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The Wires
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The Ledes

Saturday, April 27, 2024

CNN: “Destructive tornadoes gutted homes as they plowed through Nebraska and Iowa, and the dangerous storm threat could escalate Saturday as tornado-spawning storms pose a risk from Michigan to Texas.”

Public Service Announcement

The Washington Post offers tips on how to keep your EV battery running in frigid temperatures. The link at the end of this graf is supposed to be a "gift link" (from me, Marie Burns, the giftor!), meaning that non-subscribers can read the article. Hope it works: https://wapo.st/3u8Z705

"Countless studies have shown that people who spend less time in nature die younger and suffer higher rates of mental and physical ailments." So this Washington Post page allows you to check your own area to see how good your access to nature is.

Marie: If you don't like birthing stories, don't watch this video. But I thought it was pretty sweet -- and funny:

If you like Larry David, you may find this interview enjoyable:


Tracy Chapman & Luke Combs at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Allison Hope comments in a CNN opinion piece:

~~~ Here's Chapman singing "Fast Car" at the Oakland Coliseum in December 1988. ~~~

~~~ Here's the full 2024 Grammy winner's list, via CBS.

He Shot the Messenger. Washington Post: “The Messenger is shutting down immediately, the news site’s founder told employees in an email Wednesday, marking the abrupt demise of one of the stranger and more expensive recent experiments in digital media. In his email, Jimmy Finkelstein said he was 'personally devastated' to announce that he had failed in a last-ditch effort to raise more money for the site, saying that he had been fundraising as recently as the night before. Finkelstein said the site, which launched last year with outsize ambitions and a mammoth $50 million budget, would close 'effective immediately.' The New York Times first reported the site’s closure late Wednesday afternoon, appearing to catch many staffers off-guard, including editor in chief Dan Wakeford. As employees read the news story, the internal work chat service Slack erupted in what one employee called 'pandemonium.'... Minutes later, as staffers read Finkelstein’s email, its message was underscored as they were forcibly logged out of their Slack accounts. Former Messenger reporter Jim LaPorta posted on social media that employees would not receive health care or severance.”

Washington Post: “The last known location of 'Portrait of Fräulein Lieser' by world-renowned Austrian artist Gustav Klimt was in Vienna in the mid-1920s. The vivid painting featuring a young woman was listed as property of a 'Mrs Lieser' — believed to be Henriette Lieser, who was deported and killed by the Nazis. The only remaining record of the work was a black and white photograph from 1925, around the time it was last exhibited, which was kept in the archives of the Austrian National Library. Now, almost 100 years later, this painting by one of the world’s most famous modernist artists is on display and up for sale — having been rediscovered in what the auction house has hailed as a sensational find.... It is unclear which member of the Lieser family is depicted in the piece[.]”

~~~ Marie: I don't know if this podcast will update automatically, or if I have to do it manually. In any event, both you and I can find the latest update of the published episodes here. The episodes begin with ads, but you can fast-forward through them.

Contact Marie

Click on this link to e-mail Marie.

Page Links

Delaware

You're on an auxiliary page. Click Constant Comments-Home on the bar above to go to the main page. 

 

NBC News projects Democrat Chris Coons will win the Senate seat in Delaware. 8:08 pm ET.

AP: "Former lieutenant governor John Carney has claimed Delaware's lone U.S. House seat for the Democrat." The seat is currently held by Republican Mike Castle who lost his primary bid to Christine O'Donnell, the loser in tonight's Delaware Senate race.

So Not Ready for Primetime. Chris Carl of WDEL Radio, Delaware: "The Christine O'Donnell campaign is apologizing to WDEL after it demanded that video of an O'Donnell appearance on "The Rick Jensen Show" be destroyed and threatened a lawsuit if it wasn't.... O'Donnell also told show host Rick Jensen that she would sue the radio station if the video was released.... O'Donnell's campaign manager, Matt Moran, called WDEL and demanded that the video be immediately turned over to the campaign and destroyed. Moran threatened to 'crush WDEL' with a lawsuit if the station didn't comply." Here's the AP story.

I don't watch the news. -- Christine O'Donnell

God is the reason I am running. -- Christine O'Donnell

David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network interviews Delaware's Republican Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell. The transcript is here. Here's a nauseating clip:

Chris Coons finally runs a negative ad. But he ends on a positive note:

Jonathan Carl of ABC News interviews Christine O'Donnell:

Christine O'Donnell claims to be an expert on the Constitution:

Reuters: "... while her grassroots fund-raising has been more than respectable, [Christine] O'Donnell's tense relations with mainstream Republicans and her floundering campaign have led bigtime donors to shun her, albeit quietly."

Geez, another debate, another gaffe. O'Donnell can't name a single Democratic Senator with whom she would work. When O'Donnell was asked a similar question last month, she named Hillary Clinton, who hasn't been a senator for 20 months, so it's not as if she hasn't had time to research an answer & memorize the name of a Democratic senator or two: 

Psst! Christine, dear, Joe Lieberman hasn't been a Democrat for two years.

You're telling me that's in the First Amendment? -- Christine O'Donnell, responding to opponent Chris Coons, who said in a debate yesterday that the First Amendment bars Congress from making laws respecting the establishment of religion ...

     ... CW: I urge you to listen to this brief video. O'Donnell repeatedly calls Coons on his "error." There hasn't been a gaffe like this since President Jerry Ford insisted in a debate with Jimmy Carter that the Eastern European countries of 1976 was not under Soviet domination:

Meghan McCain: Christine O'Donnell is a "nut job":

Chad Levingood of the Delaware News Journal (October 15) reports on Chris Coons' & Christine O'Donnell's second debate. ...

I've got Sean Hannity in my back pocket, and I can go on his show and raise money by attacking you guys. -- Christine O'Donnell, to GOP insiders who aren't helping her campaign

... "People thought of her as an ignorant, deadbeat witch." Keith Olbermann & Howard Fineman discuss Christine O'Donnell's candidacy:

Palinized. Like her mentor Sarah Palin, Christine O'Donnell could not name a single recent Supreme Court decision with which she disagreed:

     ... CW: nevertheless, O'Donnell recovered in a stressful debate with more finesse than Palin did in a sit-down interview. ...

... PLUS. Andy Barr of Politico: O'Donnell is "baffled" as to why the Republican money machine isn't helping her. Nothing to be baffled about: it's SOP to direct resources toward candidates who have a chance of winning; O'Donnell is down by as much as 19 points against her Democratic opponent Chris Coons.

C-SPAN is carrying the debate between Delaware Senate candidates Chris Coons & Christine O'Donnell this evening. Update: and so they debated. New York Times story here. You can watch the debate here.

I have 11-year-old twin boys, and this campaign has allowed us to accelerate awkward conversations. -- Delaware Democratic Senate nominee Chris Coons, when asked about his opponent's denunciation of masturbation

Frank Bruni of the New York Times profiles Chris Coons, Delaware's Democratic nominee for Senate. CW: finally, someone in the MSM decides to mention the candidate who is actually qualified to serve.

Ben Evans of the AP on Christine O'Donnell: "She hasn't provided such basic information as how she makes a living and pays her rent.... On issues, O'Donnell's views are often just as murky, with little more than one-liners on her website."

CNN: "Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell is asking voters to give her a second look. At a candidate forum sponsored by a group of local Republicans, O'Donnell blamed her campaign's recent troubles on unfair coverage in the 'liberal media.'" She also mentions being subjected to "character assassination" in her recorded remarks.

Billboard by Stinque.com.Second-String Bozo. Mark Leibovich of the New York Times: after writing in a profile of the candidate that Christine O'Donnell's father Daniel played Bozo the Clown on the teevee, a reader questioned Leibovich's assertion & the quality of his research. Stinque.com writes, “Anybody who would lie about a cherished childhood icon is unqualified to serve in the United States Senate. Really. It’s in the Constitution. Look it up.” In a conversation with Daniel O'Donnell, Leibovich learns that he sometimes filled in for the "real" Philadelphia Bozo on out-of-town gigs. 

AP, October 4: "Republican Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell of Delaware said in a 2006 debate that China was plotting to take over America and claimed to have classified information about the country that she couldn't divulge." CW: later O'Donnell revealed that the CIA sends her classified information via coded radio transmissions which her teeth pick up. (Perhaps I made that last bit up.) ...

     ... the ever-so-level-headed Jim Fallows of The Atlantic: "... the 'privy to classified information' riff ..., to anyone who knows anything about the world of politics, instantly signals, 'I am completely insane.'" ...

     ... Steve Benen: "even for a Senate candidate who's lied repeatedly about her educational background, is suspected of campaign embezzlement, is suspected of tax fraud, rejects modern science, hates gays, has crusaded against masturbation, has talked about stopping Americans from having sex, and embraces a hysterically extreme political worldview, this is pretty extraordinary." ...

     ... Update. Greg Sargent of the Washington Post has transcripts & links to the audio of O'Donnell's audacious assertion that she had obtained classified info. about a Chinese takeover of the U.S.

     ... Update 2. Jim Fallows has more on "the Chinese peril." O'Donnell's opponent in the 2006 race was a Chinese-American professor named Jan C. Ting. CW: so this was, besides being bizarre, a little race-baiting ploy.

New York Times: O'Donnell cuts her first ad:

     ... Update. Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post comments, "While the ad will get oodles of media attention, it's important to remember that polling shows Democrat Chris Coons with a comfortable lead and national Republicans have given no indication that they plan to spend money on ads in the Delaware Senate race."

Meatballs Matter. Bill Maher's "Christine O'Donnell Clip of the Week." Here O'Donnell speaks of her "faith journey":

Daughter of Bozo. Mark Leibovich of the New York Times profiles Christine O'Donnell.

... Lying about the Lies. Keith Olbermann & David Corn discuss Christine O'Donnell's fantasy

Washington Post, September 29: "Delaware Republican Rep. Mike Castle has opted against against running as a write-in candidate for Senate, a decision that strengthens Democrats' chances of holding the seat on Nov. 2. Castle, notably, did not endorse Christine O'Donnell, the tea party favorite who ousted him in the GOP primary earlier this year...."

Talking Points Memo: "Claremont Graduate University tells TPM that Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell did not attend the Southern California school despite listing it under education on her LinkedIn profile."

Greg Sargent: Christine O'Donnell claims she attended Oxford University. She didn't.

Rebecca Mead of The New Yorker on the "bewitched" Christine O'Donnell. O'Donnell isn't very good at running her own life, but she's happy to tell you how to run yours.

In 2003, Christine O'Donnell vowed to "stop the whole country from having sex. Yeah, yeah.... Kids are not dogs in heat":

"Evolution Is a Myth." As promised, Bill Mahar has more. From his ABC show "Politically Incorrect":

Could Christine O'Donnell be stupider?

Washington Post: Christine O'Donnell says she won't appear on any more national news shows but is sticking to local media because that's the way to win votes.

Christine O'Donnell is clearly a criminal, and like any crook she should be prosecuted. Ms. O'Donnell has spent years embezzling money from her campaign to cover her personal expenses.... Thieves belong in jail not the United States Senate. -- Melanie Sloan, CREW director

Politico: "The campaign watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a pair of complaints with the Federal Election Commission Monday accusing [Christine] O'Donnell of using more than $20,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses."

Ben Crair of the Daily Beast: "Picnics on top of altars? Wiccans say they don't have them -- and they don't like O'Donnell spreading bunk.... The comments ... may cost her the pagan vote."

CLICK ON THE CARTOON TO SEE ANN TELNAES' ANIMATED RESPONSE TO CHRISTINE O'DONNELL'S TALKSHOW BAIL.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee wants you to get to know Christine O'Donnell:

Jill Lawrence of Politics Daily on some of Christine O'Donnell's political positions. BTW, her Website has vanished, so her wildest ideas will probably be "modified."

AP: "Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell is making light of comments she made more than a decade ago when she was in high school about having dabbled in witchcraft." CW: does this make sense? O'Donnell is 41 years old. This would have made her about 30 years of age in 1999 when the show reported aired. Why was she still in high school? Here's the video:

"Dabbling into Witchcraft" Is Not an Excuse to Bail on the Washington Elite:

     ... Dave Weigel of Slate isn't buying O'Donnell's "I had to go on a picnic" excuse. He says O'Donnell had plenty of time to get to the picnic after taping the shows in Washington. Weigel wonders why the networks didn't allow O'Donnell's Democratic rival Chris Coons to replace her on the shows "because, you know, he's winning the election so far." Via Amanda Terkel of the HuffPost.

Who Do that Voodoo like You Do? Christine O'Donnell cancels her Sunday talkshow appearances -- even the one on Fox! -- after Bill Maher airs this:

(Delaware) New Journal, September 18: Vice President Joe Biden was in Delaware Friday to stump for Democratic Senatorial nominee Chris Coons.

Christine O'Donnell speaks to Values Voters:

      ... Sam Stein story here.

Random Reflections from the Mouse Brain of O'Donnell:

American scientific companies are cross-breeding humans and animals and coming up with mice with fully functioning human brains. So they're already into this experiment.
-- Christine O'Donnell, 2007

People are created in God’s image. Homosexuality is an identity adopted through societal factors. It’s an identity disorder.
-- Christine O'Donnell, 2006

And then there's also the issue of murder with Vincent Foster. That's a much more serious charge than failing to seek legal advice, and yet we're all just blowing that off, and everybody's trying to focus on Newt Gingrich like a witch hunt, to bring him to the stake and burn him, because they don't like the policy that he's behind.
-- Christine O'Donnell, 1996

For more of O'Donnell's random thoughts, see this excellent Think Progress roundup.

The Hill: "Just two days after her upset of Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) in the state's Republican Senate primary, Tea Party-backed Christine O'Donnell shared a stage with New Castle County Executive Chris Coons (D) in their first meeting of the general election contest.... The result was a standing-room-only crowd in a packed auditorium."

Dissing O'Donnell. Politico: "The tea party giant-killer who knocked off Rep. Mike Castle Tuesday is barely recognizable to them. They remember a candidate who was less interested in conservative causes than scoring a television deal, one who suggested dodging campaign vendors, believed she could give the keynote speech at the Republican National Convention and fixated on a harebrained idea to distribute tens of thousands of two-ounce suntan lotion packets to voters."

Washington Post: "Still grappling with his shocking primary defeat, Rep. Michael N. Castle of Delaware said Thursday that he will not endorse Republican Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell because he could not tolerate some of the 'personal smears' he faced during the campaign."

New York Times: "After two days of staying mum, the state Republican Party chairman in Delaware said Thursday afternoon that the state party apparatus would work for the election in November of the party’s candidates — including, apparently, Christine O’Donnell, the party’s nominee for the Senate seat formerly held by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr."

David Corn in Mother Jones: "A beneficiary of both tea party anger and religious right fervor, [Christine] O'Donnell represents the potential overlap between Christian conservatives and anti-government activists."

Christine O'Donnell is a sideshow freak.... O'Donnell is a creature of an age in which politics have no meaning beyond performance art.... Her résumé is so thin as to be opaque, and a lot of it seems to be a lie. She seems to be something of a deadbeat, and 'U.S. Senator' seems to be her idea of an entry-level position. This morning, she stands one step away from the job. She is what politics produces when you divorce politics from government.... She is what politics produces when you turn it into a game show and the coverage of it over to a generation of high-technology racetrack touts. -- Charles Pierce, Esquire

Rachel Maddow talks to Joe Biden about the candidates for his Senatorial seat:

The New York Times profiles Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell.

CNN: "Jim DeMint's political operation is firing back at anonymous Senate Republican aides who criticized the conservative South Carolina Senator on Tuesday night for helping Christine O'Donnell capture the GOP Senate nomination in Delaware, possibly jeopardizing the party's chances of winning the seat in November."

Well, bless his heart. You know, we love our friends there in the machine, the expert politicos, but my message to those who say that the GOP nominee is not electable ... or that they’re not even going to try, I say buck up. buck up.... We need to go forth and conquer for the American people. -- Sarah Palin, on Karl Rove's comment that Christine O'Donnell is not electable because she's too nutty & her past too checkered

What we're seeing in the Republican Party is that they invited the Tea Party in and it's turning into the Donner Party, in some instances, because they're turning the energy and the ferocity against each other. -- Tim Kaine, DNC Chair, via Amanda Terkel at HuffPost

... Oh, look, Even Christine O'Donnell agrees with Kaine:

Mike Allen of Politico: "Christine O’Donnell, the tea-party backed GOP nominee for Joe Biden’s Senate seat, on Wednesday morning attacked 'Republican cannibalism' and said she doesn’t need the GOP establishment to win her Delaware race in November."

After she won the primary, that paragon on honor & fair play Karl Rove whacks O'Donnell for "a lot of nutty things she's been saying." "Republican cannabalism"? Oh, yes:

Wall Street Journal: "The National Republican Senatorial Committee does not plan to spend money on its Delaware Senate nominee, Christine O’Donnell, an NRSC official said tonight." ...

     ... Update: What a Difference a Day Makes. Ben Smith of Politico: NRSC reverses itself, sends O'Donnell at $42K check.

Gene Robinson: "Christine O’Donnell’s victory over Rep. Mike Castle in the Senate primary ... comes pretty close to wiping out the possibility of the Republicans taking control of the Senate in November." ...

Republican party leaders agree with Robinson:

Aargh! New York Times: "Christine O’Donnell has defeated veteran Representative Michael N. Castle in Delaware, wresting the G.O.P. Senate nomination away from the pick of the Republican establishment with the help of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Express." Update: here's the Times' front-page story. ...

Politico: "Christine O'Donnell's former campaign manager [Kristin Murray] has recorded an Election Day robocall for the Delaware Republican Party meant to shred the tea-party-backed candidate's conservative credentials as voters head to the polls":

I got into politics because I believe in conservative values and wanted to make a difference. But I was shocked to learn that O’Donnell is no conservative. This is her third Senate race in five years. As O’Donnell’s manager, I found out she was living on campaign donations — using them for rent and personal expenses, while leaving her workers unpaid and piling up thousands in debt. She wasn't concerned about conservative causes. O’Donnell just wanted to make a buck. -- Kristin Murray

Public Policy Polling: "It looks like there’s a real possibility of a major upset in the Delaware Senate primary on Tuesday night, with insurgent conservative Christine O’Donnell leading longtime Congressman and Governor Mike Castle 47-44.That 3 point lead is well within the poll’s margin of error."

CW: I never thought I'd be linking to John McCormack of the Weekly Standard, BUT he does take on Christine O'Donnell.

Washington Post: "... Christine O'Donnell's battle with Rep. Mike Castle perhaps embodies the [tea party] movement's greatest test, because unlike in other races in which the GOP has offered the tea party an awkward embrace, the Republican Party is fighting back. The reason, state GOP officials argue, is that O'Donnell is simply unqualified to hold office."

On the Delaware Republican Senate primary, see also my blogpost titled "Man Pants!."

Eric Kleefeld of Talking Points Memo: Christine O'Donnell continues to question the "manhood" of her Senate Republican primary opponent Mike Castle. Some of O'Donnell's backers have suggested Castle is gay. CW: maybe O'Donnell learned her sleazy tactics from Sarah Palin, who endorsed O'Donnell recently.

Matt Lewis of Politics Daily won't come right out & say it, but Delaware Tea party favorite Christine O'Donnell plagiarized a Sharron Angle video ad in "creating" her own made-for-TV ad. CW: if you want to know how good a candidate O'Donnell is, bear in mind that she's not even Angle; she's an imitation of Angle! Lewis' column includes both video ads.

O'Donnell Earns Two Degrees: One from Farleigh-Dickinson, One from the School of Hard Knocks. David Catanese of Politico: "Seventeen years after she attended the school and two weeks before her Republican primary against Rep. Mike Castle, Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell officially earned her college degree, according to an official from Fairleigh Dickinson University." The recent award of her degree conflicts with many previous statements & campaign assertions that she was previously graduated from Farleigh-Dickinson. One of the apparent hang-ups: she hadn't paid her school debts.

CNN: "... the Tea Party movement is setting its sights on Delaware.... It's a race that pits conservative Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell against moderate Rep. Mike Castle, Delaware's former two-term governor and lone Congressman since 1993.... The Delaware Republican Party is taking heed – and taking on – the Tea Party-backed candidate in the state's Republican Senate primary."

Since the Delaware Republican party has taken down its attacks on O'Donnell, here's an ABC News summary of some of O'Donnell's financial troubles & her stories "explaining" them.

Here's a sample of the Delaware Republican party's attack on O'Donnell:

As the facts continue to emerge regarding perennial candidate Christine O’Donnell’s reckless and hypocritical behavior, I wanted to highlight some of the key media coverage her dishonest campaign has received over the last 24 hours.

       .... CW: when you read the Republican party's rundown of the O'Donnell coverage, you'll realize the Repubs are right. ...

      ... Ha ha ha! Update, September 18: The Delaware Republic party has taken down its attack on O'Donnell page.

... AND Delaware Republican chairman Tom Ross issued a statement saying,

While it is disappointing that the Tea Party Express has not done any due diligence on troubled perennial candidate Christine O’Donnell, it is our hope that they will investigate her half-truths and outright lies before squandering tens of thousands of dollars on a candidate who is not electable in Delaware or anywhere else for that matter.

       ... Aw, Shucks Update, September 18: This page miraculously disappeared, too.