is working.

Having no shame = big profits for Bush family

2006-10-25T10:31:00.000-04:00

Bush's Family Profits from 'No Child' Act
by Walter F. Roche Jr.

A company headed by President Bush's brother and partly owned by his parents is benefiting from Republican connections and federal dollars targeted for economically disadvantaged students under the No Child Left Behind Act.

With investments from his parents, George H.W. and Barbara Bush, and other backers, Neil Bush's company, Ignite! Learning, has placed its products in 40 U.S. school districts and now plans to market internationally.

At least 13 U.S. school districts have used federal funds available through the president's signature education reform, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, to buy Ignite's portable learning centers at $3,800 apiece.

Live Blogging Al's show 10/25

2006-10-25T09:32:00.000-04:00

10:21 - Done and done.

10:09 - Change the batteries in your smoke detector. Al, gives me an over the air heads-up.

10:00 - Now I'm on hold. I have to call Al out on the non sequitor.

9:54 - Carper ad. (Puke!)

9:46 - (I missed the beginning of this) All the coverage is like sports radio. No substance. It is like talking about the Eagles.' The psivack race is not covered at all. We have a 67 year old man who had a stroke - and nobody is talking about it. His health is off the table. [Al sticks up for Castle] It is only a two year job. I don’t think he should have year convalescence. [I'm loving this guy] Al compares Castle to Strom Thurman. Awesome job Al. This election is a referendum on the Bush presidency. Bush has said so. If the republicans get in. AL - STICKS UP FOR CASTLE AGAIN. aL'S DEFENSE WAS A TOTAL NO-SEQUITOR.

9:43 - Vision 2015 commercial. What is that? I've ignored it. Anyone care to give me three sentences?

9:35 - I've only been doing this for 10 minutes and jeez is it boring. I quit. Oh Al is back. Tort reform. Paul Smith is a talking point machine. Must be all that time in mass repeating the things the Catholics are supposed to repeat on cue.

9:30 - Paul claims lawsuits are driving people out of medical school. News Break. (Melanie Armstrong says Ting hammered Carper in the debate. - clip from Ting hating on the borders. Carper supports line item veto. ZZZzzz...

Iraq timetable and troops speaking out on the war. It is a start. Someone at the beach called Russia.

9:28 - Paul's call. Al's not talking about unions. Al says that the Repubkicans have won over the rank and file. Who is he talking to? All the union guys I know hate Bush and Castle.

9:26 AM - Back to back Wharton/Biden ads. I wonder how much the station makes in extra revenue during election season?

Ron Williams turns out the lights on Ferris

2006-10-25T07:56:00.000-04:00

I'm on record saying that I don't think the AG should be elected, so I've steered clear of the Biden/Wharton battle royal for the most most part.

However, three items this morning signal the end of Ferris as a politician.

1) The WDEL news sound clip of Biden saying "You're a real gentleman Mr. Wharton...I'm glad your true colors are coming out."

2) The Biden radio ad which end with ..."we are going to fight your mud slinging with a political strategy that you might find shocking...THE TRUTH"

3)Ron Williams' obituary for Wharton's campaign. "We've been lectured by Wharton to the point of nausea..."

It is a devastating combination that must have little cartoon birds circling Wharton's head about now.

The Bottom Line:When Ferris recovers from his foray into politics and takes stock of his career, I'm utterly certain that he will view getting involved with Dave Crossan as the single worst mistake he ever made.

It's The Ground Game Stupid

2006-10-25T00:24:00.000-04:00

Major props to KarmicJay who is already signed up for phone banking. eveyone else read this:

The other day I watched TV in horror as Dear Leader and Turd Blossom strolled across the White House lawn, smirking, and declaring that they had no worries about the upcoming election. The Republican were going to win again.

Being a Democrat, and therefore justifiably paranoid, I wondered what October surprise they had in store for us.

Today I've been watching the political marathon on MSNBC and I figured it out. Mary Matalin was on explaining why the Republicans were going to win again. She kept saying "you don't understand, we've got the ground game." Repeatedly she defended R candidates by saying "I've seen his ground game plan and he's going to be reelected. Nothing can beat the GOP ground game."

They are planning to beat our brains out again with their GOTV machine. There is only one defense and that's to build our own GOTV machine. Please volunteer. Email Kristin Dwyer to volunteer for election day GOTV activities. Join your District Committee and work with them to Get Out The Vote! There's 13 days left and we can do this in every district. A few hours of your time can make a difference. If you can walk, walk. If you can talk, talk.
...................
I happen to think that all that "confidence" that Bush is showing is just him with his head up his ass again. I'm confident but not cocky. We still have a lot of work to do, but this time the wind is at our backs. Let's close the deal.

The "party of personal responsibility" where art thou?

2006-10-24T21:32:00.000-04:00

The DE GOP has become the party of "it is not my fault".

I’ve missed some meetings this fall because my wife is recuperating from surgery and was in bed for a while. Many nights have been spent helping my four kids with home work during some of the civic association meetings that Coluntouno attended. - Wayne Smith on not debating Carl Coluntouno

"Cloutier said she voted for the (energy) deregulation bill after just a few weeks in office in 1999." - The News Journal on why Cathy Cloutier voted FOR energy deregulation.

"I'm leaning toward the surgery...Im not up to a full campaign schedule yet." - Michael Castle explaining why he can't debate Dennis Spivack

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Put other recent instances of Republican excuse making in the comments.
...........
They need to read this:

UPDATE:This Thursday at the Wilmington Rotary club (Hotel DuPont) U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., will emerge from his post-stroke recuperation Thursday to take part in his first debate of the campaign season, it was announced today. - Patrick Jackson The News Journal

I live in a glass house...

2006-10-24T21:04:00.000-04:00

...so I'm not saying nothing.

Just check out Blue State Rising on the latests Ramone attack mailer.

Delawareliberal Corrections Policy

2006-10-24T13:15:00.000-04:00

I had to make two corrections today and I made them. Unlike George Bush or Michael Castle I can admit when I'm wrong. Thanks to FTP for pointing out the first and Mike M for the second.

If number and frequency of my corrections ever equals the News Journal's (on a per story basis)I promise to stop blogging.

Yuck!!

2006-10-24T12:54:00.000-04:00

I like crab cakes and I like world records (who could ever forget those fat twins on the motor cycles..), but there is something sickening about this.

Handy International, a Salisbury, Md., seafood firm, also tried to set a Guinness World Record that day by cooking a 235-pound crab cake. The cake, baked in a rotisserie-style pan over a charcoal fire pit, took about six hours to cook.

Paperwork is being submitted today by Dover Downs Hotel & Casino to the Guinness World Records headquarters in London. The casino should receive word in about four to six weeks if a record was set. - PATRICIA TALORICO, The News Journal

Note: This is just filler while I work on my post about the rather sureal Cristine O'Donnell press event.

Michael Castle aides facing travel related investigation ?

2006-10-24T08:13:00.000-04:00

Will Abramoff Take Another Lawmaker Down -- Soon?
U.S. News and World Report whispers:

The FBI and Justice Department appear to be expanding their probe into the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal in hopes of nabbing another member of Congress and aides, according to sources involved in the case. . . .

"We thought it was wrapping up, but they've indicated that it is really about to expand," said one source involved in the case. "It's not ending anytime soon or even when he goes to jail."

Based on my research Castle's travel appears to be on the level. However, his staff clearly abused house rules and went on lobbyist paid junkets on a regular basis.

If this US News report points to Castle's staff it helps explain why they have decided to hunkered down in the air raid shelter for these past few weeks. If there is anything connecting Abramoff to Castle's staff expect some sudden "I want to spend more time with my family" resignations right after the election.

Pat Morrison Kicks Ass

2006-10-24T07:32:00.000-04:00

If Pat Morrison beats Couliter at the polls (5th Senate District) as badly as she beats her in this NJ profile it will be the most one sided upset in the history of Delaware.

Morrison: "Society runs smoother when families run well...Poltics is part of that. It is really inseparable what happens between laws ands policies, decision about education, health care. Raising the next generation is poltical."

Cloutier: "I'm able to get things done and work on both sides of the ailse."

Get what things done?

"Cloutier said she voted for the (energy) deregulation bill after just a few weeks in office in 1999." Ooopsie!

"Morrison said the recent dregulation of energy prices hit middle class families especially hard."

Bottom Line: Cloutier ~~inherited her seat and has done nothing to earn it. She~~ seems to be phoning in this campaign in the same way she is phoning it in for her district in Dover. Pat Morrison is going to make a great addition to the state senate.

I'm not a fan of the wise old men who run Delaware

2006-10-23T22:57:00.000-04:00

You know the wise old men I'm talking about. They drink together. They play cards together and go to each others kid's weddings and spouses funerals. They hire each others children for plumb jobs.

They even show up at debates together, but just prior to entering they take a few steps apart. It serves thier purposes to appear in public as affable rivals. But they are a party unto themselves. How they must laugh thier asses off at dopes like me and poor Mike Protack who think that there are meaningful differences between republicans and democrats.

They talk about how important "bipartisianship" is but fail to explain that to them bipartisanship means taking turns sticking thier faces in the public trough.

I've been thinking about all of this for a while but this little item in Celia's latest love letter to the the wise old men of Delaware got me to a kind of tipping point.

There was also a story about a lobbying client who declined to give Ned Davis a raise, observing that he did not seem to be doing anything. Davis let the contract go and went to work for the other side, quickly accomplishing what the original client had not wanted to see accomplished.

Kind of says it all doesn't it?

Tommywonk speaks

2006-10-23T21:30:00.000-04:00

You listen.

I have some quibbles, but for the most part he is dead right when he says that you need to vote democratic to right the ship of state.

Castle takes contributions from war profiteers

2006-10-23T20:36:00.000-04:00

Dang it! I would not have to keep coming back to how much Castle sucks if he did not suck so much.

The DCCC pointed me toward Castle's malfeasance this time:

"Rep. Castle voted to continue awarding contracts to Halliburtoneven after the Pentagon's own audit processes found that more than $100 million of their contractor's costs in Iraq were unreasonable."

"Pish posh...what's a measly $100 million?" I can hear old Doug Williams saying.

I trust nobody (not even Williams) will be shocked by the fact that Halliburton contributed to Castle's reelection campaign.

The Bottom Line:Castle is for sale.

"GOP Senate" contract falls in moderate trading

2006-10-23T16:48:00.000-04:00

New USA Today/Gallup pole sends GOP futures down

After rebounding a bit last week, the tradesports futures market continues to show that the GOP grip on the SENATE may be in ending on November 7th.

Democrats need to pick up six seats in the Senate and 15 in the House to claim majorities in those chambers. The poll results, analysts say, indicate that many voters may take out their frustrations on incumbents and the party in power -- an ominous sign for the GOP.

google bomb project

2006-10-23T16:47:00.000-04:00

--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl

--AZ-01: Rick Renzi

--AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth

--CA-04: John Doolittle

--CA-11: Richard Pombo

--CA-50: Brian Bilbray

--CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave

--CO-05: Doug Lamborn

--CO-07: Rick O'Donnell

--CT-04: Christopher Shays

--FL-13: Vernon Buchanan

--FL-16: Joe Negron

--FL-22: Clay Shaw

--ID-01: Bill Sali

--IL-06: Peter Roskam

--IL-10: Mark Kirk

--IL-14: Dennis Hastert

--IN-02: Chris Chocola

--IN-08: John Hostettler

--IA-01: Mike Whalen

--KS-02: Jim Ryun

--KY-03: Anne Northup

--KY-04: Geoff Davis

--MD-Sen: Michael Steele

--MN-01: Gil Gutknecht

--MN-06: Michele Bachmann

--MO-Sen: Jim Talent

--MT-Sen: Conrad Burns

--NV-03: Jon Porter

--NH-02: Charlie Bass

--NJ-07: Mike Ferguson

--NM-01: Heather Wilson

--NY-03: Peter King

--NY-20: John Sweeney

--NY-26: Tom Reynolds

--NY-29: Randy Kuhl

--NC-08: Robin Hayes

--NC-11: Charles Taylor

--OH-01: Steve Chabot

--OH-02: Jean Schmidt

--OH-15: Deborah Pryce

--OH-18: Joy Padgett

--PA-04: Melissa Hart

--PA-07: Curt Weldon

--PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick

--PA-10: Don Sherwood

--RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee

--TN-Sen: Bob Corker

--VA-Sen: George Allen

--VA-10: Frank Wolf

--WA-Sen: Mike McGavick

--WA-08: Dave Reichert

Meanwhile the war rages on.

2006-10-23T16:25:00.000-04:00

15 Police Recruits Killed in Iraq; U.S. Death Toll for October Hits 86

By John Ward Anderson and Debbi Wilgoren

Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, October 23, 2006; 9:12 AM

BAGHDAD, Oct. 23 -- At least 15 Iraqi police recruits were killed Sunday when two buses taking them to Baghdad were ambushed by insurgents north of the capital, a local police official said. Twenty-five recruits were injured in the attack, and 20 others were kidnapped, he said.

On Sunday and Monday, the U.S. military announced the deaths of seven soldiers and a Marine, bringing the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq this month to 86
.....................................

Now don't hold your breath waiting for Doug Williams to get anyone at the News Journal to ask Castle about the war. The war does not exsist as far as those guys are concerned.

As someone who lives in the 14th Senate District this post speaks to me...

2006-10-23T12:22:00.000-04:00

I’m calling to all the good people of the 14th Senatorial District to relieve Senator Vaughn of duty. Senator Vaughn has been described many times as an enemy of democracy, and it tough to find stronger words than that. But I’ll try. The antediluvian James T. Vaughn is the Chair of the State Senate Judiciary Committee, a position gives him the dubious power to hold bill from ever being voted on by the Senate. One of these is SB 94, a laudable effort sponsored by the 9th’s Karen E. Peterson to include the General Assembly under the FOIA, which has been held in Senator James Vaughn’s desk drawer for the last 18 months, with little hops of ever seeing the light of day. -
- Merit Bound Alley

The Case FOR Spivack

2006-10-23T11:38:00.000-04:00

I've focused on the fact that Castle is a rubber stamp for George Bush and some have taken that as proof that I don't support Dennis Spivack.

That is nonsense. If you are a constant reader of Delawareliberal you know that I have constantly pointed out that Spivack is a great Democrat and a great candidate. So don't project delawareliberal's myopia and faults onto Spivack.

Now, I know some liberals want to vote for John F. Kennedy and everyone else sucks. These liberals would allow the quest for the "perfect" to kill off the "good". I'm a little more practical than that. But for anyone who thinks I've been too Anti-Castle and insufficiently pro-Spivack click here, here, here, here and here.

The Bottom Line: Spivack is a Democrat who has run this race to focus the debate on the issues that are important to Delawareans:

In his words: "...health care, homeland security, education, energy, and our economy. We need real reform now, and I intend to deliver a major dose of reality to our leadership in Washington, D.C. when I go there as Delaware's Congressman."

Some people want to focus on personalities. Some think that I've fallen in that trap harping on Castle. I'd say I've been harping on Castle's horrible, terrible, really indefensible record, but everyone is diffferent.

Drinking Liberally October 26th

2006-10-23T11:11:00.000-04:00

The third *Delaware* Drinking Liberally group will meet Thursday, October 26, 8:00pm at Iron HIll - Riverfront upstairs bar

Drinking Liberally is a social organization - a way to meet new progressives and to catch up with old ones! It was started in NY and now has chapters throughout the country. Bring friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, and anyone else who also
wants to Drink Liberally!

Remember: I need some people born between 1960 AND 1970 at this one. It is nice being around the youngsters but talking to someone who remembers Richard Nixon's resignion would be nice too.

Note to Italo: After the Iron Hill lets hit The Big Kahuha and see some thongs.

Ramone's developer friends provide the sheet music and Romone sings like a bird

2006-10-23T08:33:00.000-04:00

For a guy who tries to pass himself off as a businessman, Ramone sure has some fuzzy thinking when it comes to facts and figures.

From Ramone's News Journal Q&A (#10):
"The state should not have moved the salaries of DelDot employees over to the TTF in order to balance the budget years ago. The monies in the TTF were the road improvement projects, not for the use of DelDot payroll. The state must begin to return monies raided from the fund so we can pay for our needed repairs. If this is done over the next ten years, then we will be able to continue our needed repairs while not raising any of our fee’s taxes or charges." ()

Did you catch that?

The state must begin to return monies raided from the fund...

Ramone thinks if we fire enough DelDOT employees, transportation deficits will be cured in ten years.

Notice that Ramone does not once suggest cutting back on spending. More on that below.

However, Ramone's theory - "Employees are the problem" - is the exact opposite of what was found by the KPMG audit requested by Tom Wagner last spring.

The KPMG audit points out that DelDOT in fact had implemented a hiring freeze, and as a result turned to hiring consulting engineering firms to complete design work for new projects.

Then in his most recent negative mailer Ramone changes his tune slightly.
He no longer mentions employee payroll but instead refers to salaries as "operating and administrative costs:"

"The transportation trust fund has been raided to cover operating and administrative costs. Now there is no money to complete desperately needed road projects."

The point is fair enough - operating and administrative costs should not be pulled from the TTF. But this is old news ever since the KPMG audit last spring. Ramone is just jumping on the bandwagon here and is not bringing anything new to the table.

But who exactly created this situation? Let's consult the "big heads":

"Rep. Roger Roy, R-Limestone Hills, said it wasn't just Hayward. Lawmakers were focused on keeping cash spending and borrowing at a 50-50 ratio to protect the state's credit rating. [See, Mike Ramone, maybe there's a little more to this finance stuff than you figured!] They did not hesitate to add more projects to the state's "wish lists" because things seemed to be going well.

'We didn't think there was a problem because we kept putting money in and Nathan kept getting work done,' he [Roger Roy] said."

Now remember that Ramone has no plan for cutting spending or reprioritizing new road projects. Compare Ramone's position with Karen Peterson discussing the TTF deficit:

"The $2.7 billion gap between costs and revenues exists only on paper. The Transportation Fund list of projects is a 'wish list,' not a 'to do list.'
There are many projects on that list that will never be built (and do not need to be built). The first step in eliminating the 'gap' is to develop objective criteria to determine which projects actually need to be done to improve traffic flow or to address safety issues."

Sounds like Karen Peterson needs to give Mike Ramone some business lessons about prioritization.

- G. Glass
..........................

THE BOTTOM LINE:The big new road projects are only "desperately needed" by Ramone's developer friends who want to keep building sprawl and letting taxpayers figure out later how to pay for the mess. Romone's "business man" act is nothing more than fronting for people who think stuffing tax money in their pockets is a birthright.

If you can't make "cold calls try "hot calls"

2006-10-23T07:58:00.000-04:00

With only a few weeks to go we need everyone working on GOTV stuff

But let's face it for many people going down to the state party headquarters and making cold calls from a voter list sucks. [Please, please, please make time to do it, but do it knowing that it might suck.]

To everyone who HAS done it and is continuing to get geared up for some good GOTV activities let me be the first to say, "thank you!"

For the rest of you keyboard jockeys and arm chair activists, if the only thing you plan to do to help out GOTV this time is read Delawareliberal and maybe put up a few snarky anti-Castle comments then you are not doing enough. So I'm asking all delawareliberal readers who hate cold calling to make at least twenty "hot calls".

What are hot calls?

"Hot calls" are to the people in your personal phone book that you think are Democrats who might not be as plugged into politics and elections as you. "Hot call" your old roommate from college, your Mom and Dad and say "You are planning to vote, right?"

"Hot call" old friends that now live in Dewey. You know, the ones you used to work with that you have not seen for a while. Call to say hello and keep in touch and while you are chatting asks them if realize that a vote for Spivack is a vote against George Bush?

"Hot call" the best man from your wedding and say "Dude, you better get your sorry ass to the polling place this November 7th or I am going to show everyone those pictures. I swear I will."

You get the idea. These are people you have a rapport with.

Why would you call these people?
Some of the races are going to be won or lost by the thinnest of margins. We need every vote and if your friend from college is thinking about voting but has not yet thought through when or where they vote - THEY MIGHT NOT VOTE. I know it sounds impossible but most people tune out the ads and don't read twenty blogs a day. It is your job to get them thinking about voting. Plant the seed.

So here is your homework. Think of twenty-five people to call and list them. They don't have to live in your district or even Delaware. Wherever they are there is probably an important race this time out.

Use the comments section below to trash this idea or to help spread the word. If everyone here makes twenty "hot calls" and part of your script is telling them what you are doing and asking them to make even ten "hot calls" then we are getting something done.

Sure, some of those twenty people might think you are being a pain in the ass, but so what? I don't want to be sitting around on the 8th of November thinking about what else I could have done.

Write in KAREN E. PETERSON

2006-10-22T20:31:00.000-04:00

Just a reminder...

We have no no good candidate running for State Senator. That’s a fact. Carper voted to let the President kidnap and torture his way to security, and Jan Ting wants to wall us in. - Joe M from Merit Bound Alley

Also check out Dana's "I wish I could vote twice for Karen E. Peterson" to hear the affirmative case for Karen.

But I have another reason for voting for Peterson for US Senate. Tom Carper doesn’t deserve reelection. If anything, he deserves expulsion from the Senate because he recently voted to break his oath “to protect and defend the US constitution” by giving the President unconstitutional authority to suspend habeas corpus. - Dana Garrett

Write KAREN E. PETERSON so they all get counted together.

UPDATE: Tom Carper's third party pick for the Ct. Senate seat created $387,000 slush fund and may have used it to buy votes prior to the primary. Given Tom's conditional ethics - I'm not at all surprised that he endorses this type of thing.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Ned Lamont's campaign says Sen. Joe Lieberman has failed to account for $387,000 in petty cash his campaign spent days before the state's August Democratic primary.

"Whenever this much cash is floating around it certainly raises suspicions of possible vote buying and other potentially illegal activities that the Lieberman campaign must answer," said Liz Dupont-Diehl, a Lamont spokeswoman. "It is crucial for the public to know what they were doing with this slush fund."

"Stay the course" has lost it's voodoo magic

2006-10-22T17:39:00.000-04:00

Michael Castle sure loved "stay the course" last year.

Even two months ago he was all about "stay the course". It is hard to know what he thinks now because he refuses to talk about it and the people he sends out to speak on his behalf end up sounding like flat out dumbasses when they try to avoid saying anything substantive about Iraq.

Bush (not recovering from a stoke and able to talk for himself) is running farther and faster from "stay the course" but Castle, if true to his lap dog form, will not be far behind now that Bush has made it okay to deny "stay the course". .

In reality the Bush/Castle stragegy of "stay the course" sucked ass from day one. So I'm glad they are trashing it. The invasion itself was idiotic but they loved the empty but macho "stay the course" soundbite because it made theses cowards sound rough and tough. If you need a laugh, Think Progress has Castle's master denying he ever said "stay the course":

Ryan gazes at his Risk board...

2006-10-22T01:05:00.000-04:00

...his copy of "Altas Shrugged" in one hand and a bong in the other, Ryan invents a new conservative hobby. Thought excersizes for people who shun thinking.

February 2010 The countries that once constituted Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Turkey, Sudan, fearing threat from the United States and Europe, form The Islamic People's Republic (IPR). Political capital is Istanbul. It has the most oil of any country in the world, and is also one of the largest by population, with a very low median age.

Read the whole thing if you want to see what full blown GOP paranoia looks like filtered through the lens of a coddled frat boy who thinks taxes are an unvarnished evil, global warming is a liberal scam and the media is responsible for the Iraq debacle.

New Democrats + Reagan Democrats come home = big gains for the public interest

2006-10-21T23:27:00.000-04:00

A (Pre)Post Mortem on this election.

Reagan Democrats are coming home and that has put many races in play here in Delaware that nobody was talking about two months ago.

Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster and one of the strategists behind the party’s 1994 takeover of Congress, told The Times: "The Santorum race shows that Reagan Democrats are returning to their roots. Economic issues among blue-collar social conservatives are now subsuming concerns about social issues".

Yes, that is bad news for Santorum, but it is also bad news for Wayne Smth, Stephanie Ulbrich, Donald Blakey, Nick Manolakos, Bobby Outten, Robert Valihura, Dick Cathcart and Cathy Cloutier all of whom (except for Manolakos) are running in Democratic districtsts. Many of these so called "shoe-ins" are not used to having to defend their seats and are now struggling.

They are struggling because Democratic voters have woken up and because they are up against a new wave of Democratic challengers like Rebecca Walker, Pat Morrison, Mike Barbieri, John Kowalko and Richard Korn who have not risen through the party system, but are challengingng the "overly cautious" and "too cozy with corporate interests" Democrat party of the past. That party is personified by the likes of Dixiecrat Jim Vaughn and Bob Gilligan who wept when the corrupt-looking Roger Roy retired.

The old Democratic Party worked hand in glove with the Republicans and the public interest came in a distant third. The party called the shots and said who could run for what office and when they could do it. "Don't rock the boat" or "wait your turn" might have been the old democratic motto. The Democratic Party that we are seeing being born in the election has a very different sensibility.

New Democrats might not win each of the races mentioned above, but these challengers have rewritten the rules of engagement. They are the future leaders of a Democratic party that will not be content to play the role of "the other insider party". The "bipartisanship above all" of Tom Carper is being replaced by "the public interest above all" exemplified by Korn and Morrison and not a moment too soon.

My techie doppelganger

2006-10-21T22:51:00.000-04:00

I find this hilarious.

It seems there is a much geekier version of me kicking ass and taking names among the ascii crowd.

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE (for election GOTV purposes)

2006-10-21T17:33:00.000-04:00

GOP in utter free fall: The "We've got nothin" party turns the focus to its own incompetence.

Tommy pointed out that Michael Castle's beloved RNC trotted out Osama just in time for an election season scare-a-thon ad blitz. This DNC ad utterly destroys the RNC's nonsense arguments.

See the ad here.

Castle on Iraq

2006-10-21T11:31:00.000-04:00

For the most part this outright BULLSHIT speaks for itself. One question: Why did Castle get Rainman to speak for him at the forum?

"...Definitely gonna stay the corpse...Definitely staying the corpse, yeah...Support the troops...Definitely gonna support the troops. "

- video via a delawareliberal reader.

Grapevine's "Races to Watch" and English translations

2006-10-21T10:35:00.000-04:00

Celia gets her usual "teacher's pet B" for "C" work with her bland insider-y take on the races. She is still WAY OFF track on this one:

20th Rep Manolako vs. Korn

Manolakos showed his strength by knocking out an endorsed Republican in a primary that was tantamount to winning the election to replace Rep. Roger P. Roy, a 30-year Republican Safe Republican

Safe Republican...? Translation: " I hate Korn the way Ting hates Mexicans."

As for the rest, her inside the box thinking is makes it hard for her to get her real thoughts off her chest. As Delaware's foremost Cohenologist I will passed her post throught my "Cohen to English" translation machine and give you her true thoughts:

There are many more races in play than I ever imagined possible. If Democrats nail the GOTV, the DE GOP will have to fold the party and head for the hills.

Jan Ting: Illegal aliens ate my homework, and made me run a red light, and ate the last piece of pie, and...

2006-10-21T10:12:00.000-04:00

I've heard of a "one note charlie" but this is getting ridiculous. Message to Jan: Tom Carper has a shitty record that you should be feasting on. Stop saying "illegal aliens" for a couple of minutes.

UPDATE: Jan, this was not the work of ilegal aliens.

Cloutier: How dare you call me a Republican !

2006-10-20T23:09:00.000-04:00

The word is out that Cloutier did not like being in the Ron Williams column last week and she is pissed off at having a strong challenger in Pat Morrison this year. (For someone who loves the great democracy Bush has established in Iraq - Clouiter sure does not love democracy here.)

Anyway, she is so pissed at having an opponent this time that she has started a little campaign to muddy the water about her party affiliation. (Who could blame her.)
Click to enlarge.

UPDATE:Join this Delaware Watch endorsed effort to help dump another major league democracy hater Wayne Smith.

UPDATE II: Send your election predicitons to MOT NEWBIE.

OMG the New Journal printed my letter !

2006-10-20T22:08:00.000-04:00

A vote for Rep. Mike Castle is a vote for George Bush

So many of Delaware's Democrats, Independents and Republicans are outraged by George Bush's reckless and un-American approach to his duties that they are asking, "What more can I do to send a clear message to this out of touch president?"

The answer is simple. Vote against George Bush by voting for Dennis Spivack for Congress. Rep. Michael Castle likes to portray himself as a moderate. However, now he refuses to debate Dennis Spivack and is running away from his record.

While he was elected for his moderate views, in the past six years Rep. Castle has become a dependable rubber stamp for George Bush. He voted with the President's less than half-baked plans for invading Iraq.

In spite of this record, Rep. Castle could still win in November. However, by voting against Michael Castle and for his Democratic opponent Dennis Spivack, we might make Mr. Castle less likely to blindly follow his party at the expense of his constituents here in Delaware.

Jason Scott, Middletown
.......................
There is another good letter in as well.

A vote for Spivack is a vote for a balanced democracy

This midterm election is possibly one of the most important elections I have ever had the privilege to take part in. Democrats have the opportunity this year to break a troubling cycle where all three branches of our government are controlled by a single party. That is not the way to have a democracy.

My vote for the U.S. Congress this year isn't about Mike Castle's recent health problems or his so-called moderate voting record in Congress.

My vote is for the balance and change that is desperately needed to put our country back on track. I hope the Democrats are energized to get out this year and vote in record numbers to support Dennis Spivack for Congress.

Victoria Bandy, Wilmington

Thanks News Journal. I will now renew my sunscription.

Elizabeth Wenk, MD

2006-10-20T17:08:00.000-04:00

UPDATE: Here is a doozy.

Three nights of being wined and dined by Visa (the credit card company) in San Francisco. Is it me or does this sound like the kind of thing that would make excellent talk radio?

Visa, It's everywhere Castle's staff wants to be.

Did you know that Congressman Castle's mouthpiece is a doctor? Either did I. But the American College of Gastroenterology knew it. They paid for Dr. Wenk to go to Key West "to learn the latest techniques in colon cancer screening" (and work on her tan).

It is nice to know that if I'm ever in the same room as Wenk and I catch her checking out my ass she is doing it as a professional. And yet I wonder if having our congressmen and their staffs flown around the country by special interests might make them feel beholden to those interests? Hmmm.... I'm going to have to think about that some more. In fact I'm going to have to give this whole database of trips that Castle and his staff took paid for by lobbyist.

Let's see...here is one:

Emily Pfeiffer
Destination: DELMARVA FARM TOURS
Sponsor: MIDATLANTIC FARM CREDIT
Purpose: VISIT 3 FARMS
Date: Apr 22, 2003 (1 day)
Expense: $257.00

Emily Pfeiffer got $257.00 form "Mid Atlantic Farm Credit" to VISIT THREE DELMARVA FARMS...? What did they drink with lunch ? Dom Perignon? Did she take a freakin helicopter? Granted, I don't want to visit three Delaware farms - but if I had too I think I can do it for under $275.00.

Read the whole list. Castle's office is clearly out of control. They are sucking up trips and perks from people with business pending in congress like Kate Moss snorting up fat lines of cocaine. By my quick back of the envelope calculations Castle and his staff have accepted $195,000 in free travel from organizations out to buy Mr. Castle's goodwill.

I've got to get on the batphone and get Doug Williams on this story. I'm sure he will spring into action and the 4th estate will make us proud this time.

Sokola Fights Back

2006-10-20T16:55:00.000-04:00

People in the 8th Senate District just got a scorching mailer today from the Sokola campaign containing direct quotes from past business lawsuits and debt-collection actions against Mike Ramone.

Sources tell me that it's a very professional ad that reads:

"Inside: What State Senate candidate MIKE RAMONE won't tell you about his "business experience."

Good for Sokola hitting back against Romone's and Dave Crossan's lies and dirty tricks.

The voter registration in the 8th SD is:

9,659 D
9,685 R
6,974 Other

It's going to be a late late night for everyone invloved.

Republican “Coalition of the Shilling” in complete disarray

2006-10-20T15:43:00.000-04:00

What in life could be better than seeing a bunch of frauds and con artists beat-up and kill each other?

It restored my faith in cosmic justice to read this in today’s NYT:

“In 2004 we really broke our necks to turn out the vote. For the two years since then, I have been extremely disappointed with what Republicans have done with the power they were given.” - Dr. James C. Dobson

“Dobson and his gang of thugs are really nasty bullies. I pray devoutly everyday, but being a Christian is no excuse for being stupid. There is a high demagoguery coefficient to issues like prayer in school. These issues are easy for the intellectually lazy.
- Neoconservative Dick Army

“The principle sin of the neoconservative’s is overbearing arrogance. It is not so much that they have been wrong it is that nobody has ever convinced them that they have ever been wrong. - David Keene, Chairman of the American Conservative Union.
-

The bottom line:
It looks like the huge stinking brown turd know as the republican congressional majority is swirling down the toilet of history.

Yes, we still have a lot of work to do to reform the Democratic Party and so we cannot let up. However, as we work to make this country what destiny has called it to be it is nice to know that we can do that work without having to fight on two fronts. The greedy George Bush-type grifters and Michael Castle style-charlatans and on the right have been exposed for what they are and have made the word “Republican” toxic to a huge segment of voters for years to come. That is a good thing.

GOTV. Let's close the deal this time.

2006-10-20T07:22:00.000-04:00

Any person NOT voting is, by their inaction at the polls, having the effect of supporting the Republicans.

Here is how. If every citizen voted this November 7th, based of the polls of ALL Americans, the Republicans would win a laughable 24.5% of the vote. No one could, or would, ever take them seriously again. America could finally roll up its sleeves and fix the looming problems before us. But when only half of America votes, what was 24,5% of all Americans, becomes 49% of those actually voting, and one is forced to take Republicans very seriously indeed, even though their ideas apply to very few of us. So by not voting, by not showing your choice at the ballot box, you are helping Republicans achieve the majority they need , even though their views misrepresent the majority of Americans.

So the next time someone says they don’t vote, try responding : “Oh, I see you support the Republicans.” If that doesn‘t elicit a vociferous denial, drop it. If it does, explain how their non vote supports the minority rule currently reigning over the rest of us.

The Republicans have owned the 72 hours prior to the election for the past few elections cycles. We can;t let them this year. Everyone needs to take personal responsibility for getting an extra 10 people to the polls. Start calling your list today and get promises from them that they are voting on the 7th.

Another Reformed ticket splitter flees Michael Castle

2006-10-19T22:14:00.000-04:00

National GOP record causes Castle voter to reconsider

I have lived and voted in Delaware for more than 15 years. I have always voted for Mike Castle for whatever office he was running for. He is a good and honorable person, a dedicated public servant, who has represented our state well and has been a voice of reason in Washington.

But no more, the recent Mark Foley incident involving congressional pages is the final straw. It confirms to me that the Republican party has no interest in the people it represents.

An ill-conceived war plan, a budget deficit that buries my grandchildren and great grandchildren in debt, tax breaks for the rich, being told what moral choice is correct and incorrect, the list never ends.

My only choice is to vote for change. If Delaware loses a good representative, so be it. The sacrifice will be worth it. The future of our country is at stake. If you are fed up with what is happening in Washington, you can voice your disgust. Vote for a change. Castle's opponent can do no worse.

W Smith, Milford
.........................

Okay. That closing could have been better, but I'll take it.

Why is Tom Carper such a Republican?

2006-10-19T17:19:00.000-04:00

It might be because he surrounds himself with Republicans like Italo Carrieri-Russo.

Check out this picture from an ad for The Big Kahuna:

See the dopy looking freak holding up the t-shirt that says, "I see your thong"? That is Italo Carrieri-Russo, the former head of the college republicans at UD. Check out Italo's Republican fever here. Guess where he works now?

Yep. For good old "Torture" Tom. Check me on that by looking at that database Mike M found last week. It looks like Italo must be new OR they are paying him in beer because Mr. Carrieri-Russo is not exactly pulling down the big bucks.

Tom your votes are bad enough but you have to rub salt on our wounds by hiring the likes of that? (a republican I mean, not the drinking.)

Ryan "yet to enlist" Silberstein covers the teach in at U of D

2006-10-19T16:01:00.000-04:00

In attendence were assorted faculty members, students, and local Newark moonbats, or "peaceniks," as they liked to be called. More than one person reminisced about the days of protesting Vietnam during the Q&A period. Lots of Marixism all around. More on that later. - Ryan

This statement sums up Ryan's dismisive take ont he whole thing. Ryan has often expressed his fondess for this war and his irritation at leftists media types and academics trying to ruin his good fun by playing the facts card all the time. All in all Ryan's major concern is that people who oppose the war are kind of full of themselves. In Ryan's little peanut brain this thought is playing on an endless loop: "Moonbats think the war is bad, SO the war must be good."

Well Mike M calls him out in the comments.

It seems the only thing good to come out of the war were the million-dollar contracts for multinational corporations like Halliburton et. al. It's war-profiteering all the way, and if that term "offends" you, then I suggest you dissect it. "War profiteering."

Ryan, face it. Though those moonbats are certainly annoying, the major gist of their arguments (minus the ridiculous anti-Israel dreck) are correct. Iraq is a hellhole now. You know it. And you'd just be acting a blind Sean Hannity-lite cheerleading for this pathetic administration if you don't come out and admit it.

Ryan' response to that.....

(the sound of crickets chirping in the distance)

Another Republican Fumble

2006-10-19T04:03:00.000-04:00

...to borrow a sports metaphor.
Sometime, probably in the next 48 hours though I'm betting sooner than later, an Illinois Congressional race is going topsy turvy. It's another pick-up for Dems. If you are observant around the net you'll find the information. Mobilization is already occurring around the state to get ground troops.

Thanks Republicans. - -Arch Pundit

Which GOP congressman had S-E-X with a 16 year old girl? The smart money seems to be on Jerry Weller. What is it with Michael Castle's buddies? They just can't keep it in their pants.

REMEMBER: Bring a Pen AND Pencil to the voting booth

2006-10-18T20:41:00.000-04:00

(Bring the pencil as a back-up.)

There is no Green Party protest candidate in the race for US Senate for liberals to vote for. There is no Democrat for that matter. Ting would be terrible. So if you love America the constitution and hate the representation that Tom Carper is providing us in the US Senate write in Karen Peterson.

While Carper tries to pass off his pansy-ass kowtowing to George Bush as "bipartisan" virtue - pissing on the Constitution is not virtuous. Throwing our civil liberties under the bus should not be rewarded with votes. Thanks to Tom Carper nothing would prevent George Bush from locking me up for blogging and nothing would prevent him from locking you up for agreeing with me. Tom Carper voted to give George Bush a blank check. GEORGE BUSH!!!??? Just think about how f'ed up that is for a second.

WRITE IN KAREN PETERSON IF YOU ARE SICK OF CARPER...but do this first. Vote for Karen Petersen as a write in candidate here. I'd like to get 500 - 700 votes in order to send Carper a strong message. So vote here and send a link to this post to your buddies. I'll keep this poll up top and by election day we should have a good idea of how many people out there have had it with "Torture" Tom Carper.

President Nixon Bush has a secret plan for victory in Vietnam Iraq

2006-10-18T17:30:00.000-04:00

At last...the Vietnam/Iraq parallels are complete

Bush Has A Plan For Iraq, But "He's Not Going To Tell Everyone In The World"

Yesterday in a debate against Senate Democratic candidate Jon Tester, Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) took offense at the suggestion that President Bush has no real plan for victory in Iraq. Burns stated, "He [Tester] says our president don't have a plan. I think he's got one. He's not going to tell everyone in the world." Burns added that Tester, in specific, was not allowed to know the path forward in Iraq because "you're just going to go out and blow it."

This is why Michael Castle is not talking about Iraq. He is helping keep Bush's plan for victory a secret. I wish we would just bomb ~~Cambodia~~ Iran and call it a day.

Gerry Fulcher, radio doofus, was stung by this post

2006-10-18T15:08:00.000-04:00

Patricia (Pat) Morrison in the 5th Senate District is reaping two whirlwinds. One is the same sloppy redistricting that is boosting Eric Levin in the 11th. The other is a supercharged Democratic base that is chomping at the bit to repudiate Republicanism wherever they find it. Morrison's opponent Cathy Clouiter, while a darling of radio doofus Gerry Fulcher, has run a lack luster campaign that has left her base cold. Ron Williams beat me to this one, but a Morrison win will only surprise Celia Cohen.

He just called me out by name again with that threadbare lie that I would vote for "corrupt Democrats" over honest Republicans.

What an idiot!! He is like a juke box. Drop in a nickel and the same tired song comes out. In his case the nickel is talking about his girlfriend Cathy Clouiter who is gong to need to get her resume in order.

Blogger Radio on WILM

2006-10-18T13:52:00.000-04:00

Dave from FSP and I will be talking about:

- Immigration (Dace's pet issue)

- The economy with an emphasis on the uptick in the DOW (Dave "tax cuts work" Burris's pet topic

- The News Journal on "blogger ethics"

- The Lamont/Lieberman race which it getting interesting

- Saddam verdict announcement date moved to November 5th

- Jim Baker III picking up and pushing Joe Biden's plan for Iraq.

Post any questions or comments you want to be broadcast below and listen to the streaming audio here (provided they fixed it).

Voter Participation

2006-10-18T12:57:00.000-04:00

Simply listen to Tom Carper's and Michael Castle's radio ads and tell me that the truth of this statement is not undeniable.

The Daily Show ran a statistic the other day, showing the US is just above Mexico in voter participation. We’re 139 to their 140, if I recall. What we have in common with Mexico, it seems to me, is one-party rule. At least Mexico had one-party rule, until recently; the US still does. We call the one party two different names, but the differences between them are discernable only to another politician.....And most American citizens are not politicians. - RMJ at Adventus

As much as I want the Democratic party to mean something, when I hear Carper on the radio crowing about how cozy he is with Bush and the rest of the Republican establishment it just shoots down any argument I can make.

UPSET WATCH: The Home Stretch Update

2006-10-18T08:34:00.000-04:00

While these races are not polled, GOTV operations are ramping up and shedding some light on the political lay of the land.

Patricia (Pat) Morrison in the 5th Senate District is reaping two whirlwinds. One is the same sloppy redistricting that is boosting Eric Levin in the 11th. The other is a supercharged Democratic base that is chomping at the bit to repudiate Republicanism wherever they find it. Morrison's oppenent Cathy Clouiter, while a darling of radio doofus Gerry Fulcher, has run a lack luster campaign that has left her base cold. Ron Williams beat me to this one, but a Morrison win will only surprise Celia Cohen.

In the last upset watch I wrote "John Feroce in the 14th Senate District might have a slim chance to knock off Jim Vaughn... (since) it is not so clear that the antiquated Vaughn machine can make it to the finish line." Well, the afternoon sun has burned off the morning haze and it is now clear that Dana Garrett is going to have to find a new bête noire. (Knowing Dana I'm sure he has dozens if not hundreds of bête noires lined up and ready for action.)

In the 9th RD Rebecca Walker is running out of day light in her quest to knock off a Dick Cathcart. Cathcart is still a beige nothing, but he is beige nothing who knows when his homework is due. Catcart is hitting the pavement hard in an effort to offset his "do nothing" image. It might work. Either way - Walker has show that she is for real and if she decides that she wants the seat it is hers next time out.

Beau Biden is going to beat Ferris Wharton. [This is only an upset if you think the older candidate should win.] The office of AG should probably not be an elected office, but it is. With voters in Sussex County split evenly, Biden wins.
......................
I almost forgot. Jan Ting is going to win a shocking ~~45% of the vote~~ 31% of the vote. This has more to do with voters staying away in droves from "Torture" Tom Carper than anything being drawn toward Ting. If Protack had squeaked out a primary victory it could have meant a late nite for our Democratic Senator who cares nothing for the Constitution, so Carper owes Christine O'Donnell a steak dinner at the "Whist". (h/t - The Delaware Way)

You might not comment on this Rude Pundit post...

2006-10-17T20:48:00.000-04:00

...but you will read it. And when you get to the end you will know that the Rude Pundit is right and you will know why Michael Castle's silence on Iraq is despicable.

A Quick and Easy Test to Determine Where You Stand on the Iraq War:

Let's say we line up, oh, hell, a couple hundred thousand American soldiers, fine men and women in combat uniform, officers, non-coms, grunts, and we put them on TV. Then George W. Bush walks in with a loaded glock. Now let's say that the President puts the gun to the temple of the first soldier and says, "If I shoot this Army private dead, there's a chance America will be victorious and democracy will bring peace to Iraq. Do you want me to do it?" There's no guarantees, though - just the chance. What would you say?

For the sake of argument here, let's say that you answer, "Yes, it's worth a soldier for the chance for peace in Iraq." So George W. Bush shoots the soldier in the temple and turns to his advisors, who check reports and, no, still no peace.

Then the President says, "If I cut off one limb or the genitals of the next ten soldiers, there's a chance America will be victorious and democracy will bring peace to Iraq. Do you want me to do it?" What would you say?

For the sake of argument here, let's say that you answer, "Yes, it's worth ten wounded soldiers for the chance at peace in Iraq." So George W. Bush cuts off arms, legs, testicles, and turns to his advisors, who check reports and, no, still no peace.

Then the President says, "If I beat the next ten soldiers in the head with a hammer so that their brains are damaged, there's a chance America will be victorious and democracy will bring peace to Iraq. Do you want me to do it?" What would you say?

For the sake of argument here, let's say that you answer, "Yes, it's worth ten brain-damaged soldiers for the chance at peace in Iraq." So George W. Bush uses a hammer to crack the skulls of the next ten soldiers and turns to his advisors, who check reports and, no, still no peace.

Then the President starts the cycle all over again. He places the gun to the temple of the next soldier.

How many soldiers would you let George W. Bush shoot dead? One? 3000? More? How many would you let him injure? 10? 20,000? More?

If you think the test is biased, unfair, and overly emotional, then you haven't been paying attention. For, really, and come on, is the current U.S. policy in Iraq any more wishful than a lottery of death and mutilation.

Feel free to play with friends. For big fun, substitute Iraqis and multiply by a couple hundred.
......................

For the "WTF?" file

2006-10-17T15:54:00.000-04:00

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) explains the Iraq war by citing Lord of the Rings: “As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else,” Santorum told a newspaper editorial board. “It’s being drawn to Iraq and it’s not being drawn to the U.S. You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don’t want the Eye to come back here to the United States.” - think progress

At the risk of being accused of partisanship - I must point out that Santorum is a guy who Michael Castle and Mike Ramone think should be in the US Senate. (It speaks to their lack of judgement.)

Listen up ticket splitters...

2006-10-17T14:38:00.000-04:00

...Bill Clinton has some info for you.

Read the transcript of a radio interview that John Watson did with President Clinton back in the day.

Try to get beyond the fact that Watson cuts off the President of the United States (probably to go to a Mattress King commercial) and notice how Clinton nicely lays out the case for voting against so-called moderate Michael Castle.

We are all Democrats now

2006-10-17T12:47:00.000-04:00

I just noticed a "Bush's Last Day" countdown calendar/keychain on an offcie mate's desk who describes himself as apolitical.

Only 825 days 11 hrs. 17 min. and 38 seconds to go as I type this.

Al Mascitti puts on his tin foil hat for Weldon

2006-10-17T11:10:00.000-04:00

Kurt "they are out to get me" Weldon has a long list of enemy's (see below) but a powerful ally in WDEL's Al Mascitti. The normally rational Mascitti thinks Weldon's trouble with the law stem from something other than his law breaking.

People Weldon says are "out to get him". D.C.-based watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and its head, Melanie Sloan former President Bill Clinton; former CIA official Mary McCarthy; former senior Justice Department official/9-11 Commission panelist Jamie Gorelick; former national security adviser Sandy Berger ("I know what he stole -- I know why he stole it!"); and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

It must be nice....

2006-10-17T09:05:00.000-04:00

Check this out:

Garden Party at the home of Elise and Gov. Pete duPont

Date: 10/17/2006

Event Time: Starts: 4:30 PM

Location: The Patterns Garden Rockland, DE 302-651-0260 ext. 231

Details: Garden Party and Reception for Ferris Wharton. $1,200 per person

Somehow I don't think they will have to worry about Mike M showing up with his video camera.

Joe Biden and John Murtha get somewhere

2006-10-17T08:07:00.000-04:00

Well it took nearly a year of rhetorical kicking and screaming, but Biden and Murtha's plans for Iraq are getting some attention at last.

Times Online--A special panel set up to advise the White House on Iraq is to propose radical changes to US policy including the large-scale withdrawal of US troops, it has been reported. The commission, which won the backing of George Bush, will recommend two options which would effectively represent reversals of US policy. One of these, called "Redeploy and Contain", would see the phased withdrawal of US troops to bases outside Iraq where they could be deployed against terrorist organisations anywhere in the region.

That was the Murtha plan from last year.

Another alternative, titled "Stability First", calls for continuing to try to stabilise Baghdad and boosting efforts to bring insurgents into politics, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. Under this option, Iraq’s neighbours, Iran and Syria, would be brought in to help end the fighting.

That is the Biden plan that Dennis Spivack favors. While the News Journal continues to help Castle stonewall Iraq as a campaign issue, Spivack's public statements on Iraq stand in stark contrast to Michael Castle's who continues to support George Bush's "stay the course" strategy for defeat while making empty claims to "support the troops".

Of course the Republicans can't give Biden or Murtha credit but pretend that Jim Baker devised these new strategies. That is okay. We Democrats don't care who gets the credit.

GOP collapse now includes Senate

2006-10-17T00:23:00.000-04:00

Even yesterday I would have said that the Republicans will hold the Senate - Now I'm not so sure.

The tradesports contract for GOP control the Senate hit a new low yesterday and as the GOP continues to attempt to "cut and run" from the war in Iraq as a campaign issue the larger it looms in the minds of voters.

Gilsdorf/Crossan smear campaign backfires

2006-10-16T23:47:00.000-04:00

Delaware GOP shows (yet again) they've got nothing.

Bill Powers, the Democratic candidate for NCC's 6th New Castle County Council District, did everything right for a guy who ran into some economic hardships. Now he is coming out smelling like roses while low roader Bob Gisldorf and Dave "Rove Jr." Crossan continue to use smears rather than run on ideas.

Powers put his farm into farmland preservation rather than sell off to the highest bidder for another McMasion development. That tells you a lot about his sensibilities. Now the Delaware GOP tries to turn that into a liability in a council district where over development is the number one issue. Smart. Smarter still, in an unexpectedly bush league play, Gilsdorf himself has been spreading the slime around Middletown.

Contrary to Ron William's observation, "His Republican opponent, Rob Gilsdorf, apparently has been able to maintain credible deniability and stayed out of the fray." The talk around Middletown is of Gilsdorf's brazen idiocy in trying to push this smear to Democrats and Republicans alike. It seems Gilsdorf's walk lists don't either don't feature little D's and R's next to the voters name OR Crossan never told Gilsdorf what those letters stand for.

Either way, great going Bob ! Keep up the good work.

A vote for Dennis Spivack is a vote AGAINST George Bush

2006-10-16T20:18:00.000-04:00

My letter to the News Journal:

1 vote for Michael Castle = 1 vote FOR George Bush

Yes, it IS that simple.

So many of Delaware’s Democrats, Independents, and Republicans are outraged by George Bush’s reckless and un-American approach to his duties that they are asking, “What more can I do to send a clear message to this out of touch President?”

The answer is simple. Vote against George Bush by voting FOR Dennis Spivack for Congress.

Mr. Castle likes to portray himself as a moderate. However, now he refuses to debate Dennid Spivack and is running away from his record. His blind support for the President’s failed policies, and his movement from his moderate base into the camp of the far right-wing put the lie to the notion that he is a moderate. While he was elected for his moderate views, in the past six years Mr. Castle has become a dependable rubber stamp for George Bush.

- Castle voted with the President’s less than half-baked plans for invading Iraq.

- Castle voted for shifting the tax burden to the middle class, and

- Castle sealed his loyalty to the extreme right-wing of his party by co-sponsoring legislation designed to erode the constitutional checks and balances between the judicial and legislative branches of government that were once taken for granted.

In spite of this record, Castle could still win in November. However, by voting against Michael Castle and for his Democratic opponent Dennis Spivack, we might make Mr. Castle less likely to blindly follow his party at the expense of his constituents here in Delaware. So this time, even if you happen to like Mr. Castle, vote against him. If you have had enough of George Bush, and you think that this country is on the wrong track, make your voice heard. Vote for Dennis Spivack for Congress.

If you do not like the way this country is being run, you can complain, or you can vote to change it.

Jason Scott
Middletown

Happy 'Character Counts Week' Y'all !!!!

2006-10-16T16:50:00.000-04:00

Betcha did not even know it was 'Character Counts Week' did you?

Well it is. The Preznit even proclaimed it, so clean up your acts you miscreants.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 15 through October 21, 2006, as National Character Counts Week. I call upon public officials, educators, librarians, parents, students, and all Americans to observe this week with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.

Cuz' you know Bush is all about character and not lying and stuff. In fact, you could say that we've "turned the corner" on lying and declared "mission accomplished" on being forthright. Bush and Castle are just brimming with character so this week do as they say and not as they do. Got it? Good!

-ht firedoglake

Need to update the blogroll

2006-10-16T16:01:00.000-04:00

Here is another good new one.

Merit-bound Alley by Joe M featuring concise movie reviews and a plea for Castle to step down. He seems like my kind of guy.

Does Bush Think War with Iran Is Preordained?

2006-10-16T15:23:00.000-04:00

The Christian right sees an apocalyptic nuclear war with Iran as a vision set forth in the Bible. Bush himself may be a believer, too.

The aircraft carrier Eisenhower, accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio, guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage, guided-missile destroyer USS Mason and the fast-attack submarine USS Newport News, is, as I write, making its way to the Straits of Hormuz off Iran. The ships will be in place to strike Iran by the end of the month. It may be a bluff. It may be a feint. It may be a simple show of American power. But I doubt it.

War with Iran -- a war that would unleash an apocalyptic scenario in the Middle East -- is probable by the end of the Bush administration. It could begin in as little as three weeks. This administration, claiming to be anointed by a Christian God to reshape the world, and especially the Middle East, defined three states at the start of its reign as "the Axis of Evil." They were Iraq, now occupied; North Korea, which, because it has nuclear weapons, is untouchable; and Iran. (snip)

If you are sure you will be raptured into heaven, your clothes left behind with the nonbelievers, then this news should cheer you up. If you are rational, however, these may be some of the last few weeks or months in which to enjoy what is left of our beleaguered, dying republic and way of life.

Please note: Michael Castle thinks Bush is doing a great job.

Doug Williams is a punk-ass Castle shill

2006-10-16T11:42:00.000-04:00

I hope Williams, the NJ's politcal editor, sues me for saying that. Then I could call him and Castle out in court for playing both sides of the illness issue.

On the one hand Castle is too sick to debate Dennis Spivack and yet he is well enough to hob nob with rich donors and Chemical company execs. When will this situation be mentioned in Delaware's paper of record? Don't hold your breath.

The facts of Castle's record should be news. The fact that he is trying to run away from his record should be news. The facts support the conclusion that the News Journal is helping Castle run the clock out in this election and allowing him to escape any accountability for suppporting George Bush and his half-assed war in Iraq.

So I'm ready for those court paper's Doug. Bring 'em on you fatuous fop !

Rumor Watch: Castle to caucus with Dems if returned to congress

2006-10-16T07:46:00.000-04:00

I think this is absurd, but it seems that the "I can walk and chew gum" show and Castle's new round of radio ads have added tinder to rumors that Castle is going to jump the RNC ship if he gets sent back to DC. The rumors are based on the confluence of these streams:

- the R's will be in the minority in the new congress,
- Castle's general disgust for the way the GOP is being run, and
- Castle's claims to have “broken down party-barriers in Delaware".

While I think he has a legitimate grievances against the horrible local and national GOP, it is not as if he has not had plenty of opportunity to express his discontent. Why the prolonged silence and then suddenly use the nuclear option? That does not add up.

So what is going on? It may be simple wishfull thinking on the part of some D's. As good as Dennis Spivack has been recently, Castle is still a prohibitive favorite so some Dems might be dreaming for some deus ex machina.

Or Castle might be on the cusp of a realization. The polling was all done prior to the stroke. Post stroke, having been asked direct questions about his tariff subsidy rackett and with many voters RIGHFULLY associating him with President Bush, he must feel that the tide is running against him. Maybe Castle himself is using these rumors as a ploy to put out some fires and push the fantasy that he opposes George Bush.

I'm not sure. But either way two things are certain. 1) Castle is no Democrat. 2) Any Democrat or liberal independent that votes for Castle (based on these rumors or Castle's claims to be a maverick) is a fool.

If Tom Carper can support 3rd party candidates why can't I?

2006-10-15T14:20:00.000-04:00

First this from Kos.

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, a lifelong Democrat and student of politics, blanked when asked if America would be better off with his party regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

A Democratic victory would immeasurably boost the influence of two Connecticut friends, U.S. Reps. Rosa L. DeLauro and John B. Larson, and provide a counterbalance to the Republican Senate and White House.

"Uh, I haven't thought about that enough to give an answer," Lieberman said, as though Democrats' strong prospects for recapturing the House hadn't been the fall's top political story.

He was similarly elusive about the race for governor. Is he voting for John DeStefano Jr., a Democrat and mayor of the city where Lieberman has lived since the 1960s?

Liberman is in danger of winning this. That would be a huge blow to the Democratic party. Your "Democratic" Senator is supporting the third party candidate, Joe Lieberman in this contest.

So if Carper and support 3rd party candidates why shouldn't I ?

Spivack is an unambiguously anti-Iraq war candidate. But no more of this intra-mural comforting of Michael Castle.

I say we (Greens and liberal Democrats) get together after the election and figure out how to get the first Green party member of the Delaware legislature elected. Then we move on from that good faith, trust building campaign to get a full slate of unambiguously progressive Democrats and Greens elected.

Why am I staying loyal to a party with leadership that does not even demostrate the same level of loyalty?

Progressive Democrats for Delaware Update

2006-10-15T12:10:00.000-04:00

The last PDD meeting was in the Buzz Ware Village Center in Arden and focused on a screening of "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers". Here is a brief report from the field.

It's hard to find the Buzz Ware Village Center in Arden on a dark and rainy night but 37 intrepid souls showed up on Wednesday night to watch Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers. It's hard to watch a movie about people dying for corporate profit. It's hard to see the graphs of billions and billions of taxpayer dollars that have gone to pay Halliburton/KBR, CACI, Blackwater, and the other profiteers, but 37 intrepid souls watched. And 37 intrepid souls left the meeting more committed than ever to work to overturn the REPUBLICAN mismanegment of this country.

Well, nobody ever joined PDD becuase they thought fighting against Republican malfeasance and Democratic accomodationist was going to be easy. Stay tuned for some exciting PDD plans that look beyond this November and toward building a progressive majority in Delaware and the country.

Click here if you want to get into the fray and you are not afraid of challenging the status quo.

Celia Cohen comes out of the closet

2006-10-15T09:45:00.000-04:00

If anyone can say that Celia Cohen is not a Michael Castle partisan after reading this you are simply not being honest:

"They entered, and there stood Mike Castle, looking like himself. Castle got more than a salute. People were standing, applauding, some even hooting, for his heroic return."

In my mind it would be "heroic" of Castle to try and defend his record. But for Celia, just showing up is heroic.

The Bottom Line:Celia has always been less journalist than booster, now she has set aside any pretense of being objective.

nuts, boorish, ridiculous, out of control & goofy

2006-10-15T00:01:00.000-04:00

That is what Karl Rove, Michael Castle, George Bush and the RNC think of the Christian right. While I happen to agree with them, I was not calling anyone those names after lying to them and trying to get them to support Delawareliberal. So I guess you can add "suckers and dupes" to that list.

Here is some Church for everyone who is not a sucker and dupe.

"That's The Way God Planned It" - by Billy Preston

People are REALLY "getting it"

2006-10-14T23:03:00.000-04:00

I don't read the NJ comments section very often, but check this out. Six comments and six people saying Castle should hang it up.

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:37 pm
The fact that Delaware has one sole spot to have a Representative in the House to voice our concerns and fight for our future is a very important issue with me. I'm fearful that Castle will not be able to fulfill his responsibility to the Delaware and national people with his current state....

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:10 pm
Mike Castle has represented Delaware well in Washington. However, it is time for him to step aside in this election so he can focus on his health. Doctors mention that "the lawmaker has been told to avoid long debates", which is ironic because Nov. 7 is only three weeks away. How can voters judge for themselves Castle's health and capitablity of serving if he cannot stand in the spotlight?...

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:21 am
Can't this procedure be performed in Delaware Hospitals using Delaware Doctors? After all, you are running in Delaware and expect us to use these facilities.

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 8:50 am
If not the News Jnl asking, perhaps Spivack will.....we NEED to know.....what did Mike Castle know of Foley's inappropriate behavior toward youth pages, when did he learn about it, and what did he do about it.....this is the burning issue regarding integrity of all incumbent House Republicans............where is Castle in the linup??????????.

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 8:46 am
Time for change. Got to be healthy to serve honestly.

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 7:27 am
RETIRE!!!!!!!!

Breaking: Presidential Hopeful Mitt Romney Under Federal Investigation

2006-10-14T21:49:00.000-04:00

Federal officials are probing scathing allegations that the Romney administration falsely claimed to conduct safety inspections in the Big Dig tunnel that collapsed and killed a woman in July.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is zeroing in on state financial documents from 2005 - cited in a new report by state Inspector General Gregory Sullivan - indicating that Gov. Mitt Romney was reviewing the safety of the Big Dig, when in fact the administration was only checking leaks in the Interstate 93 tunnel.

"Despite repeated assurances to bondholders, (MassHighway and Romney's Executive Office of Transportation) . . . did not inspect the I-90 connector tunnel section where the July 10, 2006, collapse occurred," Sullivan's report states. "It is clear that casual disregard for the truth was grossly inappropriate." - h/t kos diary

Let's face it, "casual disregard for the truth" should not hurt him the R's primary - but might hurt him is he gets to the general.

People are "getting it"

2006-10-14T14:30:00.000-04:00

Another Reformed Ticket Splitter Writes in:

Mike Castle may be a great guy, he may be a good Delawarean, he may be a moderate Republican. But he is, a Republican. Does such a thing as a good Republican who deserves to win office in November even exist?

Any other time I would have said sure. Any other time I would have said voting straight ticket was pure partisanship. But this year is different.

This year we have seen the unfettered Republican machine in action. We are at a point that to vote for any Republican in this
off-year election, is to condone the actions of the isolated, insular, inept core of the Republican leadership.

The only way to redirect this country is to send a signal, strong and loud, that Americans do not appreciate their country's Constitution, usurped by a king and his court. And the only signal they will understand is if a Republican, campaign chests overflowing, unexpectedly does not return to his seat next January.

If even good , honest, decent men who have given much to their country, are defeated solely because of the actions of a few in their top leadership, then those few have no choice to acquiesce to the will of a majority of American people. Some say this is too harsh a sentence to pass on a good man. Any other time, I might agree. But not now.

We are seeing the destruction of democracy, piece by piece, little by little. Did any of you vote for this eradication of the principles of our founding fathers? Probably not, you're all Democrats. Did any Republicans realize they were voting for the end of our Republic? No, none of this was a campaign issue. The internal core has simply created their own system of rules with no input or oversight of the American people.

Today, with what's left of the Constitution, we do not have to take arms against a sea of troubles. We can push a button instead, and pull the lever. (provided the machine is not a Diebold). Today voting for the Democratic candidate is as patriotic as grabbing the gun, kissing the wife, and trudging off to war.

Why Castle?

Mike Castle has always been there for Delaware. He has, and deserves, many friends. Those who know him understand his actions. They remember when he first went to Congress, vowing to be independent, not following the warped will of the Republican leadership, and the next morning, all funding for Delaware had been stripped overnight from the appropriations bills up for a vote. He had to crawl, on his knees, hat in hand, and beg for restitution of funds earmarked for Delaware.
That Delaware should be so humiliated, should make every citizen of this great state livid. Every vote for any Republican condones this behavior. But the lesson was learned by Mr. Castle.

This election we will hear much about the stem cell bill vetoed. But at what cost was such a bill passed? Here it is:
- College loans and student lunches scuttled to make way for a tax break costing billions.

-Medicaid and food stamps trimmed while supporting billions in tax breaks.

- Castle voted against protecting health coverage for breast cancer treatment (HR 4281 – vote 173);

- Castle voted for the confusing GOP Medicare Prescription Drug Bill (HR 1 – vote 669);

- Castle voted against lower drug prices, against allowing drug re-importation, and against more coverage for low income seniors (HR1 – vote 668);

- Castle voted to weaken state health insurance protections (HR 660 – vote 296). (Yawn, aren`t details boring?)

- Castle voted to deny extra monies for our first responders to a terrorist attack.

- He voted against extra monies to shore up levees in New Orleans,

- He voted for HCR 376; vote 158 ; which raised our debt limit while cutting funds for port security, national guard,
protection of nuclear material from terrorists, and homeland security.

The Castle we once knew and loved, would never have done this. This is what had to be done to buy votes to pass the stem cell bill.

Delaware deservers more than someone forced to crawl up and lick the feet of his master for a little tidbit. A Democrat, not beholden to Republican kingpins, can fully represent this great patriotic state. Any Democrat. Any Democrat can
outdo Mike Castle in the current Congress. And, this time we have an outstanding human being, contesting Mr. Castle.

Dennis Spivack cannot fail to improve Delaware's stature in Congress. Especially if no one is expecting him to be there.

This is not an easy issue to resolve. It has the same balancing of loyalty over time, verses being treated as second class citizens, that our ancestors had to struggle with against Great Britain. It consists of balancing our hearts against our heads. Divorce is never easy. But sometimes necessary for a better future.

It is time for Delaware to divorce Castle. Every American who loves his country and this State of Delaware, and willing to fight for the best Constitution ever written, must push the button at the top of the Democratic ticket and pull the lever for Spivack. This and only this will restore us a government for the people, of the people, and by the people.

- Reformed Ticket Splitter
...............................

Here is a link to Spivack's ACT BLUE page. Contribute another ten bucks. You know you can afford it.

Here is link to the News Journal's "letter's to the editor" form if you think some of these points merit repeating.

State FOP passes on Wharton

2006-10-14T08:57:00.000-04:00

I've been somewhat agnostic on the AG race, but this is interesting.

Blue State Rising reports:

There is no doubt that this is an absolute steal for the Biden campaign, and Beau did not hide that fact in issuing a statement today:

“I don’t think anyone expected this outcome. It must have been hard for some of the members of the FOP to not support a person whom they’ve known and worked with for so long. It took a lot of courage but I think it sends a clear message that they want change in the Department of Justice. I won’t let them down.”

If Ferris is such a great prosecutor why couldn't he get a jury of cops (who he's worked with) to support him?

Patrick Jackson adds a paragraph for the print edition

2006-10-14T05:37:00.000-04:00

Castle's walking and chewing gum routine has wowed the press and delawareliberal trolls alike. See Mike Matthews for the unvarnished truth. Castle is slick, slick, slick. Although to be fair, if you or I have been practicing how to not answwer questions since 1966 - we'd be slick too.

As for Jackson:

Castle's neurologist, Dr. Lanny Edelsohn, said he thinks debates would add unneeded stress at this stage in Castle's recovery. "They can be intense and raise the blood pressure," he said. "That's not something he needs at this point."
[Translation: Talking about his shitty voting record would be bad for his health and bad for his campaign.]

Spivack said he would be willing to adjust formats or shorten forums to accommodate Castle's recovery while giving voters a chance to hear them debate. "I am very willing to make adjustments," Spivack said. "I'd rather see him skip some appearances that might sap his strength so he could come out and debate the issues."
[Translation: Not so fast Slick. I know that you'd rather stick you head into the Applescrapple Festival and give an imperial wave to the crowd - but this is a Democracy, at least for the time being.]