lowkell

It sure looks like he could:

Metro Interim General Manager Richard Sarles on Thursday warned Virginia that if it does not act within 24 hours to renew its pledge to provide $500 million to match federal funding for Metro over the next 10 years, that it will jeopardize the contract to purchase new Metro rail cars.

"We have to know now that the commonwealth of Virginia ... is committed to the local match," said Sarles, raising his voice at a Metro Board of Directors meeting on Thursday. "If we don't get it we will delay the...cars," he said. "They won't be ready for the Dulles extension."

Unless, of course, McDonnell thinks that Virginia commuters can walk along the Silver Line out to Tysons, Dulles Airport, etc. Hey Bob? You first!

UPDATE: McDonnell backs down? If so that would be the pattern with this administration -- do something crazy, out-of-the-mainstream, etc., then back down when they're told by everyone how crazy and out-of-the-mainstream they are.  Except for Cooch, of course, who revels in being called crazy!  lol

Thanks to Tom Whipple for the Thursday "Clips."

1. CRITICS QUESTION MCDONNELL'S "SURPLUS"
2. MCDONNELL SEEKS CHARTER SCHOOL FOR PETERSBURG
3. MCDONNELL STILL OPTIMISTIC ABOUT DRILLING OFF VIRGINIA'S COAST
4. MCDONNELL TO MAKE APPEARANCE AT BOYS STATE
5. VIRGINIA'S ETHICAL LABYRINTH
6. SHANNON CONNECTS CUCCINELLI CAMPAIGN PROMISE, DONATION
7. ALCOHOL DISTRIBUTOR GIVES HOUSE GOP $10,000
16. GRIFFITH ATTACKS BOUCHER'S SUPPORT OF "CAP AND TRADE"
18. VIRGINIA FAILED TO SPEND MILLIONS IN FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION MONEY, GROUP SAYS
29. 3 CANDIDATES, 3 DEBATERS
32. REVITALIZING METRO, NOT GRANDSTANDING, IS A FITTING TRIBUTE TO CRASH VICTIMS
35. TRANSFORMED TYSONS CORNER STILL YEARS AWAY IN FAIRFAX

Over at NLS, Ben Tribbett's been on something of a roll the past few days, particularly with regard to Ken Kook-inelli.  This morning, he had me laughing with this headline, which I think sums it all up on Bob McDonnell's "poll" of himself (which, predictably, finds that he's doing...wait for it...are you sitting down?...great!).

"Is Taking A Poll And Saying 'People Love Me' The Same As Looking In A Mirror And Saying 'How Handsome'?"

Maybe something like this?

With mountaintop removal, it's gone to this whole different level of this sort of aggressive, ambitious destruction of the landscape that they know it's wrong. Massey knows it's wrong, they know they're polluting the water, they know they're polluting the air, they know they're polluting the people that are working there, destroying the landscape so they're doing it as fast as possible. And it just needs to be stopped, because it's sort of unforgivable behavior...[West Virginia]'s like no other place on the planet. We allow greed to have the loudest voice far too often...it's all about profit...

So true, thanks to Dave Matthews for saying this!  I'd just add that mountaintop removal coal mining is a highly capital-intensive process that is greatly destructive of one more thing: jobs.  Which is why anyone who lives in Coal Country should strongly oppose mountaintop removal coal mining -- because it ruins their communities AND steals their jobs, all to deliver huge profits to a big corporation, often headquartered in another state.

Also, check out MusicSavesMountains.org.

Tea Party candidate Jeff Clark rips into Robert Hurt for being a typical politician and for refusing to let Clark into the debates with Tom Perriello. According to Clark, Hurt is "just what I thought he was going to be." Another great quote by Clark:  "Robert Hurt is no Virgil Goode, and Robert Hurt is not going to be able to stay one-on-one with Tom Perriello." And, "The only thing [Hurt's] supporters have is fear...they have to instill fear into everyone in order to get them to overlook the sad record and the despicable conduct of Senator Hurt."  And finally: "If Senator Hurt doesn't want to participate in the debates, I'm sure I will fill in adequately for the conservative message...but I would welcome [him] to sit in the audience, he may learn a thing or two about conservatism." Hahahaha.

I haven't been doing the YouTube music video thing recently, but this is hilarious and extremely well done. Now, if someone could do one of these starring Virginia political figures...on second thought, oh forget it!

Leave it to Ken Kook-inelli to quickly take things down to the 3rd grade level. In this case, Cooch responds to a "pretty serious charge" about a possible "pay to play" scandal by having his political director call Steve Shannon a "sore loser." NLS makes a few good points about all this, the second of which ("what kind of Attorney General would even consider giving a comment from his political director to serious allegations of misconduct in office?") I particularly agree with. Meanwhile, Steve Shannon emailed me with his response:

"You know someone's in trouble when they're attacking the messenger, not the message."

Sadly, that's the Kook-inelli way. And, sadly, it often works. Let's hope Cooch doesn't get away with it this time, and that there's a serious investigation of Cooch's potentially serious allegations of misconduct committed while in office.

P.S. Where's Bob McDonnell on this matter? Cat got his tongue, or is he all talked out defending the corrupt "Jew counter" heading up his government "reform" commission?

Thank you, Tom Perriello and the Democratic Party. And just remember, if it were up to Robert Hurt, Monogram Snack Foods - instead of having its shelf life extended - would be getting "eaten for lunch." Get it?  Ha.