Merit-bound Alley

Corporate Sponsorship for our public schools. That is a proposal that sends ice through my heart. I once read a book, which is a kind of satire of the direction that this country is going with corporations becoming more and more powerful called Jennifer Government, by Max Barry. In Max Barry’s America, all aspects of life are incorporated, including the government, the schools, and the police. Employees of these megacorps take as their last name the name of the corporation that they work for: John Nike, Violet ExxonMobil, or Jennifer Government. Children in school take the name of the corporation that owns the school. Great book, I’d definitely recommend reading it.

I’m not saying that allowing corporate sponsorship and advertisement to our schools will begin the descent to a world where my daughter’s last name will become “McDonald’s” or mine will become “Outsourced to India” but it is a lamentable step in the wrong direction when a teacher is suggesting this as a remedy for the colossal disaster that is the Christina School District’s finances. We already live in a world where the once nobly named “Veterans Stadium” is now the FU Center… no wait, Corestates… no wait, Wachovia soon to be MBNA, no I mean Bank of America Center.

Why not implement a corporate-sponsored uniform, so our kids can proudly wear the Verizon logo? Instead of the national anthem, our school bands (should they survive the budget crisis) can play “I Want My Chili’s Baby Back Ribs” before the big game against the Chrysler H.S. Impalas in the Mattel Arena (bleachers provided by Amazon.com).

Corporate sponsorship for our schools seems like a slippery slope that would best be avoided. If we lived in an ideal world where our corporations could be trusted to not take advantage of the situation, then maybe maybe it would be worth selling out our education to the highest bidder.

Who am I kidding? The whole idea sickens me.

According to an email from Heather Volkomer of the Commissioner of Elections office, the write-in results for the midterm elections should be available sometime today. I will have the results for the Karen Peterson protest votes as soon as I find them. I will also email these results to Karen and hopefully get a response.

UPDATE: From the Commissioner of Elections Office:

We have the totals for Sussex. However we will not have Kent until tomorrow and we are not sure about New Castle yet. If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact our office.

In conversation last night, speculation about what Beau is going to do with his newly-won office was discussed. Let me make one thing clear: I don’t think Beau is going to be a fuck-up as the AG, even though Ferris Wharton was very much the better man for the job. I still wonder how the GOP screwed up getting elected such an obviously perfect candidate for the job, but that’s neither here nor there. I’m talking about Beau.

I predict that Beau will create exactly one of his task groups: the child predator unit. He’s going to need that one victory, because it will quickly become clear to him that the budget won’t have room for the changes he wants to make. It will be easy enough since he can simply name 3 or 4 people from the current sex predators unit, say that they are the Child Predators Task Force, and their jobs will really be no different. Nothing has changed and Beau has “innovated”. I also think that the prosecutors on the street will go through significant changes before that is enacted as well. It will likely turn out to be no more than Ferris Wharton’s idea of having criminals assigned to a certain prosecutor, and as Dana Garrett has speculated, regular meetings with law enforcement officials. In fact, I would imagine that Beau will be borrowing heavily from for Ferris’ experience and ideas when his ideas to throw the AGs office upside-down fall through.

And where will Ferris be? I imagine that he will retain his current job, to share with his co-workers his years of experience and wisdom. Think about it; he only ran because he thought the position needed someone more experienced than Beau. He ran for the office out of a sense of responsibility. Ferris is also not a politician, which mean that he will be able suck up his defeat and mentor Beau through his few years as the Attorney General. His sense of responsibility and work ethic will dictate no less.

*Photo courtesy of the Delaware NewsJournal

A CNN story describes Army Sgt. Willsun Mock, a 23 year-old who was killed in Eastern Baghdad one weekend in October, number 11 that weekend, and had befriended a CNN reporter back in 2004. Sgt. Mock was young, but knew that the war had changed him, as it has so many. He looked forward to going home with excitement and apprehension, fearing that the war had changed him too much from the man who had left home for Iraq years before.

This is an important reminder that every time the number dead in Iraq increments, it’s not just some soldier who has died. It’s someone’s father, mother, son, or daughter that is making it’s way back to America. A girl or boy mourned by family who will hear a bugle play Taps, receive a flag folded into a tight triangle, then watch their loved one be lowered into the ground in a grave that will be decorated with a simple, white stone.

Whether you are for against the war, reading news about it or writing it, don’t ever make the mistake that the numbers are horrible in and of themselves. Each increment is a life ended, and a family thrown into turmoil. Each one is months or years of mourning for people who just can’t believe they’ll never see their friend or brother or sister again.

Sgt. Mock was so much more than number 11 that weekend.

Please take a moment today to thank someone who has served for us.

Courtesy of the DNJ

Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack has announced his bid to lose in the Democratic Presidential primaries in 2008.

In related news, the Governor of Iowa is a guy named Tom Vilsack.

While the newsrags are full of quips about Bush eating crow at todays luncheon with Nancy Pelosi, the new majority seems to be comporting themselves with dignity and maturity. Soon-to-be Speaker Pelosi has already taken a Bush impeachment off the table, and many of the returning and new Democratic Congress members are advocating not backlash and revenge, but responsibility. This seems to me to be a good move for the Dems, and I hope it’s not a move to just get a Democratic president in 2008. My sincerest hope is that they truly do understand that rabid, divisive partisanship has to end in order for this country to start running smoothly again. It’s plain that it couldn’t happen under the leadership of the GOP (and I’m not blaming the Rs), and I hope that this maturity found from majority is a trend rather than a spin.

From the DNJ:

“I think it helps him reach out to Democrats, who are now in the majority in the House and could be the majority in the Senate,” Castle said. “It [Keeping Rumsfeld] was only going to make his Iraq policy more difficult.”

Biden also makes his voice heard, and in rhyme, no less:

“The president would absolutely have to be — not just tone deaf — but stone deaf” to keep Rumsfeld on after the mid-term upset, Biden said.

Clever.

Breaking news: Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down as Secretary of Defense. He is rumored to be replaced by Robert Gates, former Director of Central Intelligence.

UPDATE: Quoth the Dubya: “the time is right for a change in leadership for the Pentagon.” Also, confirms that Gates is the likely next SoD.

Check out Down With Absolutes! for more

Well, like most people, I am rather disappointed in the election results. I was hoping to see Carper and Castle booted, and was denied. The most disappointing is Ferris Wharton’s bewildering loss. It just goes to show that nepotism and bullshit lies, not experience, are what it takes to get votes in Delaware. It’s a crying shame that all the straight-ticketers missed the opportunity to elect elect a man that was going treat the AGs office with the stability and dignity it deserves, but instead elected a man who is going to use the office as a simple stepping-stone.

On a brighter note, I’m happy with the way the Auditor race turned out. I have every confidence that Tom Wagner is going to pursue his job with the same dedication he has shown in the past. Tom was kind enough to give me a few moments to talk about the Christina investigation. See the previous post for that.

There is one particular election that I have mixed feelings about, and that is the 1st Senate seat. On one hand, I realize that it’s fantastic that Tyler got 6% considering the resources he had available, and I’m happy for him. On the other, and this may be my green idealism showing, I really was hoping for a win. I guess all we can do is wait for the next run. Tyler will always have my support in any way I can give it.

On the national front, it came as no surprise that the Dems took the house. I’ll be looking forward to see how Montana and Virginia decide the Senate majority. I was also very happy to see Rick Santorum lose his seat to Casey. I don’t know why I dislike Santorum so much; it may be because he comes off as such a slimeball, and normally votes exactly opposite of what is right for this country. Yeah, that’s probably it.
As it turns out, I was able to make it to the GOP party, but tired out before I could make it to the Dems. The mood there was fairly grim as more and more results popped up blue. I almost felt pity when I saw Priscilla Rakestraw’s sour expression thoughout the night, but giggled instead. I got to hang with Mike Matthews for a while, met John Allison of Kilroy’s Delaware and Ryan S. of Jokers to the Right, and generally had a fun time. A moment of note was when Mike and I inadvertently offended one GOPer by giving thanks for Santorum’s well-deserved loss. This got the GOPers notice, who then asked us why we were happy about that. I replied that I was happy he lost because Santorum is so sleazy. GOPer went away.

Another interesting moment had me chuckling and shaking my head in disbelief. As I was leaving, and having a cigarette outside the lobby, who pulls up but Nick Manolakos and his crew. I didn’t get to see his broken sideview mirror, but what I did see was a woman (I assume his wife) get out of the car, sees me having a smoke, wearing a shirt that can only be described as “snazzy”, and listening to my Tom Wagner interview from my voice recorder and asks, “Are you parking cars?”

UPDATE: I did not park the car.