Yearly Archives: 2011

Can the press be this bad?

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The Richmond Times Dispatch wrote a gushing opinion piece on Wolf’s book, Prisoner of conscience.  The piece contained this quote:

American policy can make a difference…Economic pressure helps as well. The suspension of Most Favored Nation trade status for Romania, for instance, hastened tyranny’s fall. We also would emphasize that sanctions against South Africa, enacted over Ronald Reagan’s repulsive veto, sealed apartheid’s fate. Disinvestment helped.

Regarding “Reagan’s repulsive veto”, Congressman Wolf is referring to the 1986 vote on H.R.4868, the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986.  The Thomas knowledge base only publishes roll call votes back to 1989.  The 1986 vote predates, but it does publish an alphabetical list of  bill co-sponsors.  The  relevant ‘W’s”  are pasted below.

Rep Wirth, Timothy [CO-2] – 6/5/1986
Rep Wolpe, Howard E. [MI-3] – 5/21/1986

Where’s Frank Wolf?  It’s worth a question, isn’t it?

 

 

Integrity Matters

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Hey all, I’m back for a moment, from my perch here in resplendent Reston, to weigh on on something.

The Loudoun Times-Mirror made some endorsements today in their on-line edition, one of which was endorsing Republican Ralph Buona over Valdis Ronis for Ashburn District Supervisor. Now, endorsements alone don’t amount to a whole hill of beans, but some people who don’t pay close attention may rely on them for a decision. So I just wanted to point out a bit of a conflict of interest I’m seeing here.

Back in June of 2010, the Times-Mirror and the Loudoun Independent merged. The owner of the Independent was Bill Dean, who also runs M. C. Dean, a multi-faceted business based in Sterling. They happen to operate OpenBand, which provides cable, internet, and telephone service to many residents in the Ashburn District (of which I am a former resident). As part of the merger, Mr. Dean was given a seat on the Times-Mirror Board of Directors.

Fast forward to 2011. Loudoun Chamber of Commerce Chairman Ralph Buona throws his hat into the ring for the supervisor seat being vacated by Lori Waters, opposing Valdis Ronis. Mr. Dean, either directly or through M.C. Dean, Inc. contributed $5,500 to Mr. Buona’s campaign this year (as of September 30, 2011).  Interesting, because there are 2 Homeowners Associations in Ashburn District who are taking legal action against OpenBand regarding their franchise renewal. The next Board of Supervisors will undoubtedly have to make a decison on whether or not to grant OpenBand a franchise renewal, and Mr. Dean’s campaign contributions to Mr. Buona raise serious conflict of interest issues.

Now, today, we see that the Loudoun Times Mirror has endorsed Mr. Buona in the supervisor’s race. As I said before, it’s just an endorsement, and in the grand scheme of things isn’t earth-shattering, but it brings into question why the Times-Mirror would even go there. At the very least, they should have explained the connection and refrained from making an endorsement.

Integrity matters, and it is becoming apparent that Mr. Dean, Mr. Buona, and the Loudoun Times-Mirror are lacking in that regard. Valdis Ronis has shown throughout his campaign an impeccable level of integrity. Please vote of November 8th for my friend and former neighbor, Valdis Ronis, for Ashburn District Supervisor.

Randy Minchew Opposes Birth Control

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You might have heard about Mitt Romney’s kerfuffle with a voter in Iowa over the banning of hormonal birth control (the Pill and its successors). Essentially, policies that declare “life begins at conception” would have the practical upshot of banning the Pill, and hormonal birth control in general. It should be noted that this kind of birth control is a choice made by individuals – and couples – by the millions every day. It is safe, legal, effective and has improved the lives of innumerable people for fifty years.

So, of course, Republicans oppose it.

Here in Loudoun, the LCRC and its candidates want their radical anti-choice (and anti-women) polices declared “off limits” for public debate, or even mention. Indeed, I have no doubt this very post will result in a series of comments accusing me of being sensationalist or stirring up controversy. It is in the nature of these things. But when you ask the right questions, or read the right letters, (and I do mean right letters) you discover that the LCRC’s candidate’s positions on the fifty years of gender equality progress are, in fact, directly in line with the most radically paleolithic candidate they support. Which is why candidates that purport to be “moderate” like Randy Minchew, are in fact no better than Dick Black. They want to take away our daughters’ rights and supplant them with their own paternalistic hooey. In fact, Randy (and candidates like him) are actively campaigning on it.

RandyLetter1

Leaving aside for the moment the fact that a blastocyst is not a baby, and calling it a baby is disingenuous at best, the stridency of the language and appeal in this letter is worthy of note and consideration by Loudoun’s voters. Mr. Minchew has positioned himself as a calm, moderate voice, but it is clear from this letter that he is, in truth, anything but. He is as fringey as his Senatorial ticketmate Dick Black when it comes to advocacy on this issue.

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A Sign of Desperation!

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The election is coming up and candidate signs are everywhere. There are signs for Senate, Delegate,  Supervisor,School Board, Sheriff and Commonwealth Attorney. There are big signs, little signs, yellow signs, green signs,blue signs,red signs,etc. Let’s face it, signs are all over the place..on the side of the road,in the median of major roads and in front yards.

Signs are just a normal part of campaigning. I believe everyone has a right to place a sign where it is legal to do so or to hand a sign over to a supporter so he or she may place  it in their front yard. I admit, sometimes I like to see signs because they show  support. But lately I  noticed  the  Re-Elect Kelly Burk for Supervisor signs are gone. There was one at the corner of Edwards Ferry & Heritage….gone! Another one placed in the Virginia Village shopping plaza where the Farmer’s Market takes place…gone.! I saw her signs there yesterday and today, gone! Her signs disappear  almost overnight in fact.  Who removed them?? and where did they go??

I am very disappointed to see  that  signs are being stolen from their specified location. This  kind of behavior  of  political sign stealing  isn’t funny, in fact, it’s downright pathetic. This person,most likely a Republican, thinks it’s ok to remove candidate signs.  This strikes me as  desperate and reeks of fowl play!!

I would also like to point out … I have  noticed the misplacement of political signs along Loudoun County roads. Some signs are placed too close to the street. Isn’t there an ordinance in Loudoun  about that? Oh that’s right, there is.  Here is the article  in Leesburg Patch to prove it: http://leesburg.patch.com/articles/illegal-election-signs-unbalance-the-playing-field

Believe me, if you are running for office and want to be seen as a leader then sign stealing isn’t leadership! Stealing suggests a cry for help! Whoever you are, GROW UP!  Know this… a  SIGN of  true  leadership means you stand above the game playing and prove your worth by being honest and  fair!!!

 

Bought and paid for. Deal with it, suckers.

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Thanks to Liz for alerting me to the recent obscenity from the Sterling supervisor, in which he rants about the Board of Supervisors supposedly “punishing” business leaders:

The pursuit of profit and prosperity is what makes America a great nation.

To attack free market leaders and business spokesman in Leesburg– our local seat of government– or on Wall Street– is an attack on all our freedoms..

..[T]his board has ochestrated and frequently hosted assaults in public on business leaders and spokesmen and spokesladies who simply come and give professional written testimony about what other business leaders think or say.

Top business leaders have been brought into the public gallows and condemned by members of the Loudoun County board of supervisors by name and accused of crimes, undue influence and illegal acts on a routine basis.

“Top business leaders” like OpenBand spokesman Ben Young, perhaps? He does seem intent on removing any obstacles – like competition – to his company’s “pursuit of profit and prosperity.” The rant is followed by this, about the “top business leaders” who have donated to Eugene’s campaign: “These donors and their companies have been generous on the record and make a very big difference.” Indeed.

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Does Geary Higgins wish that his volunteers would just go away?

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The Higgins team is still hard at it, arguing that they should be allowed to go door to door and demand that anyone with a Baldwin yard sign hand over their Chapman signs. Consistent with his out-of-touch letter (I wonder if he cleared that with Geary first), David LaRock is out busily winning friends and influencing people. Not:

Thanks for letting me know there is disagreement with me suggesting Mike Chapman give some thought to separating his signs from Baldwin’s on the main drag in Hamilton, in Baldwin’s front yard or elsewhere where hundreds of people see them every day…

…As we all know, anyone who is part of the Republican team, needs to remember, that allows them to draw from the team and requires they give back to the team. Think about what would happen if Mike or someone speaking on his behalf, knocked on those 5-6 doors to say please don’t use my sign with Baldwin’s. Worst case for Mike is he could lose 5-6 votes… or maybe some of those 5-6 people would stick with Mike because he is a team player, net result for Mike in either case is very small… [emphasis mine]

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Catoctin getting slappy

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A couple of weeks ago, Without Supervision alerted us to two remarkably bad letters to the editor attacking Malcolm Baldwin, evidently cobbled together from the results of a FOIA request for constituent emails.

As it turns out, the readers to whom Mr. LaRock and Ms. Mann addressed their concerns are unimpressed by their efforts. Here is a short response:

Dear Editor: I couldn’t believe the letter from David LaRock attacking Malcolm Baldwin, a respected community leader, just because he voiced support for an ordinary non-discrimination rule.

Here’s what I want to know: Why is LaRock so hostile toward people who may be different from himself? Moreover, why is he thinking about other people’s sexual orientation and bodies in public restrooms? I (for one) wish he would stop.

If this is the kind of thing Higgins supporters are interested in, I’ll be voting for Malcolm Baldwin.

Indeed. I don’t think this is the sort of thing Catoctin residents want their supervisor doing, or thinking about, or encouraging others to think about. Yuck.

Another: Continue reading →