On Virginia Governor’s Race, “Both Sides-ism,” Idiocy Runs Amok in Washington (Com)Post

Almost everything about this article in today’s Washington (Com)Post about the Virginia governor’s race is wrong, distorted, moronic and/or false equivalence/”both sides-ism” run amok. Let’s take it one idiotic example at a time.

• “Labor Day weekend traditionally kicks off high season for the Virginia governor’s race, but tradition is under siege this year, and both major-party candidates have already been taking shots at each other.”// Actually, thinking back to 2005, 2006, 2009, 2013, etc. campaigns, they all had heated up well before Labor Day. So not sure what “tradition” they’re talking about.
• “Pushed by the same political divisions that are rending the nation, both men have taken positions that stray from their records.”// Gillespie has moved right on Confederate monuments and immigration, but other than that, he seems to be standard-issue Gillespie (corporate hack and right wing on most issues, even as he pretends to be “moderate,” kinda like Barbara Comstock). As for Northam, I’m not seeing a big shift in his previous positions. What am I missing? 
• “Northam, the lieutenant governor and legislator who built a reputation as an aw-shucks Southern gentleman, now says the president of the United States is dangerous and possibly mentally ill.”// I agree this hasn’t been Northam’s “brand,” but on the other hand, we have never had a “president” – using the word loosely – like the orange gropenfuhrer. And seriously, it doesn’t take a pediatric neurologist, psychologist, or any other specialized training to see that Trump is an extreme narcissist and also unhinged,  dangerous and likely (severely) mentally ill. Just listen to him for 5 minutes.
• “David Ramadan, a former ­Republican delegate from Northern Virginia, faults both sides for heeding the advice of political strategists that in a low-turnout, off-year election they must play to the extremes.”// Seriously? They’re quoting the former far-right firebrand/extremist on how “both side” (he literally uses that phrase) have gone to the “far left” and “far right?” This is what passes for journalism these days? Bizarre.
• “The parties seemed to gravitate back toward middle ground with their presumed nominees for 2017 — Northam and Gillespie were both centrists with vanilla personalities.”// This sentence probably pisses me off more than anything else in this stupid article; Gillespie was a “centrist?” What on earth does that even mean? The guy is rabidly anti-choice, pro-NRA, anti-environment, pro-corporate, anti-labor, you name it. How is any of that “centrist?” What does that overused nonsense word even MEAN, anyway?
• “’In this political climate right now, there’s not much room for moderation’…That was illustrated dramatically after last month’s violent clash in Charlottesville between white supremacists and counterprotesters around a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.”// This is also garbag on almost every level, but the worst part is the false equivalence/”both sides” b.s. between “white supremacists and counterprotestors.”
• “Many people bemoan the polarization and speak wistfully of the bygone — if not entirely imagined — era of collegial bipartisanship known as ‘the Virginia way.'”// Complete misunderstanding of the corrupt, inbred system known as the “Virginia Way.”
• “But insiders on both sides worry about the tone of the race…If the tone is already sharp by Labor Day, it could get worse.” – Massive eye roll; quick, somebody get a bunch of smelling salts and fainting couches for these poor, delicate “snow flakes” who can’t handle a high-stakes political campaign, let alone one in the time of Trump.