Daily Press Slams Randy Forbes; Forbes to Disingenuously Rent Apartment in Virginia Beach

4th District Congressman Randy Forbes who seeks to be a carpetbagger in Virginia Beach

My former law school classmate Randy Forbes continues to show the extent to which some elected officials will go to put their personal interests ahead the interests and well being of their constituents. Two stories looks at Forbes' self-centered agenda.  First, WAVY- looks at Forbes' plan to rent an apartment  in Virginia Beach in lieu of purchasing a home in the 2nd Congressional District (can we say cheap?) so that he can claim with at least a somewhat straight face that he lives in the District even though 100% of his past ties are in Chesapeake/.the 4th District.   The second piece is an editorial from the Daily Press which basically rips Forbes a new one.  Here are highlights from the WAVY TV piece:

10 On Your Side has confirmed Congressman Randy Forbes (R) 4th District is now in the process of renting an apartment in Virginia Beach.

His Campaign office told WAVY Forbes and his wife “have put down a security deposit and look forward to spending a great deal of time there.”

Forbes’ Communiction Director Hailey Sadler did not say where the apartment is.  Three sources confirm Forbes is getting an apartment at the Mayflower Apartments on 34th Street. Mayflower would neither confirm nor deny the Forbes application to rent an apartment.

Hailey Sadler also says, “Randy and Shirley intend to retain their generational home nine miles outside of Virginia Beach.”

That house is located in Chesapeake in Forbes current district.

Congressman Forbes is switching districts from the 4th where he lives in his Chesapeake home to the 2nd which represents mostly Virginia Beach.

He is running against Delegate Scott Taylor/(R) 85th. Taylor responded to our story “His first political plan of abandoning his people for a better district while living in Chesapeake has failed. Now he wants to try to deceive everyone by renting an apartment? Everyone knows Randy Forbes lives in a big house in Chesapeake, not a small apartment in Virginia Beach.”

It is unsure whether Forbes can and will move his voting precinct to Virginia Beach.

Del. Taylor has repeatedly said, “How can you vote for Randy Forbes who can’t even vote for himself?”

While I generally shun Republicans, it should be noted that Forbes's opponent for the GOP nomination, Del. Scott Taylor, is one of the few Republicans in the Virginia General Assembly who is NOT a homophobe.  Meanwhile. an editorial in the Daily Press slammed Forbes for his shameless opportunism and desire to stay in offence at the cost of the best interests of his constituents.  Here are excerpts:

Instead of a district that resembles a squashed salamander and purports to say bits and pieces of Newport News, Norfolk and Richmond connected by strips of mud along the James River shore make up a community, we will get something different from redistricting.

It's a basic question when lawyers look into something: Who gains?

Lawyers, being lawyers, have to ask it in Latin — they say "Cui bono" — but the point can't be obscured by a dead language. And the point was clear as Fourth grade English when the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about the court-ordered redrawing of the 3rd Congressional District last week.

Who benefits if the Supreme Court eventually throws out the redistricting?

Members of Congress. The one name that kept coming up in last week's arguments before the Supreme Court was Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake.

The lawyer for the Virginia members of Congress who challenged the lower court's redistricting argued several times that redrawing the map injured Rep. Forbes.

"Every time your district is changed and you believe it hurts you, you have a right to go to court and say what?" Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked at one point.

"He suffered injury-in-fact to what?" asked Justice Anthony Kennedy, referring to Rep. Forbes.

"To his ability to be re-elected," the delegation's lawyer said.  Huh?

So members of Congress are special. Their rights to that $174,000-a-year gig, and to districts carefully crafted to ensure re-election, are different than yours. Your right, that is, to a vote that matters to our Capitol Hill solons, most of whom romped home to re-election in 2014 with a 20-percentage-point margin from their carefully gerrymandered districts.

Here's the dirty little secret about congressional redistricting in Virginia: The General Assembly enacts it, but it does so with the wishes of members of Congress uppermost in its mind.

And now there's this: Risking an election loss is an injury — an injury! — to our professional politicians.  Nonsense.

The real injury lies in an environment where politicians don't risk losing elections.  The injured parties here are Virginia voters. We're injured when elected officials no longer have to listen to us because they are so secure in their seats.

Ouch!  But the truth is that the editorial is 100% on point.  Forbes has no right to be assured of re-election.  For years he has had a handcrafted safe seat which has allowed him to be re-elected while doing little or nothing for his constituents and pandering to the most lunatic fringes of the Christofascists in the GOP base.  It is far past time that Forbes be forced to participate in a competitive nomination and election process.  If the voters don't want the theocratic crap that he is peddling, then he deserves to be defeated and forced from office.  

Randy Forbes to Change Districts to Save His Job

I have known 4th District Congressman Randy Forbes for almost 40 years and the man has gotten crazier and more of a religious extremist with every passing year.  Now, with his district redrawn to undo some of the GOP gerrymandering of Virgina's congressional districts, Forbes has announced that he will physically move his residence and run for the 2nd District seat being vacated by Scott Rigell.  It apparently never crossed Forbes' mind that he could be competitive in the redrawn 4th District if he shed some of his right wing Christian lunacy and focused on issues that matter to voters outside of knuckle dragging Christofascist circles.  One can only hope that the Democrats find a strong candidate to challenge Forbes who is not well known in the 2nd District outside of Republican circles.  A Virginian Pilot editorial takes some shots at Forbes.  Here are excerpts:

U.S. REP. RANDY Forbes announced Monday that he’s running for Congress again. But after 15 years in Virginia’s 4th District, Forbes is jumping to the 2nd Congressional District, based in Virginia Beach. He said he’s seeking the seat U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell is vacating to keep the power of a House Armed Services subcommittee in the hands of a Virginian.

In his announcement, he never mentioned that he’s abandoning the Chesapeake district he’s represented since 2001 — the district where he was born and grew up — to have a better chance of remaining in Congress.

He didn’t mention that the district that was drawn specifically for him in 2002 — a district so solidly Republican that Forbes has had only token opposition in his re-election bids — has been redrawn by the federal courts and is now more Democratic.

The conservative congressman, who touts his protection for the unborn, his A rating from the NRA and his stands for religious liberty as important identifiers, would have a hard time defending his record successfully in the redrawn 4th. He’d also have to defend his sponsorship of only one piece of successful legislation: To rename a post office.

This effort at self-preservation is why drawing districts for Congress and the General Assembly should be the responsibility of an independent commission, not lawmakers seeking to maintain jobs for themselves and their political allies. State lawmakers drew a safe seat for Forbes in 2002 and again in 2012 by packing African American voters from Richmond to Norfolk into the 3rd Congressional District.

The Conservative Review describes Forbes this way: “Forbes is primarily a backbencher, except when it comes to national security issues, which are his passion. ... He is also a leading voice warning against the rise of China as a global power. He formed and chairs the Congressional China Caucus which studies the rise of China.”

Forbes’ legislative battles and abiding passion have centered on social issues, an unnecessary and divisive distraction in a Congress marked by its inability to do anything constructive.

With the courts’ redrawn districts, Forbes had an opportunity to defend the record he’s compiled in his home district and the clout he’s accumulated. Instead of fighting for what he believes in, Forbes fled next door.

I hope Forbes' gambit fails and that he is voted out of office in November.  Hampton Roads needs a serious, objective reality accepting member of congress.  That doesn't describe Forbes.

The Code Behind Todd Akin’s "Legitimate Rape" Statement

The media continues to be awash with stories and commentary on Republican U. S. Senate nominee Todd Akin's vile statement on "legitimate rape."  As it should be.  Particularly because Akin is merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of the actual attitude now pervasive in the GOP which is bigoted and chauvinistic towards women.  Other groups such as gays and Hispanics receive only bigotry without the chauvinism.  The good news is that so far Akin refuses to withdraw as a candidate and therefore will keep this radioactive aspect of GOP policy front and center.  Akin is the face of today's GOP.  The Washington Post has a main page editorial that calls out Akin and his GOP brethren who despite their protestations to the contrary are engaged in a war against women.  Here are excerpts:

LITTLE WONDER that Rep. Todd Akin, the Republican nominee to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate, is trying to back away from his comments about abortion and rape. So ignorant and offensive were his remarks that members of Mr. Akin’s own party, including its presidential standard-bearer, issued strong condemnations, though it took them a while to get strong enough. Mr. Akin was utterly unconvincing in explaining that he “misspoke.” It is scary that someone so ill-informed could hold elective office or have a chance of becoming a senator.

To suggest there are different categories of rape — some real and awful and others that are not — is loathsome. Even from someone who would liken student loans to Stage 3 cancer, as Mr. Akin once did, the comment was stunning in its stupidity and insensitivity. 

At first, Mr. Akin issued a statement saying that he “misspoke” and his “off-the-cuff remarks” didn’t “reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year.” The explanation was hard to square with the fact that opposition to abortion has been a core tenet of his time in office — the issue isn’t new to him, in other words — and that he expounded on his thoughts during a lengthy interview with KTVI’s Charles Jaco.

Unfortunately, Mr. Akin’s remarks are not the first, nor are they likely to be the last, in a long-running effort to downplay the horror of rape as a way to restrict access to abortion. Garance Franke-Ruta of the Atlantic catalogued how anti-abortion politicians, since at least 1988, have used the canard of “legitimate rape” or “assault rape” in efforts to restrict and outlaw abortions. What they’re really saying is that not all rape victims are victims, and so we shouldn’t worry if they have to deal with unwanted pregnancy.

Earlier this year, every House Republican and 16 Democrats voted for a bill that would have rewritten the rape exception in federal abortion funding bans by inserting the phrase “forcible rape,” words eerily similar to Mr. Akin’s notion of “legitimate rape.” Among the 227 co-sponsors was Rep. Paul Ryan, now Mitt Romney’s running mate. The bill never made it to the Senate floor; let’s hope the same will be said for Mr. Akin and his unacceptable views.

As noted in a post yesterday ALL of the Hampton Roads Republicans in Congress backed the "forcible rape" bill.  Every one of them,  including Scott Rigell of the 2nd Congressional district.  I hope women in Rigell's district wake up to the level of contempt Rigell has for them and vote for his opponent.

Senate Democrats Force Vote on Ryan Budget - Five Republicans Defect

The Senate Democrats lost no time in applying fire to the feet of Senate Republicans in the wake of the disastrous loss of the New York 26th Congressional district special election where the heavily GOP district elected a Democrat. As I've noted before, the GOP's delusions of having a "mandate" when they clearly do not is not a new phenomenon. It's post 1994 all over again. The New York Times looks at the Senate Vote this evening. Here are highlights:

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Less than 24 hours after their surprising victory in the race for a vacant House seat, Democrats forced Senate Republicans on Wednesday to vote yes or no on a bill that would reshape Medicare, signaling their intent to use the issue as a blunt instrument against Republicans through the 2012 election.
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Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, brought the legislation to the floor so that Senate Republicans would either have to vote for it, exposing them to attacks from Democrats and their allies, or against it, exploiting growing Republican divisions on the issue.
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Five of 47 Senate Republicans voted against it — four because they said it went too far, one on the ground that the budget measure that contained it did not go far enough fast enough to address the budget deficit.
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The House Republican Medicare plan would convert it into a subsidized program for the private insurance market. When they proposed it last month as the centerpiece of their budget plan, Republicans were confident that the wind of budget politics was at their backs. . . . . With polls and angry town hall meetings suggesting that many voters were wary of a Medicare overhaul if not opposed, party unity and optimism have given way to a bit of a Republican-on-Republican rumpus.
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[A]fter a 2010 election that seemed to signal not only a Republican resurgence but also a rejection of big government and a need for bold, Tea Party-type steps to slash spending, the politics now look much more complicated. Both parties are being reminded anew that voters like the idea of budget cuts, but that they often recoil when those cuts threaten the programs that touch their lives.
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Three of the Republicans senators who voted against the House plan on Wednesday are moderates from Northeastern states: Scott P. Brown of Massachusetts and Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine. A fourth, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, won re-election in November as a write-in candidate after being defeated in the Republican primary.
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It will be interesting to see where the GOP moves on the budget issues and whether they can find the backbone to defy the lunatics of thr Christian Taliban and the Tea Party - twin Frankenstein monsters created by the GOP leadership who put short term expedience ahead of any long therm plan.

Vote on Tuesday - If Only to Cancel the Votes of These People

The video set out below lays out a good reason to vote and it's not because one necessarily is happy with the Democrats. No, instead it is so that the candidates that these people - Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and the Christofascists - support do not get elected. Plain and simple. We need to get past Tuesday and then find ways to punish our hapless, spineless "allies." True, it's not a great position to be in, but the alternative is far worse. Here's the video:

Jessica Sandlin - 2nd District Non-Gay Hating Republican

On June 8, 2010 the Republican Party will hold a primary to nominate the candidate for the GOP ticket to oppose incumbent Democrat Glenn Nye. Under Virginia's election laws any registered voter can vote in this primary - something that I encourage every reader in the 2nd District to do. The field of primary candidates consists of five men - including Ken Cuccinelli want to be Scott Rigell - and one woman, Jessica Sandlin. At last Thursday's third anniversary event of HRBOR, Jessica was the only Republican candidate to attend. Unlike the male contenders, Jessica Sandlin is a moderate on social issues and does not see the LGBT community as a group that should be kept as second class citizens.

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Between speaking with her at the HRBOR event, reviewing her campaign website, and a telephone interview today, Jessica Sandlin comes across as the type of Republican that I was myself a number of years ago before I left the GOP after it began to be co-opted by the Christian Right. Indeed, she's the type of Republican my entire family once was before the religious extremists turned the GOP into a defacto sectarian party. The AltDaily has a good interview with Jessica that I also recommend that can be found here. Here are highlights from Jessica's response on LGBT rights issues:
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If we get the government out of the marriage business altogether, and we call it civil unions, we can leave “marriage” for churches. I support equality- equal access to the courthouse. The church calls marriage a vocation, a work, and it is a powerful institution. I believe that two adults who love each other should be able to enter this institution, but having said that I do not want to legislate our churches. We are purely talking about the civil side.
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We know that spouses take care of each other and take a burden off the taxpayer dollars, and so it is the fiscally conservative position to support two people who want to live as spouses. It is part of the American tradition to foster self-sufficiency; we don’t believe in letting government do as much- we’d rather encourage volunteerism and let people write off donations to non-profits. Given this, it makes societal sense to support spousal relationships- they improve the welfare of all of society.
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I think the fact that the gay and lesbian community cannot ID one phrase for this union (civil marriage, civil union, domestic partnership) points out the difficulty. I don’t care what we call it. I am just for equal and equal. I am pro-family.
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I plan on voting for Jessica on primary day and hope that others will join me in doing so. We do not need more religious extremists and macho ex-seals in Congress. Likewise, we do not need another anti-gay Republican seeking political office.

Thelma Drake Concedes to Glenn Nye

With all the last of the absentee ballots counted, GOP Congresswoman Thelma Drake has finally conceded to Democrat Glenn Nye. Thelma, who I have known for years, voted in lock step with the Chimperator more than 90% of the time and was less than gay friendly. I suspect, that with her district's heavy military population, she thought she's see no bad consequences from voting a far right agenda. In contrast, Glenn - who I have likewise met - will offer the 2nd District's residents a much more open minded and rational approach to the issues facing the country and region. Moreover, he is gay friendly and will be attending tomorrow night's gala event honoring a local pioneer in the LGBT community. Thelma in contrast would NEVER have set foot inside the door of a LGBT organization event. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

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Rep. Thelma Drake late Thursday night conceded the election for the 2nd Congressional District to political newcomer Glenn Nye after a bitterly fought race.

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The Nye victory delivers the district to Democrats for the first time since 2000, and he heads to Washington as part of the growing Democratic majority on Capitol Hill. The 34-year-old former foreign service officer ran a campaign stressing the need for bipartisan cooperation in Washington and an exit strategy for the war in Iraq.

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The absentee ballots were about double the normal total received by the registrar’s office. They included 10,115 mailed absentee ballots and 16,663 that were cast in person.

Red to Blue Race - Glenn Nye for Congress

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting support for Democratic candidates seen as having a very strong chance of defeating incumbent Republicans in its "Red to Blue" program. Locally, Glenn Nye's race against Virginia 2nd District GOP Congresswoman, Thelma Drake, has been added to the Red to Blue program. Having met Glenn several times now and in light of Thelma Drake's unfortunate lock step voting with the Chimperator (she voted against Jim Webb's GI Bill amendments), it is obvious that not only the 2nd Congressional District, but the nation as a whole, will benefit if Glenn is elected to Congress to bring new, right thinking leadership to Congress. While I consider Thelma Drake a friend, the time has come to elect someone else who will lead the country in a new direction and who will support equality for all Americans regardless of their sexual orientation.

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Information about Glenn can be found here and contributions through the Red to Blue program can be made here. Please help support Glenn's campaign.

Glenn Nye Announces Run for Congress Against Thelma Drake

I have known GOP Congresswoman, Thelma Drake for many years and served with her on the GOP City Committee for Virginia Beach for a number od years. I will further admit – as I have mentioned before – that she is the ONLY elected GOP politician who had the grace and decency to apologize to me after I was treated exceedingly shabbily by virtually all of the GOP elected officials that I warned about former Congressman Ed Schrock and the rumors of his advertising for gay sex on a local a local sex phone service. Likewise, to my knowledge she never dragged my name through the mud like others in the GOP did after I came out of the closet. For that I respect her and thank her.

Nevertheless, as much as I like and respect Thelma as a person, many of her policy positions blindly follow those of the Chimperator, particularly on Iraq. Thus it will be interesting to see what happens now that Virginia Democrat Glenn Nye, a former Foreign Service officer who has worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has announced that he will run for the Congressional seat currently held by Drake. Since I live in a different Congressional district, I will only be an observer in this political race.

Nye is touting his background in international affairs in his contest against Republican Rep. Thelma Drake , who is in her second term representing the state's 2nd District, which takes in Virginia Beach, portions of Norfolk and surrounding territory, including Virginia's Eastern Shore. Thelma was narrowly re-elected in 2006, and might have lost had she faced a more disciplined opponent. Word on the street is that Nye could give her a competitive race this year - he has actually served in Baghdad . I have yet to find out Nye’s position on gay rights issues, but I suspect that it will have to be friendlier than Thelma Drake’s unless she breaks ranks with the Chimperator. Glenn Nye’s website can be found here: http://www.glennnye.com/home/

Nye grew up in Norfolk, Virginia and is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He recently returned home to Hampton Roads from Iraq, where he advised a USAID program, working closely with military colleagues to stabilize Iraqi neighborhoods by creating employment for over 70,000 Iraqis. In 2001, Nye received the State Department's Superior Honor Award for organizing the rescue of American citizens caught behind insurgent lines in Macedonia.