Delaware Outlaws Child Marriage (& The Other 49 Should)

(Image is from meandmysuitcase.com.)

Should children (those under the age of 18) get married? I think most Americans would say no. And most think child marriage is a problem in some foreign country. That is true, but it is also a problem in the United States. Believe it or not, until just a few days ago, child marriage was allowed in every state in the Union.

Last week, one state broke that abominable tradition. Delaware outlawed the marriage of anyone under the age of 18. Those marriages can't legally happen, even with the permission of parents or a judge. Delaware Representative Kim Williams said:

Children under 18 have no legal standing–they cannot file for divorce, utilize a domestic violence shelter, apply for a loan or open a credit card. They cannot enter any legal contract, but until this bill was signed they could be married as a child without any way of escaping an abusive marriage.

That makes a lot of sense. We consider those under 18 to be too young to purchase or use alcohol, too young to vote, too young to buy tobacco (or marijuana in states where it's legal), and too young to buy a firearm. Why then, would we think they are old enough to enter into a marriage? Marriage comes with many inherent problems -- problems it is difficult enough for adults.

Some might ask -- What about a pregnancy? That sounds to me like a failure of parents and schools, who should have provided the teens with adequate information about effective contraception. That aside, if abortion or adoption is not being considered, there is still no need to force or allow a child marriage. Both young people must assume responsibility for the financial well-being of the child, but no marriage is needed for that. And marriage could be a bad thing for children not ready for the responsibilities that come with it.

Others may ask -- What about "true love"? Bullshit! Most adults can't understand what constitutes "true love", and most teens confuse acceptance, intimacy, and sex as evidence of love. It isn't. And if it does happen to be "true love", it will still be that when both of the young people turn 18.

Delaware is not the only state that has attempted to outlaw child marriages. Tennessee and Kentucky tried, but their efforts were blocked by right-wing Republicans who said it violated their religious freedom as christians. These are the same people who claim to be guardians of "family values", but I fail to see how allowing or forcing children to marry has any value at all -- religious or otherwise.

There is no legitimate excuse for child marriage. A civilized country should know that.

April 26th States Make Their Presidential Preference Known

Yesterday's five-state primary turned out to be a big night for Hillary Clinton, as she won four out of the five states. She won big in Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. She also won a closer victory in Connecticut. Bernie Sanders rather easily won Rhode Island.

Here are the results for each state:

CONNECTICUT
Clinton...............52%
Sanders...............47%

DELAWARE
Clinton...............60%
Sanders...............39%

MARYLAND
Clinton...............63%
Sanders...............33%

PENNSYLVANIA
Clinton...............56%
Sanders...............44%

RHODE ISLAND
Clinton...............43%
Sanders...............55%

But the important part of the night was what happened with the delegate totals. Here is how that stands, with some of Tuesday's delegates still to be determined (according to NBC News):

Primary/Caucus Delegates
Clinton...............1594
Sanders...............1297
difference...............297

Total Delegates
Clinton...............2117
Sanders...............1330
difference...............787

That means Hillary Clinton just needs to get 266 more delegates to win the nomination, while Bernie Sanders needs 1,053 more delegates. There are now 10 states left to vote (plus the District of Columbia, Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico).

Delaware U.S. Senate Race Looks Safe For Democrats

While some states are still toss-ups between the Republicans and Democrats in their battle to control the Senate, Delaware is not one of them. In his first re-election effort, Democrat Chris Coons seems to be cruising to a victory. He currently holds a 15 point lead over Republican Kevin Wade, with only 12% of voters undecided. That means if Wade got 100% of the undecideds, he still would lose. I wish all the Democrats running were in this good shape.

These numbers are from a new Rasmussen Poll -- done between September 10th and 12th of 750 likely Delaware voters, with a margin of error of 4 points.

An Eleventh State Legalizes Equality

Last week the state of Rhode Island voted to legalize equal rights in that state, when they made same-sex marriage legal starting this coming August 1st. Now less than a week later, another state has done the same thing. On Tuesday, Delaware became the eleventh state to make same sex marriage legal.

The bill passed its final hurdle Tuesday afternoon, when the state senate voted 12 to 9 to pass the bill. Governor Jack Markell signed the bill that same day -- and legal same-sex marriages can begin to happen in Delaware as early as July 1st.

Governor Markell said, "It's a great day in Delaware. I am signing this bill now because I do not intend to make any of you wait one moment longer."

This is thrilling news -- that there are now 11 states and the District of Columbia that believe equal rights should be extended to all citizens. Maybe someday soon the words "equality under the law" will become a reality in the United States, and not just an unfulfilled dream.

Romney Moves Closer To GOP Nomination

The GOP nominating process marches on, as Willard Mitt Romney won another 5 states last night. Here are the results from those states:

DELAWARE (99% reporting)
Mitt Romney...............16,057  (56.59%)
Newt Gingrich...............7,659  (26.99%)
Ron Paul...............2,984  (10.52%)
Rick Santorum...............1,676  (5.91%)
Others...............0  (0.00%)
TOTAL VOTES...............28,376

CONNECTICUT (96% reporting)
Mitt Romney...............36,690  (65.74%)
Ron Paul...............7,903  (14.16%)
Newt Gingrich...............6,034  (10.81%)
Rick Santorum...............4,035  (7.23%)
Others...............1,148  (2.06%)
TOTAL VOTES...............55,810

RHODE ISLAND (99% reporting)
Mitt Romney...............8,228  (63.31%)
Ron Paul...............3,088  (23.76%)
Newt Gingrich...............789  (6.07%)
Rick Santorum...............734  (5.65%)
Others...............157  (1,21%)
TOTAL VOTES...............12,996

PENNSYLVANIA (99% reporting)
Mitt Romney...............286,272  (56.90%)
Rick Santorum...............97,560  (19.39%)
Ron Paul...............66,053  (13.13%)
Newt Gingrich...............53,216  (10.58%)
Others...............0  (0.00%)
TOTAL VOTES...............503,101

NEW YORK (91% reporting)
Mitt Romney...............93,669  (62.22%)
Ron Paul...............23,787  (15.80%)
Newt Gingrich...............19,520  (12.97%)
Rick Santorum...............13,574  (9.02%)
Others...............0  (0.00%)
TOTAL VOTES...............150,550

As expected, Willard Mitt Romney (aka Wall Street Willie) swept all five states and took most of the delegates (but not quite all). That's not the interesting part. The interesting part is that even though no candidate can now keep Romney from winning the nomination (although it will likely take him another month to clinch it), there is still a strong anti-Romney segment of Republican voters out there. These voters are not yet ready to fall in line and accept Romney as their candidate.

The five states that voted yesterday were likely going to be Romney states -- even before Santorum suspended his campaign. And yet, 34.26% of Connecticut voters, 36.69% of Rhode Island voters, 43.10% of Pennsylvania voters, 43.41% of Delaware voters, and 37.78% of New York voters all voted against the presumptive GOP nominee.

MSNBC.com led with the headline last night that Romney had kicked off his general election campaign. That seems a little premature to me. It looks like he still has work to do in getting his own party behind him. I still think many of the anti-Romney voters could vote for a third party or just stay at home on election day in November.

Another State Legalizes Same-Sex Civil Unions

Another small step has been taken to assure equal rights for all Americans. Last month the Delaware legislature passed a bill guaranteeing the right of same-sex couples to a "civil union" (which would give them the same rights and protections of a married couple). Governor Markell has now signed the bill into law, and it will go into effect on January 1st.

Markell said, "This bill is about a new energy and excitement. It's about a moment in our history that came about because people came together to work for it, because it became clear that Delaware's LGBT community is in fact part of every Delaware community. The greater good is served when we speak out and fight hard when we see that bias, prejudice or even outdated laws attempt to lessen any one of us."

Delaware is the eighth state to legalize same-sex civil unions (or marriages). The others are Hawaii, Illinois, California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and New Jersey. And it brings us one state closer to fulfilling the American dream for everyone. There is still much work to be done -- not only for homosexuals, but also for women and minorities -- but even a small step is a good thing.

Christine O'Donnell - Teabagger Criminal

By now you probably know that the teabaggers in Delaware have decided they would rather have a nut as their candidate for the United States Senate than a Republican moderate with a good chance of winning.   They have nominated Christine O'Donnell, in spite of the fact that her Republican opponent was leading the Democratic candidate in all the polls.   Now O'Donnell is the Republican candidate and trails that same Democrat by double digits.

O'Donnell is just as nutty in her beliefs as the other teabagger candidates -- Sharron Angle (Nevada), Rand Paul (Kentucky) and Joe Miller (Alaska).   They have all taken the lead of their teabagger queen, Sarah Palin, and refused to do interviews with the mainstream media. I really don't blame them because the real journalists would ask about their nutty beliefs like social security being unconstitutional, repealing health care and abolishing Medicare, abolishing the Education Department, giving massive tax breaks to the rich, or teaching creationism in science classes.

But O'Donnel has another reason to avoid all the media except for Fox News (who won't embarrass one of their own with difficult questions).   She has been accused of criminal conduct.   She can't afford to be questioned about that before the upcoming election.   

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed a couple of complaints against O'Donnell.   CREW is accusing her of using more than $20,000 dollars in campaign funds for her own personal expenses -- things like rent, gas and food.   A former O'Donnel campaign aide, David Keegan, has filed a sworn affidavit attesting to these charges.

O'Donnell's 2008 campaign manager, Kristen Murray, also backs up the charges saying,   "As O'Donnell's manager, I found out that 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."

Lending credence to the charges is a political disclosure form filed by O'Donnell.   It says that she only had $5800 in income from March 2009 through June 2010 (16 months).   I don't see how any human can live on that and pay her bills without government help like welfare and food stamps (which she says she didn't get).   

The Delaware teabaggers screwed up.   Instead of nominating a fringe kook for elected office, they have nominated a criminal.   Let's hope the decent people and voters in Delaware are smarter than the teabaggers who have taken over the Republican Party in that state.