DanielK

"Civil Service protection protects good employees, the bad thing about it is that is it protects bad employees. I'm going to identify with the County Attorney what I can do as far as opening up past IA's and basically determine if there is any deputy that has committed any criminal offense or anything that rises to the level of a criminal offense, you've tarnished our badge, you've tarnished our agency, you're not getting Civil Service protection from me.  I'll sign Civil Service protection agreement after I've done an entire staff analysis to determine if there is anybody that has committed criminal acts whether on duty or off duty. There's traffic offenses, and then there are things that happen in the community that I think we can still keep you, but theft, dishonesty, sorry I don't promise civil service protections on that."

In a recent article from Tom Jackman in the Washington Post, he noted that the issue of Civil Service Protections is not a very sexy issue for voters during a Sheriff's election but for the working men and women of the agency it is probably one of the most important. In Virginia, deputies do not receive basic due process protections and it is only through a Sheriff signing an agreement they receive those protections.  Without it, deputies can be fired without cause or justification and without any recourse.  The above quote is from Republican Sheriff Candidate Bryan Wolfe when asked if he supported providing deputy sheriffs the same due process protections he had during his career as a police officer. Clearly, the answer is no.  

With all eyes on the top three races in Virginia as well as many key House of Delegate races probably one of the most important local races in Northern Virginia is happening in Fairfax County for the Office of the Sheriff. This year Sheriff Stan Barry announced his retirement from office for family and personal reasons which resulted in a special election to be held with the November 5th election. Fairfax Democrats nominated Captain Stacey Kincaid, a 27 year member of the agency and the Republican Party nominated retired City of Fairfax police officer Bryan Wolfe. While not much media attention has focused on this race, Captain Kincaid received probably the most coveted and important endorsement in the race in that of the Fairfax Deputy Sheriff's Union. She has also received the endorsement of nearly every public employee organization to endorse in this race to include the Fairfax Firefighters Union and the SEIU Governmental Employees Union. Bryan Wolfe, on the other hand has received little support from working men and women in this race. Recently, at a League of Women Voters Candidate Forum it became quite apparent as to why. Captain Kincaid is first, Mr. Wolfe begins at 2:14.

My initial response to Mr. Wolfe's introduction was nothing; I was literally speechless. After watching it a few more times and processing it I felt bad for the voters who came out to learn more about the candidates who want to be their next Sheriff. Instead, Bryan Wolfe gave them an angry and unprofessional introductory tirade which had nothing to do with the election and the issues facing the citizens of Fairfax County. He goes out of his way to vent about his unhappiness over what happened to his property but he goes out of his way to directly stare down Captain Kincaid, almost accusing her of being behind what happened. Running for office is similar to working as a law enforcement officer, you can't bring your anger or personal issues into the job; sadly Bryan Wolfe doesn't know that. However, what is more telling are his complaints about how the tone of the race has gone thus far.

During his tirade, which at times can been interpreted as irrational, he said he believed that running for office would involve:

While this is not on the "political" front as most other posts on Blue Virginia I think it is very fitting to send a strong congratulations to Richmond, Virginia for being selected to host the 2015 Road World Championships for cycling.  This is big news for Richmond but also Virginia because this is the premiere event each and every year in professional cycling.  The amount of media and fan involvement at an event like this is huge which in turn will produce a strong economic spur to the area and businesses.

The 2015 World Championships are scheduled to take place September 19-27 and will feature elite men and women, under 23 men, and junior men and women. The last time the world championships were held in the United States was 1986 in Colorado Springs and the last time Richmond hosted a major pro cycling event was 2007 with the US Cycling Open. An event like this attracts some of the largest names in professional cycling every year in order for a chance to wear the coveted "Rainbow Jersey" which signifies that world champion in their discipline.

Richmond is definitely not new to the world of professional cycling and in my opinion this could lead to even more involvement for not only Richmond but also Virginia in bringing more professional sporting events to the Commonwealth.

In the race for Fairfax County Sheriff Stan Barry has received the endorsement of all three Fairfax County public safety organizations which makes it a clean sweep for Sheriff Barry's bid for re-election this coming November.  Last month, Sheriff Barry announced the endorsement of the Fairfax Deputy Sheriff's Coalition and just recently Fairfax Firefighters and Paramedical I.A.F.F. Local 2068 and the Fairfax Coalition of Police I.U.P.A. Local 5000 voted to endorse Sheriff Barry for re-election.

On August 10th, Democrat Stan Barry held an election kick-off event to begin his re-election campaign for Sheriff of Fairfax County at the Police Association Hall in Fairfax. The event was attended by 70 guests from the agency and community in Fairfax.  In an election year where a lot of the focus will be on whether the Democrats can maintain control of the State Senate, this is a race that will be tightly contested and one that can have a direct impact on the citizens of Fairfax County.

Sheriff Barry announced the endorsement of the Fairfax County Deputy Sheriff's Coalition, IUPA Local 5016, which is considered one of the biggest endorsements of the race since it comes from an organization that represents the men and women in the agency. These are people with firsthand knowledge of the type of agency that Sheriff Barry runs every day. Sheriff Barry was introduced by Lee District Board Supervisor Jeff McKay. Not only does Supervisor McKay represent the citizens of his district, but he is also a Reserve Deputy Sheriff in the Sheriffs Office. Supervisor McKay noted the pride he and Board has for the deputies of Fairfax and his support for Sheriff Barry, also the continuing cooperation the Sheriff has with the police department and other law enforcement agencies in the area. McKay finished by recognizing that Fairfax County is a safer place because of Sheriff Stan Barry. 

Yesterday, Rep. Peter King held a Congressional hearing about the threats from radical Muslim extremists within the United States.  In other words, it was a legal hearing to promote a witch hunt against those who practice the Muslim religion.  He used the guise of protecting the United States from terrorism and the threats that American Muslims pose to their fellow citizens, government and society to hold this hearing.  It was disgusting and heart wrenching to watch Americans who are Muslim, like Keith Ellison have to endure something like that.  

What is more disgusting and disturbing is not that Peter King advocated for terror groups in the past but that his political witch hunt is turning a blind eye on right-wing extremist domestic terrorists that are increasing at an alarming rate in our country right now.  Peter King picked what he believes is an "easy target" by targeting Muslims, but in reality he is ignoring the threat of extremists in his party who target the government with violence every day.  Many of these anti-government extremists are the same ones who openly discuss defending "liberty" through violence and are willing to spill their blood if necessary.  Why isn't Peter King calling in leaders of these groups before Congress for questioning?  They are easy to find and proudly proclaim their position.  If that doesn't scare you, then I don't know what will.

It has been rumored that there are efforts by Wisconsin republican state senators to have arrest warrants issue against the 14 Democratic state senators in order to make them appear.  I have a strong feeling that law makers in the Wisconsin state senate know that those arrest warrants can't do much against the Senators to quickly get them back into Wisconsin.  In fact, it will do everything BUT get them back to the capital quickly and I will explain why.

This week I posted up here and at Blue Virginia (Which Lowell front page promoted) discussing the soon to be released report concerning the Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the "minimal risk" the military will face if and when it is repealed.  I wanted to follow up on that post with a discussion about the NOH8 campaign and Cindy McCain's involvement in it along with her daughter and John McCain proudly serving as the road block to ensure our government furthers discrimination and weakens national security.  I'll preface by saying that I cannot even imagine the position she in with her husband who is doing everything in his power to keep Don't Ask, Don't Tell in place while she is supposedly advocating for its repeal but sometimes questions and reflections are warranted.

In the Washington Post today I read an article noting that sources close to the Pentagon groups studying the end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell will show in their report that lifting the discriminatory ban will be "minimal risk" to lifting the ban on gay and lesbians serving openly in the military.  Once the official report is released to the general public it will reveal what anyone with any ounce of common sense will have already known: There really is no risk to lifting the ban. It is important to note that the risk will be "minimal" from what the source disclosed to the Washington Post, but with any change in the military there is always some risk but the question is whether or not it is significant enough to scrap an entire plan where the positive effects significantly outweigh the negatives.

As someone who served in the Marine Corps I am always from the position of maintaining a strong fighting force to handle any conflict that arises around the world that could threaten American interests. Without question there are people in our country who wish to serve in the United States but for whatever disqualifying reason they cannot.  DADT has been the one policy that has significantly weakened out military fighting force through discharges, disciplinary action but more importantly furthering a homophobic mindset in the military. The whole idea that if someone doesn't say they are gay then everything is good and there are no homosexuals in the military. While I was in the Marine Corps I served with gay and lesbian Marines and everyone who has served in the military has, no matter how much people want to be argue otherwise. The main issue of this whole policy and the debate that will occur by those on both sides of the debate will not really center around whether this will weaken out military force but rather further the homophobic ideology and agenda pushed by many in the military and political camps.