Daily Whackjob

Governor Kaine, we’re through. Done. Finished.

You told me you would deliver land use reform, but you caved to the developers instead. You could have been our first environmental governor, but you caved to Dominion instead. You could have vetoed the transportation compromise last year and made the Republicans eat that disaster, but you caved instead. You could have been a real force for progressive values in Virginia, but you repealed the estate tax, made compromises with the Republicans on 2 budgets and have nothing to show for a legacy regarding the environment or education.

But not endorsing Leslie is the last straw. Connelly is bought and paid for by the same people who bought and paid for Tom Davis. We will have another corporatist Democrat representing a safe seat where instead we should have a real fighter against executive power and an advocate for progress. Instead of following a progressive conscience, you followed the money.

And that is unforgivable. Adios, governor. I’m sure you’ll find a nice cushy executive position waiting for you on the other side. Maybe it will compensate for the loss of your soul.

Make a contribution to Leslie’s campaign at ActBlue. We’ll show the governor who really runs this party.

Andrew Sullivan on the Democratic race:

[...] what is striking in the exit polls is the polarization on three lines: gender, race and age. It was dead even with men; but a massive advantage for Clinton among women. The racial difference is obvious as well. But what really leaps out is age. Obama lost every cohort over 40; Clinton lost every cohort under 40. Race also affects the generations in turn: 67 percent of whites over 60 voted for Clinton - a massive 24 point advantage. Among the younger generation, there is much less racial polarization: under 30, whites split evenly. This is a fascinating result. It appears to me as the future struggling to overcome the past. On the process, I stick to my view that she needed double digits to have reason to stay in. Right now, she doesn’t have it. But she won’t leave. She will never leave. Ceding to someone younger is unthinkable to her. It’s a form of death for her.

But here’s what she does have: total shamelessness, and an absolute belief that she is the rightful nominee. Shamelessness: the appropriation of the message and even the words of her opponent; the portrayal of one of the most privileged and advantaged candidates in memory as an insurgent underdog; the eager embrace of the tactics - and message! - of the Rove right if it could help in any way; the picture of a candidate who saw a 20 - 25 point lead dissipate into single figures as a candidate for momentum. What sustains her is this deep, deep sense of entitlement and an absolute refusal to let the next generation take over.  She will take this to the last day of the convention if necessary.

If Obama thinks he has a right to actually be nominated by the Clinton Democrats because he has won more votes, more states and more delegates, he is sadly mistaken. They will never let such a person win without a death struggle. And that is where the Democrats are now headed.

Do I think a Democrat has to win working-class votes to win a general election? Yes. Do I think America is more racist than sexist? Yes.

But am I 25 years old and convinced the baby boomers have to get off the stage before we can fix anything? Absolutely. Go Obama.

April 14, 2008

Dear Senator Obama:

May I call you Barack? I don’t know you and you don’t know me, but you are following me on Twitter now, so perhaps we can have a friendly conversation. It won’t take long.

Barack, after 2004 there was one Democrat I wanted to be our next president and one I absolutely did not want to be our next president. You aren’t either of them. Al Gore is the first one and by now you’ve probably figured out who the other one is.

I looked at you, Bill Richardson, Mark Warner and John Edwards. Then Warner dropped out and I decided to back Edwards. But he and Richardson have dropped out too. So really, Barack, you’re my fifth choice at this point. But you’re not, you know, the other one.

Until Pennsylvania you were doing great - big wins in Virginia and Maryland and hanging close in states you were supposed to lose by huge margins. But something happened in the Keystone State, and now you and I, well, we have problems.

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… this would be an “I’m done blogging. See ya.” post. But I’m not. So it isn’t. Well, not exactly.* Continue Reading »

“… we need more black people.” Here a DWJ we are striving for a show of diversity. Too bad we don’t have an Asian to boot out of the way to make room.

I understand that the Obama campaign didn’t create this page, but good grief, it’s almost like being endorsed by NAMBLA or Hitler.

DISCLAIMER–Before someone blows this way out of proportion: I do not believe Obama supports NAMBLA or vice versa. And, no, I did not just call Obama Hitler. This is also not to suggest that Obama is a member of the New Black Panther Party or supports them. I also don’t find Hitler, NAMBLA, or the New Black Panther Party funny.
This has nothing to do with the ODBA. It’s about OBAMA. No D and an extra M and A. And, yes, you should all feel very insulted that I felt the need to say all that.

“Why I Am No Longer a ‘Brain-Dead Liberal’”

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There’s been no denying my (at times) harsh criticism of strict religious orthodoxy. For far too long the rhetoric of those that would call themselves “religious” has not matched their deeds. Wearing faith on ones sleeve has been more PR for politicians than a guiding set of principles for how they actually live and treat their fellow man. These trends have left me with a bad taste about organized religion in general. And I realize that I have been unfair in these judgments.
And yet, I personally still do not find adherence to a strict set of orthodoxy a prerequisite for being a “good” person. My path has meandered at times closer to, and farther from, a closeness to a higher spirit. Perhaps one day I will fully embrace a religion, but for now I do not, and the dude abides.

I’ve also struggled with accepting organized religion as a power structure in America. I think that I try to be accepting and tolerant of an individual’s choice of beliefs.* But I do not care for the characterization that largest religion in the world is a “victim” just because every last soul doesn’t adhere.

But enough about me and my shortcomings. The intention of this post is to express that my eyes have been opened to a new perspective. And at the core is reconciling how to once again become comfortable and confident in politicians that embrace their faith. Progressive politicians in particular have largely avoided discussion of their faith. And thus are defined by the right as Godless and immoral.

So I urge you to take the time to watch the following video speech by Barack Obama. True leadership is inspiring people to change and act. Obama very eloquently conveys a true sense of genuine leadership by taking a divisive issue head-on, and bringing people together.

(*I still think it’s absurd to attempt to make science answer questions of “why,” and religion to answer questions of “how” about life.)

Of the three Republicans left, I like Ron Paul the best. He is the one that most closely represents what I like:

• Secure the border and let more immigrants in legally
• Prolife
• Low tax and low spend
• Tax credits for education your children
• Against Federal Marriage Amendment
• Government not in charge of health care
• There’s more, but this is enough

But I really don’t think he has a snowball’s chance. (I can feel Mad Hatter making evil eyes at me.)

So that leaves Huckabee and McCain. The rantings against John McCain by certain SWACistan bloggers makes me want to vote for him, but I’m not going to let them dictate who I vote for. So I think Huckabee is my next best choice. I just wonder if he has any better of a chance than Paul.

During one of the three Sunday talk shows he appeared on, it was noted that his prospects for getting to that magic number were virtually impossible.

If this is the case and we really are stuck with McCain, maybe it would be best to vote for a Democrat. After all, if McCain it the nominee, the “Real Republicans” will flock to the Democratic candidate and there will be a donkey in the White House.  This would be my only chance to help decide which Democrat we end up with.

What do you think? Does Huckabee stand a chance?* Is Hillary or Obama better than McCain? I am leaning toward Obama right now but only because he is a man and has out that lovely “yes, we can” video. And what happened to Romney’s delegates?

*Don’t tell me to vote Huck just because he isn’t McCain. I want real numbers to show that he could win. And don’t give me any of that If everyone votes for him, he will win stuff. I don’t want your fantasies; I want reality here.

UPDATE: I just heard that Huckabee will be at the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport this afternoon. Maybe I’ll head on down and see if JMax ends up on the floor again.

…Ann Coulter will not only vote for Hillary but campaign for her as well.

I think Jmax must be sobbing into his pillow right about now.

So let’s say you’re a Democrat in the House of Delegates. Your party just finished a massive attempt to win majorities in the House and Senate, spending millions of dollars in the process. You’ve also seen your party win back-to-back gubernatorial elections and look likely to win back-to-back Senate elections. One of your leaders in the House has all-but-announced his candidacy for governor, and others will run for LG and AG. Not a bad hand … how do you play it?

How about sponsoring a bill that will could either cost your colleagues labor’s financial and volunteer support and risk primary fights, or lose business support, major contributions and perhaps elections?

Doesn’t sound that bad? Well, if you don’t have a majority in the House, and House Republicans are simultaneously furious at your party’s audacity and petrified they’ll lose the majority, they might use their lock-step party discipline to, I don’t know, f@#$ you over (safe for work, not for squeamish Democrats).

Democrats, let me speak frankly to you, OK? A lot of trends are going your way, especially in NOVA and the general area east of Richmond (what am I supposed to call it, Tidewater? Hampton Roads? Virginia Beach? Southeast Virginia?). Your party has a bad habit of throwing a lot of money at the same races over and over again, but you’ve won races in spite of yourselves. If you can put together a good budget in lean times without raising taxes, show leadership on the environment and conservation, and do something substantial on immigration, you’ll win all the statewide races and the House of Delegates in 2009. The Republicans are demoralized, divided and desperate.

Here’s what you should do: DON’T SCREW IT UP. Stop handing the House Republicans rope - they know how to tie nooses (don’t ask me where they learned to that, they’re just really good at it). If your bill will in any way embarrass your colleagues, especially colleagues who won with less than 55% of the vote, withdraw it immediately. Now is not the time to show your slavish devotion to the myriads of special interests who sent you questionnaires during your campaign. Now is the time to sit back and wait for the Republicans to self destruct.

The Republicans are the anti- party - they are only united when they are fighting against something. If you would stop giving them opportunities to beat you up, they might have to come up with their own ideas - and while they try to do that, the 2009 elections will have come and gone and you’ll be in power. So stop self-destructing and let them remind Virginians why they voted for you last year.

P.S. One more piece of advice, completely free. Find the meanest sonofabitch in the party, teach him (or her) every arcane procedural rule in the House of Delegates (steal Bob Marshall’s book if you have to), and pay him/her to text message objection ideas to Ward Armstrong during session. There’s no reason you can’t make Speaker Howell’s life miserable like the Republicans made former Speaker Moss miserable. If they want to get nasty, retaliate by challenging every single ruling and make the House slow down to a crawl. Sure, you might miss your precious legislative receptions because the House stays in session until midnight. But in 2010 you’ll be in the majority and you can do whatever the hell you want. Just don’t screw it up, OK?

How do I block certain sponsored links from appearing in the “Web Clips” box above my e-mails? Because I’m really tired of seeing this ad appear every 3 seconds:

Brian Moran - www.brianmoran.com - Democratic Leadership for Virginia’s Future

(I copied that straight from Gmail, so if you click the link it will probably cost Delegate Moran money. Just a thought.)

Got a call today from Fieldworks, which made me excited until I realized I hadn’t applied to work there. They were calling about a job, but not a cool job - they were hiring folks to collect petition signatures to put Hillary Clinton on the primary ballot.

I declined. I’m not lifting one finger to help Clinton* - she has tons of money, she has Bill and she has Babs. She’s also not a progressive. Finally, even though I’m not a huge fan of our two party system, I definitely prefer two parties to a two family system. A Bush or a Clinton has been president or a heartbeat away for 28 years, longer than I have been alive. Change please!

However, I also find it interesting that the Clinton campaign is scrambling to gather enough signatures only 66 hours before the deadline (Friday at 5 p.m. in Richmond). I heard that there is at least one DNC staffer gathering signatures down Chesterfield way.

“Inevitable” be damned. I don’t care if Clinton did win the little man’s straw poll - not having petitions done at least a week ahead of deadline is sloppy campaigning. I for one hope she doesn’t get on the ballot (of course I hope she’s out of the race by February 12, but if wishes were horses we’d all have stables, right?) just to prove to Democrats across the country that if winning is all they care about, go with the candidate with the real Southern accent, not the fake one.

*I will not differentiate between the primary and general election. If progressives are going to be in charge we have to make sure non-progressives aren’t. Giving back the  reins of power to the Clintons would mean the end of “People Powered Howard” at the DNC and four more years in Iraq. I cannot and will not support that.

Republicans report that they enjoy better mental health than Democrats and Independents.

This could mean one of two things:

Republicans are mentally healthier than Democrats

Republicans are too delusional to evaluate their mental health accurately

With 37% in the scariest costume contest. Second place goes to Giuliani with 14%.

Congratulations!

because he is too lazy to post it himself. Darn kids these days.

I took one look at this chart and wondered why the Democrats were so low. Then I saw that it was done by the Legislative Action Arm of the FAMILY Research Council. That explains it. The “F” word.

Take the DWJ straw poll. If you have no clue who to vote for this may be a help.

Obviously he has been corrupted by the liberal left.

[A big thank you to Senator Deeds for taking the time to answer all our questions.]

Creigh, thanks for coming. Are you running for Gov in 2009?

Comment by Whackjob

Right now I’m focused on the 2007 elections and what I believe is an excellent opportunity for the Democrats to take control of the State Senate. As for 2009, I’m sure things will become much clearer with the passage of time.

Creigh, thank you for visiting.

I did not make it to this Blogs United this year, but I did read a copy of your speech. I thought it was insightful and right on the money. What inspired the thoughts within?

Obviously you’re hip to Virginia political blogs. Which ones do you visit regularly and find informative and/or entertaining? (hint Daily WhackJob!)

Do you feel harmfully partisan or rude relations between bloggers have the potential of keeping highly regarded guest speakers from attending future BU conferences?

Will you please run for Governor of Virginia in 2009?

Comment by zen

Thank you for your kind words. I was inspired by my own experience as a member of the General Assembly for the past 16 years. There have been many changes in that time, and I’m sad to say they haven’t been for the better. The vicious tone and the partisan political games of today haven’t always been the norm. Just like when I was first elected to the House of Delegates, bloggers are relatively new to the political debate. If I could go back and give myself one piece of advice it would be: keep it civil and keep it about what’s best for the people of Virginia. My speech at Blogs United was an attempt to keep you all from heading down the dangerous path that many of our leaders in Richmond and Washington have already taken.

I always start my day with the Daily WhackJob, and any other blogs I read are because I’ve followed links from there.

I think it’s possible that blogs could become so rancorous that it would deter future speakers, but I doubt it. Blogs are open to everyone and I would hope that there are enough voices out there to drown out the hateful rhetoric with thoughtful debate.

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I like to think I don’t agree with Democrats when it comes to things like sex, but this just makes sense. Actually telling kids the truth about it.  The title of the article caught my attention, “Sex Ed for Kindergarteners ‘Right Thing to Do,’ Says Obama”, and I thought I was once again going to find yet another reason I don’t send my kids to school.

I was surprised to find that I agree with Obama on this. If a kid asks where babies come from you should tell them the truth and not make up stories about storks or cabbage patches. Of course, it should be kept age appropriate, but I feel that if they are old enough to be curious and ask then they are old enough to know basic facts.

Makes me wonder what is being taught now.

I usually don’t mind critters hanging around my home, especially if they feed on mice and insects, but when my dogs get sprayed with Eau De Skunk three times within the last month it is time for action. Next week I will be trapping a skunk.

Greg, want to bring your camera down here and document the event for posterity.