{UPDATE April 25, 2013: James has endorsed Pete Snyder for Lt. Governor of Virginia}
Wow, George Allen really outdid himself on this one. A few factoids on the star of his new ad, Kay Coles James, include:
*According to Sourcewatch, she’s “listed as a ‘scholar’ for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).”
*ALEC, of course, is a corporate front group through which “corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line.” For more on ALEC, see ALEC Exposed. Also, if you’re in Arlington tomorrow evening, check out “Purchasing Democracy: The Role of ALEC in Writing Our Laws”. Among other things, “ALEC promoted as one of its models the infamous ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws, which confer civil immunity on perpetrators who avoid arrest and prosecution under this law.” In short, ALEC’s as bad as it gets; no surprise that it’s tied in closely with corporate stooge George Allen. And Kay Coles James, who stars in this ad for George Allen, is a “scholar” for ALEC. Ee gads.
*As Paul Krugman wrote in 2007, James was George W. Bush’s “chief personnel officer from 2001 to 2005,” during which time she used her “extensive connections to the religious right,” including former “dean of Regent’s government school,” to hire “unqualified people” “seeking to impose a religious agenda,” people such as Monica Goodling, “the former top aide to Alberto Gonzales who appears central to the scandal of the fired U.S. attorneys and has declared that she will take the Fifth rather than testify to Congress on the matter.” James “then took a job with Mitchell Wade, the businessman who bribed Representative Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham.” Yep, it’s as slimy as you can possibly get. Again, no wonder why she’s in an ad for someone as unsavory as George “Felix Macacawitz” Allen.
*James worked for the virulently homophobic Family Research Council, labeled a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, along with groups like the KKK and the Nation of Islam.
*James also worked for “Focus on the Family,” another organization SPLC labeled as a “hate group” for its vicious homophobia (e.g., “the homosexual agenda is a beast. It wants our kids.”)
*In her book, What I Wish I’d Known Before I Got Married, James says that George Allen “shared my basic principles.” She also opines on her belief that women “should not engage in sexual relations before marriage,” among other things. I wonder if George Allen shares that “basic principle” with Kay Cole James, not to mention all the other “basic principles” James learned at Regent University, and that she practiced in the Bush Administration.
I’m sure there’s a lot more out there about Ms. James, but I don’t have all day to research her sordid doings over the years. If you’re interested, I encourage you to use Google, and to share what you find in the comments section, or in your own diary here at Blue Virginia. Meanwhile, when you see her ad for George Allen on your TV screen, just keep in mind her ties to “hate groups,” ALEC, Regent, corruption in the Bush administration, etc, etc. Also keep in mind what George Allen said in 2006, that “You can tell a lot about someone by those they keep company with.” For once, I agree with “Felix.”
UPDATE: The Richmond Times Dispatch reports, “As 1994 graduation speaker at Hampton University, her alma mater, James said the United States was ‘experiencing cultural AIDS,’ using the incurable disease of the immune system as a metaphor for widespread social ills.” Blech.
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