With the announcement by Del. Rob Bell (R) that he will not be seeking the 2017 Virginia GOP’s Attorney General nomination, it’s looking highly likely that John Adams will get the nod. What do we know about this guy? In short, nothing good.
His rhetoric is standard Tea Party, anti-government, dangerous nonsense: “This enormous government – and the weight of its regulations – crush small businesses, hinder the free market economy, and strain job creation. At the same time, the social issues of our day no longer belong to the people and the ballot box. Instead, nine unelected lawyers of the Supreme Court decide them, usually on grounds you will not find written in our Constitution…As the father of four young sons, I will not stand by while career politicians, social engineers, and progressive ideologues force their values on us and try to supplant our ideals and institutions with an oversized government they believe ‘knows better’ than we do.”
He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. ‘Nuff said.
He is “unequivocally pro-life.” This apparently includes support for treating unborn fetuses and embryos as “deserving of legal protection.” That, of course, would make abortion – as well as embryonic stem cell research and several popular forms of birth control – illegal in Virginia.
He is rabidly anti-LGBT. “To allow the policy question of same-sex marriage to be resolved by a highly unrepresentative panel of nine is to violate a principle even more fundamental than no taxation without representation: no social transformation without representation…he Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision forcing the states to redefine marriage was not based on anything in the Constitution, and it denied American citizens of the very right to self-government our Founding Fathers fought for…As your Attorney General, I would never disrespect the will of Virginians by refusing to defend perfectly valid Virginia Constitutional amendments in court.” Also, on his Facebook page, he wrote, “The choice of regulating restrooms in public schools belongs with parents and local school boards, not with Washington bureaucrats, U.S. presidents, and certainly not nine unelected lawyers who happen to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.”
He is anti-worker. “I oppose the idea of mandatory union fees for workers. Virginia is a right-to-work state, and Virginia should not be filing briefs in the Supreme Court supporting mandatory union fees. As Attorney General, I will work to make Virginia a business-friendly state again by defending us against job-killing regulations that only make doing business in Virginia more difficult.” On his Facebook page, Adams wrote on November 4, “it is imperative that we pass Constitutional Amendment No. 1 to protect the ability of Virginia’s workers to earn a living without being forced to pay union dues.” Fortunately, Amendment No. 1 lost badly, as hopefully Adams will as well next year…
He is anti-environment and ignorant about the energy industry. He favors “shutting down the Obama administration’s power plant regulations that would destroy Virginia’s valuable coal industry,” claiming that these “regulations are an unlawful power grab by the federal government that will kill jobs and drive up electricity costs.” FALSE!
He is no friend of public education. “I will defend any initiative that gives parents a meaningful choice in their children’s education. And I will support lawful efforts to increase access to charter schools in Virginia….I support parents’ rights to choose home schooling. Having played sports throughout my youth, I also understand the important life lessons that flow from participation in team sports. No child, regardless of how they are educated, should be deprived of the ability to participate in school sports.”
He is a huge Donald Trump supporter. On his Facebook page, he calls Trump’s victory “truly historic,” with this election about “core American values, such as the 2nd Amendment, religious liberty, and the free market.”
He strongly opposes restoring the voting rights of ex-felons. On his Facebook page, he writes: “Governor McAuliffe’s executive order that, in one fell swoop, restored voting rights for over 200,000 convicted felons was dismissive of the law, politically motivated, and sloppily executed. And Mark Herring was complicit every step of the way.”
He opposes commonsense gun safety measures that 80%-90% of Virginians support. See his website and also his Facebook page, where he erroneously and hysterically claimed that Hillary Clinton was “openly talking about ignoring our 2nd Amendment rights.”
Given all that, I think you’ll agree with me that it’s imperative Democrats turn out in droves next year and reelect our great Attorney General, Mark Herring!