With challenging times, it’s understandable we slip into the ease of

anniversary celebrations of heroic actions that change life and nations,

without immolating the exceptional character of those we honor – legends

known and unknown who raised the bar through sacrifice – even suffering a

bloody or fiery death.

Most often we seize and ride the dynamic splash of media hype, rather than

ingest the soulful ripple from the core of heroes, and rarely entertaining a

taste for those who prep heroism without spotlight and by candlelight,

follow in its footsteps.

With the knowledge of historically overlooked heroes our lead, we bathe in

the wisdom of those forgotten – a journey proving, most people whose faces

remain unrecognized and names seldom whispered, are at some point heroic for

some person, place or thing, they don’t even know…

Battlefields – 9/11 – Boston Marathon – Wild Fires – City Streets

Maybe Heroes, like sandwiches, come in different shapes, sizes and toppings.

So perhaps before our children learn which screen star, athlete or

neighborhood bully to hero worship, we should check the ingredients – theirs

and ours:  

Though DOMA is not dead, its cemetery plot has been chosen.  

A self-righteous court can never be supreme in its rulings as long as true

patriots demand for all, what they themselves already heroically possess:  

* Constitutional Equal Rights for Women

* Restoration of Rights for those who’ve done the time

* Exemplary education for our children of all ages at every grade level

* Excellent salaries for teachers

* Elimination of crippling loans for those who only desire to contribute to

us what we teach each other.  

What is a court ruling that slices and dices a voting act for which many

have so dearly paid?  

How are we Jesus-like when asking, seeking and knocking to crush descendants

of Stonewall, Woodstock and Selma?  

Without cloaking ourselves in hypocrisy, how is Independence Day celebrated

by imposing second class citizenship on those with whom we disagree?

Wouldn’t June 28th be best celebrated with an Independence Day that extends

the freedoms, justice and equality we hold so dear, to all Americans and all

they hold dear?

When we celebrate Wendy Davis, remember to cheer Leticia de Putte who gladly

took the baton and carried on.

Celebrate lives of Arizona “Hot Shots,” by cutting back trees from homes and

power lines.  

When thinking Edith Windsor and Harvey Milk, think also of Thea Clara Spyer

and all those who can no longer celebrate anniversaries.  

When we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., reverently acknowledge

Representative John Lewis – especially after a 5-4 skillful surgical removal

of what Congressman Lewis was nearly beaten to death to achieve.

Of course, not all members of Congress are heroes, nor all nine Supremes

skillfully dissecting what has made America exceptional since before the

first Independence Day.

Most remember giving most newcomers work, fraternity home, and eventually,

sometimes, health and educational opportunities.

In return America was enhanced and evolved into ‘The Beautiful,’ away from

senators who intimidate gridiron folks to reject Obamacare’s new green

energy, for health insurance green.

Yet, I still have a dream, that one twenty-eighth day of August we will hold

these truths to be self-evident: The Declaration of Independence is now the

Emancipation of the Equal Rights Amendment with equal voting rights &

marriage rights for all, for that’s American justice.

Then we can celebrate like heroes with Mandela forgiveness, after

non-violent Gandhi like Marches on Columbus, Ohio, Perry’s Austin,

McDonnell’s Rolex Richmond and all state capitals warring against the rights

of American women and men of every shade, color, political & sexual

persuasion and yes, religion.

Now let us march again, but heroically uniting where marching is needed —

to carry on!

Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, July 4, 2013. Happy Independence Day! Also see President Obama’s Independence Day message.

*Egypt’s army ousts president (Building a democracy isn’t easy, certainly not after having been ruled by authoritarians for…pretty much forever, going back through the Ottoman Empire, the Roman Empire, the Pharaohs, etc.)

*What The Mainstream Media Misses About Texas’ Ongoing Abortion Battle (“In addition to criminalizing abortion services after 20 weeks, the other provisions in Texas’ abortion proposals would impose harsh restrictions on abortion providers”)

*Republicans Attack Obama For Not Implementing Health Care Reform Quickly Enough (Heck, these people would attack Obama for anything – what next, for cutting taxes and government spending too much?)

*Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s involvement with Star Scientific

*Debate squabbling intensifies as Cuccinelli refuses AARP/League of Women Voters invite (So…in Ken Cuccinelli’s world of utter delusion, the League of Women Voters is “partisan” while the Chamber of Commerce is “non-partisan.” Hahahahaha.)

*Judge won’t make Cuccinelli testify in chef’s case

*For months, Cuccinelli didn’t know of McDonnell allegations, campaign says (The Cuccinelli campaign clearly thinks the citizens of Virginia are imbeciles. Beyond that, their best excuse for Cuccinelli’s abysmal behavior was that…wait for it…he was CLUELESS?!? Wow, great.)

*Amid controversy, Va. Republican proposes political gift limits (“Sideshow Bob” of all people rides to the rescue? LOL)

*Past union words, climate deeds stalk Va. governor candidates (Not sure what these things have to do with each other – McAuliffe supports working people, Cuccinelli persecutes a leading scientist.)

*McDonnell Solicits Ideas for “Air Rights” Development

*Warner raises $1.4 million in second quarter (Since he’s going to be reelected easily, how about transferring a few hundred thousand of that to Virginia Democratic House of Delegates candidates? Just a thought.)

*Washington lawyer Flood counsels McDonnell on probes (“Flood represented Cheney and Clinton, worked for Bush”)

*Goodlatte on delaying implementation of employer mandate in health care law (You don’t even have to read this; if it’s Bob Goodlatte, you know it’s going to be reflexively anti-“Obamacare.” Yawn.)

*A dandy of a day as storms turn scarce (Yeah, if you like your Independence Days hot and humid!)

*Flooding forces evacuations, cancellation of race in Roanoke

*Nationals fall to Brewers again (Incredibly frustrating season…one step forward, one step backwards.)

I think Stratfor’s analysis is spot on, except that I agree with Tom Perriello (see below) that this wasn’t a pure “coup” (as Stratfor’s video headline states, oversimplistically), but more of a hybrid of a popular uprising and military intervention. I also recommend the analysis of former Rep. Tom Perriello (see his tweets from the past few days below), who knows Egypt well.

*”Reformist @monaeltahawy just rocked @jaketapper: How were people to use the ballot box when Morsi jailed/intimidated the opposition?”

*”Army closed deal, but this revolt was led by brave reformists who never gave up spirit of Jan25 and millions who rallied with them. Not over”

*”Classifying this as “military coup” is intellectually dishonest at best. Whether for or against it, this was people-powered from the start.”

*”Given it would have ZERO legitimacy w/o the people having risen up first, reducing Egyptian military’s roadmap to the word “coup” seems lazy”

*”Egypt’s revolution succeeds when activists organize outside the square then return, as with 18 days & Tamarod et al.”

*”Dvpts in Egypt kinda validate Obama’s don’t-pick-sides/support-dem-process approach: MB can’t play trump card of protests being a US plot.”

UPDATE: See the statement by the White House in the comments section of this post.

UPDATE #2: Rep. Gerry Connolly weighs in on Twitter – “Morsi’s ouster due to lack of respect for dissenting views & civil society. Military coup is not viable alt, Morsi’s faults notwithstanding.”

Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines for Wednesday, July 3. Also, check out the video of Sen. Chap Petersen on last night’s Rachel Maddow Show, discussing his call for Gov. McDonnell to come clean or resign. I thought Chap did a great job, made it clear this isn’t personal (in fact he’s played basketball and been in Bible study with Bob McDonnell), but about the integrity of the office and the good of Virginia.

*Egypt’s Morsi defiant under pressure as deadline looms

*White House delays a key part of Obamacare

*McDonnell’s trip to the 2011 Final Four is under scrutiny (“Johnnie Williams, head of Star Scientific Inc., sponsored the trip to watch the VCU men’s basketball team. A McDonnell spokesman said it was logged by the governor’s political action committee.”)

*Va. legislator calls on Gov. Bob McDonnell to resign

*Koch brothers’ odious influence (Speaking of corruption! “The brothers and their assorted enterprises have managed to get 411 politicians at every level to sign a pledge promising to spend no federal money on climate change unless it is offset by the same amount in tax cuts. Among the signatories, the AU report said, was Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who in 2010 used his office to persecute Michael Mann, a prominent climate scientist who had worked for the University of Virginia.”)

*No “witch hunts,” McAuliffe promises ODU scientists (It’s so sad that we even have to have a candidate for Virginia governor make it clear he won’t launch witch hunts against scientists. Thanks to Ken Cuccinelli for making that a real possibility. Ugh.)

*As Cuccinelli campaigns, some big GOP donors keep wallets closed for now (“Those who gave to McDonnell in 2009 are said to be worried about some of the candidate’s positions.”)

*The McDonnells’ gift registry grows (“As a parting gift, Gov. McDonnell’s legacy could be what Virginians always wanted: an ethics commission.”)

*Goodlatte says illegal immigrants aren’t all the same, and should get varied treatment (People are different, says Bob Goodlatte. What a genius.)

*Schapiro: Bringing rocket ships and electric cars to Va.?

*McDonnell Scandal Threatens Virginia’s Race For Governor (Weird headlines, but alrighty…)

*As Va. governor, Cuccinelli would push for voters to register by party

*Ex-AG Mary Sue Terry riles Patrick County school officials (“Terry said she has done nothing wrong and won’t stay away as the school board asked.”)

*Group of Virginia college, university presidents supports Virginia Tech’s Steger (“The group said in a friend-of-the-court brief that the VT president should be immune from a suit about the 2007 shootings.”)

*Cavalier Hotel renovation will get funding from Virginia Beach

*Felony Arrest Of Student Who Bought Water Riles Many In Virginia (Utterly outrageous and 100% unacceptable.)

*Cuccinelli says Loudoun can’t pay for Thomas Jefferson school renovation (“Opinion could derail Fairfax’s plans for funding the $90 million renovation of the magnet school.”)

*The raise debacle that needn’t have been (“If only Roanoke City Council had talked about raises within the context of the budget, the issue  could rest in peace.”)

*July 4 traffic to be heavy; weather should be dry

*Strasburg’s seven scoreless innings wasted as Nationals fall to Brewers (The story of the 2013 season…sigh.)

by Paul Goldman

The reaction by Governor McDonnell’s able press guy (Tucker Martin) to the letter from Democratic Senator Chap Petersen (return the gifts, come clean, or resign) – was boilerplate. Mr. Martin called Petersen’s statement blatantly partisan, uninformed, and based on media reports.

Even assuming, arguendo, that this were true, it is what they use to call in the days of Watergate a “non-denial denial.”

The Washington Post, the Virginian Pilot, the Richmond Times Dispatch, the Roanoke Times and people who have advised several Governors have also told Mr. McDonnell: you can’t simply “stonewall” the situation any more than could General Stonewall Jackson.

Yes, the Governor has a good technical legal defense: I didn’t have to report gifts I thought were made to my family.  But Mr. Martin and the Governor’s lawyers make a huge mistake in thinking this is just a case before federal and state investigators, or part of a current or perhaps future legal proceeding.

Let’s cut to the chase: Whatever the Governor may have thought back when, he now knows the Rolex was a gift from Mr. Williams. The public also now knows that Mr. Williams and Star Scientific have been making a lot of expensive “gifts” to the McDonnells. So the question before the Governor is this: What did Mr. Williams expect to gain from these gifts?

The Governor and Mr. Martin keep saying that Mr. Williams got no state contracts, appointments, etc. But that isn’t answering the question. The issue isn’t what Mr. Williams DIDN’T get. The issue is: What DID he get?

 

Mr. Williams is not a philanthropist, nor has ever claimed to be. He is a business guy in this case hawking his new product. No one in Virginia believes Mr. Williams merely gave these gifts as a friend of the family. So again: What did he get for the gifts? The Governor says nothing. The public doesn’t believe it.

So what should we watch? Easy: The reaction of Republicans, especially members of the House of Delegates running for re-election and others thinking about their political future.

At some point, the Democrats will wake-up and realize they have a great political issue. Mr. Martin will claim the Democrats’ sudden interest in gift reform is all politics, and he may be right. But that doesn’t change the situation on the ground, as they say in the military. The issue will resonate with the public as long as the Governor stonewalls and dares the press to write and more stories.

So far: The Republicans have stuck with McDonnell and not said a word. As long as this continues, Mr. Martin can cry “politics” all he wants. It doesn’t help his guy: but it does provide a temporary shelter.

Sooner or later, the Democrats will figure out that they need to force every Republican on the record on the issue. THEN WE WILL SEE HOW SUCCESSFUL GOVERNOR MCDONNELL’S non-denial “denial” strategy has worked.

So watch to see when Republicans start running a little scared. Once they throw the Governor overboard to save their political hides, the non-denial “denial” strategy will be seen as a bad decision, way too risky versus the reward.

At which point, the Governor will realize: Mr. Petersen and those of us who have called on the Governor to return the gifts and apologize to the public were actually trying to be fair, not partisan. McDonnell is actually the one making it partisan. And when his own party starts leaving him, he will realize it is a big mistake but too late to get any credit for doing the right thing.