When Is Barbara Comstock Going to Condemn Rush Limbaugh for Heinous Comments About Robin Williams?

You probably saw how right-wing opinion leader and hate radio star Rush Limbaugh said that Robin Williams committed suicide not because of depression, but because he had a "leftist world view." Seriously, he really said that. And, as if that wasn't bad enough, he elaborate on his offensive and insane "thoughts." What is the left's world view in general?...If you had to attach, not a philosophy, but an attitude to a leftist world view. It's one of pessimism, and darkness, sadness. They're never happy, are they?...[Liberals] are animated in large part by the false promises of America, because the promises of America are not for everyone...[Robin Williams] had it all, but he had nothing. Made everybody else laugh, but was miserable inside. It fits a certain picture or a certain image that the left has. [I'm] talking about low expectations and general unhappiness...Robin Williams felt guilty that he was still alive while his three friends had died young, and much earlier than he had...He could never get over the guilt that they died and he didn't. Well, that is a constant measurement that is made by political leftists in judging the country. OK, so I think we can all agree that this is sick, warped, demented s***. So, of course leading Republicans and conservatives have condemned Limbaugh and denounced these remarks, right?Actually...no. Pretty much "crickets" so far. And that includes from 10th CD Republican nominee Barbara Comstock, who earlier this year explained how she voted for Barack Obama (!) in the 2008 Virginia Democratic presidential primary over Hillary Clinton at the supposed behest of none other than Rush Limbaugh and his bizarre "Operation Chaos" effort. Of course, Comstock was either confused or lying (or both), because "Operation Chaos" didn't start until AFTER the Virginia Democratic presidential primary, and was actually aimed at getting Republicans to cross over and vote for Hillary Clinton, NOT Barack Obama. So, other than being either brain-dead stupid and/or wildly dishonest, Comstock  apparently believes - as the Washington Post put it - "that sucking up to Mr. Limbaugh, a vicious polemicist with a flair for toxic misogyny, gives her an aura of respectability." The Post concluded that "by jockeying to appeal to the most extreme fringe of the electorate, Republicans run the risk of alienating centrist, level-headed and educated voters in the 10th District." Now, Comstock's silence regarding Limbaugh's disgusting, fallacious smears about Robin Williams (and also about Democrats, liberals, progressives, etc.) just reinforces the points many of us made several months ago, when Comstock was caught in her bizarre "Operation Chaos" explanation: that she is at the "extreme fringe," wildly out of the mainstream, and has absolutely no business receiving the votes of any moderates, independents, or sane Republicans in the 10th CD this November. P.S. Don't hold your breath waiting for Comstock to condemn Limbaugh, as she's never condemned her other rabid endorsers like Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, and many others from the far-far-far-right fever swamps of American politics.

BREAKING: Gay Marriages Could Begin in Virginia on August 20

Great news from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which earlier today "denied a request to delay implementation of its ruling striking down Virginia laws denying marriage to same-sex couples." What this means is that, "unless the Supreme Court intervenes, couples may begin marrying and having their out-of-state marriages recognized in Virginia on August 20." (As AG Herring's office noted in an email a few minutes ago, "Under the rules of the court, the order is effective 7 days from the day it is issued, barring intervention by the Supreme Court of the United States which could issue its own stay.")One more thing this ruling means: (anti-marriage-equality-amendment author) Del. "Sideshow" Bob Marshall's head, along with a bunch of other right-wing homophobes' heads, are probably exploding right about now. :) Stand clear! LOL P.S. Of course, as it's been pointed out to me, it is quite possible the U.S. Supreme Court will issue a "stay," just as they did in Utah. Sorry to be a killjoy, or rather remind everyone that the Supreme Court could be a killjoy...

Video: Pat Robertson Says Eric Holder Behind Bob McDonnell Prosecution

Uh, riiiiiiiight...it's all a big conspiracy by the evil Obama administration against poor "Bobby"(Pat Robertson's nickname for former Governor and part-time Anatabloc salesman Bob McDonnell). Just keep in mind that Robertson is a top Virginia GOP donor. Also keep in mind that he's the guy who said that non-Christians are "termites;" that Episcopalians, Presbyterians and Methodists are in the "spirit of the Antichrist;" that Islam is "violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world, and world domination;" that Hinduism is "demonic;" that feminism is "a "socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians;" that a man complaining that his wife didn't "respect" him should "'move to Saudi Arabia,' where beating his wife would be permissible by law;" etc. So yeah, on one level, "what else is new?" But on another level, when you consider that this extremist nutjob was one of Bob McDonnell's main mentors and "dear friend" (Robertson's words)...well, it sort of puts it all into perspective, let's just leave it at that.

"Why is the Prince William County Clerk of the Court trying to demonize a constituent?"

I had an interesting exchange with Josh Israel of ThinkProgress this morning. See Israel's tweet (click to embiggen), including a screen shot of Prince William County Clerk of the Court Michele McQuigg's strange email to him, in which she informs him that she will be sharing his "private communication" (an idiotic comment by McQuigg in and of itself, as nobody who emails a public official with a FOIA request would ever expect that email to be "private," but whatever...). I asked Israel for further comment, and he responded as follows: After Clerk of the Court McQuigg's chief deputy [Bob FitzSimmonds] was again found to be making highly controversial comments, I reached out to McQuigg to see whether he spoke for her and where she planned to keep him in this position. A week and a half later, she has not responded to my question -- even after he resigned as treasurer for the VA GOP -- but she sent me this unusual email. I am well aware that my communications with public officials are subject to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, but have never before seen an elected official publicly shame a constituent for seeking these public documents. It is also odd to me that she identifies that constituent based on his partisan political role, rather than by name. Yes, it's odd, but par for the course from McQuigg, from everything I hear about her. Anyway, I then reached out to the individual whose name McQuigg refused to use - Prince William County Democratic Committee Chair Harry Wiggins. According to Wiggins, he's "gotten calls from about 7-8 people regarding McQuigg's email," with most of them seeing it "as an attempt at intimidation by McQuigg, particularly Muslims who have immigrated from countries where complaining may be lethal." Charming, eh? Not.Bottom line: McQuigg's behavior is completely unacceptable coming from a public official. Note that McQuigg has also not uttered a word of rebuke to her subordinate, Prince William County Deputy Clerk of the Court Bob FitzSimmonds (also long-time Republican Party of Virginia Treasurer; we'll see if he ever actually resigns from that position), for his anti-Muslim comments the other day. It almost goes without saying that she hasn't taken any disciplinary action against FitzSimmonds, up to and including dismissal from his position. Why not? At this point, one would have to conclude that McQuigg agrees with FitzSimmonds' views and has no problem with his behavior, including apparently writing his offensive diatribe during work hours, presumably from a Prince William County computer. As Prince William County Democratic Committee Chair Harry Wiggins notes, "The fact that [FitzSimmonds] posted the offensive diatribe while at the work place compounds the act." Yet far from terminating FitzSimmonds, "at a recent meeting of community leaders," McQuigg actually "attempted to defend him." Just appalling.

Study: VA GOP to Throw Away $14.7b of Medicaid Money, $6.2b for Hospitals, Through 2022

How much of our hard-earned tax money are Republicans throwing away simply because of their Obama(care) Derangement Syndrome? According to a new study by the Urban Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a s***-ton (yeah, that's a technial term - heh). In the 24 states that have not expanded Medicaid, 6.7 million residents are projected to remain uninsured in 2016 as a result. These states are foregoing $423.6 billion in federal funds from 2013 to 2022, which will lessen economic activity and job growth. Hospitals in these 24 states are also slated to lose a $167.8 billion (31 percent) boost in Medicaid funding that was originally intended to offset major cuts to their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. Insane, right? Nobody in their right mind would even think of doing that, you say? Well, think again -- Republicans are doing it all over the country, and for absolutely no good reason, as the Republican "Walking Mayor" (Adam O'Neal of Bellhaven, NC) has been explaining to anyone who will listen.And how about Virginia specifically? In addition to the 268,000 Virginians uninsured and not qualifying for coverage, we're talking about $14.7 billion of our own Medicaid money not coming back to Virginia between 2013 and 2022, plus $6.2 billion in hospital reimbursements lost. And again, why are we not getting this money, when Gov. McAuliffe wants it, Senate Democrats (and a small number of Republicans) want it, and House Democrats want it? Well, gee, who does that leave? Hint: they are led by House Speaker Bill "ALEC" Howell, Majority Leader Kirk Cox, Caucus Chairman Tim Hugo and Majority Whip Jackson Miller. Oh, and their party name starts with the letters "R-e-p-u-b" and ends in "l-i-c-a-n-s." Any more hints needed? ;) P.S. Click on image to "embiggen."

Video: Frank Luntz STILL Won't Admit He Should Have Disclosed His Lucrative Work for Eric Cantor

I guess it's not surprising that someone with the low, low ethics of Frank "Contract ON America" Luntz wouldn't understand the importance of disclosing $15,000 in consulting fees he received from his client, Eric Cantor, when he goes on the air to analyze the defeat of said client. But still, as even Fox News host Howard Kurtz noted, "I think you should have, because it just would have been leveling with the audience." Gee, ya think? Also, as Media Matters points out, "CBS has had repeated disclosure issues with Luntz, whose work for Republican candidates frequently creates a conflict of interest in his on-air analysis." So this isn't the first time, and it almost certainly won't be the last, with Frank Luntz - notorious for his Orwellian abuse/torture of the English language, such as pushing phrases like "death tax" (instead of estate tax) and "energy exploration" (intead of oil drilling), and for encouraging the Bush administration to "challenge the science" of global warming (which he recommended calling "climate change" because focus groups found it less threatening) - or with the Faux "News" propaganda network.

Rosalyn Dance Wins VA-16 Democratic Firehouse Primary

UPDATE 7:57 pm: @gmoomaw tweets, "3800 ballots cast + 156 provisionals. Higher turnout than expected."UPDATE 7:26 pm: Graham Moomaw tweets, "Dance had 45.4 percent. McQuinn = 36.2 percent. McCollum = 15.6 percent. Rawlinson = 2.8 percent" UPDATE 7:15 pm: According to Graham Moomaw, "Still waiting on final counts in #SD16 from @vademocrats, but Dance won by a comfortable margin...Dance/Petersburg victory is big shift in local Senate representation. Marsh, a Richmonder, held seat for 22 years" Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter Graham Moomaw appears to be the only reporter covering (at least on social media) the 16th Senate District Democratic "firehouse primary" today (the election is to choose a nominee to replace former State Senator Henry Marsh, who resigned/retired). Polls closed at 3 pm, and it's now nearly four hours later, yet there are no results that have been publicly announced. In fact, according to Graham Moomaw, "The last ballot box is stuck in traffic somewhere on I-95." Gotta love the fact that we're in the year 2014 and everything's gone to super-fast digital, right? LOL

Union of Concerned Scientists: Rooftop Solar as Cheap as Dominion VA Power Prices as Soon as 2015?

According to a new paper by the Union of Concerned Scientists, along with a blog post on the same topic, it appears that Dominion Virginia Power's days as an arrogant, polluting monopoly could be coming to a close here in Virginia. Why? Several reasons.1. Rooftop solar power is soaring, in large part because, between "2010 to 2013, the price of a typical household system dropped by almost 30 percent." (see graphic on the "flip" and laugh at fossil fuel industry tools/fools like Ken Cuccinelli, Dave Foster, etc., who completely don't - or won't - understand this) 2. "A typical system that might have cost $32,000 in 2010 may now cost $23,000, even before tax credits and other incentives; in leading states, the total final cost could be less than $10,000." 3. Rooftop solar power "might be poised to beat utility-supplied electricity...[i]n more than half the states, now or in the very near future." That includes Virginia, within the next 1-3 years. 4. What's even more amazing is that this could very well happen in Virginia in spite of the almost complete absence of state policies to encourage rooftop solar (or renewable energy, energy efficiency, etc.). Add in those policies - the Union of Concerned Scientists suggests "net-metering and value-of-solar tariffs...state renewable electricity standards and solar carve-outs, plus tax incentives" - and Dominion Virginia Power's top-down, screw-the-environment/blow-up-the-mountains, customers-have-no-choice model could collapse practically overnight (unless Dominion Virginia Power actually got off their lazy butts and adapted to the changing market -- I know, god forbid, right?). Now, here are a few added bonuses to Virginians switching to rooftop solar power. First, after grid parity is reached in the next 1-3 years, it is highly likely that the price of solar power will continue to fall, while the price of fossil-fuel-generated electricity will stay the same or rise, which means that Virginians who switch to solar power will save money. Second, of course, solar power emits zero carbon - thus helping fight global warming - or other pollutants (lead, cadmium, sulfur dioxide, mercury, etc, etc.), nor does it require blowing up mountains and severely harming rural communities and ecosystems in the process. Third, if Virginia actually adopts half-decent policies, Virginians could have the option of achieving these benefits by leasing, thus incurring no up-front cost at all (or by saving money on their "green" mortgages). So what the heck is the Virginia General Assembly waiting for, with regard to passing half-decent (or better) policies encouraging a clean-energy revolution in Virginia? Simple: our fine system of legalized corruption, on display right now in the McDonnells' trial, which allows entrenched, powerful, wealthy incumbent industries and companies like Dominion to buy off our "democracy," screw our environment, and laugh all the way to the bank. Of course, given what the Union of Concerned Scientists believes is about to happen here in Virginia with regard to solar power parity, it's quite possible that it won't be Dominion Power that has the last laugh on this one. :)

Audio: Dave Brat Says Theocratic Bigot EW Jackson has been "an inspiration to me, to the country"

Earlier this week, 7th Virginia Congressional District Republican nominee Dave Brat, the Tea Partier who stunningly defeated Rep. Eric Can'tor in the June 10 primary, joined one of the most extreme, bigoted, theocratic people in America for a friendly little chat. That would be our old pal E.W. Jackson, the 2013 Republican Party of Virginia nominee for Lt. Governor who quickly became infamous for comments like these (note: this is just a VERY small sampling; there are hundreds more):*"The 'homosexual religion' is the most virulent anti-Christian bigotry & hatred I've ever seen." *"The homosexual movement is a cancer attacking vital organs of faith, family & military - repositories of traditional values." "I do not believe Obama is the anti-Christ. But "Christians" who follow Obama would probably follow the Anti-Christ. Are they Christians?" *"The Ku Klux Klan did not do nearly as much to destroy black life as Planned Parenthood has done." *"Liberalism and their ideas have done more to kill black folks who they claim so much to love than the Ku Klux Klan and lynchings and slavery and Jim Crow ever did, now that's a fact." *"Homosexuality is a horrible sin, it poisons culture, it destroys families, it destroys societies, their minds are perverted, they are frankly very sick people psychologically and mentally and emotionally" *"The Democrat Party has become the godless, anti-Christian, anti-faith, anti-Bible, anti-family, anti-life party." *"What we're facing right now is a situation where slowly but surely Sharia law is creeping and it's crazy. And that's where I think this president, given his druthers, would like to see us go." *Yoga and meditation lead "Satan...to invade the empty vacuum of your soul and possess it. The slime and insanity goes on and on. As I said, this guy's one of the most extreme, crazy, hate-filled, theocratic bigots in America today. Yet for some reason, Dave Brat was happy to join him the other day for a chat. Among other things, Jackson and Brat gushed over each other, with Jackson praising Brat's victory ("my wife and I just absolutely rejoiced"), and how "elated" he is that "godly man" Brat will have "the courage to stand up for the foundational principles of this nation without equivocation and without apology and without compromise." Given what Jackson thinks those "foundational principles" are (hint: the polar opposite of what they actually are), this one deserves a ice-cold shuddderrr. The question, though, is whether Brat agrees with Jackson. And based on this call, it sure sounds like it. One indication: Brat doesn't express disagreement with Jackson on anything (when he ought to be condemning Jackson's divisive, disgusting views). Another indication: Brat heaps praise on Jackson, about whom Brat says: I couldn't be more proud to be on your show today with you Bishop Jackson, because your life story has just been...is rejuvenating and full of life as the campaign we're trying to run right now. You've been an inspiration to me, to the country. We all know it comes from your faith, and that gives you an energy that we all admire and I'm proud to be on your show today... Brat also agrees with Jackson on the insane, 100% false proposition that "as soon as you mention ethics or god...of course you take flack for that...we love our enemies." In reality, of course, almost nobody I've ever talked to has a problem with candidates speaking about their ethics or faith, per se. What many of us DO have a problem with, and a big one at that, is people twisting and hiding behind their religious beliefs to justify the type of hateful - homophobic, racist, whatever - comments (and policies) Jackson makes/advocates for repeatedly, and the theocratic vision of America they espouse. That's something many of us find frightening, antithetical to our constitution and pluralistic system, and highly troubling.By the way, I find it fascinating that Jackson cuts off the audio before the listener questions, which indicates to me that something went on there that Brat and/or Jackson thought might be harmful to Brat (e.g., he expressed the types of views in the types of ways that Jackson does?). Anyway, I hope that now this audio is out, that the Jack Trammell campaign - which has been strangely quiet for weeks now (failing to capitalize on the tremendous attention he got after Brat's upset win, not building his social media following, etc.), and has yet to lay a glove on Dave Brat for whatever reason - uses this material to "out" Brat as the far-right extremist he clearly is. Brat certainly deserves it, as he would be a disaster for his district, his state and his country in Congress.

Mike Hamlar, 19th District State Senate Candidate

by Dan Sullivan

There is a refreshing candidate in Southwest Virginia ready to take on Ralph Smith for the 19th District state Senate seat. Mike Hamlar is a Roanoke native who excelled at athletics in high school, earning a football scholarship to Wake Forest. Returning home he's become an established high energy local entrepreneur.Mike has three businesses. He is a third generation co-owner of Hamlar-Curtis Funeral Home which has been serving the community for 62 years. In 2009, Michael started Hamlar Enterprises, which is a business brokerage firm. The firm has engaged in multi-million dollar deals across the region, handling mergers, business acquisitions, business evaluations etc. In 2012, Michael and his wife, Katina, established Hamlar Properties, which is a property real estate firm that manages and oversees real estate transactions. Mike is also an adjunct professor at American National University in Salem, VA. He has been recognized by The Blue Ridge Journal as one of the "Top 20 leaders under 40." At Wake Forest University Mike played football under Jim Caldwell and was on the Seattle Bowl championship team that defeated the University of Oregon. He is accustomed to winning and wants to take this race to the Republican incumbent, Ralph Smith. A family man with three young children, Mike is faith-driven and confident that he can win this race. That will be a task. Mike likes to say that if you look at the 19th district, it is as though his one-year-old drew it. It encompasses part of Roanoke County, all of Floyd County, all of Salem, part of Montgomery County, all of Wythe and Carroll Counties, and part of Bedford. From end to end it stretches about 120 miles from end to end, not the way the crow flies, but the way the SUV drives, and it takes at least three sweeps to hit every location in it. That is why he has started early. He plans kickoffs in every locality. Recently appointed by Governor McAuliffe to the Secure Commonwealth Panel, Mike is involved in the community both in business and local civic organizations like the Kiwanis Club, so he is hardly starting from a standstill or without connections. And quite frankly it seems he is always in motion, with clear aims. Right now his goal is to become as well known throughout the district as he is in Roanoke. He is certainly well liked among local Democrats. His priorities are education, Medicaid expansion (which he hopes is accomplished before he makes it to the Senate), and economic development. He points out that a program like Marketplace Virginia would create 30,000 jobs while providing necessary preventive healthcare. Not yet the official Democratic nominee, he is eager to gain that distinction so that he can focus solely on Republican Smith.