Monthly Archives: September 2014

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/0...

Possibly only because Hannah Graham disappeared did we learn she was a victim of foul play. Statistically, 1,137 other American undergraduates were raped that day. Why aren't they in the headlines? Bet you if four UVA football players had gone missing in five years, those cases would have been solved.

There is every disincentive for victims of rape to report their assaults. When they do, they invariably become victimized again. The deck is stacked in favor of assailants. You'd think that in the enlightened environs of college campuses this would not be so. When will the discussion about violence against women change from women avoiding potential danger to men behaving with respect?

There is nothing positive about this to learn from the leadership on Virginia's campuses. And there seems no accountability for leadership failures. The President of James Madison University (JMU), at a minimum, provided cover for the malfeasance in his administration's handling the Sarah Butters sexual assault, deflecting blame onto the victim. Governor McAuliffe plastered over the scandal of Title IX investigations across Virginia by appointing a task force to conduct a "top-to-bottom" review of procedures for investigating sexual assaults and resolving complaints at public colleges and universities. You can conduct the tightest investigations in the universe and it won't prevent the next broken life. Nice try Governor, but this won't change the climate on campuses. You want Presidents of Virginia's universities and colleges to be invested? Fire one; start with JMU President Alger who allowed Sarah Butters' dignity to be trampled upon.

The overuse of football as a metaphor for life can be irritating but sadly in the area of leadership, some college coaches are way ahead of their "bosses." Last July after Coach Charlie Strong started kicking players off of his team for their behavior toward women, ESPN commentator Rod Gilmore was asked about football players' violence against women. Gilmore, a former Stanford football player, accomplished attorney, and ESPN analyst praised Strong for doing the right thing.

"He's one of the few people who takes a strong stand against violence against women. I mean he comes out on day one and says that if you don't treat women with respect, you cannot play for him. And he's new at Texas and he backed that up today. But seriously, across the landscape of college football, we don't take it seriously enough." - Rod Gilmore on ESPN

 

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, September 29.

*Obama: U.S. misjudged rise of Islamic State ("In a '60 Minutes' interview, the president also acknowledged that the U.S. overestimated Iraq's ability to fight the militant group, which on Sunday pounded a strategic Syrian town with artillery shells.")
*Eric Holder and Robert F. Kennedy's legacy ("Kennedy, who spoke of those who braved 'the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society,' would understand the risks that Holder ran.")
*Paul Krugman: Our Invisible Rich
Libertarian Think Tank Removes Piece Comparing Eric Holder To George Wallace (Charming.)
*Police use tear gas as thousands of protesters persist in Hong Kong ("Police discharged tear gas and fired rubber bullets in the air Sunday in a failed attempt to scatter pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong who appear to pose the greatest test yet for China's 'one country, two systems' approach to governing the former British protectorate.")
*Ashraf Ghani Sworn In as Afghan President, Says 'We Are Tired of Insecurity'
*Online campaign ads may prove decisive in midterm elections
*If Supreme Court takes a same-sex marriage case, it could be Virginia's ("The court will meet today to decide which cases it will take up in the coming term. One of them may be Bostic v. Schaefer, which originated when a Norfolk couple sued after being denied a marriage license.")
*Localities may have big cuts to make (Thanks Republicans!)
*Jim Webb, former senator from Va., takes on his party's hawks. And maybe Clinton. (Not sure how someone who still strongly supports the Vietnam War is "anti-war," but alrighty...)
*Councilman shouldn't have voted
*For Nationals, a perfect day that encapsulated an entire season
*Chance of showers this afternoon

Wow, what an amazing ending to an amazing season - go Nats! (as for that other Washington team, the whatever-skins, who gives a crap?)

I keep hearing people talking about how Barbara Comstock is supposedly "no Frank Wolf," the implication being that Wolf has been some sort of moderate and that Comstock is a right-wing nutjob. Well, no doubt "Transvaginal Ultrasound" Comstock's a right-wing nutjob, but what about Wolf? Let's go to Project Vote Smart and find out. (# of asterisks indicate level of right-wing nuttiness, on a 1-4 scale)

****Abortion Rights: Back in 1996, NARAL Pro-Choice America gave Wolf a big fat ZERO rating, while the anti-choice National Right to Life Committee gave him a 100%. And in 2013? Same ratings. That's right, Wolf was virulently anti-choice in 1996, and he still is today. No change.
****Reproductive health and freedom: As of early 2014, Planned Parenthood Action Fund rated Wolf a ZERO, reflecting his past 6 years' voting record. And no, this isn't an aberration: from 1995 to 1998, Wolf also received a ZERO from Planned Parenthood.
****LGBT Equality: In 1995/96, the pro-LGBT equality group Human Rights Campaign gave Wolf a ZERO rating. Wolf continued to get ZERO ratings from HRC in almost every year since then, with the exception of a pathetic 9% in 1999 and an awful 15% in 2011-2012.
***Environment: The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) gave Wolf a pathetic 28% lifetime score in 2013.
****Civil Liberties: Back in 1996 and 1997, the ACLU gave Wolf ratings of 12% and ZERO. In 2014? Nothing's changed, Wolf's still a big fat ZERO on civil liberties.
***Civil Rights: Back in 1995-1995, the NAACP gave Wolf a pitiful 18% rating on civil rights. In 2011, he got a 10%, rocketing up to 40% (wow) in 2014.
***Immigration: Wolf got a 100% rating in 2014 from the virulently anti-immigrant "Federation for American Immigration Reform," which the Southern Poverty Law Center labed a "hate group" in 2007. Wolf did manage to get a modest 59% rating in 2014 from the Hispanic Federation, LCLAA, LULAC, Mi Familia Vota, NCLR, and Voto Latino - National Immigration Scorecard.
****Education: The National Education Association gave Wolf a godawful 5% rating in 1996, and a ZERO in 2013. The more things change...
***Labor: Wolf's been bad for working people pretty much forever, with a 25% rating in 1996 and a 33% rating in 2013.

Bottom line: In no way, shape or form has Frank Wolf ever been a moderate. To the contrary, he was hard right wing in the 1990s, and he's hard right wing today. He's also a bit of a conspiracy theory nutjob, obsessed with Benghazeeeeeeee, Islam, gay marriage's "threat" to our culture, and the supposed "terrorists crossing the border". So please, spare us with the "Barbara Comstock's no Frank Wolf." To the contrary, Comstock will be as far right as Wolf, just without the seniority.

Seriously, Laura Ingraham just said this crap, prior to rallying with Dave Brat yesterday. Charming.

You get the sense that with President Obama, the U.S. military is used not as often to really protect American interests...the homeland or even our allies. Instead, the military is just another tool in [President Obama's] arsenal to level the playing field. In other words, Africa really deserves more of America's money, because we're people of privilege.

We're people of great privilege, so we should do what we can, we the American taxpayers, to transfer wealth over to Africa. It's [President Obama's] father's rage against colonialism, as Dinesh D'Souza wrote about, and maybe this is a way to continue to atone for that.

I mean, there are all sorts of things we can do, short of sending 3,000 troops out there. And, frankly, if you're a left-wing activist in the Saul Alinsky tradition, if a few American military personnel have to be exposed to the Ebola virus to carry out this redistribution of the privileged's wealth, then so be it.

What. The. F@#?!?

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, September 28.

*"Straight-up propaganda": Fox News, charlatans, conspiracy theorists and the religious fanatics endangering democracy ("All demagoguery all the time: Fox News and American politics' epidemic of craziness")
*U.S.-led airstrikes hit Islamic State near Syria-Turkey border
*Secret Service fumbled reaction to White House shooting in 2011
*Schapiro: Another challenge for Gillespie -- fallout from McDonnell scandal ("The McDonnell scandal only confirms for tea partyers and their fellow travelers what they already believe: that mainstream Republicans are bought and paid for.")
*Enabling bad behavior ("Virginia's open government law lets officials keep personnel records secret - to the public's detriment")
*Trammell tries to find his place in 7th District race (Apparently, his strategy is to be super quiet and never, ever criticize his far-right-wing, Republican opponent. Brilliant!)
*Ingraham, Sessions headline Brat fundraiser (For instance, Trammell should be blasting Brat for this, as well as for his attendance at the "Values Voter Summit")
*McDonnell case blamed for slow progress in search for U.S. attorney
*At gay pride event, McAuliffe praises push for same-sex marriage in Va.
*Terry McAuliffe becomes first standing Governor to speak at Virginia Pride
*Bolling emerges as Virginia Republican statesman (Seriously?)
*Gillespie ad falsely tags Warner with PolitiFact's 'Lie of the Year' award ("The clear implication of Gillespie's ad -- that PolitiFact cited Warner for telling the Lie of the Year -- is simply False.")
*A sheep in Wolf's clothing (Basically, Comstock's as wingnutty as Wolf - or worse - without the saving grace of being pretty good on a few local issues...)
*McAuliffe embraces gas fracking only where it's convenient (Robert McCartney nails it as usual: "The rush to embrace natural gas and fracking is steamrolling valid worries about long-term risks to environment.")
*Virginia GOP candidate Dave Brat looks for balance (The guy's about as UNbalanced as they come.)
*Tighten regulation on home day care
*Sea level rise in Norfolk is taking the shine off of waterfront property
*Our view: Ralph Smith gets it right
*Strasburg dominates in victory over Marlins
*A stunning September Sunday ("Enjoy the sun while you can - because some unsettled weather soon moves in.")

 A Reader of the most recent entry in my "Press the Battle" series -- This Is What You Should Be Making This Election About, Mr. President, commented:

"I heartily agree that we have a dysfunctional government, but isn't it the people's fault for voting in the Republicans in the first place?"

To which I gave a response I'd like to share here, because it says a lot about how I see the essence of what's going on in America today. I wrote:

The question of "fault" is a tricky one.

Yes, at the very least one can say that a serious defect is revealed by the vulnerability of so many millions of Americans to being conned in this ugly way. It is possible to perceive the defect in these people, and in the culture that shaped them.

I live among these people, and they are many of them wonderful people. And they've got no clue what it is that they're supporting.

So yes, there is a lot of brokenness that goes onto having these people get conned into lending their support to an evil force.

But the question of whether, or how much, we should look at this as their "fault" depends on how we understand the whole workings of brokenness in the world.  

For more of Mark Levin's insanity (e.g., that the GOP is filled with "cockroaches" who aren't conservative enough; that the National Organization for Women is actually "the National Organization of Ugly Women"; that there really are "death panels" in Obamacare; that clean air and clean water mean "poverty;" etc.) see here. Also see Barbara Comstock touting this nut's endorsement below. Bottom line: Comstock's not a "moderate," as she's no doubt like people to believe, in an way, shape or form. And she'll prove it if she gets elected to Congress on November 4. Let's make sure that doesn't happen!

Governor McAuliffe, stung by legislative setbacks that he foresaw when he campaigned saying that he didn't want to be Governor if he faced a veto-proof General Assembly, is going to his advertised strong suit: jobs. It's a gamble. And he's playing a high profile hand with Stone Brewing.

"I've got to tell you, I'm excited. I have worked this like a dog." - Governor McAuliffe

Stone Brewing wants to expand East Coast sales. A brewery located on our side of the Mississippi expands presence and reduces shipping costs. The potential sites for the new brewery have been narrowed to Ohio and Virginia. Each state has its own transportation advantages with Ohio arguably better situated. But only Virginia allows sales of Stone Brewing's higher alcohol by volume (ABV) content brews.

There is something of an irony here. The competition is between Ohio and its Republican Governor, John Kasich and Virginia and our Democratic Governor. But it is Ohio's Republican legislature that stands in the way of Ohio's successful courtship of this employment plum.

"Stone Brewing expects to invest up to $60 million in its east coast brewery which will include a restaurant and retail area. The company anticipates 375 jobs would be created over 5 years." - WOSU Public Media

Last December, Ohio state Democratic Representative Dan Ramos introduced a bill that would adjust the allowed ABV content, removing that obstruction, if it really is one, from consideration. It had bipartisan support and an almost equal number of the 21 cosponsors from each party. But this will be familiar to Virginians: Ramos's House Bill (HB) 391 went to committee where it has since languished.

From what Stone Brewing has announced about the decision to locate, one can deduce that Ohio is the preferred location. The anticipated announcement allows time for Ohio legislative action on HB 391 but action has been slow coming. For once a Republican legislature may offer Governor McAuliffe an advantage. Sadly it isn't Virginia's.