Virginia GOP Congressman Scott Rigell Won't Endorse E. W. Jackson

Scott Rigell on left; E.W. Jackson on right

Ken Cuccinelli isn't the only Virginia Republican trying to disingenuously distance himself from the utterly insane, gay hating E.W. Jackson, the Virginia GOP's nominee for Lt. Governor.  Now Congressman Scott Rigell, who won re-election in Virginia's 2nd congressional district in 2012 largely to gerrymandering, is saying that he will not be endorsing Jackson for Lt. Governor.   Rigell - who helped lead the breakup of an Episcopal Church parish over the ordination of gays and who was personally endorsed by anti-gay hate group founder Lou Sheldon - claims that Jackson's anti-gay rhetoric is too extreme and offensive.  Yet meanwhile, Rigell says he will be endorsing Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli who holds basically the same anti-gay views as Jackson and who has even tried to uphold Virginia's sodomy statute not withstanding the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas.  Is Rigell an idiot, or does he merely think that Virginia voters are idiots who can be easily fooled?  Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot on Rigell's impossibly inconsistent position:

U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell, who has long espoused conservative views on social and fiscal issues, said this week that some members of his party are becoming too extreme and interfering with solving larger problems.

To that end, the Virginia Beach Republican said he won’t endorse his party’s lieutenant governor candidate, E.W. Jackson, in the November election because of comments Jackson has made about homosexuals.

Rigell, who opposes gay marriage but not civil unions for same-sex couples, indicated during a meeting with The Virginian-Pilot editorial board that Jackson’s anti-gay comments were unacceptable to him.

In the Virginia statewide election, Rigell said he supports the GOP candidate for governor, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, but won’t campaign for Jackson.

“His views with respect to the gay and lesbian community and homosexuality in general are not my own. I’m going to leave it at that,” Rigell said Monday. “What he said and, indeed, how he said it. All of it.”  The congressman said he did not want to elaborate on his objections.

Rigell was a cosponsor of legislation in 2011 urging President Barack Obama to uphold the federal Defense of Marriage Act . . .

[Jackson] has called gay individuals “frankly very sick people psychologically, mentally and emotionally.”  “Homosexuality is a horrible sin, it poisons culture, it destroys families, it destroys societies; it brings the judgment of God unlike very few things that we can think of,” Jackson said in an October 2012 broadcast interview with an anti-gay activist.

Rigell said he’s also more convinced – particularly after the recent state party convention – that not enough astute people are running for office.    “I am just seeing this disconnect,” he said. “We need high quality candidates across the commonwealth and across the country to set aside their personal life and have a season of public service.”

The last remark is ironic since it is the GOP base comprised of Christofascists and Tea Party cretins who are putting this lunatics on the ballot in the first place.   As might be expected, some of the spittle fleck Neanderthals of the local GOP base are not happy with Mr. Rigell based on their comments on the story.