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To THE CITIZENS OF KENT COUNTY, DELAWARE
Fellow Citizens: Being guided in the discharge of my public duties by our excellent constitution, and laws made under it; and having always in view the happiness and best interests of my fellow Citizens, I cannot for bear to express the satisfaction which I feel when, upon important and critical occasions, my countrymen approve my conduct, and do justice to the motives which influence it.
The sentiments publicly expressed by the people of different parts of the Ud. States, and the anxiety which is shewn by all considerate and well disposed citizens to preserve the peace of our country and a continuance of its prosperity, is an incontestible evidence of their enlightened wisdom in justly appreciating the blessings we enjoy beyond, perhaps, any other nation under the sun.
While I assure you, Gentlemen, of the great pleasure which it gives me, to see this public testimony of your particular attachment to our Government, and approbation of its measures; permit me to express my gratitude for those marks of personal respect and attachment, which are evidenced in your address, and let me beg you to believe that it will ever be my study to deserve them.
I’m tying together three threads to make a knot..
A. The election 2012 showed the end of political dominance by “white people” on the national stage.
B. John Stapleford wrote a derogatory piece in Wilmington’s News Journal whining that “blacks and browns” (his words) were lazy, no good, bums and would always not vote for a white guy, no matter how fly…..
C. Martin Luther King Blvd. is renamed off of Duke of York Streets, William Penn Street, and Court Street….
This 2012 election bamboozled Republican strategists because they totally neglected to account for the votes of Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, who were heavily engaged in this election. To Republicans, these people never mattered. But, these people who never mattered, now have more votes. They, are the majority… and far more moral than any Republican Moral Majority could ever hope to be…..
John Stapleford’s piece was an attempt to denigrate this very vote. By saying thugs had overrun the election, he could still attempt to keep his values above water. He was trying to say….”our outdated values are still the true path; we were overwhelmed by critters and just lost one round, that’s all.” It didn’t fly. His audience almost to every man and woman, saw it as prejudice and nothing else. Instead, the die had been cast. This Obama was the direction America really wanted to go….
Dover changed the name. Now Dover is the 40th Capital City to have a Martin Luther King Boulevard. It will not be the last…. In a sad way, Delaware’s Colonial Heritage is being lost to the 20th Century… The Duke of York put Dover in the same class as Williamsburg. The colonial aspect of Dover is now gone. It is just old buildings on a street that happens to be named after the bravest American of the last century… Before there was correlation…. Now, what’s the correlation?
But that is … as it should be… Times change. And really… though sad to see 300 years of tradition swept away, exactly “who” is the Duke of York? How many of those voting in Dover itself, could have answered that question properly?
He, along with William Penn… have no meaning to people whose ancestors were sold, brought across the Atlantic, sold again, mistreated, and then once freed, quietly kept in second class status, until one man made so much noise it could be ignored no longer…..
It is proper and fitting that someone who has more name recognition and who deserves to be honored, replaces 300 years of tradition… We can only hope he may reign on that street sign, as long as did the Duke of York…..
The vote has passed. We are now in a new America, and it is good.
Right click to open full image… Pictograph Courtesy of Viral..
So, can someone tell me again, why we shouldn’t tax the rich, and instead, balance the budget on the backs of everyone else?…….
I seem to be missing that little detail where that all makes sense……
Two workforce housing meetings occurred this week. The first on Tuesday was at the Cornerstone Church off 896, and the second one took place with the New County Council in the Gillian building just off New Castle Commons…
The first meeting was put on by the new found work-group..Stay Out Of My Pocket. This group coalesced out of the early September meeting off Vance Neck Road…. Apparently citizens did not like what the County told them there…. (You can refresh your memory here to find out why…) Since that time research was done and an action and plan of attack has been determined…
The tone between this meeting and the last, was different as East Delaware is from West Delaware…(lol) Whereas the star of the last meeting was a map, this meeting was owned by a power point. In fact walking in ones’ first impression was “wow… this is a nice church..” complete with cafeteria, hotel informational desk, and gift shop. The inner sanctum gave new meaning to echo chamber, since only those who used a mike, could be understood, unless one was quite near the speaker…
But with little contention worth mentioning, here is the scoop from the meeting… Work force housing is a done deal. Stays can be executed but we can never go back and undo the bids that were placed before and between the first and last meeting… However, legislation can be passed in the General Assembly and signed by Jack Markell which can be retroactive before the bids were placed, and that can undo the damage… An arduous process to be sure. But a lawsuit in Chancery Court can stop it cold…
There are several reasons for following through with Chancery Court… First, the Chancery Court revolves around “equity”. And the current workforce housings provisions provide developers, as well as county government, some prime plums to be picked… But.. it penalizes every other citizen and homeowner in the county by doing so… It is not equal and therefore the Chancery Court is where it needs to be heard…
Furthermore, William Chandler III stated that our current rate of development will DESTROY DELAWARE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME…
The unions sent some representatives, not wanting to be blindsided as the were by the Vance Neck meeting, where in September they figured that workforce housing was a done deal, so why bother… They did get anxious and their blood pressure soared during the part where “slowing down the process” was discussed, either by filing historical claims, environmental claims, or more or less using every law on the books, to slow down the development until the court case could be heard… was mentioned…
That then is the way to start…
Most importantly was the implicit implication to Sussex and Kent Counties… Mark Baker, who is running for Sussex County District 3, himself on Maria Evan’s show stated that workforce housing, if he was elected, was to be Sussex Counties next big priority…..
Equally chilling was a video, made by developers in America’s most royalist state, Virginia, which told other developers how to game the local system in order to put up workforce housing.. To paraphrase…”having trouble with getting a project passed through County Council?…Just mention workforce housing (formerly known as low income housing) and poof, it gets passed”… Equally telling was that Hawaii had shut down workforce housing in that state… because the outcome was so horribly different from what they had been promised…So it is possible. Success can be accomplished…
As an aside, Cathcart and Lofink both stated emphatically that they were against the work force ordinance changing forever the quality of New Castle County. Steve Amick (retired) also was against the plan.. Bethany Hall-Long, no doubt due to an acknowledgment towards the union, hemmed and hawed until rousing discontent from the audience made her too see the light… (If she was ever to be elected…..) she too came out against the ordinance.. Earl Jacques stood up in back and said he too was against the ordinance… Four for four against was the call made by the moderator…
Again more can be found on their site: Stay out of my pocket.
The following day County Council met to hear the public’s view.. In fairness to all, it should be disclosed that your humble reporter chose to spend the evening behind third base at a certain athletic event that took place that evening… So I apologize for any inconsistencies and if notified, will correct them… (Fifteen years… man…) But from what I heard, the following is what took place…
To begin we had a presentation describing work force housing….. put on by the county.. You can see that display here….
Then came the citizenry up to the open mike…
Bill Williams blamed Democrats and organized labor that goes “whoop, whoop” at county meetings.
Next Mark from Caravel Farms had questions to be answered later..
Then a fisherman’s daughter from Seattle stepped up in support of Work Force Housing…
Appoquinimink School Board President said at $30 million per school, and 1000 new kids being the thresh-hold for a new school, and a net gain of 500 students over this past summer, schools could not be built fast enough if work force housing goes into effect… He stressed he was unaware that plans had been changed regarding density levels. Next a resident complained of traffic on his road, and wondered if Deldot could ever be counted upon to fix it.. Then a rep from Stay Out Of My Pocket asked three questions to be answered in full, later… We did find out that $4200 is assessed per household for educational needs, but costs could be much higher, with the difference impinging upon taxpayers.. A visitor from the State Education stood up an said he had pertinent information, if he could speak… He jumped the line and spoke.. He was in charge of determining the assessment fees for developments across the state… His formula was simple.. take the cost of building a school..divide it by the number of houses…. for Appoquinimink…around $4200 per unit.. (someone verify that formula?) The formula is determined by state law…that finger point was repeated a lot… so today,even as commodities rise, the cost is mandated at that low level meaning that is all the developers pay… the rest is paid by your taxes…
Then Chuck Mulholland, head of Southern New Castle County Alliance, gave his opinion that work force housing was a costly endeavor… for nothing.. There are 300 properties in Claymont sitting empty… put the workforce into those houses, before moving them down to Boyd’s Corner… an idea that makes sense… Brandywine school district is cutting back due to lack of students, and Appoquinimink can’t build schools fast enough…
Several other speakers spoke as well.
On resident of Denny Road decried the condition of his highway in front of his house, and that with several new developments, no work was anticipated to widen the road… “The shoulder is crumbling away”, said this resident. “Deldot’s answer was to zig-zag the white line edging the holes already formed on the highway’s edge… Boggles the mind… and density rates were doubled?
Jim Spencer, running against Earl Jacques in the twenty seventh, who is well acquainted with Deldot… said he lives on Porter Road… It takes ten minutes for him to leave his driveway because of all the traffic… Deldot is broke… they just paid 20 million for a pile of sand at Indian River… Don’t count on Deldot to do anything to alleviate your congestion, he said.. they can’t… and density rates were doubled?
One resident of Rose Hill, (always reminds me of that scene in the Wizard of Oz… oh,.. that was poppies.) had some good questions.. Forgetting what they were, perhaps they will show up later…
Several citizens said they were raised in the city, and left on their own… They agreed with the principal of work force housing, but not with the method which it was sprung upon them in their new developments…
Several plants were called in support of the principal of work force housing, creating a controversy over whether workforce housing was for fireman and policeman, or was for slum lords and riff raff.. One wife of a policeman contested workforce housing was necessary for them by stating “the families of policemen, don’t need workforce housing… we can find housing on our own”. One lawyer from New Jersey spoke until the audience began challenging her, then walked off…. but not before giving Penrose Hollins a hug….XOXOXO
A couple of liberal types spoke on the “egalitarian principles” of why we need work force housing, thereby giving liberalism a bad name…
Andy Taylor, a lawyer for the County, who occasionally shows up in the comment sections of these blogs, said he lives in Claymont, where the density level is higher than what is being proposed in and around MOT. And he is a happy person. Great.
Joann Christian, Asst. Appoquinimink Superintendent, spoke a little about how the plan had blindside them within the school district… One of the criteria for work force housing was that it be pre-approved by the school board.. Not quite… A call comes to the school board… Can you accept “X” number of new students?” “uh… no.” “Ok, we’ll assess the fee then…” and the houses are built anyway, with part of the fee assessed upon the developers, and the children get dumped on overcrowded schools…
After seeing his former opponent speak, State Senator Bruce Ennis signed in and stepped up to the mike… Upon opening his folder, he knocked the red, yellow, and green time clock on the floor, prompting county officials to holla’ “send him the bill.”…. Bruce discussed how he was unaware that the laws for development had been changed. He cited statistics showing that of all the new plans brought before the state… those in New Castle County were in single digits… That was because a circular had been circulated saying that the county ordinance overrode the state law, which had been changed to be subordinate to county law, by the same group of Democratic Senators who backed Minner’s veto on eminent domain… led, of course, by Tony DeLuca… (no wonder he is against open government).
Laura Brown, who is running against Bill Bell, the council person responsible for putting lower New Castle County in this predicament, spoke out that she was against work force housing moving into that region, and would fight to limit its extent… Bill Bell WILL have developers and union support.. It will take everyone in District 12 who is not union or a developer, to vote for Laura Brown if Bell is to be unseated… Remember, it was Bell who sat quietly in Hooters, sipping beers while looking out the window at the scenery (yeah right), while this controversy was brewing… He talked to no one about it before it blew up… It was his seat which was hottest during the August meeting… “psssss”.
Bill Dunn, hero extraordinaire, had a couple of questions…. Almost more important than what he said, was the reaction of one Paul Clark, who leaned against the wall… As Bill spoke, Paul Clark snickered, hardly unable to contain his glee… If he is ever put in jail, he not only would be a Clark bar, but a Snicker’s bar as well. As Paul turned his head, one could see where Pam had pulled a hair for each time he had failed to do what she wanted….
Attending but not speaking, were candidates Rebecca Walker, and Bethany Hall-Long who could be overheard at the end, “where can I get a program”….
This is probably Delaware’s next big battle: citizens against the developers.. affecting Sussex and Kent Counties, as well as New Castle County… It is time everyone begin to acquaint themselves with just how bad work force housing will affect them personally, and then “get themselves a program…”
Again the best start would be with Stay Out Of My Pocket.
photo from file.
(Overheard on his cellphone to his developer boss; paraphrased, coming from a skinny twenty something, logo’d in a golf shirt, khaki pants, standing in the vestibule corner as everyone filed out; “it’s spinning out of control. E-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y is angry. I don’t think we can fix it. It’s going the wrong way. I think we lost the election.”)
Now I’ve seen many meetings. Usually it’s always the same comfortable group, the same participants, with one or two of the same troublemaker activists. We all know each other, politely nod to our enemies, and once our duty is performed, socializing progresses afterwards. The short story version appears in the News Journal two days later….
Usually.
That was not what happened last night, August September 4th ( 🙂 h/t rsmitty) inside the Crossroads Presbyterian Church, which had blissfully wonderful cushioned green seats; that is if you were early enough to grab one…
Standing-room-only would be too cliche to describe the turnout. This issue at hand was so hot it swelled participation far above the 200 the organizers had expected…. (237 cars were counted; 500 participants?) They had even forgotten to plan for a microphone, assuming normal voices would suffice.
They didn’t, and fortunately a microphone was found.
Dignitaries (ie our politicos) sat across in front of the crowd… Dick Cathcart sat center, Bill Bell sat next to him. Bill Powers sat and stood on Cathcart’s left. Penrose Hollins drove down to represent Council. Bill Dunn, Bethany Hall Long, Earl Jacques, Rebecca Walker, Tom Scherer, Mike Protack, Bruce Ennis, members of the land use committee, and the Superintendent of the Appoquinimink School District showed up. Ms Fitzpatrick (sp) came in place of Representative Lofink, who was unfortunately at his son’s wedding rehearsal, to which one irate resident blurted out….”that’s no excuse!” Her spouse, quickly put his hand on her leg, and warned her to calm down..”it’s his son’s wedding….”
Yes tensions were that high…..
But the real star of the entire evening was the map…. Yes, a silly map. It stood tall over the entire meeting, dominating everyone’s attention… It out staged the County Council Head, Penrose Collins, who stormed off when it became obvious that the audience was not interested in his point of view….
Most felt that was fair play…. for no one had taken the time to consider their point of view when these ordinances were passed, affecting the entire lower region of the New Castle County… That it turns out, appears to be true…. no one.
The map stood tall over the entire proceeding, reminding everyone, every minute of the immense changes coming soon. And the changes were immense….
Here is the scale they are speaking off.
Three new schools will need to be built, one each year, to accommodate the new influx of students. The school district was surprised tonight; the plans were made without consulting them. They have no money to grow.
Traffic will grow by 1800 cars. What’s the visual of 1800 cars? At fifteen feet per vehicle, 27,000 feet total divided by 5280 ft/mile, equals a line of cars, parked bumper to bumper, a little over 5 miles long… Imagine a line of cars parked on the shoulder of RT 1 from St. George’s bridge to the heart of Odessa. There is your visual image. Deldot was surprised tonight. The plans were made without consulting them. And they too, have no money to grow.
Most of the areas do not have sewer capacity yet; however in a rush, building will progress, anticipating promised waivers to use septic systems, until the county sewer system can catch up….. (Do you follow county finances?) They have no money to grow…..
The wells to supply additional amounts of water; they are not yet drilled. They are on hold, for they have no money to grow….
The anger seemed to grow exponentially within that room… (Thank heavens they held this disclosure within a church).
Hats off to a great job done by the organizers, including one Chuck Mulholland. No one could have prepared them for what took place. Their natural demeanor saved the day, rising to the challenge of the moment. Particularly impressive was Chuck’s impromptu changing of the agenda, as it became quite apparent that citizens were there to make their voices heard, not listen to failed excuses…. That change-up, diffused some tension, perhaps saving a riot… I’ll bet he never expected to put 3 miles on that evening, all the while carrying the microphone.
The question of the day? How could this have happened…
The answer:
Mr. Pam Scott Paul Clark, President of County Council.
All these elements were rushed though, without vetting, to get developers in construction phase before the public could become aware of what was aimed at them. No vetting was done, so no leaks would occur. The last thing developers and Paul Clark needed, was a large meeting of outraged citizens.
Obviously the details of the arrangements were made in his home, and presented fait accompli to the Council for its rubber stamp. That is after all, what New County Council’s tend to do…
Therefore Paul Clark needs to go.
Councilman Bill Bell, who resembles the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man, performed the role of a stool quite adequately. “No one told me” was his response….” I didn’t know…” he stammered. The question which immediately popped into every head but one, was ” why not?” That’s your job…
Obviously his principal function was to be the Rose Margaret Henry of the County Council. Being put in that position by the developers and unions, means he obviously feels he doesn’t need to call back his constituents, doesn’t need to show up at their meetings, doesn’t need to answer their letters or emails… Like Margaret Rose Henry, all he needs to do is show up… and vote the way he is told..
When faced with 450 some people he began to get nervous. His primary is days away… His opponent Tom Scherer, who is having his own personal fight with the developers of his development, over their unfulfilled promises.. certainly does appear to be the better choice, Towards the end, almost reduced to pleading for his seat, Mr. Bell promised too late, to “not support” the resolution that due to his complicity, has already been passed….
If there was another star, other than the map, the organizers, and the citizens themselves, it was Representative Dick Cathcart… Angered at the incompetence bordering on deceit coming from Mr Pam Scott Paul Clark and his Council, he promised legislation to forever put County Council growth under State oversight…. it’s about time.
Bruce Ennis, surprised everyone in the room by coming down hard for a moratorium on all new development. Two, three, four years whatever it takes to get local citizens to become comfortable with the new developments. He cited Kent County as a place where citizens took control and booted all developers our of governmental oversight positions…. That county is once again under control of its citizens; spawning a series of lawsuits from developers against it. Ennis implied that as long as New Castle’s citizenry supported the continuation of a moratorium against such lawsuits, he would as well. Most nuisance lawsuits would be thrown out, costing nothing since they were filed with no legal grounds to support them, but still the stigma of having lawsuits might make some citizens feel uneasy…. The consensus in that room was: if you take on the developers…. we got your back….
Go get them Bruce.
They came to listen. They got their earful.
Distilled to its basic elixir, here is the essence.
New Castle County development is controlled by developers and the Building Trades Union who are linked together in their interest for growth. Money for developers, jobs for employees. They own the following: Chris Coons, Paul Clark, Bill Bell, Bill Powers, George Smiley, and Bob Weiner….
Breaking that connection is the first step in returning Democracy back to those New Castle County citizens who live outside the city. Democratic Voters have the opportunity to sever that connection during Tuesday’s primary, September 8th. Voting Bill Dunn over Paul Clark, Tom Gordon over Chris Coons, Tom Scherer over Bill Bill, and Carl Colantuono over John Cartier, will do your part in returning Democracy to County Government. (Yeah, I know one is controversial, but if elected, we will own him, not the developers).
I’ve run out of time and space. Not mentioned here was the citizens fear of falling property values; not mentioned here was one realtor who spoke 6 (?) times, warning citizens of how workforce housing would affect their property values, not mentioned here was the question of where these workforce housing residents, transferred from Wilmington’s projects on the East Side, would find ever find work to pay for their housing, pimps, and bags of crack; not mentioned here was the cost of someone to cut down tennis shoes hanging from electric wires; not mentioned here was how noble Bill Dunn looked when working the crowd, compared to Paul Clark 4 years ago; not mentioned here was how poorly workforce housing residents obey driving laws; not mention here was how insufficient the current sewer systems are today, even without additional units; not mentioned here was how County Council increased the density levels, so developers could sell more houses per lot, more profit per lot; not mentioned here were the number of minority citizens who vehemently said they left the city to get away from the trash the County was again forcing upon them; not mentioned here was how hard everyone has worked, and suffered, to build their piece of the American dream, which now the County Council, at the bequest of Developers and Building Trade Unions, was about to destroy, WITHOUT EVEN CONSULTING THEM!
I wish I had more time…
Nancy, Geek? Can you add more?
Courtesy of Department of Defense
Delaware‘s blogosphere is awash in posting at this time. There are five basic themes.
Obviously the first is elections. The Primary election is gearing up for three weeks from tomorrow. Just three weeks. Rudy signs were the first to appear. Then I crossed my first Ron Paul sign last night. Obama organizer Brandon Hurlbut has contacted Delaware Liberal. The game is on. FSP is split between “Flip Flop” Romney, Fred “Flintstone” Thompson, and “Huckleberry Hound” Huckabee, depending which contributor is posting. (Anyone support Giuliani or McCain anymore?)
Ron Paul still remains the favorite of Republicans who do not go to meetings in undisclosed locations, although it looks like he has finally ticked Alan Coffey off a little. “Stop the war. Stop our nations slide. Grow our economy”. While the other Republicans jockey among themselves to determine which one of them is the cruelest when it becomes time to torture illegal aliens or terrorists more viciously, Ron Paul focuses on issues relative to most Americans. The media can say what they will…..When it comes to the effect of the media, America drowns them out as noise.
And just to prove I’m a hypocrite like everyone else……hat’s off to Shirley for leading off this mainstream media article… My take is bloggers lead. Media follows………..As Shirley says: does it really matter? Dem’s 23 out of 2025, Repub’s 18 out of 1191? While we act like good citizens, the real decisions are being made simultaneously in California, Texas, Illinois and New York. Since no candidate can meet and greet effectively in such a short time, this election will be decided by the ad gurus. Who’s ad resonates, wins the nomination.
In some of the best original analysis of the early elections, Duffy provides an interesting comparison and contrast between 4 of the leading candidates.
Take this test. What are the five things your candidate will do if he get elected. As an aside, I can tell you Ron Paul’s, Joe Biden’s, and creepy Tancredo’s, and those of “in the purse” Kucinich. But when it comes to the mainstream candidates, i am a little more fuzzy, and this was the longest lead-off time before the first caucus in history. Do the mainstream candidates even have a plan? Or are we voting for 18th Century values, preceded by a capital letters: Enthusiasm, Change, Experience, Security, Imperialism, Rusticism, Evangelism, 9/11? And in doing so making the assumption that the person behind them doesn’t really matter?
Locally breaking news of who is running this time. DWA (of course) provides titillating evidence that our state’s Vestal Virgin is taking on Joe Biden. Dave is for it, creating just enough gossip to take our minds off of what we should be concerning ourselves about.
Apparently Carney should be concerned with Jack’s 1.6 million. Soapbox Matt now on DWA has the comparison, and rebuts Carney’s reply to Markell’s huge war chest. (Ah John, you forgot about the bloggers, huh? So used to dealing with the News Journal who accepted what you said at face value?) Well done Matt.
As for the republican candidate for governor? His actions can only remind one of this line from William Blake: “The invisible worm that flies in the night.”
The second prevalent topic is our local General Assembly. It will be a week old this session on Tuesday. Happy Birthday. Starting off with a bang, the two topics that focus the heat, are the OOGA bill and the Wind controversy. Nancy tells us that this time….the Democrats are behind FOIA, at least publicly. Its a Democrat on the legislative committee who refuses the take the OOGA bill out of his drawer ….The stumbling block are those members of the Incumbent Party of Delaware affectionally known around these parts as the Adam’s Family. More concerned with their own than our welfare, they are and will continue to be that way until challenged in primaries throughout the state by real candidates not picked by party leadership. That of course applies to both Democrats and Republicans who have been returned to office without a challenge
Unrestrained Growth and Development seems to have surfaced as a Sussex issue. Of course it is too late to do anything about it in New Castle County, but Kent County, its nearest neighbor, has seen the enemy and “it is us.” Sussex has a chance to join them before it is too late. Tie developers up in knots. It works. Nancy carries two group’s attempts to teem up in a statewide effort for the support of home owner’s rights vs those of the road builders.
Education, often on the back burner of liberal blogs, has been kept alive by those on the other side. The micro analysis of Red Clay School District as seen from inside the School Board meetings, should be a wake call to all across the state. So is DSU budget process, as covered by Nancy.If hired by the current administration and you are less than competent, you get shoved over the educational field…..Mike Mathews expounds upon and tags FSP’s coverage of the Charter School Controversy, courtesy of the DSEA. Hube keeps us informed of idiocy anywhere students are given more rights, security, and sympathy than those teachers there to teach them. Discipline is indeed lacking.
And finally there seems to be some concern about our economy. Duh? For some reason things do not seem as rosy as the administrations financial reports keep touting. Oh, no……you don’t suppose they are wrong again, as they were on WMD’s, Iranian Nukes? Relax. We certainly are not being mislead intentionally…..But no matter how bright the economy appears to bloom, its seeds of enrichment never seem to fall to the ground, creating new growth and benefits for those on that level. No one it touching Republican economics this season. That issues has been proven to have been nothing more than a pipe dream. A return to the earlier Clinton economic plan is sorely wished by all: rich and poor alike…….
The one thing that has been quietly brushed aside by all the hoopla occurring simultaneously throughout the state,……is the fact that Mike Castle votes with Bush 90% of the time. He seems to have received the greatest benefit from the wealth of opportunity bloggers these days at their fingertips……Compared to the heat he was feeling earlier, looking over the blogs of the last several weeks, one might erroneously conclude that he was doing a good job …………
Complacency is not in our nature.
Courtesy of Department of Defense
What? There’s an election this Saturday? Where’s the press, where’s the mud-flinging, where’s the 30 or longer comment sessions, where’s the Hare’s Corner postal staff? Where’s WDEL, where’s the News Journal? What 3 days left? How many of you without looking, know who is running?
Hats off to David Anderson….At least one of us was not asleep at the wheel…..I have to shake my head and say no wonder politics in Delaware is so messed up when a special election can come and go and Delaware’s watchdogs do not even lift an eyelid.
Yeah, I knew it was coming and had in the back of my mind to look into it, but……..3 days from now? Hopefully I’ll do better next time…..Of course there are myriads of excuses…….Lots….
For one, KHN will become a new acronym commonly seen on these pages. That is because the number of keystrokes required to type out “Karen Hartley-Nagle” damages the nerve tissue in both of one’s hands. She, by coincidence, threw her hat onto MIke Castle’s head (it was a 3 pointer shot by the way) by announcing her candidacy yesterday, which was echoed by DWA, Dana, Soapbox Matt, and acknowledged by Del Lib. (Is it just me or do all those posts say the same thing?) At least Nancy’s was somewhat different.
Equally important this week, especially yesterday, was Delaware’s blogosphere’s innermost feelings on …….pizza….Particularly Grotto’s and the knowledge they were taking on a little pizza shop in Beaverbrook, because the name “Grottina” was too close to “Grotto’s”. I guess to “Big” Don (Grotto’s head), the size of the cave, does matter. Anyone willing to read up on an empty stomach, beware…….Not only did it take up most of an afternoon of discussion on WDEL, but you can read about it here, and here…….If you don’t love pizza, take the advice of Grottina proprietor Jean Luc and: “Forget about it!”
Other weekend news was the letter sent to Kowalko and all, by Delmarva Power in response to what was truthfully said about their recalcitrance to engage into options of working with Blue Water Wind…..Nancy has a copy of “the letter” and John’s response. Everyone needs to read that exchange, for the same reason that before stepping on a Copperhead, one should listen for the “hiss…”. John does not need to really concern himself about the accusations Delmarva is implying….All the evidence on the PSC’s website directly supports it, for all to read…..Yeah, Delmarva is doing everything possible not to negotiate with Blue Water Wind….even to the point of spending all summer negotiating and in the last hour, putting an asterisk next to every position previously agreed upon and stating that those clauses with asterisks were not agreed to by Delmarva.(page 5)….How low is that. Yes ladies and gentlemen, that was the tactic used by those who supply our power………So John’s letter should not be the real news, The real news should be why Delmarva Power is still allowed to remain a part of the negotiations between Blue Water Wind and the State….Delmarva had their chance….As this letter to John shows, when it comes to including them into negotiations, the State of Delaware should say…..”forget about it.”
Other news: the case of the missing funds, and as we found out yesterday, the missing “fink“. (Now that was low) But missing money is just that. Missing. And attention needs to be paid as to whether someone was being paid to look the other way as the foxes took it upon themselves to march into the henhouse….That is the L–ink where all of this comes together. Can anyone say “Grand Jury with Subpoena Power?”
So what else happened this past weekend? FSP is recycling pieces from July. That is a correct synopsis of that blog this weekend; they really don’t have much to say….Compared to blogs on the other side who cannot keep up with the news as it flies out of Washington….The times they are a changing.….Perhaps one can compare the malaise affecting Americans today to that hopelessness and despondency that Reagan often alluded to when discussing the presidency before him. Only today it is much worse…..Don’t take my word for it…it is right here on FSP.
This comment just sort of jumped out at me: “Frank, I had a feeling Fred Flintstone didn’t have a flying car.” Great discussions are to be had on the other side of the aisle.
Dana has a new look…Is everyone going red? Is this the new trend nationwide? Matt’s Soapbox has morphed as well, no doubt due to his cross posting on Down With Absolutes.
Kilroy has the take on Education. Being involved with the Republican party of course he has some baggage to contend with in dealing with Delaware’s http://www.protackforgovernor.com/. On the other hand, the rest of us are in search of quality and really do not care about Strine’s aggrivations…So for Kilroy to grudgingly publish Protack’s policies of education, shows that something is up this time…We have real issues coming to the forefront. Although there may arise some concerns for “lack of local control” of education, perhaps considering our current state of education, we should consider this option as perhaps the removal of local impediments to the betterment of education. I at at least took notice with the consolidation of school districts. It’s a new, bold idea; sort of the type we will need if we move forward into the future. All that Delaware has previously received, was a pap smear and french fries.
Speaking of Protack, DWA has his health care plan here.
Once again we have real solutions, and not some fancy words that sound good until one explores what they really mean……Perhaps it just takes a candidate who really has to try harder to come up with the proper perspective in dealing with these heady issues..
Elsewhere?
Mike’s Musings mulls about the passage of time. He speaks of the changes surrounding his home town this time. Both Nancy and Judd have points to add on the wisdom of setting moratoriums upon unplanned development. Pile on the rules and regulation.
From Shirley’s exploration of what it means to be a Libertarian, we get this nugget, among a few: If the only way you can tell a left winger from a right winger is by which one of their hands is in which one of your pockets, you might be a Libertarian. It is worth the laugh to read the whole thing. But equally important to a main topic of local discussion, is whether anonymous postings have a place on the internet. Most recently, the continuous conversation was carried here.
And what use to be Delaware’s Voice of Libertarianism and is now one of three, The Digital Federalist keeps up with Ron Paul and Hugo Chevez. Quite a coupling.
Other issues involving comments, are the realization that we were lied to about Iran, the same as we were about Iraq. (I am shocked, shocked that their is lying going on around Dick Cheney’s administration!) Obviously this important news had to wait until a heart attack to sneak out into the public realm…….And to think there are still some people left on this planet who still make fun of Gore………Try looking in the mirror……..But don’t be too harsh on yourselves, for even the Washington Post has lost it’s credibility. So it is not…. “just a Republican thing”. Tommywonk puts their smear Obama campaign into proper perspective.
Nancy carries the local angle on who….who….who from Delaware, was ready to launch nukes into the heartland of Iran…”Rah Rah Leiberman! Sis Boom Bah.” (not to drop a hint of course.)
Nancy and Kilroy both clue us in on the up and coming town meetings to cover the open government within Delaware’s legislative halls…..To all who read this, this is perhaps one meeting that all should attend, for the very reason it is now time for citizens of this state to take back their government……At least consider voting for these few who put principle above their own power……..
Nancy found some dirt on Huckabee, which I didn’t think was possible. He still reminds me of a blue Hanna-Barbara Cartoon character.
And since one of the principle reasons I do all of this is to start trouble, I would be remiss if I left out these three posts,all of which comment than none of these three guys, made a comment upon them in their blog? But then, I understand that neither is talking to each other….WTF…..That’s the whole reason there IS an internet, fellas, ….that and Al Gore…….
I think Duffy has what they need ………. some fine Benny Lava… Is it just me or is that John Carney before he shaved doing the lead role?
Oh yeah, there is an election this Saturday.
Daily Kos and Tommywonk featured excerpts from Dr. Goldsmiths upcoming book, The Terror Presidency: Law and Judgment Inside the Bush Administration.
Before Goldsmiths arrival, things were much shadier. “Goldsmith claims that Addington (Vice President’s Legal Counsel) and other top officials treated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act the same way they handled other laws they objected to: “They blew through them in secret based on flimsy legal opinions that they guarded closely so no one could question the legal basis for the operations,” he writes. Goldsmith’s first experienced this extraordinary concealment, or “strict compartmentalization,” in late 2003 when, he recalls, Addington angrily denied a request by the N.S.A.’s inspector general to see a copy of the Office of Legal Counsel’s legal analysis supporting the secret surveillance program. “Before I arrived in O.L.C., not even N.S.A. lawyers were allowed to see the Justice Department’s legal analysis of what N.S.A. was doing,” Goldsmith writes.
“By shielding its legal theories under a cloak of secrecy, the Administration hoped to insulate their radical positions from any form of review. Just as the Administration is attempting to use the ‘state secret privilege’ to stop any court from reviewing or ruling upon its domestic surveillance, it used “strict compartmentalization” to prevent internal review. The reason is simple, if Machiavellian: If one can prevent dissenters from access to the legal theories, it is that much easier to dismiss their concerns. If one can stop courts from ruling, there’s no one to say you were wrong.”
(Expect the book out on September 17th. It is a fitting day…..being the last day Gonzales is in office………)
This is the process of closed government in action, proving that there needs to be more transparency in all branches of government. Power corrupts absolutely, unless of course, everybody is watching. Power independent of party ideology will continue to function the same as long as secrecy is allowed.
It doesn’t matter if the party is democrat or republican. It matters not whether it is in the highest reaches of government, or in our levy courts and county councils. FOIA needs to be applied to all government agencies to prevent abuses such as the above.
Government in this nation is a function of its people. It is nothing but a tool. How many of us would trust a plumber who charged us $3000 to work with tools we could not see?
You can harp on this administration, if you want, but the real issue is more than symptomatic. The real issue is that our Constitution has been hijacked by both Dick Cheney and Thurman Adams…………..
Transparency is the key.
kavips 
