Bored Young Professionals

Who is Gordon Klingenschmitt? Part 1

2008-09-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

Cross-Posted at: Enough is Enough Virginia
Virginia State Police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty's direction to police chaplains to stick to non-sectarian prayer when acting in a governmental capacity has created quite a storm across our state. The news even led House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith and Delegate Charles Carrico to release statements attacking Governor Kaine for the actions of his Police Superintendent.

It is ridiculous enough that in a time of economic distress and war our elected officials would attempt to distract us with a non-issue, but simply Google the name of the man who is driving this issue and you will find that we have reached a whole new level of absurdity.

Gordon Klingenschmitt, who was convicted by a Navy court-martial in 2006, is the former Navy Chaplain whose cries were among the first on this issue, and continue to be the loudest and most vitriolic. In a press release, Mr. Klingenschmitt created the "Attack Governor Kaine Bandwagon" upon which Delegates Griffith and Carrico now sit, calling the deeply religious Governor Kaine a "persecutor" and implying that the former missionary campaigned on his faith only to abandon it once elected Governor.

This issue is near and dear to Klingenschmitt, who faced the court-martial for disobeying a direct order and wearing his service uniform at a religious protest in front of the White House. Klingenschmitt was protesting the Navy's non-sectarian prayer policy.

In his trial, Klingenschmitt's boss, Capt. Norman Holcomb, head chaplain at Norfolk Naval Station where Klingenschmitt was stationed, described him as:

...untruthful, unethical, insubordinate, contemptuous of authority... and a totally frustrating independent operator.

Klingenschmitt's defense did not call a single witness on the last day of his trial. Why? This article explains:

Commenting on why his attorneys called no witnesses in his defense Wednesday, Klingenschmitt said he reached that decision after hearing God's voice three times the previous evening.

"In the trial of Jesus Christ, he never opened his mouth in his own defense," the chaplain said

How did this man get the attention of the media, several elected officials and a number of church organizations? I'm not sure, but I do know this story gets better... Stay tuned for "Who is Gordon Klingenschmitt? Part 2."

Headed to a New Home!

2008-09-30T13:40:00.001-07:00

This morning I decided to take my blog in a new direction, and also to switch from Blogger to WordPress.

The new blog is called Enough is Enough VA, and it will focus on those in power in Virginia who go out of their way to block progress. For a few days I will be posting here and there, but after that all the action will be happening at www.enoughisenoughva.wordpress.com

There's a post up now, go check it out!

Take Her off the Ticket

2008-09-30T07:06:00.000-07:00

The Huffington Post reports the existence of a yet un-aired clip in which Sarah "Eagleton" Palin fails to come up with a single Supreme Court case except Roe v. Wade during her interview with Katie Couric.

That's all, just the one. In the entire history of the Supreme Court, the only case interesting or important enough to grab Sarah Palin's attention long enough to remember it by name is Roe v. Wade.

At least she remembered Roe v. Wade, which turns out to be the only Supreme Court case her party cares about anyway.

Death by 1,000 Gimmicks

2008-09-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

Is John McCain running a Presidential campaign entirely on a series of gimmicks? For your consideration:

Every one of these stunts is aimed exclusively at hoodwinking American voters just long enough to vote for the guy, only to find out on election day he ran a campaign completely devoid of any sort of ideas. Does anyone really think the John McCain of 2000 would pull half of these stunts? Insert "Straight Talk Express" derailment metaphor here...

What a joke.

Okay, What Now?

2008-09-29T11:31:00.000-07:00

House rejects bailout plan

Dan Quayle 2008

2008-09-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

The "Palin Standard?"

All she has to do in her debate with Democratic Sen. Joe Biden is to put in a credible performance and not make any gaffes.

A win for Sarah Palin is proving that you're not quite as disengaged and intellectually unprepared to do the job as everyone thought.

Ugh.

Go Kent Nye!

2008-09-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

Vivian Paige posted a letter from 2nd Congressional District Democratic candidate Glenn Nye's brother Kent slapping back at Congresswoman Thelma Drake for her vicious, baseless attacks on Glenn and Kent over their residency status while they were working overseas with the State Department. The full letter is here, money quote below, however this entire post is basically just an excuse to post the picture you see here. Bad. Ass.

While America’s working families gather around their kitchen tables to assess how our nation’s economic crisis will effect them, Thelma Drake is preoccupied with attacking me over where I kept my socks while I was serving my nation in Iraq.

Earlier this week, Thelma Drake falsely and personally attacked my brother Glenn and me. Her accusations were completely baseless, and an in-depth investigation by the Virginian-Pilot proved them to be nothing but empty, scurrilous attacks.

Handicapping Tonight's Debate

2008-09-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

So John McCain will indeed man up tonight and step into the ring with Barack Obama.

I believe tonight is Obama's opportunity to lock this thing up. Debating a man like John McCain, with his experience and knowledge, Obama can hit a home run by demonstrating to the millions watching that he has the judgment and intellectual capacity to grasp and confront the issues of our day, even if he hasn't been around Washington as long as McCain.

For McCain, it will be much more difficult to call tonight a win. He needs to meet the high expectations placed upon him, and hope that Obama blanks on an answer or commits some sort of gaffe. Should McCain trip or fall on any important questions tonight he will lose, assuming Obama gets through in decent fashion.

My prediction? McCain comes out hard and does what we expect him to do, but Obama, despite a rough patch or two, demonstrates that he's been well-prepared and exceeds slightly lower expectations to pull out a win.

The bigger question of course, is will any of it matter?

Morgan Griffith: "I'm More Christian than You Are"

2008-09-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith issued the following statement in response to recent guidance from state police superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty. The guidance requests that police Chaplins comply with a recent court ruling and refrain from using direct references to Christianity in their prayers.

"For those of us who understand the importance of religion in American life and value the free expression of religion as one of our essential rights, the Kaine administration’s directive is disappointing and disheartening."

Reading this quote, it is impossible not to wonder if the Sanctimonious Mr. Griffith somehow missed an important lesson on the Ten Commandments, particularly the 7th one.

Letterman > CNN

2008-09-25T06:49:00.000-07:00

Kudos to David Letterman for asking the questions of John McCain that "real" journalists won't.

h/t: Raising Kaine

Jim Gilmore: Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

2008-09-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

The Gilmore campaign has offered a clever but sad response to today's poll which shows Gov. Mark Warner leading Gilmore by 30 points in the race to replace John Warner in the U.S. Senate. In a letter to supporters, Gilmore's campaign manager Dick Leggitt writes:

You may have seen or heard of the new Washington Post poll which shows Mark Warner with a 30-point lead - very similar to the Washington Post poll taken almost a year ago. Do not be discouraged or disheartened by the Post's attempt to influence the U.S. Senate election. It is, after all the Washington Post. Their coverage is pro-Democrat, pro-Obama and pro-Mark Warner and voters who have watched the Post's unfair coverage of Republicans including John McCain, Sarah Palin and Jim Gilmore know this.

While the "liberal media" card is certainly nothing new from a Republican campaign, playing that card so fiercely, in the face of such adversity is pretty impressive. Unfortunately for Mr. Leggitt, the Washington Post is not the loyal Democratic shill that he describes. For his next "blame the liberal boogeyman" screed, perhaps Leggitt should pick a publication that didn't write these things:

"[REPUBLICAN Tom] Davis's skills in political strategizing are legendary. He has been known to recite election results from decades-old presidential contests and rattle off precinct results in his district with ease. A former Senate page, he has spent years studying Virginia and preparing for a Senate race, nurturing candidates near and far, contributing money and fostering relationships with party leaders in outlying parts of the state."

Theirs [Tom and Jeannemarie Devolites Davis] is a partnership of politics and ambition that formed a decade ago and grew into something more.

He was a powerful congressman. She was a fledgling state candidate with promise. A master politician with a national profile, he took her under his wing and found his life's love.

They both craved the game, and they both sought power. When he moved on to the Senate, she could run for his seat, or perhaps a statewide office in Virginia. Together, they made a life centered around these ambitions.

So it was that when [John] Warner, a Republican, spied Paul Wellstone, a senator from the other side of the aisle, he greeted him so warmly it bordered on a mauling.

"Quite a day, eh, colleague?" Warner said, his handshake evolving, as senatorial shakes are wont to do, into an arm grip, shoulder grip and neck grip.

Warner pulled in tight and whispered: "The hand of Providence reached down and touched us."

Setting aside the Post's romantic, flowing and quite touching prose, today's poll was co-sponsored by ABC News. If they too are part of the vast left-wing media conspiracy, don't you think they would have held back a bit instead of being the first to break the Jeremiah Wright story?

Lastly, back to the Washington Post, the very fact that they posted Dick Leggit's letter today, in full, without following it with "hahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahaha" is a strong indication that the folks over there make an honest attempt to maintain objectivity, if not a slight right slant. Still, a decent effort by Gilmore and Co. to fire up the base and get out the vote, but it looks like as long as Virginia Dems continue to work as hard as they have, this one is about over folks.

An Anthem for our Generation

2008-09-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

It's hard, and sad to think that "Generation Myspace" will someday be "Generation I Can't Believe I Put that on Myspace."

Thelma Drake Disappoints Again

2008-09-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

As this Virginia Pilot editorial points out, Thelma Drake's insistence upon hijacking a debate with her opponent Glenn Nye to question him about his residence status while he was working in Iraq is yet another troubling example of just how little Drake has to offer the people of Virginia.

Rather than admit to her unwavering support for the Bush Administration, or explain to her heavily military constituents why she voted against a bill that would have provided many of them with increased educational benefits, she took every opportunity she could to level nasty, hackish attacks at Nye for declaring a home in Washington D.C. as his primary residence while he was working for the State Department in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is a fairly common practice among those in the armed services.

Drake seems to be going out of her way in this campaign to talk about anything but the issues. I guess I can't blame her, if I'd just spent four years of unmitigated failure in Congress, I would probably want to change the subject as well.

Daily Press: Drake's Shot at Nye's Taxes Fires Blank

George Bush's Legacy

2008-09-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show's John Oliver on the legacy of the Bush Administration:

GASP! John McCain Lied!?!?

2008-09-24T06:11:00.000-07:00

News from inside the "tank" with the New York Times:

One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.

The disclosure undercuts a statement by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years.

Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the people said.

What he meant to say was Rick Davis had no involvement with Freddie Mac, except the part where right up until the government took them over they were paying him $15,000 a month not for any real work, but simply because he had direct access to John McCain. Other than that, no involvement.

Tom Perriello: A New Kind of Campaign

2008-09-23T09:23:00.000-07:00

As this ad states, Tom Perriello and his campaign are using 10% of their volunteer capacity to do community service. Using that time to phonebank or knock on doors might be the smarter thing to do politically, but I must say I am touched by the sacrifice they are making to improve the lives of the people in the 5th district. And meanwhile what's Perriello's opponent doing? Oh, right partying with lobbyists on September 11th. Tough choice here.

Chris Rock on Bill Clinton, Sarah Palin

2008-09-23T09:19:00.001-07:00

h/t: Jonathan Martin

George Will: In the Tank

2008-09-23T07:35:00.000-07:00

Conservative columnist George Will, by the new standards of the McCain campaign, is SO in the tank for Barack Obama:

Conservatives who insist that electing McCain is crucial usually start, and increasingly end, by saying he would make excellent judicial selections. But the more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either.

It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?

Will, just like the entire New York Times and Politico's Ben Smith, will now be banished to the list of people whose fair questions or criticisms of a reckless, dishonest and out of touch McCain campaign are now invalidated because they are "in the tank."

Using the new McCain standard, I would formally like to declare that from now on, I will be doing and saying whatever I please, without regard to truth, decency or logic. Furthermore, it should be known that should you point out my awful conduct, I will make no effort to address the validity of your complaint, instead I will simply render your past, present and future critiques invalid by declaring you "in the tank. " God forbid I should actually be held accountable for my words and deeds.

Ambinder on "in the tank."

What's Going on with Thelma Drake?

2008-09-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

Watching Thelma Drake's campaign in the VA-2nd, I wondered by she would be running on the same "drill baby drill" rhetoric that Republicans across the country are using as a Hail Mary to stop what could be an historic beatdown in November. She represents a heavily military district and sits on the Armed Services Committee, it seems odd that she's focusing so much on offshore drilling, especially when some military officials oppose the idea.

As I was pondering this question, it dawned on me that Rep. Drake's support for drilling may be her idea of a distraction from her vote against Jim Webb's "21st Century G.I. Bill," a bill that was passed and signed over her opposition and will provide assistance to a lot of people in her district.

I can't imagine the people of the 2nd District were thrilled when Thelma came home and tried to explain that she voted against rewarding their service because she was afraid to buck President Bush, so perhaps this "all drilling all the time" campaign she's running is her way of changing the channel.

Between now and November I hope her opponent Glenn Nye and VA Beach/Norfolk Democrats do the right thing and put the focus of this race back where it belongs, on Drake's unfettered support of George W. Bush and how she voted to hang her constituents out to dry.

Great Work David Englin

2008-09-22T06:15:00.001-07:00

Just a quick hat tip to the good Delegate from Alexandria David Englin, who has been filling my email inbox with a steady flood of invitations to come to his house and work for the 2008 ticket. Despite their own relative comfort in the blue 45th, David and his wife Shayna have consistently opened their home and held volunteer nights for other candidates across the Commonwealth.

The Englins are doing their part, I hope that we will do ours and donate our efforts to getting out every last vote for Barack Obama and Mark Warner. Check the calendar here, or subscribe to the mailing list here.

I do not mean to devalue the efforts that other electeds and activists are making around the Commonwealth, and if you'd like to make them known, there's a comment section.

Dave Albo vs. Thomas Jefferson

2008-09-22T05:52:00.000-07:00

Is there a more embarrassing legislator anywhere in the Commonwealth than David Albo (R-Fairfax)?:

Introduced and got passed the notorious "Abusive Driver Fees," the $1000 speeding tickets that made us the laughing stock of the country
Eloquently explained that his own constituents were abandoning the Republican party because they're all on foodstamps.
Proudly boasted that he's been in Richmond working hard so that people will be afraid to live in Virginia

Now, from that same bumbling joke of a Delegate comes this gem:

Albo (R-Fairfax) agreed that legislators have, on occasion, pushed the bounds of constitutionality but that they are properly representing their constituents. "The problem is that our job is to promote policy, and the Supreme Court's job is to analyze," said Albo, one of a declining number of lawyers in the General Assembly. "I can't be hamstrung to write the wimpiest bill possible to make sure it passes a Supreme Court opinion."

As an example, Albo cited the Partial Birth Infanticide Act of 2003, which bans the controversial medical procedure "intact dilation and extraction," in which the fetus is partially delivered and the skull is crushed to make removal easier. A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit overturned the law for the second time in May, saying it was more restrictive than the federal ban on late-term abortion that the U.S. Supreme Court approved last year.

Albo said legislators knew that the law "was in danger of being held unconstitutional" but passed it anyway because "we did what we think is right." The full 4th Circuit, which rarely grants rehearings, will hear arguments Oct. 28. In a recent brief, state attorneys argued that Virginia's law "is substantively identical to the federal statute."

Poor Dave. He would be a far more effective legislator if he weren't so consistently "hamstrung" by Thomas Jefferson's Constitution of Virginia. I don't think there was any question that Dave is FAR out of touch with his own constituents, but did anyone realize that he'd swung so far right that even the CONSTITUTION can't contain this idiot anymore? What a joke.

Stuck in Traffic? Thank Bill Howell

2008-09-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

A precipitous drop in revenues due to the current economic crisis means that Virginia will have $125 million less for road maintenance and construction over the next two years, and $739.9 million less over the next 6.

As we face a serious budget shortfall this year, we should remember a time when the anti-tax Republican House leadership stood in the door and insisted upon using the SURPLUS as the source of long term transportation funding in Virginia. Two years later, there is no surplus and thus thanks to Bill Howell and his right-wing caucus, funding for maintenance and construction is SHRINKING.

Two years ago Howell and his Rat Pack had the opportunity to work with Governor Kaine and Senate Republicans to pass a statewide transportation package that would be funded and producing results today. Back then politics came first and as a result we are faced with a far worse scenario in 2008.

2009 had better be the year when Bill Howell, Morgan Griffith and Kirk Cox come up with a few ideas to get us out of this mess, or 2010 will be the year they find themselves in the minority.

Don't Forget Those Fundamentals

2008-09-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

John McCain is too big a risk in times like these.

Paging Phil Gramm...

2008-09-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

Whiners.

The Game of the Year

2008-09-18T06:12:00.000-07:00

This Saturday the two most recent Football Championship Series Champions will face off in easily the most anticipated regular season FCS game of the past few years. #1 Appalachian State will face #5 James Madison in what is sure to be an exciting and high-scoring game. Click here for a great previ ew.

My Prediction:
JMU's running attack, led by senior QB Rodney Landers will face a tougher defense than they saw in last week's victory over UMass, but will still set the tempo. It will be critical for the Dukes to win the time of possession battle and keep Appy's explosive offense, led by QB Armanti Edwards off of the field.

I predict that JMU will do just that, and the Madison defense will step up to limit the damage just enough for JMU to walk away with a win in in a serious shootout.

Final Score:

Duuuuuukes: 45
Appy: 38

And finally, just so we all remember who we're dealing with here: