No Longer a Party of “Law and Order,” or “Limited Government”

by Andy Schmookler 

Remember when the Republican Party was the “law and order” party? Yet now, we have the spectacle of the two leading contenders for the Republican 2016 presidential nomination, on the very same day, speaking out in support of committing crimes.

That’s not how they put it, of course. But when Donald Trump says of the Black Lives Matter protester who was knocked to the ground and kicked and beaten at a Trump rally that "maybe he should have been roughed up” because his conduct was “disgusting,” that's what it means. Because, according to the law, we citizens do not have the right to assault our fellow citizens just because we are disgusted by their behavior. We can summon the law to remove someone who is disturbing the peace, but the conduct that Trump is defending constituted the crime of assault.

And then there’s the other Republican front-runner, Ben Carson. In an interview on ABC, when asked if he supports Donald Trump’s recommendation that the United States resume "waterboarding" (aka, torture), Carson “wouldn't rule out torturing terrorism suspects.” Carson regards  ruling out torture as nothing more than “political correctness.” But it is not political correctness, it is the law. The practices Carson speaks of as serious options to consider are, in fact, clear violations both of federal statute and of international treaty obligations agreed to by the United States.

Law and order is not what you get when the government deliberately violates the law, or when a partisan aspiring to power condones a criminal attack against a fellow citizen. Back before the middle of the twentieth century, the world got to see what resulted when bullies hostile to real democracy beat and intimidate their opponents, and when a regime pursues its goals without regard to its legal and international obligations. Law and order is a high value to true conservatives. But there’s nothing truly conservative about today’s Republican Party.

Video: Rep. Gerry Connolly on Anti-Muslim Rhetoric -- "My god, why not write copy ads for ISIS while we're at it?"

The following comments by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) are spot on, which is why it's so confusing why he voted for the anti-refugee, Orwellian-named, egregiously awful "SAFE" Act the other day. I really don't get it. Anyway, with that, here are some highlights from what Rep. Connolly said today in the House Foreign Affairs Committee "about the need for America to remain a welcoming nation, live up to our American values, and resist divisive, hateful rhetoric."

We need to resist simple answers, especially the simple answer of bigotry. It seems to me that if you want to help ISIS recruit, some of the statements that have been attributed to some candidates for national office are the perfect advertisements for that recruitment. Muslims, don't let any of them in. We've got to close all the mosques. This is a clash of culture. My god, why not write copy ads for ISIS while we're at it? What a recruiting assist those inflammatory and incendary words are, and in my opinion, they do not represent the values of America. 

You know, we had a sad and tragic episode in our history, and it was in response to...Pearl Harbor. And it is almost universally seen in retrospect as one of the most shameful episodes in American history, when our reaction to the sneak attack by the Japanese government on Pearl Harbor was to intern Japanese-Americans in camps because they could not be trusted...We didn't live up to our values...to our own ideals as a country...the reaction was not something commensurate with the threat and certainly not consistent with our values. 

It's easy right now to pander...to play to fears. You want to have a pause on refugees, people fleeing the very violence we're trying to stop? Well why stop there? Let's have a pause on all immigration, because who knows who might be in their numbers...And while we're at it student visas, tourists, god only knows how many people could sneak in as touurists... 

We as elected officials have a responsibility, it seems to me, have a responsibility to calm fears...not to exploit those fears...not to demonize any group of human beings, however popular it might be at the moment to do so...It doesn't serve us well, and that's not our finest moment, and that's not as Lincoln said, appealing to the better angels of our nature.

Video: Budget Fireworks on the Arlington County Board!

by Lowell

This past Thursday, there was a heated debate at the Arlington County Board meeting over an "attempt to change the way that Arlington County deals with money left over after the fiscal year." It sounds esoteric, even a bit boring perhaps, but as you can see from the video, the actual debate was anything but boring, with Chairman Mary Hynes  - who is retiring as of January 2016 - as angry as I think I've ever seen her (the Washington Post article by Patricia Sullivan says that Hynes "turned red in the face as she objected to the proposal not to spend fiscal year 2015’s unused money on priorities such as economic development, land acquisition for schools, maintenance for existing infrastructure, housing grants and loans, and police staffing and fire training").

That proposal by two Arlington County Board members -- Republican John Vihstadt and his close ally, Democrat Libby Garvey -- was (rightfully) met with exasperation, incredulity, scorn and even anger (listen as Mary Hynes gets angrier and angrier as she speaks) by the other three Board members (Jay Fisette, Walter Tejada and Mary Hynes, the latter two of whom are leaving the Board in January 2016). Here are a few excerpts; enjoy! :)

Monday News: Donald Trump's Supporters Cheer as Their Hero Lies, Demagogues, Advocates Violence, Goes Full Racist

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, November 23. Again, note that the graphic Trump tweeted out is wildly false and racist. In fact, "According to the most recently released set of crime statistics from the FBI (which are from 2014), 82 percent of white homicides are committed by other white people, while black offenders account for just 14 percent of white homicides.” This guy Trump is beyond pathological, as are his supporters.

• Donald Trump: My Fans Were Right To Beat Up Black Protester
• Donald Trump Tweets Fake, Racist And Wildly Inaccurate Murder Statistics
• We Found Where Donald Trump's "Black Crimes" Graphic Came From ("So there you have it. Donald Trump is posting racist imagery that comes directly from neo-Nazis.")
• Charles Blow: Anti-Muslim Is Anti-American (Big time.)
• Trump’s outrageous claim that ‘thousands’ of New Jersey Muslims celebrated 9/11 attacks ("There is absolutely no evidence of the celebration cited by the candidate.")
• America’s leaders are hurting the nation’s image ("Standing strong against terrorism includes avoiding self-inflicted wounds." Headline should say REPUBLICAN leaders, by the way, as it's 99% them making the wild, false, bigoted, irresponsible comments.)
• Trump won't rule out independent run for president
• Poll: Trump retakes lead, Cruz surges in IA; Rubio second in NH (All three are exremists. Add in Carson and that makes four. Not a "moderate"/non-extreme bone in any of them.)
• The poisonous fear of Donald Trump: A recent history of the most politically destructive emotion ("Donald Trump has risen to the top of the GOP field by stoking the fear of the right. Here's what it means")
• Brussels on lockdown as British PM pushes for more action against Islamic State
• Macri topples Argentina's Peronists, tough reforms ahead
• Editorial: Virginia high court blocks the sunlight (Wow, what is this, the third day in a row I've agreed with the Republican Times-Disgrace editorial board? LOL)
• Virginia Retirement System benefits to get review by General Assembly (For starters, divest from fossil fuels; they're bad for the environment and a bad long-term investment as well.)
• Meeting about Virginia mosque exposes deep divide ("The Islamic Center of Fredericksburg received letters and gestures of support after protesters interrupted a hearing on a plans to build a bigger mosque.")
• UMW poll shows candidates for governor are relatively unknown ("Among registered voters, 9 percent had a favorable impression of Gillespie, 9 percent had a negative impression and 77 percent said they had not heard enough to express an opinion. For Northam, 8 percent of registered voters had a favorable impression, 4 percent had an unfavorable impression and 82 percent said they didn’t know enough about him to form an impression.")
• D.C. area forecast: Cold start to week, but mild by Thanksgiving

Did Virginia Dems Fail to Take Back the State Senate Due to Highly Questionable $$$ Allocation in Closing Days of Election 2015?

by Lowell

Heading into the November 3, 2015 elections here in Virginia, the strategy for Democrats to take back the State Senate was as clear as it was a no brainer: 1) make sure not to lose any of the seats currently held by Democrats, specifically those of Sen. John Edwards and retiring Sen. Chuck Colgan, both of which were considered vulnerable; and 2) pick up the ONE open seat where we had a serious shot -- that of retiring State Sen. John Watkins (R) in Richmond/Chesterfield/Powhatan.

That's all there was to it, really, although certainly if - and ONLY if - the Senate Democratic caucus (headed by Leader Dick Saslaw,pictured above) had strong evidence all of that was locked down, then - and ONLY then -  they could have justified tossing some resources towards a race not in categories #1 or #2, let's say a Democrat taking on a Republican incumbent in a purplish/reddish district.

Just to emphasize, let's list the State Senate races that clearly should have received every last dime of Democratic Senate Caucus resources unless/until they were 100% locked down.

1. District 21 (Roanoke area), where State Senator John Edwards (D) faced a tough challenge from Republican Nancy Dye and independent Don Caldwell.
2. District 29 (Manassas, Woodbridge, Dale City, etc.), where State Senator Chuck Colgan (D) was retiring, meaning this was a competitive, open-seat race between Democrat Jeremy McPike and Republican Hal Parrish.
3. District 10 (Richmond/Powhatan/Chesterfield), where State Senator John Watkins (R) was retiring in a "purple" district, making this the one Democrats needed to pick up, assuming we held all our incumbents, to get to 20-20 in the State Senate. The main candidates here were Democrat Dan Gecker and Republican Glen Sturtevant.

Again, one would expect that 100% of Senate Democratic Caucus and allied groups' resources in the closing couple weeks of the 2015 elections would have flowed to these three districts. What, in reality, actually happened? According to VPAP, the Senate Democratic Caucus/allies did indeed pour large sums of money into those three races. For instance:

Sunday News: Republican "Diaper Dave" Vitter Loses for LA-Gov, Add Another State (not Virginia) to the Medicaid Expansion Rolls

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, November 22. Also, check out the video: "In the #REALROANOKE, we can hate terrorism and LOVE EACH OTHER at the same time!" Exactly. Also, great job by Del. Sam Rasoul (D) for being a big-time leader in fighting back against bigotry, xenophobia, etc.

• John Bel Edwards beats David Vitter to become Louisiana's next governor (Great news, can't wait to see the Washington Post lead headline, in big font, about how Democrats kicked butt last night, just like they had after Republicans won the KY governorship on November 3. Oh wait, there isn't such a headline? From the supposed "liberal media?" I'm shocked! shocked I say!)
• David Vitter won't run for his U.S. Senate seat again (Good riddance to "Diaper Dave," a slimeball and a right winger, great combination! Heh.)
• Louisiana Just Voted to Give a Quarter of a Million People Health Care ("Edwards has pledged to sign an executive order authorizing the expansion of the program on his first day in office." Yep, elections have consequences! Also note that Louisiana will soon have expanded Medicaid, while Virginia will not have. Great, huh?)
• 'The Statue of Liberty Must Be Crying With Shame'
• Clinton moves to end the primary quickly ("As her rivals gasp in Iowa, the front-runner is locking down later states.")
• Carson loses his hold on Iowa’s conservatives ("Worried about security, these voters are shifting toward Ted Cruz." Having just listened to Cruz on E.W. Jackson's crazy conference call the other day, I can definitively say that the guy is a stark raving extremist, theocrat, bigot, etc.)
• Editorial: Don't bar refugees from ISIS violence (Another editorial from the highly conservative Richmond Times-Dispatch.)
• Punch the lying bullies in the nose: Trump, Cruz and GOP know-nothings only win when Democrats cower — or provide an echo ("Here's how to fight war-mongers, bigots and the rest of the right with toughness, smarts and actual reality")
• After 2012, the GOP Set Out to Be More Inclusive. What Happened? (Short answer: inclusiveness and tolerance are NOT where the Republican base's heads are at.)
• Obama: U.S. 'will not relent' in Islamic State campaign (Good, although we also need to address the root causes of groups like Daesh/ISIL, such as failed governance and corruption.)
• Schapiro: Terror attacks ripple through Va. politics ("Brian Schoeneman, defeated this spring for a Republican nomination for a seat on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, drew the ire of conservatives for his post on the GOP blog Bearing Drift in which he complained that Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina are spouting myths about Syrian refugees." True, but Schoeneman also wrote that he would vote for Trump if he's the Republican nominee. Hmmmm.)
• Cole: Virginia needs Medicaid expansion
• Bills rolling in, 2016 Virginia General Assembly nearly here (Most of them are by Republicans, and not surprisingly most of them are really bad.)
• Another tie-up on I-66 ("To ease traffic, Virginia’s governor offers a rational plan, while Republicans stand up for lawbreakers.")
• Hinkle: States play gambling Monopoly (Lotteries are simply regressive taxes; anyone who plays them is just throwing their money down the toilet.)
• Whitbeck Responds to Stimpson, Moulton Attacks (Isn't Republican infighting awesome?)
• 2 accused of race war plot tied to version of Asatru rising in Va. prisons (White, right-wing, certainly-not-Muslim domestic terrorists.)
• Roanoke finds itself at the center of national Syrian refugee debate (Uhhhhh...this article doesn't mention Del. Sam Rasoul (D) but it DOES mention Del. Greg Habeeb (R)? WTF?)
• D.C. area forecast: A chilly Sunday and Monday, then warming toward Thanksgiving

Virginia, Maryland, Delaware Electric Cooperatives Actively Push Climate Science Denialism

by Andy Schmookler

As customers of the Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative, we get the magazine Community Living (“published 10 times a year by the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives, and is distributed to over 490,000 homes”). The most recent issue contained a letter – the latest of many they’ve published questioning climate change – that so offended my wife (April Moore) that she prevailed upon me to write the magazine to protest. So I did, thus: 

In your Nov-Dec issue, you published a letter so chock full of the-earth-is-flat misconceptions that I am writing not to dispute the letter itself but to question why Cooperative Living would give space to such a misguided and misinformed letter on its pages.

I am referring to the letter that expresses outrage at the way the “false science” behind “climate-change myths” is being used as a “tyranny to control electric cooperatives.”

Now that

• over 99 percent of scientists, all over the world, who know the most about the earth’s climate system are agreed about the scientific validity of the problem of man-made climate disruption (and never in history has there been a scientific “hoax” of anything like this magnitude);
• 13 of the hottest 15 years on record have all been since the year 2000;
• it is well-established that the impetus behind climate-change denial comes from a deliberate attempt to deceive the public and prevent action to meet this challenge – a campaign funded by the fossil fuel companies, including Exxon which has now been shown to have known the truth about the problem since the 1970s;

one would think that responsible citizens and organizations would want for us to get beyond the falsehoods contained in that letter, and move our discussion toward the question of how best to meet this major challenge.

Indeed, some major publications have adopted the policy of refusing to publish such demonstrable falsehoods. The Los Angeles Times, for example, decided on that course, declaring that “Saying ‘there’s no sign humans have caused climate change’ is not stating an opinion, it’s asserting a factual inaccuracy.”

But Cooperative Living has been publishing these science-denying messages regularly for years. Why? Do you publish every single letter you get, without exercising any editorial discretion?

One might reasonably suspect that the way you have consistently provided a forum for these messages is connected with your own strong connection with the fossil fuel world. Is that the reason?

It is understandable that a company would want to protect its short-term profits. But, when the overwhelming body of evidence suggests that the well-being of our children and grandchildren depends upon our acting responsibly now, one would hope that such a sense of responsibility will outweigh the power of corporate greed in a publication like Cooperative Living.

Video: Roanoke Mayor David Bowers Apologizes for His Remarks About WW2 Japanese-American Internment Camps, etc.

by Lowell

Courtesy of WDBJ7.  At first, I thought he was going to stick with the standard non-apology "apology" ("to all those offended by my remarks"), but he gets stronger as he goes along. Still, I can't comprehend how he ever could have said what he did in the first place...just mindbogglingly stupid. Also, I hope Bowers' idiocy hasn't hurt Roanoke, which certainly doesn't deserve to be hurt by one guy's bizarre comments, even those comments were made by their mayor...

Saturday News: Rubio Out-Trumps Trump; "Stop the bed-wetting over refugees"

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, November 21. Also see the White House weekly address, this time by VP Joe Biden about how "in the face of terror, we stand as one." Biden also debunks dangerous myths about how Syrian refugees - mostly women, children, orphans, survivors of torture and persecution  - are screened (hint: it's slow and intensive) before they are allowed into our country. Biden: "To turn them away and say there's no way you can ever get here would play right into terrorists' hands...Earlier this year, the top ISIL leader...revealed the true goal of their attacks...'compel the Crusaders to actively destroy the gray zone themselves.'...They want to manufacture a clash between civilizations." Don't let them get away with it.

• Brussels put on high alert, officials warn of ‘imminent threat’
• Mali hotel attack: Hunt for three suspects
• Paris and Mali Attacks Expose Qaeda-ISIS Rivalry
• New York Times' Paul Krugman Calls Out Conservatives' "Bizarre Reaction" To Terror Attacks ("Krugman: 'The Same People Now Hyping The Terrorist Danger' Of Syrian Refugees In Right-Wing Media Also Hyped The 'Greatly Exaggerated' Ebola Scare Of 2014.")
• A surprise in Syria’s civil war that could be bad news for the Islamic State ("Diplomatic negotiations are making progress.")
• Democrats push to prevent gun sales to terror-list suspects (No brainer, except to the NRA and its puppets.)
• Louisiana voters will pick their next governor Saturday (Despite a bunch of polls in this race, I'd still say "Diaper Dave" Vitter has got to be the favorite in this deep-"red" state. We'll see if Democrat Johgn Bel Edwards can pull an upset, but I'm not holding my breath.)
• The shadows of a new American fascism: Why our surging xenophobia could have some very dangerous consequences ("Trump is calling for a Muslim database. Congress is passing anti-refugee legislation. What is going on in here?")
• Republicans Launch New Offensive to Take Down Donald Trump
• Veteran GOP Operative Joins Politico In 'Unconventional' Hire (Yep, there's that "liberal media" again. Heh.)
• Rubio Trumps Trump: Shut Down Any Place Muslims Gather To Be ‘Inspired’ — Not Just Mosques (Rubio is appalling.)
• Ebola, Syrian Refugees, And Fox News' Annual Hysteria Over Dark, Invading Forces
• McAuliffe middle of the pack in gov-by-gov approval poll
• History repeats itself in Syrian refugee debate, Virginia college professors say ("Hampton Roads professors argue the current debate over whether to admit Syrian refugees into the United States is nothing new.")
• Editorial: Stop the bed-wetting over refugees (This editorial is by the right-wing Richmong Times-Dispatch. Amazing.)
• Cruz is fifth GOP hopeful to submit signatures for Virginia's presidential primary (This guy's a theocrat, bigot and all-around extremist. How is Ted Cruz any better than Donald Trump? Got me.)

Virginia Senate Dems Elect Leadership Team, Including One That Really Surprised Me

by Lowell

I'm told that Virginia Senate Democrats today elected their leadership team. To me, the biggest surprise was that they elected Sen. Chap Petersen as Vice Chair. More on that in a second. Other than that, Democrats reelected "legally corrupt" conservadem Sen. Dick Saslaw (gack!) and as Senate Minority Leader and Sen. Donald McEachin (good!) as Senate Democratic Caucus Chair.  Finally, Senate Democrats Whips reelected Sen. Janet Howell as Senate Minority Whip, and elected Sen. Jennifer Wexton as Minority Whip as well. Both of those are strong choices, IMHO.

As for Chap Petersen, I'm surprised because he's written and said things, the past few months in particular, that had me wondering if he'd even stay in the Democratic Party, let alone be elected to leadership. That includes a recent rant, "College Students So Angry?", in which he wrote:

...the current round of college "protests" seem to presume that the USA is (and has always been) a racist, homophobic, hate-filled dystopia, rather than an enlightened democracy that provides more opportunities for persons of different racial and ethnic backgrounds than any society in the history of the world.

(Can you name another white-majority nation where a man named "Barack Obama" would be elected President -- twice?) What is most striking is that these protests occur at elite campuses, which show the most excessive deference towards "marginalized" populations, i.e. anybody except white men -- who are less than 30% of the population now and dropping fast.

Yet that deference does not solve any problems or appease anybody, it simply creates a sense of entitlement which fuels more demands. Caught in this vicious cycle, campus politics increasingly hinges on the expression of faux outrage at symbolic "incidents" -- usually verbal and nearly always anonymous -- which are subject to fetishizing and embellishment. People that don't "emphathize" with this outrage are targeted for professional destruction.

Sadly, this pseudo-movement for "social justice" bullies those very people that actually ask tough questions -- such as, did this alleged insult actually happen? Were you really offended? Or why do you get to censor your peers? It's already had an effect on campus journalism, which used to be a place you could freely express yourself. Now, not so much.

Frankly, this millenial McCarthyism has become a national embarrassment. And it's time for true liberals -- yes, we know who we are -- to call it out. In conclusion, my statements are those of a "privileged white male" (a status so critical to my identity that I passed it on to none of my children). But I'm only what the Lord created and it all turns to dust in the end. While I'm here, I'm going to speak the truth, even if you hate it. That's what it means to be a leader, not a follower.

So protest away young people! But let other speak also. Just remember, if you think that your life as a student is too awful to bear .... We can always bring back the draft.

Chap(!) also frequently rants against "political correctness," continually claimed a false equivalence between the two parties, defended the name of the Washington NFL team (which many, myself included, believe is offensive if not racist), battled with Atif Qarni (who Chap incorrectly called "Middle Eastern" for his Washington Post op-ed about how he was treated by Sen. Saslaw and others), etc. So hey, maybe putting Chap(!) in leadership will help keep him from bolting to the Republican Party? Just a thought.