Worthless Tim Kaine to Remain DNC Chair

Perhaps my view of Tim Kaine is colored by his failure to do ANYTHING to support his own executive order allegedly protection gay Virginia state employees when it was challenged after the leadership of the Virginia Museum of Natural History fired a young gay man for being gay. Or maybe it's because he seemed more focused on the DNC than he did on being governor during the period that his DNC responsibilities overlapped with his term as governor. In any event, I for one am less than thrilled with Kaine remaining as DNC chair for another two years. Kaine - while giving lip service to LGBT rights - is anything but a strong ally in my view and activists in national LGBT rights organizations need to recognize that lip service will likely be all they see from Kaine - hence why I am leaving the "Don't Ask, Don't Give" link on this blog for the time being. Unless court decisions force change, I don't see either Obama or Kaine championing our equality over the next two years. These highlights from the Washigton Post look at Kaine's decision to remain DNC chair:
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Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine said Sunday that he plans to stay at the helm of the national party another two years because that's where President Obama wants him to serve.
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"My agreement with the president is I was going to do what he wants me to do," Kaine said on CNN's "State of the Union." "And what I know sitting here today is he wants me to continue in this spot and that's what I'm going to do with excitement, you know, traveling all around the country, going through the TSA lines like everybody else, going out and being the president's advocate and promoter. And it's a wonderful job and I intend continue it."
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Obama campaigned for Kaine's gubernatorial bid in 2005; two years later, Kaine became the first major elected official outside of Illinois to back Obama's White House bid. He also was on Obama's vice presidential shortlist in 2008.
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Late last year, Politico reported that senior Democratic officials were floating the possibility of White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs succeeding Kaine as DNC chairman, with Kaine potentially in line for a Cabinet job. At the time, the White House pushed back against the speculation and a Kaine aide noted that the chairmanship is a four-year term.
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My prediction with Kaine: two more years of mealy mouthed lip service to LGBT equality, but no leadership or action at the DNC chair level. It's unfortunate, but I believe it's the true reality.

Virginia Blog and Roanoke Times Slam Tim Kaine

I have done post concerning the pathetic lack of legal protections available to LGBT Virginians. The Canons of Judicial Conduct which bar judges from being biased against litigants based on their sexual orientation are routinely ignored by far too many judges and not enforced by the Judicial Review Commission. In terms of employment non-discrimination protections, there are none other than Tim Kaine's apparently meaningless Executive Order 1 (2006) that claims to protect state employees. In terms of marriage, we have no rights whatsoever due to an amendment to the Virginia Constitution. In short, we are not even second class citizens here in Virginia. Here is Not Larry Sabato's take on Tim Kaine and Executive Order 1 (2006):

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"A former state employee says he was fired because his boss found out he was gay. When he filed suit, the Circuit Court of the city of Martinsville said that an executive order signed by Gov. Tim Kaine prohibiting such discrimination against state employees provides no legal protection for him."

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This is remarkable on a few different levels. Tim Kaine is head of the executive branch of the state government. Every agency head reports to him. If an employee was fired for being gay, why did Kaine not call the head of that agency into his office and tell them to reinstate the employee or they would be fired? Instead he allows them to defy his executive order- and does nothing about it?

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More importantly- how is someone so indifferent to this kind of absurdity serving as head of the DNC? Does Kaine have any basic beliefs that guide the way he governs? How can he fight to repeal things like DADT if he can't even stop state employees in the Virginia from being fired for being gay?

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The Roanoke Times likewise finds anti-gay employment discrimination ridiculous and calls for legislation to cure this appalling situation:

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Through his spokesman, Kaine said the executive order would remain in effect, but as an internal policy. Workers who are fired or discriminated against because of their sexual orientation can seek redress through the state's personnel procedures, said spokesman Gordon Hickey.

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That's less than adequate. The decision by the Martinsville court should be a convincing sign to the General Assembly that protection against such discrimination must be written into Virginia's code. Only a law will offer genuine confidence to Virginia's gay employees that they won't face irrational threats to their employment based on their sexual orientation.

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Like President Obama, Tim Kaine makes pro-gay statements, but his follow through is largely nonexistent.