Thursday, October 14, 2010
Delaware Goes National
It was not a pretty evening especially for the young (oh, so very young) Ms. O'Donnell. She was prepped in the Sarah Palin manner and came on strong at first, taking the offensive, as she should have in order to hopefully make Delaware voters conscious of her serious nature. Unfortunately, like the town facade in Blazing Saddles, O'Donnell began to crumble with statements like "when we fought the Russians in Afghanistan", "the secret Chinese plot to take over our country by (not so secretly...in fact with our encouragement) buying our debt", and failing to come up with one Supreme Court decision that she disagreed with (when questioned by a student) after proclaiming during her campaign that she disagreed with Supreme Court decisions. The moderators, attack dog Wolf Blitzer and the always solid Nancy Karibjanian, kept the contestants in line, especially Ms. O'Donnell when she veered away from the point of a question into prepared speech land. Ms. O'Donnell did face more pointed questions than Mr. Coons but she had laid herself out for this path with her ads and her mis-steps.
An aside here, as a reminder of the TV ads, Ms. O'Donnell had a dark dress and a string of pearls.....waiting to cast a spell on her audience, perhaps?
In a bizarre turn (was she told to say this by her handlers?), she joked that Mr. Coons was jealous of her since she made it as a topic on Saturday Night Live. Hmmm...didn't she get the point of the parody? Does she know the definition of "parody"? We knew from the debate that she was weak on history (the "fighting the Russians in Afghanistan" and confusing Iraq & Afghanistan comments) and finance (her lack of knowledge on how bond ratings are established or how county governments are legally required to balance their budgets). Perhaps she didn't do too well in college in English and literature as well.
For his part, it must have been difficult for Mr. Coons to not subsume into Dan Akroyd vis-a-vis Ms. O'Donnell's Jane Curtin. When asked to respond to some of the fact-less claims and throwing-out-chum statements by Ms. O'Donnell, Mr. Coons tended to respond that there wasn't enough time to go point-by-point or where should he begin. At one point, he looked over at Wolf Blitzer and said that if he (Mr. Blitzer) could make sense of the contradictory things that Ms. O'Donnell had just spouted in response to a question then Mr. Blitzer was a much better journalist than Mr. Coons had given him credit for. At points, one almost felt sorry for Ms. O'Donnell as to her lack of sense and knowledge and this was a very dangerous place to be as she is counting on the "I am you" stance against the "elitist educated" opponent she's running against. Funny that the 2 President Bush's, representing her party, had both graduated from the the same eilitist institution of Yale.
In the closing statement by the candidates, Mr. Coons noted, "She's focused too little on the issues that really matter to Delawareans, and too much on the issues that make good soundbites," Coons said. "Ms. O'Donnell has experience running for office, but not really running anything." That pretty well sums up the evening and the campaign choices. Do you want a yappy dog nipping at your heels or a calm & collected Labrador guiding you.
The short of the debate matter was that Ms. O'Donnell spoke in generalities and with the insinuation that her judgements of error and lack of responsibility were traits that Delawareans would cling and claim to while Mr. Coons provided logical answers backed by experience and a hard-earned education. She was going for the sympathy vote; he for the thoughtful one. We'll see which voters show up in Delaware on November 2nd.
Labels: 2010: Are We Recovering Yet?
Monday, October 11, 2010
Creativity is Being Curtailed..
No participant in the debate (neither candidates nor questioners) shall be allowed to use props or visuals.
Bummer! This being October and all, I was fairly sure one of the students posing a question to the candidates would have been appropriately dressed for Halloween. Wonder what will happen if someone sneaks in and dons this or this? The latter link is related to the latest political ad by Ms. O'Donnell.
Should be interesting and, now that CNN will be broadcasting part of it nationwide, beyond the importance of this interim position post (only 4 years left in the 6 year US Senator term). Tune in @ 7:30 EST.
Everyone seems to be stirred up by tonight's happenings and, since the 1st round of baseball playoffs are over, folks in the First State should be tuned in. Hmmm...wonder if anything actually substantial will be debated or if the potential nastiness of the crowd will dominate the proceedings?
Labels: 2010: Are We Recovering Yet?
Thursday, October 07, 2010
China & O'Donnell: Importing Good Values
Perhaps we've been too hard on Christine O'Donnell's self-proclaimed educational achievements (though she did blame "Others" for attaching such claims although the "Others" have yet to be identified). As per today's NYT, it seems an entire nation suffers from the OECD syndrome (O'Donnell Education Credentials Dilemna). Maybe she's simply been ahead of the import curve. In addition to having our shelves stocked with goods manufactured in China for the past 2 decades, we'll soon be practicing the Chinese Art of Self-Accreditation.
Oh, where have we gone since we've sold off and shipped off our manufacturing might to places overseas? Being a Global Citizen has long lost its cache..but that's another tpoic, another day.
This morning's major Delaware paper had an article regarding some poll results for the US Senatorial elcetion. Perhaps, sanity has returned to the even-keeled state. Although.....
.....Last night a pollster called the house and the Ever Loving Wife, a possessor of patience in quantities that I've never been familiar with, answered questions for over 10 minutes from some clown (there's my "patience" showing) who definitely had a biased view in her questioning. Why do I say "clown"? It was the 8th and 9th inning (yes....that's how long the questioning went on) and the Phillies, up 4-0 over the Reds, were closing in on the 2nd ever post-season no-hitter as masterfully spun by Roy Hallyday.
Why the ELW did not hang up is one of those miracles without explanation. She explained it as, "I had to make sure that this pollster knew that Coons was head, hands and feet above O'Donnell as far as a competent candidate." Yes, the ELW, aside from having loads of patience, also has tons of idealism and the mindset that people can change especially if you talk to them reasonably. All I got out of it was this idiot was not a baseball fan and, worse yet, not a Phillies fan. Using the logic of the O'Donnell campaign, I'll go on to state that O'Donnell hates the Phillies! There, that's a campaign slogan sure to get the vote out in Delaware.
Oh, where have we gone since we've sold off and shipped off our manufacturing might to places overseas? Being a Global Citizen has long lost its cache..but that's another tpoic, another day.
This morning's major Delaware paper had an article regarding some poll results for the US Senatorial elcetion. Perhaps, sanity has returned to the even-keeled state. Although.....
.....Last night a pollster called the house and the Ever Loving Wife, a possessor of patience in quantities that I've never been familiar with, answered questions for over 10 minutes from some clown (there's my "patience" showing) who definitely had a biased view in her questioning. Why do I say "clown"? It was the 8th and 9th inning (yes....that's how long the questioning went on) and the Phillies, up 4-0 over the Reds, were closing in on the 2nd ever post-season no-hitter as masterfully spun by Roy Hallyday.
Why the ELW did not hang up is one of those miracles without explanation. She explained it as, "I had to make sure that this pollster knew that Coons was head, hands and feet above O'Donnell as far as a competent candidate." Yes, the ELW, aside from having loads of patience, also has tons of idealism and the mindset that people can change especially if you talk to them reasonably. All I got out of it was this idiot was not a baseball fan and, worse yet, not a Phillies fan. Using the logic of the O'Donnell campaign, I'll go on to state that O'Donnell hates the Phillies! There, that's a campaign slogan sure to get the vote out in Delaware.
Labels: 2010: Are We Recovering Yet?
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Why I'm Still a Sucker for Barack
Obama. I know the young man's been rained on by a lot of tirades by some boneheads and also by some folks with justifiable gripes. But...to be able to step away for a moment and give that short tight critique of Bob Dylan's shadowy entrance and exit from the White House?
Come on.....give the man his props.
Come on.....give the man his props.
Labels: 2010: Are We Recovering Yet?, Reviews
My Apologies Go Out To All Dogcatchers....
...and Animal Control Agents when I reply to the inquiry from my Republican friends in Delaware as to what my thoughts are on their party's choice for this November's US Senate election for our state.
My thoughts on Christine O'Donnell could not be better expressed than the opinion voiced by the Head of the Republican Party in Delaware, Tom Ross, when the primaries were still being run in our fair state. Mr Ross stated that she "could not be elected dogcatcher". As she has taken to the mattresses recently and is not available for conversation outside a few selected members of her splintered party, I have to assume that Mr. Ross, being the leader of Delaware's Republican Party would have a much better feel for her capabilities to represent Delaware in a distinguished and effective manner than I would, a party outsider.
So, if his thoughts had her as incapable of achieving election at that position, I have to accede to his more robust knowledge base and agree in total with his words of wisdom.
Again, my apologies to the fine Animal Control Agents who keep us safe from creatures of indeterminate affiliations.
My thoughts on Christine O'Donnell could not be better expressed than the opinion voiced by the Head of the Republican Party in Delaware, Tom Ross, when the primaries were still being run in our fair state. Mr Ross stated that she "could not be elected dogcatcher". As she has taken to the mattresses recently and is not available for conversation outside a few selected members of her splintered party, I have to assume that Mr. Ross, being the leader of Delaware's Republican Party would have a much better feel for her capabilities to represent Delaware in a distinguished and effective manner than I would, a party outsider.
So, if his thoughts had her as incapable of achieving election at that position, I have to accede to his more robust knowledge base and agree in total with his words of wisdom.
Again, my apologies to the fine Animal Control Agents who keep us safe from creatures of indeterminate affiliations.
Labels: 2010: Are We Recovering Yet?
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Creative Things IMPOSSIBLE with a Kindle or an iPad
This article brought a gallon (specifically a gallon of Benjamin Moore) of memories back for me.
*** Caution *** : Notification of statement sure to date me.
It's junior year in high school, back in the day when jobs were easily obtainable. A buddy and I were hanging out at my school one early summer's evening just kicking a soccer ball around. One of the brothers running that fine institution happened to be strolling that very night and espied two young lads obviously in need of deeds to better their moral character while honing their manual skills. He approached us and, as was usual with men in that particular religious order, exhibited the silver tongue skills the brothers were all blessed with. He easily cajoled us into summer long work re-painting the school's classrooms. Our financial rewards were minimal as we knew that the school was somewhat strapped and we were learning things about life at that point, such as how to negotiate one's pay with a guy who wore an awfully large silver crucifix around his neck.
Our painting superintendent was a older fellow by the name of Auggie. His stature was more wide than tall and his humour was broader than his girth. We religiously showed up on time for work each weekday, occasionally worked through lunch, and waited patiently for our week's pay......which did not arrive each week. Our accounts were all squared away come the end of the summer but Friday's payday process was eagerly looked forward to as Auggie, aside from being the head custodian, had a hefty taste for the betting game while also carrying out the duties of paymaster.
Our payment was in cash as the Lord and the IRS had some sacred relationship that we, as mere high school students, were not privy to. Being closer to God than to Uncle Sam, our institution (and I speak only for myself and for the olden days times.....I'm sure there's a "closer" realtionship these days) had minimal use of OSHA and Labor Boards and payroll accounting. Where the cold cash came from was as much a mystery to us as the Divine Conception was and, just like the latter, any explanations of the payment's origins left us more confused. Like the miracles that folks in the Bible sought out and waited for, each Friday's pay date rolled around with expectations but no certainty. We learned to follow the horses and certain baseball teams from cities not in the Northeast. Like I said, Auggie was good for the wages come the end of our summer stint, but we knew that telephone calls on Thursday afternoons governed whether the money would be riding on our palms or on Sugarcoatedbiscuit over at Belmont Park.
Early each morning, while we drank our milked-down coffee and gagged/chewed on buttered yesterday's Kaiser rolls and waited for that day's painting assignments, Auggie was into the sheets. Each day's papers were used for Auggie's "research" projects and he would fold and tear and notate the necessary pages. Once he was satisfied that he had the facts for the day, he would clear off a worktable and set the untorn and unmolested pages down. Auggie would carefully fold out all of these sheets, making sure that all of the pages were the same size. Then, with gnarled but busy fingers, he'd craft painter's hats for all of us, knowing that paint, testosterone, loud FM music (the only clause in our working "contract" that the brothers caved in on), and general ADD-like traits of teenage boys would combine in a spray of paint sure to hit our hair. Each morning, he'd create new hats and different motifs. One day we'd be the Painting Pirates. Some days we'd get in touch with our feminine sides and be the Benjamin Moore Bo-Peeps. Another day, the Painting Popes. Auggie was a newspaper milliner of extraordinary speed and imagination, among other quirks. He wove curses into a web that always drew us and usually left us sprawled out on the floor laughing. After any such tirade, he quickly looked around the room, found where the nearest crucifix was hanging, crossed himself, and then hitching up his pants, he'd stroll out the room.
When high school went back into session that year, I noticed that for a long time afterwards my painting com padres and I tended to cross ourselves in our classes (as was required) and then hitch up our pants afterwards. When we caught ourselves doing it, we were initially embarrassed. Eventually, it was our bonding signal of that Summer of Painting and Newspaper Hat Wearing.
Years later, I went back to visit the old school grounds, even going to some of the older classrooms to see if our paint jobs had survived. Auggie had passed away long ago but his stories were still repeated and his memory was vibrant. One summer he had a brush with success. His picks of horses and of his baseball teams were of a Divine nature. He cleaned up and then he retired from calling his bookie. Staying one more year to guarantee his successor knew his stuff, he then retired to the Shore. He gave the school about $100k on his last official day at work.
I never did find out, though, if Auggie's successor was schooled in the art of Newspaper Hats. That talent may simply have passed away with Auggie.
*** Caution *** : Notification of statement sure to date me.
It's junior year in high school, back in the day when jobs were easily obtainable. A buddy and I were hanging out at my school one early summer's evening just kicking a soccer ball around. One of the brothers running that fine institution happened to be strolling that very night and espied two young lads obviously in need of deeds to better their moral character while honing their manual skills. He approached us and, as was usual with men in that particular religious order, exhibited the silver tongue skills the brothers were all blessed with. He easily cajoled us into summer long work re-painting the school's classrooms. Our financial rewards were minimal as we knew that the school was somewhat strapped and we were learning things about life at that point, such as how to negotiate one's pay with a guy who wore an awfully large silver crucifix around his neck.
Our painting superintendent was a older fellow by the name of Auggie. His stature was more wide than tall and his humour was broader than his girth. We religiously showed up on time for work each weekday, occasionally worked through lunch, and waited patiently for our week's pay......which did not arrive each week. Our accounts were all squared away come the end of the summer but Friday's payday process was eagerly looked forward to as Auggie, aside from being the head custodian, had a hefty taste for the betting game while also carrying out the duties of paymaster.
Our payment was in cash as the Lord and the IRS had some sacred relationship that we, as mere high school students, were not privy to. Being closer to God than to Uncle Sam, our institution (and I speak only for myself and for the olden days times.....I'm sure there's a "closer" realtionship these days) had minimal use of OSHA and Labor Boards and payroll accounting. Where the cold cash came from was as much a mystery to us as the Divine Conception was and, just like the latter, any explanations of the payment's origins left us more confused. Like the miracles that folks in the Bible sought out and waited for, each Friday's pay date rolled around with expectations but no certainty. We learned to follow the horses and certain baseball teams from cities not in the Northeast. Like I said, Auggie was good for the wages come the end of our summer stint, but we knew that telephone calls on Thursday afternoons governed whether the money would be riding on our palms or on Sugarcoatedbiscuit over at Belmont Park.
Early each morning, while we drank our milked-down coffee and gagged/chewed on buttered yesterday's Kaiser rolls and waited for that day's painting assignments, Auggie was into the sheets. Each day's papers were used for Auggie's "research" projects and he would fold and tear and notate the necessary pages. Once he was satisfied that he had the facts for the day, he would clear off a worktable and set the untorn and unmolested pages down. Auggie would carefully fold out all of these sheets, making sure that all of the pages were the same size. Then, with gnarled but busy fingers, he'd craft painter's hats for all of us, knowing that paint, testosterone, loud FM music (the only clause in our working "contract" that the brothers caved in on), and general ADD-like traits of teenage boys would combine in a spray of paint sure to hit our hair. Each morning, he'd create new hats and different motifs. One day we'd be the Painting Pirates. Some days we'd get in touch with our feminine sides and be the Benjamin Moore Bo-Peeps. Another day, the Painting Popes. Auggie was a newspaper milliner of extraordinary speed and imagination, among other quirks. He wove curses into a web that always drew us and usually left us sprawled out on the floor laughing. After any such tirade, he quickly looked around the room, found where the nearest crucifix was hanging, crossed himself, and then hitching up his pants, he'd stroll out the room.
When high school went back into session that year, I noticed that for a long time afterwards my painting com padres and I tended to cross ourselves in our classes (as was required) and then hitch up our pants afterwards. When we caught ourselves doing it, we were initially embarrassed. Eventually, it was our bonding signal of that Summer of Painting and Newspaper Hat Wearing.
Years later, I went back to visit the old school grounds, even going to some of the older classrooms to see if our paint jobs had survived. Auggie had passed away long ago but his stories were still repeated and his memory was vibrant. One summer he had a brush with success. His picks of horses and of his baseball teams were of a Divine nature. He cleaned up and then he retired from calling his bookie. Staying one more year to guarantee his successor knew his stuff, he then retired to the Shore. He gave the school about $100k on his last official day at work.
I never did find out, though, if Auggie's successor was schooled in the art of Newspaper Hats. That talent may simply have passed away with Auggie.
Labels: Jersey Days, Obsessions
It Ain't always Sunny in Philly...
On the freefall to ignominy that officially started today, a poll by the local Philly papers as to reader's opinions on the performance of the 4 quarterbacks ( wait...wait...wait) who were involved in the 17-12 defeat of the Iggles to the Capital of this country's Redskins, with their 80th ranked (I exaggerate, but just a touch) NFL defensive unit, it seems Mike Kafka of the Iggles beat out Kevin Kolb by 62% to 41%. The fact that Mr. Kafka (no relation to Franz, as far as we know) never let go of his clipboard, never donned his helmet, nor ever ventured onto the playing field gives you an indication of where the balance of the season will go for the unfortunate Mr. Kolb. His sad days have only begun. I hope he has a dog to come home to.
Andy Reid, involved in football since he first started sucking on a (kicking) tee, has still to grasp the concept of time and its necessary management. He is beyond doubt at this point in his coaching career, the worst on-field coach pacing the sidelines. It is a question of how uniquely he will squander time-outs these days; he keeps on inventing new versions of what was, until he came along, a limited field of possibilities.
Andy Reid, involved in football since he first started sucking on a (kicking) tee, has still to grasp the concept of time and its necessary management. He is beyond doubt at this point in his coaching career, the worst on-field coach pacing the sidelines. It is a question of how uniquely he will squander time-outs these days; he keeps on inventing new versions of what was, until he came along, a limited field of possibilities.
Labels: Philly
J K Rowling's new HP Installment - Delaware Version
Surreptitiously "borrowed" from Cagle Blog . Cartoon by the political cartoonist extraordinaire, Jeff Stahler, of the Columbus Dispatch.
Labels: 2010: Are We Recovering Yet?
Morning After Sunday Oct. 3,2010
Hey Folks,
Late announcement. Down here at the station doing the Morning After gig again. Tune in & Listen! Apologies for the late announcement...
10/4/10: Set List for Sunday's show has been posted here for your post-listening critiquing.
Late announcement. Down here at the station doing the Morning After gig again. Tune in & Listen! Apologies for the late announcement...
10/4/10: Set List for Sunday's show has been posted here for your post-listening critiquing.
Labels: Morning After, WVUD 91.3
Friday, October 01, 2010
Nonexecutive Chairman?
For any folks out there who have had the unfortunate pleasure of being around or even periphierally involved in an enterprise undergoing conversion to a SAP software product, you may be as surprised as I was to hear that Hewlett-Packard has named the ex-chief of SAP, Léo Apotheker, as the company’s new chief executive. This will be most interesting. It was also announced that Ray Lane, a managing partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and a former Oracle executive, was named to H-P’s board and will serve as non-executive chairman.
So....Mark Hurd was let go by Hewlett Packard due to some sloppy travel expense padding issues and then is shortly thereafter picked up by Oracle to be their co-president, a surprise to most folks in the know. Then, HP picks up an ex-Oraclite, Ray Lane, to be a non-excutive chairman.?
Hmmmm. The stock market reacted to the news of Apotheker (German for pharmacist) reacts by dropping H-P's stock 3 percent to $40.82 in after-hours trading. I didn't really understand the non-executive chairman bit at first. Now, it's all too clear. If Apotheker's business chemistry doesn't produce immediate results with HP's previous success run or with Wall Street's perception of the company's success, Mr. Lane is the chief executive in the boardroom easily in place to replace the ex-SAP now Hewlett-Packard CEO.
Well, that most certainly must make Mr. Apotheker feel all warm and fuzzy. He served a mere 7 months as CEO @ SAP (after working there over 20 years) before being removed from that position. Seems that H-P is playing it safe in case his stay is equally short or shorter @ H-P. You've got to be even a tad empathetic with Mr. Apotheker's Damocles Sword position; may he have at least some restful sleep in the coming year.
So....Mark Hurd was let go by Hewlett Packard due to some sloppy travel expense padding issues and then is shortly thereafter picked up by Oracle to be their co-president, a surprise to most folks in the know. Then, HP picks up an ex-Oraclite, Ray Lane, to be a non-excutive chairman.?
Hmmmm. The stock market reacted to the news of Apotheker (German for pharmacist) reacts by dropping H-P's stock 3 percent to $40.82 in after-hours trading. I didn't really understand the non-executive chairman bit at first. Now, it's all too clear. If Apotheker's business chemistry doesn't produce immediate results with HP's previous success run or with Wall Street's perception of the company's success, Mr. Lane is the chief executive in the boardroom easily in place to replace the ex-SAP now Hewlett-Packard CEO.
Well, that most certainly must make Mr. Apotheker feel all warm and fuzzy. He served a mere 7 months as CEO @ SAP (after working there over 20 years) before being removed from that position. Seems that H-P is playing it safe in case his stay is equally short or shorter @ H-P. You've got to be even a tad empathetic with Mr. Apotheker's Damocles Sword position; may he have at least some restful sleep in the coming year.
Labels: 2010: Are We Recovering Yet?
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - Together Again
Some college kid from some podunk college also makes some derogatory remarks regarding this fine release. Hey Mr. Decker! You better be boning up on the lyrics; you will be examined on this for next marking period.
Except for the fact that quite a lot of the 11 songs have radio air-play inappropriate language, thus sinking the possibility of playing the entire album on a (teeny-tiny) radio show I group-d.j., I've been listening to this album with a fat smile pasted on my face. It's the lyrics. It's the arrangements. It's the entire cadeaux.
This isn't the first time Mr. Folds and Mr. Hornby have worked together, On William Shatner's excellent "Has Been", the Ben Folds produced album features a song, "That's Me Trying", that was a lyrics-by-Hornby, music-by-Folds collaboration.
I'm hoping to get back here later to fill out the suit of this review. Suffice it ot say, that I'm a fan. Production is crystal clear. Folds' voice and interpretation of the clever lines in the songs is dead on. There is material here for laughing, crying, and even some light "sturm und drang"ing. The deluxe package includes all of the lyrics plus four short stories by Nick Hornby for those of us in need of a fix since last year's "Juliet, Naked". The whole package is put together by Nonesuch records, a recording company that just can;t seem to do wrong. Think of Ry Cooder's deluxe package for "I, Flathead" and you get the idea.
For now, a strong recommendation and I'll be back with more filler.
Labels: Recording Reviews
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Million Monkey March
Posted this New Yorker cartoon a while back, because it was the appropriately sized pin to prick anyone's Blog Balloon.
From Execupundit's post from yesterday, comes the following quote, just in case one's head has started inflating again.
"We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true.
- Robert Wilensky"
Indeed.
Labels: 2010: Are We Recovering Yet?
Monday, September 20, 2010
The Witching Hours
Christine O'Donnell may just do for the Tea Party what the poison pill did for captured spies. Folks, just keep in mind that she's only been in Delaware for a bit over 6 years. She is a Jersey Gal and we all know about the Jersey Devil, right? No! No! This guy is known as the Jersey Devil only to Phlyer Phans.
I'm just waiting to hear if her bad publicity will force the Wicca Church to disawow any connection with O'Donnell, as the Delaware Republican Party intially did. Like a reluctant groom to an arranged marriage he had no say in, the Delaware GOP has now had to stand at O'Donnell's side with a grimace of a smile as it now supports a candidate it previously had placed in the "not electable as a dogcatcher in the state" category.
Dogcatcher....
Hmm, now that witches, Karl Rove, rank and file Republicans, and dogcatchers have all been dissed in the campaign to get O'Donnell her first full-time paid (by unlucky taxpayers) job, what other groups will be denegrated by their loose association with Ms. O'Donnell?
The Delaware Car Wreck continues.......
I'm just waiting to hear if her bad publicity will force the Wicca Church to disawow any connection with O'Donnell, as the Delaware Republican Party intially did. Like a reluctant groom to an arranged marriage he had no say in, the Delaware GOP has now had to stand at O'Donnell's side with a grimace of a smile as it now supports a candidate it previously had placed in the "not electable as a dogcatcher in the state" category.
Dogcatcher....
Hmm, now that witches, Karl Rove, rank and file Republicans, and dogcatchers have all been dissed in the campaign to get O'Donnell her first full-time paid (by unlucky taxpayers) job, what other groups will be denegrated by their loose association with Ms. O'Donnell?
The Delaware Car Wreck continues.......
Labels: 2010: Are We Recovering Yet?
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Delaware: Rotten & Shameful
First, let's get the facts straight.
Delaware is a dinky state, 2nd physically smallest of all of the 50 states and 45th smallest in population, with less than a million folks (around 885,000) scattered throughout our 1,953.56 square miles. The majority of the folks, 534,634 or 60% , live in New Castle county, one of the 3 counties of the state. We reside in what is known in The First State, as living above the canal. This physical division of the state tends to reflect the political leanings of the state. Above the canal, there are more registered Democrats while below the canal there are more Republicans. For those unfamiliar with the state, Dover, its capital, is located dead center in the state in Kent County.
Christine O'Donnell won every district of every county below the canal, while Mike Castle carried the majority of New Castle County's districts, although he did lose all of the districts touching the northern side of the canal. Geographically, it was a downstate v. upstate rout.
The results, upon closer inspection, look like this.
O'Donnell won the Republican primary to run for US Senator over Castle by a margin of 3,540 votes, 30,561 v. 27,021, or 53% v. 47%. Now, assuming that in this primary all of the Republicans voting for their candidates all did cast a vote for either O'Donnell or Castle. So, the total number of votes cast of 57,582, which was reported as an indication that 32% of registered Republican voters, would equate to a rough figure of 180,000 registered Republicans. (actually 182,796 but my math's close enough). So... of the registered Republican voters, only 17% voted for the Tea Party candidate. Using the same logic, a 12% (or 34,721 votes cast in the state-wide primary for Democratic Treasurer candidate) showing by the Dems in this election would rough out to 289,000 (actually 292,738, but you can see my math's close enough)
So, if 23.4% of the population is under 18, based on the latest population of 885,000, that would equate to about 673,000 possible voters, of which 180,000 Republicans would represent 27% and the 289,000 Democrats would be 43% of possible voters, leaving the balance of 30% or 204,000 age-eligible voters as Independents or un-registered and disinterested. Aside from having the good sense to not involve themselves with O'Donnell, the Delaware Republican Party and Castle have seen their own version of the numbers and have opted not to support O'Donnell's further advance toward being one of Delaware's 2 U.S. Senators. O'Donnell certainly hasn't helped herself. She's a train wreck, all the more of a surprise that she got this far.....which only shows you how bizarre Delaware can be at times.
The worst part of this is that Mike Castle, a well-respected, decent, and honorable man who has served capably as Delaware's governor and US Representative for over 16 years has suffered his only major political defeat to O'Donnell of all people. It is a sad State of affairs for Delaware, for the Republican Party, and the national political climate. My hope is that in 6 weeks, Delaware's sentient registered voters will go out to cast their vote for someone who will actually represent our state and give the US Senate a responsible, proven, and thinking person. Chris Coons.
To Mike Castle, thank you for all your years of service and wish things had worked out as most reasonable people had expected them to, with you being our next US Senator. It seemed a perfect storm of bad timing and voters not capable of seperating wheat from chaff.
Delaware is a dinky state, 2nd physically smallest of all of the 50 states and 45th smallest in population, with less than a million folks (around 885,000) scattered throughout our 1,953.56 square miles. The majority of the folks, 534,634 or 60% , live in New Castle county, one of the 3 counties of the state. We reside in what is known in The First State, as living above the canal. This physical division of the state tends to reflect the political leanings of the state. Above the canal, there are more registered Democrats while below the canal there are more Republicans. For those unfamiliar with the state, Dover, its capital, is located dead center in the state in Kent County.
Christine O'Donnell won every district of every county below the canal, while Mike Castle carried the majority of New Castle County's districts, although he did lose all of the districts touching the northern side of the canal. Geographically, it was a downstate v. upstate rout.
The results, upon closer inspection, look like this.
O'Donnell won the Republican primary to run for US Senator over Castle by a margin of 3,540 votes, 30,561 v. 27,021, or 53% v. 47%. Now, assuming that in this primary all of the Republicans voting for their candidates all did cast a vote for either O'Donnell or Castle. So, the total number of votes cast of 57,582, which was reported as an indication that 32% of registered Republican voters, would equate to a rough figure of 180,000 registered Republicans. (actually 182,796 but my math's close enough). So... of the registered Republican voters, only 17% voted for the Tea Party candidate. Using the same logic, a 12% (or 34,721 votes cast in the state-wide primary for Democratic Treasurer candidate) showing by the Dems in this election would rough out to 289,000 (actually 292,738, but you can see my math's close enough)
So, if 23.4% of the population is under 18, based on the latest population of 885,000, that would equate to about 673,000 possible voters, of which 180,000 Republicans would represent 27% and the 289,000 Democrats would be 43% of possible voters, leaving the balance of 30% or 204,000 age-eligible voters as Independents or un-registered and disinterested. Aside from having the good sense to not involve themselves with O'Donnell, the Delaware Republican Party and Castle have seen their own version of the numbers and have opted not to support O'Donnell's further advance toward being one of Delaware's 2 U.S. Senators. O'Donnell certainly hasn't helped herself. She's a train wreck, all the more of a surprise that she got this far.....which only shows you how bizarre Delaware can be at times.
The worst part of this is that Mike Castle, a well-respected, decent, and honorable man who has served capably as Delaware's governor and US Representative for over 16 years has suffered his only major political defeat to O'Donnell of all people. It is a sad State of affairs for Delaware, for the Republican Party, and the national political climate. My hope is that in 6 weeks, Delaware's sentient registered voters will go out to cast their vote for someone who will actually represent our state and give the US Senate a responsible, proven, and thinking person. Chris Coons.
To Mike Castle, thank you for all your years of service and wish things had worked out as most reasonable people had expected them to, with you being our next US Senator. It seemed a perfect storm of bad timing and voters not capable of seperating wheat from chaff.
Labels: 2010: Are We Recovering Yet?
