A Year After Republicans Tried to Blow Up the Virginia Democrat Party

What a difference a year makes.  A year ago the Virginia Democrat Party was in crisis after a far right organization with ties to the Trump White House skillfully played for fools senior Virginia Democrats, most particularly Mark Warner (who in face to face encounters has never admitted he was played), and a number of LGBT organizations by the calculated release of racist photos from Governor Northam's medical school year book, allegations of sexual assault against Lt. Governor Fairfax and a forced confession from Attorney General Herring of having worn black face as a college student. The right wing/Republican goal was to destroy unity in the Democrat party in a desperate attempt to stave off loss of Republican control of the Virginia General Assembly,  At first, the fact that it was NOT Northam in the photos - they DO know who the individuals are despite EVMS's faux investigation and claims to the contrary- did not matter as the press and the black caucus went into a feeding frenzy.  Fortunately, none of the three targeted officials resigned and Democrats achieved their takeover of Richmond and a new progressive era in Virginia has begun.  A piece in the Virginian Pilot looks at how Northam and the others have prevailed. Here are highlights:

During his State of the Commonwealth address earlier this month, Gov. Ralph Northam spoke to Virginia lawmakers about taking an “honest look” at the state’s past.

After congratulating the new Democratic majority on their gains in the General Assembly, he listed the priorities of his “fair and equitable” legislative agenda.

Sitting behind him was Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who would soon preside over a Senate that would pass the Equal Rights Amendment.

Also in the audience was Attorney General Mark Herring, who has made marijuana decriminalization and legalization a top priority, saying current laws disproportionately affect people of color.

As lawmakers rose to applaud the governor every few seconds, it was hard to recall that nearly a year before, the state’s top three officials — all Democrats — were mired in scandal, with near-ubiquitous calls for their resignations.

Saturday marks one year since a racist photo on Northam’s Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page surfaced, setting off a chain of events that nearly brought down the entire Democratic leadership in Virginia and handed unified control of state government to Republicans.

But it didn’t. In fact, it had the opposite effect.

[Northam] refused to step down, saying that would be the easy way out.

“If I were to listen to the voices calling on me to resign my office today, I could spare myself from the different path that lies ahead,” he said. “I could avoid an honest conversation about harmful actions from my past.”

Instead, he began repeating with a consistent drumbeat that he was going to focus the rest of his term — which runs until January 2022 — on righting wrongs and addressing Virginia’s harsh, racist history.

Throughout the year — indeed, even just a month after the blackface scandal — polls showed that most black Virginians didn’t want Northam to quit.

Theodore Johnson, a senior fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, thinks that’s because black voters are pragmatic. It doesn’t make sense for them to denounce Northam or his potential successors for something that happened decades ago, especially when the alternative was a Republican — Speaker of the House Kirk Cox, who under the state Constitution would have become governor if Northam resigned and Fairfax and Herring were both unable to succeed him.

“I don’t think we can say the scandal was good for black voters, but I do think we can say black voters leveraged the scandal for positive policy outcomes,” Johnson said. “It was black Virginians who told (Northam) the best way to make up for this would be to respond via policy.”

Here are a few of those policies he’s prioritized: a commission to look at racially discriminatory language in the state code. Another to look at how Virginia schools teach African American history.

A promise to end Virginia’s racial disparities in maternal deaths by 2025. A removal of references to Confederate president Jefferson Davis at Fort Monroe. A show of opposition to other Confederate monuments. A vow to veto any bills that increase mandatory minimum prison sentences, which the governor said disproportionately impact black Virginians.

Northam’s also done the other things the Democratic party expects him to do, Johnson said, including expand Medicaid, support the ERA ratification, and restore rights to felons. “He’s been a good party representative in terms of party objective, and he’s also the political capital that black Virginians accrued by not demanding his resignation,” Johnson said.

[I]t was an election year for Democrats, and rather than give Republicans more political fuel by showing division, they kept their heads down.

“Democrats didn’t want to generate any instability when it came to the party’s fortunes heading into the next election,” Lawless said.

Voters, too, drew distinctions between the Democratic Party as a whole and the top office-holders who were members of that party. Polls repeatedly showed a preference for the Democrats to control the legislature, despite the stain left on the party by the leaders’ scandals and the GOP campaign ads referencing them.

So voters elected a Democratic majority determined to protect women’s rights, pass stricter gun control, address criminal justice inequities, and make it easier to vote, work, live and go to school in Virginia without discrimination.  “Around issues pertaining to sex and race, the state has basically said, ‘Enough is enough, we’re not going to tolerate this,’” Lawless said.

Today, it seems things have gone back to normal in the state’s capital. Northam holds regular press conferences announcing his budget priorities. Fairfax presides over the Senate, posing for pictures with female ERA supporters and student doctors in the gallery. Herring signs on to lawsuits opposing various Trump administration actions. On Thursday, he was in Washington for a press conference announcing litigation to force federal officials to acknowledge that — thanks to Virginia — the ERA has enough votes to become part of the U.S. Constitution.

Hopefully Democrats - and LGBT organizations such as HRC and Equality Virginia - have learned a lesson and will never allow themselves to again be played for fools by operatives of the far right that oppose everything that needs to be done to move Virginia forward.

Virginia AG Mark Herring's Self-Inflicted Wounds

Yours truly and Herring in happier days
at a fundraiser in our home.

Last month's "black face" circus here in Virginia gave Virginians a good look at which of their elected officials made hasty - and in my view unwarranted - decisions and rushed to judgment as well as which ones had major problems with being hypocrites. Leading the pack in hypocrisy and poor judgment was Attorney General Mark Herring (although Mark Warner, Tim Kaine and Congressman Bobby Scott were right along side Herring in poor judgment).  Herring quickly called for Governor Northam's resignation over a photo that turned out not to be of Northam even as he knew himself that there were photos of himself in black face floating around - something many think caused Herring to eventually confess of his own perceived black face indiscretion. 

Now, with Northam still in office with the support of 58% of black Virginians (as opposed to black elected officials and anti-white black activists) and a plurality of white Virginians, Herring finds himself in a huge mess. Seeking to run for governor in 2021, Herring has managed to piss off a significant portions of the base he will need to run for governor.  In addition, he and his chicken little fellow Democrats have divided the Democrat Party of Virginia as the party moves towards the critical 2019 General Assembly elections. An article in the Virginian Pilot describes Herring failing attempt to justify his calls for Northam's resignation.  Whether Herring can regain those support of those he has alienated, including my husband and myself, remains to be seen.  He has certainly opened the door for some other candidate to challenge him for the 2021 gubernatorial nomination.  Here are excerpts from the Pilot article and  Herrings, in my view, disingenuous explanation: 

Attorney General Mark Herring on Monday said he demanded Gov. Ralph's Northam's resignation last month not because the governor had worn blackface decades earlier, but because Northam flip-flopped on the subject in a way that undermined his ability to lead.

Breaking a month of silence since acknowledging that he, too, had dressed in blackface as a young man, Herring took pains to differentiate his situation from Northam's. Both Herring and Northam are Democrats.

The attorney general said that after Northam's revelations, he "agonized" about whether to disclose that he dressed in blackface for a party as a 19-year-old student at the University of Virginia. He said ultimately decided to do so on his own, dismissing the idea that his hand was forced by questions from the media.

"Sure, we had gotten some press inquires, but this was something I needed to bring forward," he said.

Herring, who announced in December his intention to run for governor in 2021, declined to say whether he will still run. "That's the last thing I'm thinking about right now," Herring said. "What I am focused on is what has happened in Virginia over the last month and what I can do to repair the damage."

Herring's critics have called him a hypocrite for calling on Northam to step down despite his own blackface episode. Several times during the 36-minute interview on WAMU's Kojo Nnamdi Show, Herring contended that in his view, Northam needed to leave office not because of the blackface, but because of his shifting account of it.

While many state and national Democrats immediately called on Northam to resign, Herring stopped just short of that in a statement issued late on the night of Feb. 1.

But the next day, after Northam's turnabout during his news conference, Herring called on Northam to step down and expressed his support for the man who would succeed him, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, also a Democrat.

"It is no longer possible for Governor Northam to lead our Commonwealth and it is time for him to step down," Herring's statement said. "I have spoken with Lieutenant Governor Fairfax and assured him that, should he ascend to the governorship, he will have my complete support and commitment to ensuring his success and the success of our Commonwealth."

Days later, Fairfax was swept up in a scandal of his own, as two women accused him of sexually assault dating from 2000 and 2004 - charges that Fairfax has vigorously denied.
Around 11 a.,m. on Feb. 6, Herring met with members of Virginia's Legislative Black Caucus to admit that he darkened his skin to dress as rapper Kurtis Blow for a college party.

Hours earlier, an Associated Press reporter informed Herring spokesman Michael Kelly that someone had given him a detailed description of a photo of Herring in blackface, pressing Kelly for a response.

A little after 11:30 a.m., after Black Caucus members left their briefing from Herring, Kelly issued Herring's statement about his use of blackface.

The accusations against Fairfax are "different but a very difficult situation," Herring said. The women who say they were sexually assaulted by the lieutenant governor "deserve to be heard, they deserve respect," he said.

"What needs to happen is some type of impartial situation so we can get to the facts," he said. "In the current situation, it's hard to see how that takes place. It's an excruciating situation to be in."

Herring and other Democrats should have kept their mouths shut and calmly and careful waited for all of the facts and information to come out and tested the mood of their constituents (what a novel concept) instead of acting like a bunch of lemmings played by far right GOP operatives.  Personally, I believe ALL of them need to cooperate in a reconciliation effort, but given the egos of some involved, seeing them admit they acted hastily and foolishly may be too much to hope for.  Meanwhile, my own representatives in the General Assembly - both of whom are members of the Legislative Black Caucus - have permanently lost my vote. Historically, they have shown no interest in my concerns or views and I only hear from them in the run up to elections when they ask for money.  At the national level, I also know that would be presidential candidates Castro, Warren and Harris will never win my support based on their hasty and ill-considered insertion of themselves into Virginia issues (this is Warren's second time doing this to the harm of the party).

The husband and I will be seeing Mark Warner on Sunday - I suspect it will be an interesting conversation and one that Warner will not like. 

Mark Warner: "Enormous Amounts of Evidence’ of Possible Russia Collusion

While Donald Trump continues to lie to the delight of his foul base and today tweeted “I am an innocent man being persecuted by some very bad, conflicted & corrupt people in a Witch Hunt that is illegal & should never have been allowed to start" two leading Congressional Democrats stated very different tales on TV news shows this morning. One was Virginia Senator Mark Warner and the other was Congressman Adam Schiff, each of whom stated that evidence of collusion has been revealed.  Warner backed off from a formal declaration but Schiff felt no such reluctance.  A piece in Politico looks at the development.  Here are highlights:

The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday lawmakers have found "enormous amounts of evidence" into potential collusion between the presidential campaign of Donald Trump and the Russians during the 2016 election.

Mark Warner of Virginia made his remarks in response to an assertion that there is "no factual evidence of collusion" from the Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who is chairman of the Intelligence Committee.

As evidence, Warner cited on NBC's "Meet the Press" ongoing negotiations about Trump Tower and the dump of WikiLeaks material.

"Where that evidence leads, in terms of a conclusion ... I'm going to reserve judgment, until I'm finished," Warner said.

But he added: "There's no one that could factually say there's not plenty of evidence of collaboration or communications between Trump Organization and Russians."

Warner's House Intelligence Committee counterpart, Adam Schiff, said Sunday on CBS‘ "Face the Nation" that there's both "direct evidence" and "abundant circumstantial evidence" of collusion with Russia. Asked Sunday by NBC host Chuck Todd whether a Russia conspiracy without any actual evidence of a crime being committed could lead to impeachment of the president, Warner again said he would wait to reach his conclusion but qualified his statement by looking at history.

"I have never, in my lifetime, seen a presidential campaign, from a person of either party, have this much outreach to a foreign country and a foreign country that the intelligence community, and our committee has validated, intervened, massively, in our election and intervened with an attempt to help one candidate, Donald Trump, and to hurt another candidate, Hillary Clinton," he said.

Warner also said that some of the "key people" the Senate committee wants to talk to are "caught up" in the Mueller criminal investigations.

Sen. Mark Warner: More Serious Trump/Russia Questions; Nunes Memo a Fabrication

As Congressional Republicans (especially Rep. Devin Nunes who one would think was taking orders directly from Vladimir Putin) and Der Trumpenführer continue to wage war on the FBI and Justice Department officials - all aimed at killing the Russiagate investigation and protecting parties potential guilty of treason - Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) has announced that new documents provided to the Senate Intelligence Committee have opened entirely new lines of questions concerning Trump/Russia collusion.  Indeed, Warner excoriates Nunes who he describes as pushing a fabricated Star Chamber like effort. And that doesn't even get into the issue of obstruction of justice issues.  The take away is that notwithstanding GOP efforts to end the Russiagate as soon as possible, barring a right wing coup against  Constitutional government, not only is the Russiagate investigation not going away, but questions associated with it are multiplying and suggests many, many more months of hearings and possible indictments lie ahead.  Expect the Trump/GOP desperation to increase.  Here are excerpts from a piece in Politico on Warner's comments: 

Congress late last year received “extraordinarily important new documents” in its investigation of President Donald Trump and his campaign’s possible collusion with the 2016 Russian election hacking, opening up significant new lines of inquiry in the Senate Intelligence Committee’s probe of the president, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) says in an exclusive new interview.

Warner, the intel committee’s top Democrat, says “end-of-the-year document dumps” produced “very significant” revelations that “opened a lot of new questions” that Senate investigators are now looking into, meaning the inquiry into Trump and the Russia hacking—already nearly a year old—will not be finished for months longer. “We’ve had new information that raises more questions,” . . .

Warner also warns about a “coordinated” attack by the president and “Trump zealots” in the House of Representatives to undermine the legitimacy of the investigations against him, an effort Warner says includes the president’s threats to fire special counsel Robert Mueller and other officials as well as a secret Republican memo alleging “shocking” FBI surveillance abuse against Trump that Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) is now threatening to release. Warner calls out Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, in arguably more explicit terms than any Democrat has yet, saying he has read the underlying classified material used in the memo and that Nunes misrepresented it as part of a McCarthyite “secret Star Chamber” effort to discredit the FBI probe of the president.

“We’re seeing this coordinated effort to try to impede the investigation,” Warner says. The Nunes memo . . . . is based on “fabrications” and “connecting dots that don’t connect,” Warner asserts.

Warner and other Democrats, joined by a few Republicans, have been urging such a step [to bar Trump from firing Mueller] for months. Although GOP congressional leaders are unlikely to permit a vote, many senators in both parties have signaled to Trump in recent days that a move against Mueller would amount to an explosive escalation. Firing Mueller “would be the end of his presidency,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who has been an on-again, off-again ally of Trump’s, said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

Not only is the Russia investigation not going away, but questions associated with it are multiplying, whether it’s the new evidence Warner says his committee must now investigate or the revelation that the special counsel himself is on the long list of those, like fired FBI Director James Comey and the current deputy FBI director and deputy attorney general, that Trump has made very clear he wants out.

We may not have the public evidence yet to definitely resolve those questions, but Warner offers a provocative rationale for why it is we are now seeing such a stepped-up campaign by Trump and his defenders against those who seek to provide us the answers.

“Mueller is getting closer and closer to the truth,” Warner tells me, and “closer and closer to the truth is getting closer and closer to the president.”

Warner says he and the Senate panel remain focused almost exclusively on the initial questions surrounding the Russian election intervention and alleged collusion; the senators have decided that questions surrounding possible Trump obstruction of justice, “because it falls into criminality,” should remain largely in the “purview” of Mueller.

Virtually every member of our committee, Democrat or Republican, would agree,” he says, that Russia sought to intervene in 2016 on Trump’s behalf with “traditional spycraft” of stealing information and then releasing it, along with not-so-traditional methods of using social media platforms, compromising state voting systems and offering “dirt” on Trump’s 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton. . . . a noteworthy conclusion given that Trump himself has continued to cast doubt on the intelligence community’s conclusion that the Russians did in fact seek to influence the presidential race to Trump’s benefit.

Senator Warner: "Clear Evidence" Trump Campaign Met Russians to Harm Clinton

In addition to the legal problems that he has ignited for himself - and Prince Jared - Donald Trump, Jr., has given investigators their first concrete example of Trump campaign efforts to collude with Russia.  It is something I have always suspected took place given Der Trumpenführer history of dealing with shady (that's being charitable) individuals and ignoring the law when it did not suit his purposes.  One of the most insane side effects of the disclosure is Trump, Sr.'s claim that he knew nothing about the meeting.  Consider this: it occurred in Trump Tower and involved his son and son-in-law.  Only in Trump world is such a far fetched claim believable to his Kool-Aid drinking supporters.  A piece in CNN - not the fake news channel Der Trumpenführer claims (that would be Fox News) - Senator Mark Warner shares his views on the unfolding Russiagate scandal which increasingly has the feeling of Watergate deja vue.  Here are article highlights:

The vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Monday that Donald Trump Jr.'s acknowledgment of a meeting with a Russian lawyer last June is the first clear public evidence that senior Trump campaign officials met with Russians to try to discredit Hillary Clinton.

"This is the first time that the public has seen clear evidence of senior level members of the Trump campaign meeting Russians to try to obtain information that might hurt the campaign of Hillary Clinton," Sen. Mark Warner told reporters.

Trump Jr. acknowledged Sunday that he met with a Russian lawyer who he had been told "might have information helpful to the campaign." . . . Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort also attended the meeting with Veselnitskaya, according to Trump Jr., but he said he told them "nothing of the substance" prior to the meeting.

Warner said Monday that Trump Jr.'s acknowledgment of the meeting reveals a "continuing pattern" of Trump campaign and administration officials having "conveniently forgotten" meetings they had with Russians.
 "It's also a continuing pattern that we've seen since the election of Trump campaign and Trump administration officials who have conveniently forgotten meetings with Russians, only when they are then presented with evidence they have to recant and acknowledge those kind of meetings," the Virginia Democrat said.

"I'm not going to get into the witness list and the individuals that we have talked to or plan on talking to, but rest assured Donald Trump Jr. will be someone that we want to talk to," Warner said. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democratic member of the same committee, echoed Warner on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront" later Monday. . . . . Wyden said he viewed Trump Jr.'s statement on Sunday as an "admission" of attempting to collude with a Russian person to bolster the Trump campaign.

"We don't know what was said, but when I look at somebody's own words, that was an admission," Wyden said. "He was getting together with somebody who was going to give him information of value, a Russian giving him information of value that would help Donald Trump get elected."

As in Watergate, there were first the improper actions followed by constant lies and then presidential efforts to obstruct justice.  The parallel's are increasingly stark.

Senate Intelligence Committee Probe Puts Trump Squarely in the Crosshairs

While the House Intelligence Committee investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election has turned into a circus with Republican chairman Devin Nunes more concerned with protecting Donald Trump and his fellow traitors than finding out the truth and protecting American.  Based on a press conference today, the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation is something far different with bipartisan cooperation and Mr. Trump himself firmly in the crosshairs. The contrast between the committees could not be stark with the Senate Committee definitely in the hands of adults versus Nunes' childish cover up attempt.  Talking Points Memo looks at the press conference.  Here are highlights:

One thing was made crystal clear in a Wednesday press briefing on the Senate Intelligence Committee’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election: this investigation is a very big and very serious deal.

In an hour-long appearance, committee Chair Richard Burr (R-NC) and Vice-Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) framed their probe as one of most ambitious investigative efforts ever taken on by a congressional committee. Burr, a 22-year veteran of Capitol Hill, framed the investigation as “one of the biggest” he’s seen in his tenure in Washington, D.C.

Warner concurred, saying, “When we started this, we saw the scope, what was involved, I said it was the most important thing I have ever taken on in my public life. I believe that more firmly now.”

Their solemn assurances to investigate the full scope of Russia’s involvement, to look into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russian officials, and to produce a truly bipartisan report on their findings offered a stark contrast from the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation, led by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA). The House’s probe came to a standstill this week over Nunes’ overly close relationship with the President

Here are the key takeaways about the Senate committee’s investigation from Wednesday’s press conference:

Whether Trump was involved is the probe’s core questionAsked if there was evidence of “direct links” suggesting the President played any role in Russia’s interference, Burr said that was the ultimate question the committee would seek to answer.

He and Warner also said it was too early to definitively reject coordination between Trump’s campaign team and Russian officials, saying they would “let this process go through before we form any opinions.”

The White House hasn’t interfered in or coordinated with the probeWarner said he has seen “no evidence” to suggest that the White House is “interfering in the integrity of this investigation,” pointing to Trump son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner’s offer to be interviewed by the committee as a “good sign.”

"If we see any attempt to stifle us with information or cut off the intelligence professionals giving us the access we need, you’ll hear from us,” he added.

Russia’s election meddling goes beyond the U.S.

The senators stated Wednesday that Russia is actively working to undermine or interfere with election campaigns underway in several countries outside the United States, including Germany, Montenegro, the Netherlands and France.

“We feel part of our responsibility is to educate the rest of the world about what’s going on because it’s now into character assassination of candidates,” Warner said.
“I think it’s safe by everybody’s judgment that the Russians are actively involved in the French elections,” he said.

This will be different from the House investigationBurr and Warner went out of their way to put distance between their probe and that of the House Intelligence Committee.

“This investigation’s scope will go wherever the intelligence leads it,” Burr said in his opening remarks. “And contrary to maybe popular belief, we’re partners to see that this is completed and that we’ve got a product at the end of the day that we can have bipartisanship in supporting.”

The senators emphasized information sharing between all members of the committee and reiterated their agreement to issue subpoenas to desired witnesses if need be.

The probe is looking at the role of “fake news”Warner said one of the most alarming findings so far in his estimation is the use of paid Internet trolls who promote false news stories and target them to specific geographic areas.

Saying that those trolls could have targeted states where the margin of victory was razor-thin, like Wisconsin and Michigan, with negative stories about Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the election, Warner vowed the committee has “got to find this out.”

Committee has more access to classified information than it had in previous probesThe senators said the classified information they have been able to access far exceeded what was available to them during their investigation of the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.

Seven committee staffers assigned to sift through thousands of intelligence documents have access to information typically only available to the most senior members of Congress, known as the Gang of Eight, the senators said.

The committee will move slowly and deliberatelyBurr said the committee would not release names of people who would be interviewed, nor ask them to come before the committee until the “appropriate time.”

Warner noted that the committee would not schedule its interview with Kushner, the only person named as an interview subject so far, until “we know exactly the scope of what needs to be asked” of him.

Both lawmakers emphasized the wide-ranging scope of the investigation, which will also look at Russian capabilities and previous influence campaigns.

Somehow, I don't think the press conference will help Der Trumpenführer,sleep well at night.  Trump may have his stooge in the form of Nunes on the House Committee, by the Senate investigation looks like it will be far different and one can only hope that it confirms Trump - and Pence's - collusion and that it takes them down.  Nothing is sweeter than to picture Trump in prison in prison garb, hopefully with plenty of black inmates who are well aware of the racism Trump peddled.

Has Ego Thrown Uncertainty Into Virginia's Gubernatorial Race?

Lt. Gov. Northam

Seemingly out of nowhere a possible wrench has been thrown into Virginia Democrats' plan for an orderly, uncontested race for the party's 2017 gubernatorial nomination.  One term Congressman Tom Perriello, who only served from 2009 to 2011 before losing to a right wing ideologue due to his ultra-liberal voting record and less than effective campaign, is posed to jump into the race for the Democrat nomination.  It is difficult to adequately stress just how critical it is for a Democrat to succeed Terry McAuliffe as Virginia's next governor so that there is at least somewhat of the firewall against the most egregious initiatives of the Republican Party of Virginia  such as Del. Bob Marshall's horrific HB 1612 that seeks to out do North Carolina's infamous HB2.  None of this seemingly matters to Perriello who is basically unknown outside of his former district and certain liberal organization circles and could throw the Governor's mansion to the Republicans if he creates a contentious and money wasting contested primary.  The husband and I - and most LGBT activists we know - are firmly behind Lt. Governor Ralph Northam's candidacy as are leading Democrats in Virginia.  The New York Times looks at Perriello's apparently ego driven move to harm Democrats in 2017.  Here are highlights:

Tom Perriello, the former congressman from Virginia, is making a surprise entry into his state’s governor’s race, disrupting Democrats’ well-laid plans in what promises to be the most-watched election in the country this year.

Mr. Perriello on Wednesday telephoned Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam, who had been widely presumed to be the party’s nominee, to tell him he was entering the race, according to three Democrats directly familiar with the conversation.

Mr. Perriello, a State Department official who is close to President Obama, is expected to announce his intention on Thursday to compete in the June 13 Democratic primary. He did not respond to a voice mail and text message. Mr. Northam could not be reached, either.

By entering the race to succeed Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat who is limited to a single term, Mr. Perriello will hinder Mr. McAuliffe’s effort to avert a contentious primary. Leading Democrats have sought to clear the field for Mr. Northam, hoping to give him a head start in fund-raising and organization, while at least three Republicans vie for the nomination.

A run by Mr. Perriello will expose the tensions between the moderate and progressive wings of the Democratic Party in Virginia, which is increasingly dominant in a once-conservative state. Much of the state’s Democratic leadership is already lined up for Mr. Northam, and Mr. Perriello’s unexpected move made them to scramble to respond.

A senior Virginia Democrat, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said Wednesday evening that Mr. McAuliffe would emphatically reaffirm his support for the lieutenant governor. Aides to Virginia’s two United States senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, said they would not reconsider their support for Mr. Northam.

For decades, Virginia Democrats have taken care to distinguish themselves from their more liberal national party and present themselves as prudent centrists. But having carried Virginia in the last three presidential elections and controlling every statewide office, some Democrats are hungry to elevate progressives.

“Tom is a very capable and popular person who served in Congress very well,” said former Representative L. F. Payne Jr., who once represented the same district as Mr. Perriello and now backs Mr. Northam. “I think that Ralph, though, is well-prepared for the job, and Democrats feel good about him as our candidate. It’s awfully late for anybody else to think about getting in.”

Neither Mr. Perriello nor Mr. Northam is well known to Virginia voters. Mr. Northam would enjoy a substantial financial advantage and the support of Mr. McAuliffe, who is popular with Democrats. The governor, in fact, is hosting a fund-raiser at his Northern Virginia home this weekend for Mr. Northam.

But Mr. Perriello is well liked among some liberal activists and could gain support with the sort of highly engaged voters who show up in low-turnout summer primaries. To do so, though, he will have to fend off questions from the left about some of his stances on cultural issues. He was endorsed by the National Rifle Association in his 2010 campaign and cast some votes against abortion.

Republicans, meanwhile, have their own primary battle. Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman; President-elect Donald J. Trump’s onetime state campaign chairman, Corey Stewart; and State Senator Frank Wagner, from the Tidewater region.

Perriello needs to withdraw from the contest.  Meanwhile, our home is available to Ralph Northam any time he needs it for a fundraiser. 

Senators Warner and Kaine Join in Introduction of LGBT Non-Discrimination Bill

Despite the marriage equality Victory, LGBT Americans continue to face legalized discrimination in employment and other realms.  Indeed, in Virginia and 28 other states, gays can be fired at will and the only recourse is to launch an expensive federal lawsuit and EEOC complaint.  Now, a bill has been introduced in the United States Senate that would change this situation.  Sadly, even if it clears the Senate, the GOP controlled House of Representatives will likely kill the measure in slavish obedience to their Christofascist puppet masters.  NBC29.com looks at the bill's introduction.  Here are highlights:

News Release from the Offices of Senators Kaine and Warner: 
 ~ The Equality Act would outlaw discrimination in the workplace, financial markets, housing, public accommodations & more ~

U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) today joined 38 of their Senate colleagues and 158 House members to introduce historic, comprehensive federal legislation to ban discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans.

“We’ve made tremendous strides in the journey towards equality, but work still remains,” said Sen. Warner, the first Virginia Governor to ban discrimination in state employment based on sexual orientation. “The Equality Act helps move us closer to true equality of all of our LGBT friends and neighbors. Discrimination has no place in our nation’s laws.”

Despite major advances in equality for LGBT Americans, including nationwide marriage equality, in the majority of states, an LGBT couple could be married in the morning and risk being fired from their jobs or evicted from their apartment in the afternoon. In Virginia, it is currently legal to fire, not hire, deny service or evict someone on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Equality Act of 2015 would prohibit such discrimination nationwide by adding sex, sexual orientation and gender identity to other protected classes, such as race or religion, in existing federal civil rights laws. The bill would ban discrimination in a host of areas, including employment, housing, public accommodations, jury service, access to credit, and federal funding. The bill would also add protections against sex discrimination in parts of anti-discrimination laws where these protections had not been included previously, including in public accommodations and federal funding.

Elections make a difference and LGBT Virginians and their allies need to get out and vote against Republicans in November.

Washington Refuses To Admit It Lost Two Wars

Two years ago today, one of my sons-in-law was badly wounded in Afghanistan.  At the time, the U.S. Army was less than truthful and it was several emotional days before he was flown out to Germany for first phases of major treatment.  To this day we don't know if inquires made on our behalf by Senator mark Warner helped get him out of Afghanistan more quickly.  After that, it was months of treatment and recovery.  Thankfully, he had a largely full recovery.  Many, including some of his friends whom I had the opportunity to meet, were not so lucky.  He has since left the military and just completed the Warrior Hike to "walk off the war"up the Pacific Crest trail from Mexico to Canada.  Sadly, the mindset in Washington that set the stage for the fool's errands in Afghanistan and Iraq is alive and well and puts the lives of other young Americans at Risk.  Andrew Sullivan has a good take down of these morons and hypocrites who continue to admit that both wars have been disasters and that the USA lost them.  Here are excerpts:

Let me put this as baldly as I can. The US fought two long, brutal wars in its response to the atrocity of September 11, 2001. We lost both of them – revealing the biggest military machine in the history of the planet as essentially useless in advancing American objectives through war and occupation. Attempts to quash Islamist extremism through democracy were complete failures. The Taliban still has enormous sway in Afghanistan and the only way to prevent the entire Potemkin democracy from imploding is a permanent US troop presence. In Iraq, we are now confronting the very same Sunni insurgency the invasion created in 2003 – just even more murderous. The Jihadism there has only become more extreme under a democratic veneer. And in all this, the U.S. didn’t just lose the wars; it lost the moral high-ground as well.  The president [Bush] himself unleashed brutal torture across all theaters of war – effectively ending any moral authority the US has in international human rights.

These are difficult truths to handle. They reveal that so many brave men and women died for nothing. And so we have to construct myths or bury facts to ensure that we maintain face. But these myths and amnesia have a consequence: they only serve to encourage Washington to make exactly the same mistakes again. To protect its own self-regard, Washington’s elite is prepared to send young Americans to fight in a war they cannot win and indeed have already lost. You see the blinding myopia elsewhere: Washington’s refusal to release the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on torture merely proves that it cannot face the fact that some of the elite are war criminals tout simple, and that these horrific war crimes have changed America’s role in the world.

What infuriated me about the decision to re-start the Iraq War last August – by a president explicitly elected not to do any such thing – was its arrogance, its smugness, and its contempt for what this country, and especially its armed forces, went through for so many long years of quagmire and failure.

My point is this: how can you behave this way after what so many service-members endured for so long? How can you simply re-start a war you were elected to end and for which you have no feasible means to achieve victory? 

Warner Squeaks By Gillespie in Bleak Night for Democrats

The Midterm elections were a disaster for Democrats - and by extension LGBT citizens and other minorities.  Thankfully, Virginia Senator Mark Warner squeaked by GOP lobbyist Ed Gillespie with slightly under 17,000 votes (1,067,342 v. 1,050,534).  Elsewhere, the GOP used a combination of hatred for Barack Obama and hatred for gays and minorities to turn out its base of angry whites.  As Democrats, I suspect voter turnout figures will prove that many just stayed home and by default, voted for Republicans.  Hate it seems is a far stronger motivator than belief in progressive policies and believing that the nation benefits through the common good.    What is perhaps most frightening is the extremism of some of the new Republican senators who, delusional as they are, will see yesterday's results as a mandate to enact all kinds of batshitery.  For blacks who stayed home, brace yourselves for more measures to disenfranchise minorities.  For gays who stayed home, expect legislation granting special rights to discriminate against us.  The Washington Post looks at Mark Warner's close win.  Here are excerpts:

U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D) declared victory over Ed Gillespie (R) late Tuesday in a remarkably close contest for a second term that is likely to tarnish the Democrat’s image as an untouchable force in Virginia politics.

The contest was so close that Warner’s opponent declined to concede, but the Democrat promised to serve a second term working across the aisle with a new Republican majority in the Senate.

The outcome represented a shocking reversal of Warner’s sweeping victory in 2008, which first propelled the former governor into the Senate. A recount is possible, and Gillespie didn’t rule out requesting one in remarks to supporters late Tuesday.

The race came against a national backdrop that was expected to be bad for Democrats, especially for incumbents with close ties with President Obama and his trouble-plagued health-care law. But Warner had been expected to escape that fate, with polls giving him an increasingly narrow but consistent lead through the final days of the race.

This year, the senator saw his support in rural Virginia drop off sharply. He had forged ties to Southside and Southwest even before he ran for governor, earning goodwill in the economically depressed regions as a job-creating entrepreneur.

“It breaks my heart to say it, because these are my people, but racism was a huge factor in this,” he said. “I think in many areas of rural Virginia, racism is still prevalent, and they dislike Obama more than they like Mark Warner.”

Gillespie’s chief line of attack was that Warner’s moderate image was just that — one that did not match reality. He said Warner had voted with the president 97 percent of the time, most notably for the Affordable Care Act.

Election night results showed an electorate of over 2 million, about even with the 2010 election but far below the 3.8 million who came out to vote in 2012, the Department of Elections said.

There's more in the article.  Note that 1.8 million fewer Virginians voted than in 2012.  Besides chiding Democrats who stayed home, let me make one thing clear, rural Virginia - especially Southwest Virginia - is VERY racists.  And it seems to be getting worse.  As is the far right hysteria over gay marriage being legal in Virginia.  I can only wonder when tourists from the Northeast are going to start avoiding the backwards areas all together.   You won't find the husband and me visiting rural Virginia outside the areas around Charlottesville or to visit my daughter and her family. 

It Is Still All About Race: TheTruth About GOP Wins

I'm exhausted after a frenzied day at work and many of the polls don't look good if one supports progressive values and looks forward to the days when overt racism, Gilded Age style greed, and deference to religious extremists are relegated to the past.  Adding to the aggravation is the closeness of the Virginia U.S. Senate race which I hope will still shift to Mark Warner.  That said, a piece in Salon sums up what some are too hesitant to say about the 2014 midterm elections:  the main motivations pushing Republican successes are the same old poisonous influences that have haunted America for far, far too long.  Namely, racism first and foremost followed by religious extremism.  Since parts of North Carolina fall within the Hampton Roads TV viewing area, one had to endure numerous political ads attacking Democrats for "not opposing gay marriage" and constant efforts to tie Democrats to America's black president.  Here are some article highlights:

In 1964, there were five black members of the House of Representatives — barely over 1 percent — compared to the 11 percent of the population who were black. But the American people were evenly split, 30 to 31 percent, on whether blacks should have more or less influence, with 28 percent saying things were “about right” as they stood. What’s more, those opposed to government social spending programs were three times more likely to say blacks should have less influence compared to those supporting social spending.

“I’ll be very, very honest with you. The South has not always been the friendliest place for African-Americans,” she [Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu] told NBC News in an interview. “It’s been a difficult time for the president to present himself in a very positive light as a leader.”

This is hardly earth-shattering news from the state that brought us Plessy v. Ferguson in the 1890s, and the deeply racialized devastation of Katrina less a decade ago, after which even President Bush admitted that “deep, persistent poverty” in the area “has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America.” Speaking of Katrina, according to a PPP poll last year, the good people of Louisiana “were evenly split on who was most responsible for the poor Hurricane Katrina response: George W. Bush or Obama, 28/29.” Given that Obama was a first-year senator at the time of Katrina, it’s not hard to see what Landrieu was driving at.

[P]redictably, fourth-tier 2016 GOP presidential wannabe Bobby Jindal, Louisiana’s governor, instantly made an ass of himself, calling her comments “remarkably divisive,” which takes a lot of chutzpah, coming from a racial panderer who just three years ago pledged he would sign a “birther” bill if it reached his desk.

Birtherism, you see, has become the GOP’s more widespread manifestation of racial codespeak in the Obama era. Although Obama deftly quieted the elite media trolls with the release of his long-form birth certificate just after Donald Trump had ridden birther hysteria to the top of the GOP primary field in April 2011, the GOP base was never really dissuaded. In fact, nine months later, in January 2012, a YouGov poll found that more Republicans than ever questioned Obama’s citizenship.

You’re not supposed to call it “racism,” because racism means KKK mobs in hoods, and police siccing snarling dogs on young children, and we’re not like that anymore — see, we’ve got armored vehicles and sound cannons now!

But 40 years of data from the General Social Survey — the gold standard of American public opinion research — say otherwise.  They tell us that Southern whites overwhelmingly blame blacks for their lower economic status, ignoring or denying the role played by discrimination, past and present, in all its various forms, and that the balance of Southern white attitudes has barely changed at all in 40 years. 

A 2011 study from Tufts (press release/full study) found that whites as a whole see racism as a zero-sum game, such that decreases in discrimination against blacks over the decades are reflected in increases in discrimination against whites, so that now whites are more discriminated against than blacks.  This perception is not simply mistaken, it’s downright delusional, flying in the face of mountains of objective data.

[W]e find that there has been only a modest overall change in attitudes since the 1970s, but that this change is significantly concentrated in the Democratic Party, with relatively minor changes in the Republican Party,  . . . 

What all the above boils down to is that blaming blacks for being poor remains broadly popular in America today, and that taking note of continued discrimination is not. A modest majority of Democrats outside the white South disagree, and this creates a political fault line that Republicans have repeatedly exploited across the decades, with no end in sight.  When conservatives get too crude — as was the case with Cliven Bundy, for example — this threatens to upset the apple cart, and appearances must quickly get restored. But it’s the crudity, not the underlying attitude of blaming blacks, that has fallen out of favor. This would hardly surprise a Southern gentleman of this or any other century.  It’s just the way things are supposed to be. Always have been. Why ever change?

Virginia Beach GOP Mayor Endorses Mark Warner for Senate

As the race for the Virginia U.S. Senate seat nears a close we are again seeing moderate Republicans jump ship and endorse the Democrat candidate Mark Warner.  Why?  Because the GOP challenger is an extremist and carries huge amounts of negative baggage - including lobbying for Enron and foreign governments - and sane Republicans want no part of him.  Some of those endorsing Warner are Republicans I knew years ago in my GOP activist days who seem to realize that today's Republican Party of Virginia has become something toxic.  Blue Virginia looks at Mayor Sessoms endorsement of Mark Warner:

ALEXANDRIA - Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms, a Republican, today announced his endorsement of Senator Mark Warner for re-election. Mayor Sessoms joins former U.S. Senator John Warner, former Suffolk Sen. Fred Quayle, former Virginia Beach Del. Bob Tata, and many other Virginia Republican elected officials and business leaders in endorsing Mark Warner's re-election. John Warner, Fred Quayle and Bob Tata have never endorsed a Democrat before.

In his endorsement, Mayor Sessoms cited Mark Warner's bipartisan approach to finding commonsense solutions for Virginians and focus on implementing policies that help Virginia Beach. 

"Mark Warner knows the Virginia Way. And when he takes that to Washington, D.C. he will put it to good use and get people to work together for the betterment of this great country," said Mayor Sessoms. "In addition, he knows the needs of the military. He sees their sacrifice daily and he will stand up for them and fight for them and make sure they get what they need to be successful. That's why I'm supporting Mark Warner for re-election to the United States Senate."

"Will Sessoms is one of Virginia's great leaders and I am proud to have earned his support for my re-election," said Senator Warner. "I will continue to work with anyone, Democrat or Republican, to repeal sequestration, to support our military men and women and veterans, and to find creative solutions to strengthen the economy of Hampton Roads and Virginia."

Expect rants over at Bearing Drift and other far rights outlets!!