If the dreary weather wasn't enough to make for a Saturday morning funk, predictions on Tuesday's elections here in Virginia would be enough on their own to instill a major funk and near fear. Especially, if one is a rational, thinking citizen and even more so if one is black, gay, Hispanic, non-Christian. Basically a member of any one of the list of minority groups the GOP base would like to exile from the Old Dominion. If the GOP wins control of the Virginia Senate, there will be no stopping the extremism that will run wild in Richmond. I cringe to think at the celebrations at The Family Foundation if the Democrats in the Senate can no longer stop the worst of the Christianist agenda so loved by Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell and Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli. Victoria Cobb will be so excited she'll likely wet herself. So much for passage of any remotely LGBT favorable legislation. And the efforts to disenfranchise blacks and other minorities will likely accelerate under the false mantra of preventing "voter fraud." A piece in the Washington Post looks at the sad state of affairs. Here's a sampling:We might need to reconsider the now-conventional view that the Northern Virginia suburbs are a bulwark against the extreme conservatism embraced in rural areas and elsewhere in the state. I say that in light of the recent news that the Loudoun County GOP sent out a Halloween e-mail depicting President Obama as a zombie with a bullet hole in his forehead.
In a newly created Senate district in western Loudoun and Prince William counties, even Democrats concede that outspoken conservative Dick Black will probably prevail.
A former delegate, Black is best known for sending plastic models of fetuses to legislators before an abortion vote. Of his career highlights, however, my personal favorite was his “nightie” explanation of why a husband couldn’t be convicted of raping his wife.
“I do not know how on earth you can validly get a conviction of a husband-wife rape where they are living together, sleeping in the same bed, she’s in a nightie, and so forth,” he said in a General Assembly debate on a spousal rape bill.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. . . . . Democrats also were optimistic because they thought they’d be able to beat some of the hard-line conservative Republicans who won primaries with tea party support.
Today, the GOP is confident of picking up enough seats to win control of the Senate, and it hopes to end up with at least a 23 to 17 majority. Democrats sound increasingly despondent and acknowledge that they’ll have to sweep all the close races to retain their sway. A Republican victory would give the party complete dominance in Richmond.
The GOP has surged ahead mainly because Virginia independents have turned decisively against Democrats in general since 2009, according to politicians and strategists for both parties. That results from unhappiness with the slow economy and high public spending, mainly by the federal government. It drives Democrats crazy that they’re suffering at the state level for the party’s problems in Washington.
One of the reasons I am so harsh with Obama is because his spinelessness and failure to use his pulpit to denounce the GOP is a major factor in the negative political trends in Virginia. I realize that state and national party issues should not be linked, but sadly too many Virginians are too stupid to realize that they will ultimately be voting against their own best interest, And for us LGBT Virginia, it will be increasingly impossible to move forward toward full citizenship except through court battles.
1 comment:
Buck up Michael. As we've discussed before there are idiots and extremist on both sides of the political divide.
Just as Obama hasn't brought about the end of the world as hard line Conservative Republicans swore he would, neither will Republicans in Virginia bring an end to the existence of gay people, blacks and the poor in the Old Dominion.
Some reading this comment might say that Obama has damn near brought about the end of the world as we have known it. My reply is he's done his part, but he had help in crashing the economy. The crash actually took place before he took office and was the result of over spending, under taxing and too much of a hands off attitude with regulation of Wall Street. Even we, the American People who bought what we knew or should have known we couldn't afford in housing and other items contributed and did our part.
The Republicans you fear so much will never be able to implement all the things they talk about in their campaigns. They may not even want to implement them. It is well known that Democrats tend to campaign from the Left and govern from the center while Republicans campaign from the Right but also tend to govern from the center.
Buck up, leave your funk behind and get out and enjoy your weekend.
Jack Scott
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