Steve Bannon came to Culpeper yesterday, where he addressed a crowd of about 32 somber and low-spirited Dave Brat fans. Though Bannon tried to give people an exalted sense of themselves, speaking of them as warriors in a civil war within the Republican Party – and touting his creation, Dave Brat, as the first victory in that war – he did not have much effect. (Listen for yourself.) My guess: Republicans are as tired as we are of such divisive rhetoric, which is precisely the sort that Brat himself has been spouting at us for four long years. It was noteworthy, too, that Bannon did not mention Corey Stewart once.
One person at my table commented on the low turnout, even though, he said, there’d been robocalls the night before (a sign that the RSVP rate was low?), and there was general muttering about how Election Night would be a nailbiter.
By the way, my head count differs from that of the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s figure of 50 (which is what Bannon says it was) as I’m discounting a) the reporters; b) the event organizers; c) the Dave Brat staff members; and d) the 3 Democrats in attendance out of curiosity (including yours truly).
I’m in agreement with Bannon on one thing: #VA07 is vitally important and not just to those of us who live in it. Bannon called it a bellwether for the whole country, since our polls close so early and one side or the other in the western states, with their many tight and important races, will be energized by the results.
And Bannon’s right about the importance of the GOTV effort! Please help your candidates in any way you can. Canvassers, phonebankers, texters, and Election Day poll greeters are needed! I’ll be out for the entirety of Election Day at a heavily Democratic precinct, making sure voters get to vote and that everyone knows to vote for Tim Kaine, Abigail Spanberger, and Danny Plaugher (the Democrat running for Henrico Board of Supervisors). But you don’t need to do such a long shift! Typical shifts are 2-3 hours. Go to candidates’ websites and sign up for a canvassing or poll greeting shift! (For Spanberger in #VA07 go HERE) When we #GOTV, we turn out the votes and when we vote, we win!
Dave Brat has recently been found by Washington Post reporter Laura Vozzella to have “heavily borrowed” from the writings of Ben Bernanke when he was a professor at Randolph-Macon College (see HERE a hilarious video of Brat running away! running away! from a student who tries to get him to address this charge. Hmmm….if he has confidence in the legitimacy of his work, why doesn’t he simply stop and say so?).
Let’s put Brat’s “borrowing” in the context of his general tendency to inflate his academic record, which tracks perfectly with his consistent inflating of his accomplishments as a Congressman and his propensity for telling flat-out lies about his opponent Abigail Spanberger – even after he’s been called out on them.
Brat came on the national political scene in 2014 when he challenged Eric Cantor in the Republican primary for VA-7 and – to everyone’s astonishment – won. His website (since scrubbed, but see screenshot), implied very strongly that he’d attended Princeton University. A normal understanding, at any rate, of testing “rural values against the intellectual elite while at Princeton” and of a journey leading “to Princeton” and the obtaining of a Master’s of Divinity degree there is that the person went to Princeton University.
The truth is that a) Princeton University does not have a seminary and so does not award degrees in Divinity; b) Dave Brat never went to Princeton University; c) Dave Brat DID get a Master’s of Divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary which, like Princeton University, is located in Princeton, New Jersey.
Brat’s pretense came to the notice of Princeton University, which set the record straight. The Princetonian (the student newspaper) published THIS article from which the following quote is perhaps the most telling:
“Republican Congressional nominee David Brat is not the first individual to have made the assertion that he was educated in Princeton – the town, that is – while remaining ambiguous about the exact institution that he attended.”
The article also describes the 1991 burglary of the Princeton Registrar’s Office and the theft of all the materials necessary to forge transcripts. Brat cleverly skipped actually breaking the law, but gets all the borrowed glory of a Princeton degree without the risk of going to jail. Smart.
One would think that Brat would be sufficiently shamed by The Princetonian article to have stopped all such posing – but no. The man who reminds us on a daily basis that he went to seminary, has a PhD in Economics, and taught ethics for 20 years not only has not shied away from public self-puffery, but he has even expanded upon it, drawing into his scheme James Madison. Poser’s gotta pose.
In his speeches (links in #2 below), Brat has claimed that:
1) Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS) is “more or less” or “roughly” the same as Princeton University and/or had its origin in the College of New Jersey (Princeton University’s forerunner);
2) James Madison went to PTS and therefore Brat is a fellow alum of Madison’s (he repeats the lie HERE andHERE and HERE and HERE and HERE). In fact, HERE Brat doubles down and actually says that he chose to go to PTS because Madison had gone there.
3) Madison drafted the Constitution as he did based on his studies of the Bible.
To set the record straight:
1) PTS was founded in 1812 by the Presbyterian Church, not by the College of New Jersey. At that time, James Madison was 61 years old, he was the President of the United States of America, and he was too busy fighting the War of 1812 to be attending seminary;
2) PTS’s website acknowledges that the College of New Jersey “was supportive” of them but does not say a word about having an origin in or splitting from the College of New Jersey;
3) Princeton University’s website has a timeline of the institution’s history and it does not mention any important development in 1812 – which you’d think it’d do if PTS had split off from it that year. It does, however, note that after being President of the United States, James Madison became the first president of the Alumni Association of the College of New Jersey – NOT of PTS.
4) Madison was so protective of the need for keeping religion out of government (for the sake of the health of both), that he didn’t approve even of paying chaplains at public expense as he feared allowing the “Ecclesiastical Bodies” to get their noses under the tent:
“Strongly guarded as is the separation between Religion & Govt in the Constitution of the United States, the danger of encroachment by Ecclesiastical Bodies may be illustrated by precedents already furnished in their short history.” (Detached memorandum, ca. 1823. Manuscript. James Madison Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (133.01.00) [Digital ID# us0133_01]).
If Dave Brat were wise and truly cared about both democracy and the religious liberty that Madison thought was critical to the health of religious worship, he would take this lesson from history:
“In the fight to pass the Virginia Bill for Religious Liberty, [Madison] shamed Christian conservatives–who tried to insert the words ‘Jesus Christ’ in an amended preamble–with these words: ‘The better proof of reverence for that holy name would be not to profane it by making it a topic of legislative discussion….’” (Joseph Loconte).
But Dave Brat is no James Madison. And he cares little for ethics or religious liberty or democracy. Dave Brat is all about Dave Brat. He has taken advantage of the religious convictions and the patriotism of his base, manipulating their heartfelt feelings and convictions to further his own career. He is loyal to neither principles nor people and he needs to be shown the door on November 6th.
Dave Brat got himself in a bit of a pickle recently over his narcissistic whining to a group of jailed drug addicts about the terrible difficulties of his own life. To someone who’s said for years that he’d term limit himself (in gerrymandered districts, politicians say stuff like that — cuz, elections? What’s that?), the juggernaut that is Abigail Spanberger’s brilliantly run campaign is causing serious angst. The story went viral, but in case you missed it, I covered it HERE.
Dave Brat refusing to shake Marni Pilafian’s hand – though he shook her male colleague’s!
Brat’s ham-handedness (note the food motif) is legendary among Democrats here in central Virginia, from his referring to constituents outraged over his voting to repeal the ACA as “paid protestors,” to his infamous remark that these same women are “up in my grill,” to his refusal to shake hands with a female constituent — to give just the most noteworthy examples.
But little did we know — until now — that Brat’s own staff felt the same way! E-mails leaked from Brat’s 2014 primary against Eric Cantor give a remarkable inside look at the struggles of Brat’s staff in dealing with him. Now, Brat did after all win the primary, so perhaps he has the last laugh. On the other hand, perhaps he would have won by much more had he listened to his advisors? And perhaps he wouldn’t be in a tight race now in a gerrymandered district that’s been solidly red for years?
So, here’s your inside peek:
Further along in the same e-mail…
A response:
Hmmm…this one is quite striking!
In response to another e-mail quoting Brat as saying he didn’t mind “losing honorably” — something that has certainly changed over the years as he now spreads blatant lies about his opponent!
And, finally, in case there was any doubt about Steve Bannon’s role in Brat’s victory:
Need some good reasons to vote for Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07) on November 6? Here are nine big ones, but there are many more.
1) If you are worried about the effect climate change will have on your children and grandchildren, you’d better vote for Abigail Spanberger. Brat opposes federal government action to alleviate climate change, and has even supported legislation to prevent such federal action. Abigail Spanberg supports climate action.
2) If you believe you have a promise from the United States Government to provide your hard-earned Social Security and Medicare benefits when you retire, you’d better vote for Spanberger. Dave Brat wants to drastically reduce these programs; Abigail Spanberger will protect them.
3) If you think that something needs to be done to reduce gun violence, you’d better vote for Abigail Spanberger. Brat opposes any restrictions on gun access, even for suspected terrorists or persons adjudged to be a threat to themselves or others. Abigail Spanberger supports commonsense gun violence prevention measures.
4) If you believe that all Americans should have access to quality, affordable health care, you’d better vote for Spanberger. Brat voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He favors personal Health Savings Accounts (i.e., self insurance) instead. Abigail Spanberger supports the “Medicare X” plan proposed by Sen. Tim Kaine.
5) If you want to save the environment, you’d better vote for Spanberger. Brat has acted to restrict EPA’s ability to enforce the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts. Abigail Spanberger strongly believes in environmental protection.
6) If you think that legislative action must be taken to fix our immigration system, you’d better vote for Spanberger. Dave Brat opposes comprehensive immigration reform. Abigail Spanberger supports it.
7) If you think that public education is vital to the future of the United States, you’d better vote for Spanberger. Brat supports using public education money for school vouchers. Abigail Spanberger is a strong supporter of public education.
8) If you believe that all woman should have access to specialized women’s health care, you’d better vote for Spanberger. Dave Brat favors defunding Planned Parenthood and other family-planning organizations. Abigail Spanberger strongly supports women’s reproductive health and freedom.
9) If you are worried about the national debt, you’d better vote for Spanberger. Dave Brat has knowingly voted to increase our indebtedness by $2.5 trillion and supports tax loopholes that will further increase the debt. Abigail Spanberger does not believe in exploding the deficit/debt.
Jeff Schapiro of the Richmond Times-Dispatch suggests that people this year are voting against candidates rather than for them. In response, there has been a loud outcry from Abigail Spanberger supporters that they are definitely voting for Abigail, not against Dave Brat.
Well, let me be different. I am an ABB (Anybody But Brat) voter. It is nice that we have a great candidate like Abigail Spanberger running against Dave Brat, but I would vote against him no matter who his opponent was. In the past two months, I have posted on “BratFacts” and elsewhere the evidence of why Dave Brat has not earned another term in Congress. In fact, I have demonstrated that Brat is very dangerous.
In short, if you care about climate change, women’s rights, gun violence, affordable health care, LGBTQ rights, public education, immigration reform, the environment, the federal debt, Social Security and Medicare, etc., you should be voting against Dave Brat. Think of the election as your decision on whether to rehire Brat for another two years, and make your decision accordingly.
Are you satisfied with his performance during the past 4 years?
Do his views on public issues match yours?
Has he done anything to make your life better?
If your answers to those three questions are “no” like mine, vote to fire him. And, of course, the way to fire Dave Brat is to vote for Abigail Spanberger.
Amendment II: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Whether or not I agree with it, the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted these words in our Constitution as guaranteeing each of us the right to possess a firearm and ammunition enough to defend ourselves and our families from criminals. However, the Supreme Court did recognize that the Second Amendment is not absolute and that governments could take some actions with regard to firearms.
Dave Brat (R-VA07), in contrast, is an absolutist on the 2nd Amendment. Brat believes that the right to bear arms is a God-given right that cannot be restricted in any way. He opposes even reasonable actions that governments might take to prevent gun violence.
1. In July 2016, Brat publicly attacked the House Republican leadership for its willingness to allow debate on a bill that would allow weapons to be withheld from suspected terrorists on the Government’s “no-fly” list. Dave insisted that the government had no right to keep weapons from suspected terrorists unless and until they committed a terrorist act.
2. Brat voted for H.R. 1181, which would allow mentally incompetent veterans to purchase guns.
3. Brat cosponsored H.R. 38, which among other things would allow concealed weapon permit holders to possess guns in school zones.
4. Brat cosponsored H.J. Res. 40, which allowed persons adjudged to be a danger to themselves or others to still buy guns.
5. Brat cosponsored H.R. 3139 that removed minimum sentences for individuals committing crimes using silencers on their weapons.
With the amount of news we’ve been inundated with lately, it is hard to keep our attention on firearms. But, the issue is still there and it will jump to the headlines with the next gun massacre. I think that most Americans, including lawful gun owners, would like to see some reasonable actions taken to prevent the next event. Unfortunately, Dave Brat is not in that group. Brat will oppose any and all attempts to try to prevent gun violence.
Hurricane Florence has wreaked havoc in the Carolinas, and we are all torn by the devastating images we see by the hour. We in the Richmond area got our own taste, with a series of tornadoes rolling through the area, hitting Chesterfield County particularly hard and bringing widespread flash flooding. Indeed, flash flood warnings have been issued regularly throughout the state and Florence, in downgraded form, has been drenching southern New England and has caused flooding in New Hampshire. While Virginia didn’t get hit as hard this time as we’d all feared, what has occurred is bad enough. And besides – we know our address is on Hurricane Alley. The names Sandy, Gaston, and Isabel are just a few of those seared in our memories (see list).
Photo taken by FEMA worker in Virginia following Hurricane Bonnie, 1998
Rep. Dave Brat (R, VA-7), however, has voted consistently against funding hurricane andother disaster relief, even though Virginia has relied on such assistence on numerous occasions in the past and certainly will be this year in the aftermath of Florence. For example, following Hurricane Isabel in 2003, 93,139 Virginians applied for federal relief from 99 jurisdictions in Virginia, and by January 2004, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had approved $257 million to individuals and businesses in Virginia to help them recover(details here).
Brat has also voted against extending funding for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), despite that Virginians have received $720,147,929 in claim payments from the program since 1978. Communities participating in the NFIP include all but one of the counties in Brat’s district: Amelia, Chesterfield, Culpeper, Goochland, Henrico, Nottoway, Orange, Powhatan, and Spotsylvania.
Man mucks out his store in Hurley, VA after a flash flood in 2002.
Brat’s hardline position against offering emergency aid to fellow Americans – and to his own constituents – flies in the face of Central Virginia’s values. We believe in neighbor helping neighbor. Most Americans do: 88% believe that the federal government has a duty to provide aid in natural disasters. It’s called compassion, and the human race probably wouldn’t have survived without it. But compassion is lacking in much of Dave Brat’s voting record; in fact, during his first term in Congress, Brat earned the nickname the “Abominable No-Man” for his refusal to fund – well, just about anything.
Brat has explained his votes by citing his concerns over the federal deficit and the national debt (the debt is the accumulation over years of deficits). Brat uses fear to whip up support for his extremist and minority view of the state of the economy. Likening the US economy to a household budget – something politicians of all stripes do – Brat insists that doom awaits if we continue to be in the red.
During the Obama administration, for instance, Brat would urge people to “go look at the National Debt Clock” to “see for themselves” that we were in dire straits. But, since voting for President Trump’s tax cuts, which in slashing corporate taxes have decreased revenues and so increased the deficit (and debt) (analysis here), the Clock has mysteriously disappeared from Brat’s speeches (you can see it here).
Are such fears legitimate? Is the US economy just like a household economy? And is America therefore so bankrupt that we must abandon fellow Americans who’ve lost everything – and perhaps be abandoned ourselves, come the next flood or hurricane?
Henrico County, VA September 4, 2004 — Darlene Wilson surveys the damage to her home at Walker Village trailer park. The trailers were severly affected by flooding after tropical storm Gaston. Photo by: Liz Roll/FEMA News Photo
The short answer is “no.” The US economy is a tad too complex to be tallied in a checkbook register, and most working economists (vs. armchair theorists like Brat) had not been particularly alarmed – up until the start of President Trump’s Trade War. According to this Fortune article, because the US economy is the most powerful in the world, it can outmuscle its debt provided it keeps on its traditional path and does not adopt the tariffs and the anti-immigration policies advocated by Brat (following Trump). These protectionist measures are the greatest threat to the health of our economy, not helping Americans rebuild after disasters.
But Brat takes the pearl-clutching view of the economy. And he is apparently unmoved by images of devastated families and businesses, voting again and again to oppose hurricane and flood relief. Leaving compassion aside – what a nearsighted view he has! Surely from a strictly economic point of view it can only aid economic growth for families and businesses to get back on their feet and contribute to the economy again as quickly as possible.
Furthermore, Brat does not present an accurate picture of who receives aid. In 2014 during his primary race against Eric Cantor, Brat actually used Cantor’s support of the NFIP to attack him. In order to garner support for his own political aims, Brat was not above spreading false information – as a self-proclaimed expert in economics – to convince people to take a position against their own interests:
“Who does that go to? A lot of the money goes to gazillionaires on both coasts who have homes in nice real-estate locations.”
While there are legitimate criticisms of the NFIP (see here), and the program needsreform, Brat’s statement is patently false: The NFIP insures more than 5 million homes, and Americans in all 50 states have received claim payments from the NFIP. Brat is correct that over the course of the NFIP’s 50-year history, some wealthier counties have benefitted disproportionately from this program (not, however, “on both coasts,” but primarily in Texas and Florida) – but so do many lower-income counties. There can be no doubt that most of the voters in Brat’s district who live in communities participating in the NFIP would be hard-pressed to recover from serious flood damage without this program.
Homes of “gazillionaires” in Franklin, VA in the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd, 1999. Some of the region went under 6 feet of water. Photo by: Liz Roll/FEMA News Photo
Nevertheless, Brat has consistently voted against the NFIP. Brat’s recent votes come in the context of the widespread devastation of last year’s hurricanes. 2017 saw one of the most active hurricane seasons in history, with Harvey, Maria, and Irma causing nearly all of the flood damage in the US. Millions of people in Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands suffered in these disasters, with thousands losing their lives. Most of them are not “gazillionaires” and they cannot recover from the hundreds of billions of dollars of loss on their own.
And, as we in the Richmond area well know, we don’t need a hurricane or tropical storm to have flooding. Urban and suburban areas have become far more prone to flooding simply from heavy rains, as increased growth leaves less open ground to absorb water. Greater density of construction, and even the flood control walls that prevent rivers from overflowing, sometimes also cause flooding by catching and holding run-off rainwater.
In addition, hundreds of thousands of Virginians live within the flood zone of creeks, rivers, dams, and reservoirs. Just last month,parts of Lynchburg were evacuated over fears that College Lake Dam would fail and cause Lynchburg to be flooded with 17 feet of water in seven minutes.
And then there’s sea level rise: a recent study has shown that Virginians living on the coast have lost $280 million in home value since 2005 owing to floods caused by the rise in sea levels.
Brat’s voting record on hurricane and flood relief deserves to be examined in detail, since it’s goes very much against the interests of his constituents, of Virginia, and of the nation as a whole.
Dave Brat’s Voting Record on Disaster Relief: Too Extreme
Dave Brat sends thoughts – no prayers this time – in advance of Hurricane Harvey
August 25 2017: in advance of Hurricane Harvey, Brat sends these warm thoughts to “friends” on the Gulf Coast.
September 8 2017: two weeks later, Brat has forgotten all about his “friends” and voted “no” on H.R. 601: a hurricane disaster relief and long-term recovery bill.
The bill passed the House with huge bipartisan support (316-90), passed the Senate by a wide margin, and was signed into law by Trump. Brat was way outside the norm on this one.
September 11: just three days later, Brat issues this statement, linking our coming together after 9/11 and Hurricane Harvey to the unified response he predicts for the aftermath of Hurricane Irma:
Dave Brat talks the talk, but walking – not so much.
“The unity that we shared after 9-11 has seemed elusive, but we have seen it in the response to hurricane Harvey and we will see it as we come together to help those affected by hurricane Irma. While some days the divisiveness in our politics seems irreconcilable, it’s good to remember that at our core, Americans are strong, compassionate, and capable of setting aside our disagreements when it matters.”
These are lofty words, but what about action? When Brat had had the chance to “come together to help” victims and show them compassion a few days earlier, he chose to turn a deaf ear.
October 12, 2017: Brat votes against HR 2266, intended to provide FEMA and the Agriculture Department with additional funding for hurricane relief, fighting wildfires, recovery efforts, and the NFIP . This was a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by another Republican member of the Virginia delegation, Rep. Goodlatte.
Again, Brat’s position was extreme; the bill passed the House 353-69, passed the Senate easily, and was signed into law by Trump.
“There was no way to anticipate or plan for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Nate. These storms created devastation for millions of Americans, and I agree that Congress must provide emergency relief to get these communities back on their feet again. I voted to support initial Harvey Aid in the House, but I did not support the final package that failed to include spending reforms in September. Once again, a hastily-drafted emergency hurricane relief package was given to Congress this week, and I could not support it. While there is a time and place for emergency spending, our country has finite financial resources and zero effort was made to responsibly pay for the relief spending in the bill.”
What is the “time and the place for emergency spending” if not following upon an emergency that Brat himself acknowledges could not have been anticipated? And even if Brat is right that systematic planning is a good thing, is the time to make that point when millions are in desperate need? Doesn’t the compassionate person grant the emergency relief and follow up at a calmer moment with a better policy for the future?
December 21, 2017: Brat votes against H.R. 4677, also intended for hurricane and wildfire relief. Brat was in the minority on this vote, too, though not such a small one: the bill passed 251-169. This bill would allot money to the Army Corps of Engineers for construction, repair, and to alleviate coastal flooding; to the Small Business Administration for loans to small businesses and homeowners for disaster relief; and to the Department of Agriculture, to alleviate losses of crops and livestock sustained in the hurricanes and wildfires of 2017.
July 25, 2018: Brat votes against S. 1182, which extends funding for the NFIP. Brat was again in an extreme minority on this vote: an amended version of the bill passed the House 366-52; the Senate passed it 86-12, and Trump signed it into law.
Every member of the Virginia delegation, Republican and Democrat, voted in favor of this bill with the exceptions of Brat and Rep. Tom Garrett (VA-5).
The amendment came at the insistence of some House Republicans who, while they recognized the need to keep the NFIP afloat during hurricane season, wanted to put pressure on Congress to consider needed reforms to the program. The Republican Policy Committee’s summary of S. 1182 includes the following:
“The House Amendment to S. 1182 only extends the program until November 30, 2018, maximizing pressure on Congress to enact a permanent solution that makes necessary reforms and provides certainty for insurance providers and housing markets.” (full text)
He had me at “down-to-the-marrow stupid.”
Not mincing his words even a little bit, Louisiana’s Sen. Kennedy (R) acknowledges the need for reforming the NFIP – but also for immediate action.
But Brat voted with a tiny minority to strip this vital program of funds not only right in the middle of the hurricane season that is upon us today, but a few months AFTER floods in Central Virginia, including in his own district: Culpeper, Goochland and Henrico, and the Richmond area had all recently been hit when he cast his vote.
Dave Brat has shown plainly that he is driven first and foremost by a hardline ideology that is based on factual error, blind to practical realities, and void of compassion.
As we approach the midterms, we voters in the 7th District should bear in mind that if Dave Brat were not in an extreme minority in Congress, and votes had gone the way he wanted, he would have left us high and dry in the middle of hurricane season – and not the kind of high and dry we want!
The New York Times has reported that a super PAC connected with House Speaker Paul Ryan sought and obtained – most likely illegally – Abigail Spanberger’s unredacted federal security clearance application and is using it to help a struggling Dave Brat retain his seat. According to Larry Sabato and Cook Political Report, the race is now a toss-up, and Spanberger has been outraising Brat. Crickets so far from Brat on this, though he whinges again and again about Hillary’s e-mails and puffs himself up as an expert on ethics and the rule of law. The pungent aroma of eau de desperation is in the air – and it’s still only August!
Here is Spanberger’s response:
It is reprehensible that a political group would improperly obtain a copy of my unredacted National Security Questionnaire (SF86) in an effort to get personal information about me. The SF86 is the comprehensive document anyone seeking a security clearance must complete. It contains some of my most personal information including my Social Security Number and medical history. As a result of my SF86 filings, I obtained both Secret and Top Secret//SCI security clearances before dutifully serving my country as a federal agent and then a CIA case officer. Each time I completed this filing, I put my trust in the government that it would protect and secure my most personal information in hopes that the government would ultimately trust me with its most sensitive information, which the government did. Twice.
I am proud of my background, my service and the work I did to keep this country safe, and it is outrageous that the Congressional Leadership Fund, Speaker Ryan, and Rep. Brat are so afraid of losing an election that they would resort to these disgraceful and likely illegal tactics to try and find or create controversy — where there is none — regarding my personal background. This is exactly what is wrong with our politics and it is emblematic of the broken system that I am running to change.
CLF is now attempting to distract from their un-American behavior by coyly questioning what I have to hide. The answer is absolutely nothing, which they should know better than anyone because they have my full unredacted National Security Questionnaire in their possession.
It’s important to our national security that these underhanded tactics by CLF be brought to light, so I’m proud and willing to be the canary in the coal mine so that others who may be targeted — veterans and those who have served our country — can be vigilant.
I call on Congressman Brat to stand up for the rule of law and forcefully and unequivocally denounce this shameful offense by the Congressional Leadership Fund in our district. #VA07
Let’s double-down our support of Abigail Spanberger, who has risked her life many times to protect us. She’s got the brains, the guts, and the spine to be a great stateswoman.
I guess this works for Dave Brat if “loyalty to Donald Trump at all costs” is one of his principles.
Dave Brat does truly seem to be smitten. His devotion to Donald Trump is…touching. In the face of all the evidence of Trump’s wrongdoing, Brat sticks to his man. Blind love.
Brat does say that he loves all people, so I suppose it’s in keeping with his attachment to Judeo-Christian values (he did, after all, go to seminary, as he constantly reminds us) that he should also love this one person in particular, however flawed – and work so hard to defend him.
Let’s see, how to caption this….
And it’s also in keeping with his high ethical standards (he taught ethics for 20 years, as he constantly reminds us) that Brat should spend so much time with his House Freedom Caucus pals cooking up ways to impede, deride, or derail the Mueller investigation. After all, love and loyalty are virtues, right?
Given Brat’s alt-right paved rise to glory – very likely the blueprint for Trump’s – and his hob-nobbing with Erik Prince, Dana Rohrabacher, and Oliver North, it’s hardly surprising that he should take this tack. Recall that Prince is Betsy DeVos’s brother and has come under scrutiny in the Mueller investigation. The DeVos family and their close business associates have donated over $45,000 to Brat; indeed, Brat attended Hope College at the same time as Daniel DeVos’s partner, Scott Wierda, and they had the same major. Rohrabacher is also being investigated by Mueller for his well-known ties to Russia. North is now president of the NRA, which may have been laundering rubles.
Still, it may surprise readers to see the time and energy Brat has devoted to protecting his beloved rather than, say, working for his constituents or meeting with them.
June 16, 2017: Brat calls the Mueller probe “fishy” and claims we need to know of a statute that’s been violated before we investigate to….see whether a statute has been violated. Guess they don’t teach about “probable cause” in seminary (but doesn’t he even watch Law and Order???).
July 26, 2017, Brat co-sponsors H. Res. 477, which seeks the appointment of a special counsel to “investigate misconduct” between Loretta Lynch and James Comey with regard to “mishandling of classified data and use of an unauthorized email server.” The counsel was also to look into “[a]ny collusion between former FBI Director James B. Comey and special counsel Robert Mueller” and any knowledge Comey may have had of surveillance of Donald Trump or of the “unmasking” of any individuals connected with Trump’s campaign or transition team.
On the same day, Brat makes a speech in Congress in support of his old pal Jeff Sessions (who had been a main architect of Brat’s victory against Eric Cantor, even lending him his then chief strategist, Stephen Miller).
Laura Ingraham, Dave Brat, and Jeff Sessions at fundraiser for Brat, September 2014.
Brat, in an Orwellian move, supports Sessions’s decision to recuse himself while blaming Trump’s criticisms of Sessions on “frustration” caused by – in Brat’s view – an unwarranted and politically biassed investigation into Russia’s influence on the election and the hostility of the “fake news” mainstream media.
“Unfortunately, in this city there is very little incentive to do the right thing, especially if you are a Republican….One thing is for sure: when AG Sessions erred on the side of caution by recusing himself, he never could have foreseen the 24/7 full-throated obsession over Russia by the mainstream media. The media’s attacks have only escalated since Trump’s inauguration. Fake news dominates. Anchors now make the news by opinion, instead of reporting objective reality. The President is frustrated with those who have called for his impeachment since day one. Their mission is clear. They refuse to honor the outcome of the election.
“At the same time, President Trump is also frustrated by the fact that Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein rushed to appoint a special counsel. Back in May — and to this day — there remains no publicly-available evidence of any crimes committed. Not only that, but Rosenstein gave Robert Mueller broad investigative authority through the inclusion of a catch-all phrase when authorizing the scope of the investigation. Now, additional doubt has been cast on the independent nature of the investigation through Mueller’s appointment of individuals with clear political bias, including past legal counsel to the Clinton’s and several Democratic donors.”
Aug. 30, 2017: Brat pushes on Twitter for an end to or curtailment of the Mueller probe:
Oct. 13, 2017: Brat signed on to a letter demanding that Mueller and his team be subjected to public oversight hearings. The letter acknowledges that questions would have to avoid matters related to the investigation. Huh? So why have the hearings? One suspects that the true intent was simply to hold back the investigation by wasting investigators’ time and attempting to intimidate them.
Jan. 19, 2018: Brat signed on to a letter aimed at undermining the Mueller investigation. It demanded that the House Intelligence Committee release a GOP-authored classified memo (the “Nunes memo”) alleging FBI abuses in obtaining FISA warrants. Ten days later, the Committee voted along party lines to release the memo and to refuse to release a Democratic memo answering to its allegations.
Jan. 30, 2018: On MSNBC, Brat says that James Comey had “stepped down” from his position rather than that Trump had fired him.
Dave Brat’s animosity to Hillary Clinton surpasses the bounds of decency. Judaeo-Christian ethics? Loves all people? Hmmmm…..
Feb. 2, 2018: Brat releases a statement objecting to the use of opposition research on Trump conducted by Fusion GPS (the “Trump-Russia” or “Steele” dossier) as the basis for the FBI and the Department of Justice to obtain a FISA warrant. Brat is particularly incensed that the dossier was paid for by the DNC and the Clinton campaign; he neglects to note, however, that Fusion GPS was originally hired by Republicans opposed to Trump, with Democrats paying for the same information later as Trump gained ascendancy. Brat has left out the connections between Fusion GPS and the Republicans many times since, as in the following two instances.
Feb. 28, 2018: Brat signed on to a letter calling for a special counsel to investigate “FISA abuse” and and “how/why the Clinton probe ended and Trump-Russia probe began.”
Apr. 16, 2018: Brat makes a statement in Congress regarding “FISA abuse.” Here’s an excerpt:
“There is sufficient evidence that Democratic opposition research was submitted as evidence to a FISA court so that our intelligence community could begin spying on the Trump campaign and American citizens….Mr. Speaker, the script has flipped, and it seems clear it was the Democrats, not Republicans, who abused their power to try to get Clinton elected.” Congressional Record, April 16, 2018, Volume 164, Number 61, H3335.
April 18, 2018: Brat signed on to a letter calling for the criminal investigation of Comey, Clinton, Lynch, McCabe, and other Obama-era officials involved with the 2016 presidential campaign – basically everyone Trump would put on an enemies list.
May 22, 2018: Brat signed on to H. Res. 907, which calls for the Attorney General to appoint a second special counsel to “investigate misconduct at the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation, including an investigation of abuse of the FISA warrant process, how and why the Hillary Clinton probe ended, and how and why the Donald Trump-Russia probe began….” because “of evidence that raises critical concerns about decisions, activities, and inherent bias displayed at the highest levels of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) regarding FISA abuse….”
“The United States should stand unequivocally opposed to a foreign government meddling in our elections in any form or fashion. Unfortunately, for eight years the Obama Administration operated as if Russia was not a major geopolitical threat. Their foreign policy failures emboldened Putin to take aggressive actions around the World and set the stage for where we are today. While we must maintain open diplomatic relations, we should continue to take a tough stance toward Russia and work against their destabilizing actions.”
Aug. 21, 2018: The day after the Manafort-Cohen bombshells, Brat sends out this Trumpian-Orwellian tweet. Speaking of shiny objects…. (Note to Brat: yes, it’s good to think of Main St., but do note that most of your constituents are not small business owners nor work for them. LOTS of us work for federal and state governments and for big corporations).
Aug. 24, 2018: Brat’s pal Sessions is under direct attack from Trump. Will Brat continue to defend Sessions? Will he again find some way to blame others for Trump’s abuse of him?
By Michael Palmer [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia CommonsPoor Dave Brat! On the horns of a dilemma! Did seminary prepare him for this? Stay tuned…
In the meanwhile, if Dave Brat has got YOUR goat, then please support his opponent, Abigail Spanberger. We need a true patriot in office, not someone whose devotion is to a president who is clearly intent on undermining our democracy and ripping apart the fragile fabric of our society.
Check out Abigail’s WEBSITE and FACEBOOK page and follow her on Twitter: @SpanbergerVA07
Please also consider a CONTRIBUTION (even a small one) – or perhaps you can sign up to VOLUNTEER (virtual phone banking is among the options).
And please – more than anything: make sure everyone you know gets out to vote on November 6th!
Thank you!
Headline photo by Dr. Christian Nawroth (CC BY-SA 4.0) (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Human-goat_bond.jpg)
* Thanks to Kay Littelson for the all-too-true Russian proverb; it was included in an excellent 2016 article she wrote for Blue Virginia on Dave Brat that’s now no longer available.
Perhaps the most obvious evidence of VA07 Representative Dave Brat’s unflagging support of the increasingly unhinged president is the fervor and frequency with which Brat has been mimicking Trump’s cry of “Fake News!”But even when given the opportunity to tell his side of the story for a recent Politico article, Brat passive-aggressively texted the reporter to say, “I don’t like being part of stories with a false premise from the start.”This is a provocative choice of words from someone whose entire political career can be described as a series of false premises.TL; DR: Dave Brat has become everything he campaigned against.
False Premise #1: Being Available for Meaningful Interaction with Constituents
It is widely understood that Dave Brat’s stunning 2014 primary victory over incumbent Eric Cantor was due in significant part to Cantor having lost touch with his constituents.As NPR reported the day after the primary:
“Cantor let his guard down by focusing on the intrigues of the Capitol and neglecting the demands of district service, constituent contact, and visible fealty to local priorities.”
This is a point that Brat also made often throughout his campaign for the Republican nomination in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, as well as in his 2016 book, American Underdog: Proof That Principles Matter, a 304-page self-aggrandizing elaboration on Dave’s well-worn signature themes, including “free market system,” “rule of law,” “Judeo-Christian ethics,” and “the Republican Creed.”As Dave states in Chapter One:
“The political process is manipulated to achieve certain ends for favored people, the special interests. Instead of focusing on the interests of the American people and the needs of his Seventh District constituents, I think Cantor had grown detached.”
It only took one term for Brat to default on his commitment to accessibility.When Trump was elected and the citizens of the 7th District quickly grew concerned about the immediate attack on Obamacare, Dave took note of their anxiety only to mock it in his infamous “the women are in my grill” address to conservative donors.When he finally did bend to pressure to hold a town hall, he held it in a tiny venue in a small, mostly conservative county more than an hour from the population center of his district.
Now nearing the end of his second term, Dave is still feeling the heat from frustrated constituents who are tired of seeing his social media parade of staged photo ops and hearing his same clichéd pet phrases in lieu of substantial, meaningful constituent dialogue.With the Blue Wave bearing down on him, Dave’s reaction to this frustration has shifted from indifferent to panicked, as evidenced by the letter to constituents titled “Working Hard for You” that he posted on his official Congressional website on August 4.Heavy on administrative items and short on legislation, this letter would more aptly be titled “Things My Staff Does All Day While I Meet With Donors, Crank Out Photo Ops, And Run My Mouth On TV.”
After the mid-summer “Let them eat cupcakes!” PR disaster where invited, ticket-holding constituents were denied entry to or kicked out of an “Open House” for no other reason than an ominous “We know who you are,” Dave hurriedly implemented a series of very brief “Mobile Office Hours” sessions in some, but not all, of the counties in his district.However, the short notice, brevity, and inconvenient hours of these meetings have done little to make up for the fact that it has been over a year since Rep. Brat has held a public town hall, and over two years since he has held one in Henrico County, one of several counties as of this writing still unscheduled for the Tour De Brat.
Constituents are left to wonder,as Forbes pundit Rick Ungar picked up on immediately after Brat’s 2014 Republican primary upset, are his reliance on thematic crutches and unwillingness to address the tough questions the sign of a crafty politician, or a symptom of someone completely unqualified for the position?Or both?
False Premise #2:Maintaining Civil Discourse
Dave states in the Foreword of his book:
“The reader will note, I also hope, that not a sentence in this book is intended to slight any particular person and that I write with the golden rule in mind. Just as I would expect to have people challenge my ideas boldly and firmly, I will do the same. That is what we are called to do in the realm of ideas, and I still believe we can do that, and learn from our contemporaries as well our forebears, without any of us hating each other because of it. Love is part of the solution to our political problems.”
And then in Chapter One:
“I do not condone hate or negative campaigning. I had always advised my staff that every word we put down on paper and every word from every consultant or writer or blogger should convey who I am: a seminary graduate with a PhD in economics and someone who tries to love everyone I meet. Any messaging should follow those rules.”
While Dave has frequently chided his frustrated constituents to maintain civility, he does not practice what he preaches.Rather, he has adopted the Trump playbook of blaming (Obama, Obama, Obama!), deflecting, and dividing when his ideas are challenged. Furthermore, his refusal to censure any of Trump’s non-stop hateful rhetoric is tantamount to acceptance.And this past November, some of those same women who have been holding Dave’s feet to the fire discovered that Sara James, one of the most aggressive and inflammatory conservative trolls on Dave’s Facebook page, was actually his paid communications manager, a situation that Dave never publicly addressed.
False Premise #3:Maintaining Principles and Fighting Corruption
The third false premise can be found on Dave’s campaign website, davebrat.com:
“Dave Brat threw his hat in the political ring after seeing the corruption and back door deals that plague our system...With help from the voters in the 7th Congressional District, Dave proved that character matters and that standing firmly rooted in your principles does pay off, even when you’re the underdog.”
(That last phrase, by the way, is conveniently hyperlinked on Dave’s site to a page where you can purchase his book.)
“Either way, as the general election gets underway to fill Eric Cantor’s seat under the glare of a national spotlight, let’s hope that Virginians recognize that replacing one disingenuous politician with another does absolutely nothing to advance either their own interests or the interests of the nation as a whole.”
VA07, let’s not make the same mistake again.While it is comforting that CNN, Cook Political Report, and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball all rate the VA07 race as a toss up, and CNU’s Wason Center is calling the race for Abigail Spanberger, we have a great deal of work to do to get out the vote. Please visitabigailspanberger.com to get involved and do your part to prove this November that character and principles do indeed matter.
Brat came on the national political scene in 2014 when he challenged Eric Cantor in the Republican primary for VA-7 and – to everyone’s astonishment – won. His website (since scrubbed, but see screenshot), implied very strongly that he’d attended Princeton University. A normal understanding, at any rate, of testing “rural values against the intellectual elite while at Princeton” and of a journey leading “to Princeton” and the obtaining of a Master’s of Divinity degree there is that the person went to Princeton University.
3) Princeton University’s website has a timeline of the institution’s history and it does not mention any important development in 1812 – which you’d think it’d do if PTS had split off from it that year. It does, however, note that after being President of the United States, James Madison became the first president of the Alumni Association of the College of New Jersey – NOT of PTS.
Report, the race is now a toss-up, and Spanberger has been outraising Brat. Crickets so far from Brat on this, though he whinges again and again about Hillary’s e-mails and puffs himself up as an expert on ethics and the rule of law. The pungent aroma of eau de desperation is in the air – and it’s still only August!
and has come under scrutiny in the Mueller investigation. The DeVos family and their close business associates have donated over $45,000 to Brat; indeed, Brat attended Hope College at the same time as Daniel DeVos’s partner, Scott Wierda, and they had the same major. Rohrabacher is also being investigated by Mueller for his well-known ties to Russia. North is now president of the NRA, which may have been laundering rubles.
s out this Trumpian-Orwellian tweet. Speaking of shiny objects…. (Note to Brat: yes, it’s good to think of Main St., but do note that most of your constituents are not small business owners nor work for them. LOTS of us work for federal and state governments and for big corporations).