Today, of course, is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a holiday which reminds us of this great American’s struggle against segregation, racism and Jim Crow; and for African-American equality and civil rights in this country. Which is why I was struck by an email I received this morning from a Virginia environmental activist, including the photo to the right, and more broadly the story of a bizarre intersection between fossil fuel interests (coal in particular), the “Sons of Confederate Veterans” and the Republican Party of Virignia. Lovely, eh?

First, the photo. which comes from the July 2010 edition of “The Old War Horse” (aka, “The Voice of General James Lonstreet, Camp #1247, Sons of Confederate Veterans”),  Pictured in the center is a guy named Andrew Vehorn, a registered lobbyist in Virginia and  a member of the Republican Party of Virginia network — his groups including something called “Ronald Reagan Patriots,” as well as the Henrico County Republican Committee and the RPV Young Professionals Coalition.

Vehorn is also former “Virginia State Coordinator of Count on Coal,” as you can see on page 34 of the September 2014 edition of “Coal People Magazine” (Vehorn is pictured in an article entitled, appropriately, “Virginia Coal and Energy Commission Examines EPA Challenge”). Note that the September 2014 edition also includes bizarre, Orwellian, propagandistic, anti-environmental crap like “Coal’s Vital Role in Alleviating Energy Poverty;” “EPA’s Carbon Plan Isn’t Environmental Policy, but Pain and Politics” and “Can Low-grade Coals Thwart the EPA’s Plans?” So that’s what we’re dealing with here.

But wait, the plot thickens: the Virginia environmental leader informs me that Vehorn was hired in May of 2015 as the Director of Legislative Affairs at the Virginia, MD and Delaware Association of Co-operatives — of which the heavily fossil-fuel-fired Old Dominion Electric Cooperate (ODEC) is a member. As the Virginia environmental leader wrote me, “Evidently, the co-ops care more about sucking up to their GOP base than about African American owner-members (of which they have many) because he also is a proud member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans” (again, see photo above of Vehorn’s swearing-in ceremony).

Speaking of the electric cooperatives, check out the ODEC service area map, and you’ll note that much of the area served is in heavily African-American Southside Virginia. Despite this, note that ODEC’s leadership is glaringly lily-white (and overwhelmingly male), with not a single person of color – Asian, Latino, African American, Native American, you name it – on either their “Leadership Team” or Board of Directors.

Finally, note that the person on the left of that “Sons of Confederate Veterans” photo is Ben Marchi, former Virginia state director of the Koch brothers’ group, “Americans for Prosperity” (note: this group really should be named “Americans for Prosperity ONLY of the Koch brothers — screw everyone else”). While Marchi is no longer with “AfP” (see here for more on this group, including their 2008 “Hot Air Tour campaign, a hot air balloon cross-country tour with the slogan, ‘Global Warming Alarmism: Lost Jobs, Higher Taxes, Less Freedom.'”), the group is still very active in Virginia, unfortunately. Today, for instance – on MLK, Jr. day, no less! – these folks are keeping busy, lobbying in Richmond against the Clean Power Plan and for, among other things, less clean energy and a lot more coal, the emissions from which disproprotionately harm poor people and African Americans (for more on that subject, see the NAACP’s page, “Coal Blooded” – it’s really, really nasty).  Great stuff, huh?

I’ll just leave this with one question, to the fine folks at ODEC: is your goal to reenact Custer’s Last Stand, but this time on a hill of dirty, planet-killing, people-sickening coal (a rapidly dying industry, to boot), with a Son of Confederate Veterans helping to lead your way? If not, what are you doing to move in a different direction?

by Lowell

EW Jackson, the 2013 Virginia GOP nominee for Lt. Governor of Virginia — and a prominent Ted Cruz endorser this year — is infamous for being one of the most (far-right) extreme political figures in America. Among those Jackson hates the most include: progressives, liberals, Democrats, Barack Obama and the Black Lives Matter movement. And, of course, Jackson utterly LOATHES Planned Parenthood with a burning passion. Among other things, Jackson has claimed that Planned Parenthood is a racist organization, “ripping apart and selling” black babies “on the auction block.”

All of which is why it’s so fascinating to see Jackson holding a breakfast Monday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. , one of the greatest men in U.S. history (and really in all of world history), one of its greatest progressives, and – yes – a strong supporter of Planned Parenthood.

In 1960, King agreed to be on a committee for a Planned Parenthood study on contraception, explaining in a letter, “I have always been deeply interested in and sympathetic with the total work of the Planned Parenthood Federation.” 

…In 1966, when the Planned Parenthood Federation of America inaugurated the PPFA Margaret Sanger Award, its first awardee was Martin Luther King. Coretta Scott King accepted the award for her husband, delivering the speech he’d written for the occasion. Titled “Family Planning – A Special and Urgent Concern,” it lamented the lack of investment in family planning…”Family planning, to relate population to world resources, is possible, practical and necessary. Unlike plagues of the dark ages or contemporary diseases we do not yet understand, the modern plague of overpopulation is soluble by means we have discovered and with resources we possess.”

King also heaped praise on Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, the same woman who Jackson has called a “white supremacist,” and that “to honor her ‘is to be complicit in her evil and her racism.’” Alrighty…so here’s what Martin Luther King, Jr., who Jackson is honoring on Monday, had to say about Sanger.

There is a striking kinship between our [Civil Rights] movement and Margaret Sanger’s early efforts. She, like we, saw the horrifying conditions of ghetto life. Like we, she knew that all of society is poisoned by cancerous slums. Like we, she was a direct actionist – a nonviolent resister. She was willing to accept scorn and abuse until the truth she saw was revealed to the millions. At the turn of the century she went into the slums and set up a birth control clinic, and for this deed she went to jail because she was violating an unjust law. Yet the years have justified her actions. She launched a movement which is obeying a higher law to preserve human life under humane conditions. Margaret Sanger had to commit what was then called a crime in order to enrich humanity, and today we honor her courage and vision; for without them there would have been no beginning. Our sure beginning in the struggle for equality by nonviolent direct action may not have been so resolute without the tradition established by Margaret Sanger and people like her. Negroes have no mere academic nor ordinary interest in family planning. They have a special and urgent concern.

I’m not sure how E.W. Jackson reconciles his crazy beliefs about Planned Parenthood and Margaret Sanger with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s strong support and praise for both the organization and its founder. It’s possible that Jackson is utterly clueless, or that he knows exactly what he’s doing but simply doesn’t care if he massively contradicts himself. Of course, he’s also contradicting his hatred for progressives and liberals, and his support for extremist right wingers like Ted Cruz, by honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., given that King left one of the greatest progressive legacies in U.S. history.  Again, perhaps Jackson is simply clueless…or crazy…or a shameless grifter looking for a way to make some $$$. Regardless, it’s very telling that  Fox “News” has this guy on their network, that Virginia Republicans nominated him for Lt. Governor in 2013, and that Ted Cruz is proud to have his endorsement.

From AG Mark Herring’s office (also check out the audio below):

~ Each attorney general pledged to work collaboratively to increase information sharing and cooperation across state lines to address illegal guns and reduce gun violence in the region ~

WASHINGTON, DC (January 15, 2016)-Today, Attorney General Mark R. Herring joined Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh and Washington, D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine for a first-of-its-kind meeting to discuss opportunities for collaboration and cooperation to prevent and reduce gun violence in the national capital region and throughout the three states. This was the first time Attorneys General Herring, Frosh, and Racine have held a joint meeting, and the first time the chief legal officers of Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. have ever met to discuss gun violence prevention and reduction.

During the hour long meeting at the Office of the Attorney General of the District of Columbia, each attorney general discussed ongoing efforts in their offices and states to reduce the availability of illegal guns, to prevent guns from getting into the hands of criminals and dangerous individuals, and to reduce gun violence. Each attorney general committed to designating a staff point person who will work with their counterparts to establish a timeline and structure for regular interaction, facilitate the sharing of strategies, criminal information, and opportunities to collaborate on initiatives that will prevent and reduce gun violence in the national capital region.

“Too many families in Virginia, Maryland, and the District have been touched by gun violence. They unfortunately know what it’s like to have a loved one in the wrong place at the wrong time, and how quickly an act of gun violence can change a life forever,” said Attorney General Herring. “In 2014, there were more than 4,200 gun crimes in Virginia, and the ATF traced more than 2,600 guns used in crimes around the country back to Virginia. We can and should do more to enforce our existing gun laws, even while advocating for additional measures like universal background checks. This partnership with Attorney General Frosh and Attorney General Racine is going to allow us to work regionally to reduce gun violence and illegal gun sales and possession. I’m really excited about the work and the opportunities in front of us.”

“Crime doesn’t respect boundaries, and our crime-fighting strategies need to cross jurisdictions as well,” said Attorney General Frosh. “I applaud my colleagues for their commitment to ending gun violence and illegal gun trafficking. We might have different laws, but we have the same goals.”
“Gun violence takes a terrible toll not only on families in the District, but on families across the Washington region,” Attorney General Racine said. “My colleagues are here because we all want to be good neighbors to each other in this region, and we want to reduce the gun violence that results from the illegal gun trade. All of our jurisdictions have to live with the consequences of the proliferation of illegal guns – and the trade in guns is regional, so we believe any solutions must be regional.”

As part Governor Terry McAuliffe’s Executive Order 50, Attorney General Herring is co-chairing a Joint Task Force to Prosecute Gun Crimes that is working to increase coordination between local, state, and federal partners to help enforce Virginia’s existing laws on background checks and possession or sale of illegal guns. In December, he fulfilled his statutory obligation to evaluate the states whose concealed handgun permits are recognized in Virginia. After an extensive and thorough review, he recommended that Virginia State Police cease recognizing permits from 25 states whose laws are not sufficient to prevent issuance of a permit to persons that would be disqualified in Virginia.