Union Front Group Endorses Lateef

According to the boys and girls at Blow Me ... er, "Blue Virginia" have a post touting the fact that a group called "Virginia New Majority" has endorsed Democrat Babur Lateef for Chairman of the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors.

Well, actually, the Lateef campaign made the post.

Lateef's campaign describes "Virginia New Majority" as "a non-partisan non-profit 501(c)(4) organization that has worked around the state to advance the issues you and I care so deeply about."

Non-partisan?  Sure.  That must be why it endorsed only Democrats.

Actually, "Virginia New Majority" is a union front group whose "board chairman, Juan Marcos Vilar, is the political director of the Service Employees International Union. Records show VNM has received political donations from the SEIU."

Now, you won't read this on VNM's website.  The "More Info" link helpfully adds you to its mailing list.  And other links merely direct you to its blog, which touts the desire to "bring together immigrants, African-Americans, women, youth, and working-class Virginians to build a progressive [read: "reactionary liberal"] movement in Virginia through grassroots voter organizing."


I found the more interesting and revealing information on Fairfax Underground.
Another far-Left front group.  Color me surprised.

Seen On Facebook

Hey, President Barry!  Know what else you inherited from George W. Bush?

A Triple-A credit rating!!!!

Carl Rice, RIP

Received news of the death of an old friend --- an attorney and district judge --- today.

Only 48 years old.

RIP.

... And Again

One thing about the boys and girls at Blow Me ... er, "Blue Virginia": they're predictable.

Just few months ago, they offered a rather ... creative rendering of the fundraising of Babur Lateef, Democrat candidate for Chairman of the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors, a fantasy which I discussed here.

Now that the second quarter's numbers are in, "lowkell" is trying to bang the drum to persuade the mindless who read and believe Blow Me ... er, "Blue Virginia" that Lateef is "racking up some impressive fundraising numbers compared to incumbent Corey Stewart (R) this past quarter."  Fair 'nuff: if you compare second quarter numbers, Lateef raised 11% more than Stewart, or about $9,000 more ($80,084 compared to $71,781).

But then "lowkell" gets carried away, and claims that these numbers "indicate[] that Lateef is not beholden to anyone but the people of Prince William County."

This appears to have been too much even for the rather limited universe of those permitted to comment on Blow Me ... er, "Blue Virginia," and one commenter has already had the wit to point out the reality of the numbers:

Since you said "Lateef is not beholden to anyone but the people of Prince William County", that most of his money isn't actually from Prince William County. Of the $150,000 he raised in Q1, VPAP shows that only $40K came from within the county, which means 73% of his donations for local office came from outside that locality.

Amazingly, this only got worse in Q2. Of the $73K in itemized donations Lateef reported, almost $63K of it came from outside Prince William County, or an astounding 87%. Even assuming the $7500 he raised in unitemized contributions all were local, that's still more than three-quarters of his money coming from outside of the locality his term in office would affect....

Finally, speaking of interesting numbers, while Lateef did outraise Stewart this quarter, Stewart still maintains a nearly $100K cash-on-hand advantage, $140K to $234K.

In that commenter's opinion, "I just don't think that over 70% of your contributions coming from outside Prince William is, in any way, an indication that a candidate is only beholden to the voters of that County."

Now, poor little "lowkell" doesn't like it when reality intrudes on his hyper-partisan fantasies, and immediately attacks the commenter.

Once again, one has to borrow a phrase from the moonbatosphere and wonder whether the fact that most of Lateef's donations come from out of the County will prove to be "a disservice to Prince William County's more than 400,000 residents."

At It Again

Well, one of the children at Blow Me ... er, "Blue Virginia," is at it again, attacking perhaps the nation's best Attorney General, Virginia's Ken Cuccinelli.  And, of course, since Blow Me ... er, "Blue Virginia" doesn't allow comments from anyone but certified moonbats, I am responding here.

"Kindler" is apparently in a snit because, as he tells it, "an attorney general would normally be expected to use his position to protect the citizens of his state from genuine threats to their rights and well being."

Uh, that's wrong, "Kindler."  And it doesn't take a Westlaw subscription to find that out.' A simple Google search ("'Attorney General' Virginia duties") reveals that:

The office is charged with providing advice to state agencies and the Governor; serving as consumer counsel for the people of the Commonwealth; defending criminal convictions on appeal to ensure that justice is served; and defending the laws of the Commonwealth when they are challenged on constitutional grounds.

A complete list of the duties is here, and nowhere among those duties is the job "to protect the citizens of his state from genuine threats to their rights and well being."  That's just another moobat fantasy of an activist Attorney General who would do the will of the far Left in pursuing an expansionist nanny state.

According to "Kindler," he "cannot think of a single occasion on which our attorney general has done so."  Of course, perhaps "Kindler" hasn't heard of the Attorney General's lawsuit against BarryCare (AKA "ObamaCare"), the Federal government's takeover of health care, which he is pursuing pursuant to a duly-enacted statute of the Virginia legislature protecting Virginia's citizens against this Federal encroachment.

"Kindler" therefore accuses Attorney General Cuccinelli of "attacking any institution that seeks to protect Virginia citizens in any way that does not conform with Cuccinelli's rigid (and at times delusional) right-wing ideology."  Actually, it sounds a lot more like "Kindler" is attaching anyone who seeks to protect Virginia citizens in a way that does not conform to "Kindler's" rigid (and invariably delusional) left-wing ideology.

"Kindler" then offers a virtual laundry list of "offenses" by Attorney General Cuccinelli, virtually all of them based in a pathetic ignorance of history, as follows:

10. Separation of church and state: He advises ministers to ignore Jefferson's (and the First Amendment's) "wall of separation" between church and state.

This is particularly entertaining.  Jefferson had nothing to do with the First Amendment.  It was proposed and shepherded through the first Congress by James Madison, while Jefferson was Ambassador to France.  While Jefferson's Statute on Religious Freedom was a precursor to it (and which, incidentally, acknowledged "Almighty God" as "creator"), the "wall of separation" language appears nowhere in the First Amendment, and is actually a subsequent commentary upon it by Jefferson, eleven years after its passage.

And, of course, "Kindler" apparently only has a problem with Conservative ministers who "ignore" the First Amendment, even as "Kindler" misapprehends it.

9. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority: Cuccinelli threatens one of the most basic rights of a capitalist society -- the right to enter freely into contracts -- just to prevent the Authority from using contract preferences for union labor.

This one is likewise entertaining, since "Kindler" evidences utter misunderstanding of how "project labor agreements" compel contractors to use the "union labor" whether their employees choose union representation or reject it.  Of course, in the brave new world of moonbattery proposed by the far Left, employees have a free choice for union representation, but only if they choose to have it.

8. FCC net neutrality regulations: Cuccinelli sues another Federal agency for doing its job and trying to protect Web users-- and remind me what the hell this has to do with Virginia?

Apparently, "Kindler" would like to ignore that reasonable minds may differ over the efficacy of proposals for "net neutrality."  And "what the hell [sic] this has to do with Virginia"?  Well, "Kindler," a few million of us use the Internet, in case you hadn't notice.

7. U-VA campus weapons ban: the AG limits the ability of our universities to control public safety, so as to curry favor with the NRA. 

"Kindler" apparently does not understand that, as an instrumentality of the Commonwealth, our public universities are subject to the same constitutional limitations as any other instrumentality of the Commonwealth, and therefore, the same obligations when they adopt regulations which infringe upon fundamental constitutional rights...  even the ones (like the Second Amendment's protection of the right to "keep and bear arms") that "Kindler" doesn't like.

 4. Health care : Cuccinelli sues the Federal government to prevent it from expanding access to affordable health care. 

"Expanding assess to affordable health care"?!!??!  "Kindler" must have been writing this when on too many recreational drugs, as evidenced by his faulty numbering.

5. Right and access to abortion: He rules that the State Board of Health can choose to regulate abortion clinics under the stringent rules required for hospitals, even in the absence of legislation authorizing such regulations.

Another far-Lefty fantasy, since there is no "right" to abortion stated in the Constitution.  Then there's the hypocrisy of a far-Lefty complaining about regulation only as it applies to his friends, which some might consider a core "police power" of the Commonwealth to regulate the health and safety of her citizens.  And, by the way, never mind that Virginia's legislature subsequently validated the Attorney General's efforts with legislation.

4. Police action on immigration: He finds that police may question anyone's immigration status once they've been stopped for any reason, even without a state law authorizing such actions.

Perhaps there is no such state law, but Federal law certainly makes illegal immigration an offense, whether it be civil or criminal.  And certainly, state officials are frequently part of efforts to enforce Federal laws.

3. EPA authority to address climate change: He sues the EPA for doing what it is required to do according to the Clean Air Act, science and a very clear Supreme Court ruling, threatening the right of everyone to be protected from the severe impacts of climate change. 

This is, of course, reference to a petition which was utterly permissible under Federal regulatory standards (Texas filed one, too), and the link is to a WaPo article which pointed out that the "EPA's ruling rested entirely on the findings of the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change" which "declared climate change to be an accepted scientific fact but in recent months has been questioned for mistakes ranging from typographical errors to problems with sourcing."  Apparently, "Kindler" doesn't know the difference between "science" and "political science."

2. University gay rights: Cuccinelli rules that state colleges and universities cannot protect the rights of gays on campus.

 What "rights"?  There is no "right" to sexual deviancy protected by any law passed by the Commonwealth or the Federal government.  And state universities are, as noted above, instrumentalities of the state.

1. Climate science research : And in his most repressive and destructive act of all, Cuccinelli engages in a relentless, bitter assault against Jefferson's university for allowing honest climate change research to be conducted -- threatening not only our First Amendment rights, but the protection we all gain from allowing truth to be discovered and openly stated, regardless of which industries' financial interests may be harmed in the process. 

Of course, the point is whether it was "honest climate change research" (remember when it was "global warming" research; I'm old enough to remember when we heard breathless warnings about the "coming Ice Age")?  The point is whether anthropogenic "climate changes" is genuine, or it's just another far-Lefty fantasy designed to create an excuse for bigger government.  And "repressive"?  "Jefferson's university" is a publicly-funded institution.  Public officials are certainly within their authority --- some might even say it's their responsibility --- to insure that public funds are not used fraudulently.

"Kindler" is, of course, doing what Virginia's moonbatosphere does best: demonizing.  But elections have consequences, and Attorney General Cuccinelli won his by a virtual landslide.

What was that again about "protect[ing] the citizens of his state from genuine threats to their rights and well being."  Virginians elected Attorney General Cuccinelli to do precisely what he is doing.  And that is what "Kindler" really objects to.  A "bully"?  Is that really the best they can do?

Pathetic.

A New Look

I am such a Conservative that I have had virtually the same design since starting this blog more than half a decade ago.  Today, I have surrendered (in some small measure) to modernity.

Feel free to offer your comments on the new design.  It may yet change again.

More Left-Wing Sexual Abuse In Northern Virginia

Well, that's how The Richmonder would report it, anyway.

"It" is the report in today's WaPo that Michael Gardner, former Chairman of the Falls Church City Democratic Committee, and husband of a current Falls Church City Council member, has been charged with sexually abusing three girls under the age of thirteen.

You see, it seems that "The Richmonder" has a penchant for smearing all Conservatives, Republicans, and "right-wingers" whenever an individual is alleged to have engaged in unlawful behavior.  Even if, when you read the story, it's the "Left-winger" who has also been cited for wrongdoing.

As for me, I'll indulge that quaint little notion of "innocent until proven guilty."  And eschew "The Richmonder's" guilt-by-association tactics.

My Favorite Talk Show Host....

is Conan O'Brien.  I don't watch him.  I probably haven't seen a total of 30 minutes of any of his shows.  But here is why, from the Commencement Address that he delivered at Dartmouth College this year.  President George H.W. Bush (41st President of the United States), was seated behind him on the dais:

Before I begin, I must point out that behind me sits a highly admired president of the United States and a decorated war hero while I, a cable television talk show host, have been chosen to stand here and impart wisdom.  I pray I never witness a more damning example of what is wrong with America today.

I can't add to that.  The Weekly Standard (H/T) doesn't even try.

VICTORY IN WISCONSIN!

Late today, the Wisconsin Supreme Court reinstated rationality to the state of Wisconsin, and overturned a lower court decision striking down the Wisconsin legislature's recent move to limit the power of public employee unions.

The report in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal is actually pretty fairly written, absent the inaccurate and ideologically-tinged characterizations of the special privileges granted to public-sector unions as "rights."

On Anthony Weiner

While the whole imbroglio over the exhibitionist and unfortunately-named Congressman from New York is entertaining, I strongly suspect that his actions are significantly less at variance with normal male behavior than his crypto-Socialism is at political deviance from the Constitution.

And while the former is embarrassing to him, and entertaining to the rest of us, it is the latter which should disqualify him from holding public office.

The New Far-Left Meme

It's always entertaining when the far Left comes up with a new meme.  Mickey-Mouse (i.e., complete fantasy) entertaining, not any other kind.

In the last few days, Virginia's moonbatosphere has offered up a new one, apparently in recognition of the continued popularity --- and resurgent popularity --- of the works of Ayn Rand.

The meme goes something like this: the House GOP budget is "anti-Christian" because it reduces government handouts.  Apparently, some of these moonbats have taken their cue from the "Rev." Jim Wallis, whose faith seems more committed to Karl Marx and big government than to genuine Christian teaching.  Far-Left "religious" leaders speak, and Virginia's moonbats jump.  And jump.  And jump.

Now, never mind  the fact that the proposed budget actually does very little to restore the United States to constitutional government, and would actually do much to perpetuate unconstitutional government spending.  And never mind that these are the same people who scream "THEOCRAT!" at any Republican leader who seems even mildly influenced by any Conservative Christian leader.

Interesting in the extreme is the fact that some denizens of the moonbatosphere seem to have committed themselves expressly to theocracy.  Well, at least, their warped view of what a "Christian" society would look like.  They are, in short, "theocrats" themselves.

Well, at least what, in their warped minds, they have convinced themselves constitutes the core of Christian teaching.  That is bears any relation to anything recognizable as Christianity is wholly coincidental.


Don't remind them that Judeo-Christian teaching has rather unambiguous imperatives about deviant sexual behavior, and about what constitutes "marriage."  And don't ever remind them about what Catholic teaching says about abortion.

And --- for God's sake! --- don't point out to them that the Christian charitable imperative has nothing to do with government spending, that charity --- by hypothesis --- is an individual act, uncorrupted by government coercion.

Fortunately, worry not about about their psychological well-being (well, no more than usual) and the dangers of philosophical whiplash.  After all, they're not really interested in genuine Christian teaching, or a philosophically consistent position.

They're simply interesting in using some Christian teachings (or rather, their corruption of genuine Christian teaching) as a club with which to batter their political enemies.  For the One True Faith of the far Left has nothing to do with Christianity.

It is Big Government, pure and simple.

Finally: A Deviant Admits What The Far Left Denies

... that advocates for the radical homosexual agenda certainly are "recruiting."

WARNING: Explicit language.

Unfortunately, it's not only the far Left which denies this elementary fact; some who fancy themselves as "libertarians" refuse to admit it.  Sadly, some might even believe it.

H/T National Organization for Marriage

Lamestream Media And Double Standards

I wonder what would have happened if Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush had invited someone to the White House who opposed interracial dating?

Perhaps we'll find out, since President Barry had two honored guests there last night who oppose interracial relationships.

Calling what some of his guests do "poetry" is a a stretch.  Inviting them to the White House is offensive.

H/T to Drudge.

No, Governor McDonnell: Please Don't Sign It

Well, it appears that little Dickie Saslaw blinked, and was forced to alter his extreme political gerrymander.

Nevertheless, as my friend Greg Letiecq observes, "Gerrymandering is OK if parties agree how to do it."  Here's Greg's descriptions of the districts --- five of them!  Count 'em!  Five! --- covering Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park:

The new proposed 28th district, for example, stretches from Bull Run Mountain all the way to Westmoreland State Park and at one points is only a few hundred feet wide where Rt. 215 crosses into Fauquier County.  The 29th district inkblot that was so egregious to RPV a few weeks ago is unchanged, snaking from Stonewall Golf Club to Manassas Park and then to Dumfries.  Traversing the proposed 36th District still requires a boat as it meanders from Mount Vernon up the Potomac River towards Widewater State Park in Stafford County.   The 37th District picks up a slice of Prince William County in Yorkshire along Rt. 28 nearly up to the Manassas Park city line that puts this portion of a Prince William County precinct in with Lorton.  There’s so much that hasn’t been fixed in this plan it’ll make your head spin.

Now, I don't agree with Greg that the new plan is "litigation bait of the highest order."  And while I probably know a little more about litigation than Greg, it certainly is not in the context of election law.  Maybe he's right.

Nevertheless, the average senatorial district in the Commonwealth is right around 200,000 souls.  With a population of 448,000 and change in the latest census, PWC, Manassas, and Manassas Park should have a total of two complete districts, with about a fourth of a third district.  But five districts?!?!

It should, and perhaps will, occur to the Governor and his advisors that the author of this plan --- Senator George Barker, D-WaPo ... er, Lorton/Lake Ridge, submitted the initial plan --- simply desires to split and/or punish jurisdictions which collectively gave the Governor a margin of approximately 15,000 votes in his victory in 2009.

Certainly, this confirms what some of us have known for years: any Prince William County resident who votes for George Barker should have his head examined.

Some of the problems of the initial plan may have been solved, and the new plan, which does more to protect existing incumbents, may have passed by a veto-proof majority.  And it is reported that Governor McDonnell intends to sign it into law.

Nevertheless, Governor McDonnell should keep faith with the overwhelming majorities in Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park, who helped to put him into office, and veto this gerrymandered monstrosity.

It's Kinda Funny...

that Virginia's moonbatosphere has thus far had more to say about President Barry's release (finally!) of his long-form birth certificate than do the Conservatives they are attempting to smear.  See here, and here, and here.

I've long thought this was a non-issue, since there is little doubt that, were there any there there, power-hungry Hillary Clinton and her investigators would have brought conclusive information forward during the Democrat primaries to conclusively destroy then-Senator Barry.  This should end the debate, and I suspect that it's been kept alive by the Obamorons themselves as a method of smearing Conservatives.

Whether it will end the debate remains to be seen.


UPDATE: and here, and here, and here.

UPDATE II: and here.

An Apt Observation

While the article is about Paul Krugman, The Economist (emphasis added) is clearly speaking to the general attitudes of the far Left, seen so often in Virginia's moonbatosphere:

this sort of psychologising diagnosis of strong political conviction often serves as a cheap, supremely condescending trick for pathologising and thus dismissing those with whom we disagree.  A good deal of work on the psychology of conservatism is like this.  The motivating question, "What the hell is wrong with these people?" takes it for granted that there is something wrong with "these people," and thus that disagreement with them is based not on a reasonable difference of opinions among intelligent people of good will, but rather on some sort of deep-seated defect of character or cognition in the "other" insusceptible to correction through civilised discourse.

While I would have used American spellings, I couldn't have said it better myself.  I wish I had said this.

Rank Hypocrisy

With the tax deadline yesterday comes the occasion of finding out how much taxes are being paid by President Barry and his Vice President.

And with all of the presidential rhetoric --- well, OK: rhetoric from the President --- about how "the rich" should pay more, or their "fair share," we have occasion to consider just how much extra the nation's two highest-ranking election officials sent in.  After all, we have suffered thro ... put up w ... listened to more than two years of President Barry telling us that the rich wo uldn't mind surrendering more of their income to the government.

And by any measure, President Barry and his wife qualify as "rich": last year, they reported nearly $1.8 million in 2010, and on that income, paid $466,104 in taxes.


One would expect that, given his rhetoric, one would find prominently discussed the additional contribution offered to the Federal treasury by President Barry and his wife.  That, perhaps, they declined to take a $30,000 mortgage-interest deduction, or a deduction for an admirable $245,075 in contributions to 36 different charities.

(cue crickets chirping)

As usual, the reality of the far Left doesn't match their sanctimonious rhetoric.

Color Me Surprised

Not content to dismiss anyone who is not a mindless Obamabot as "heartless," or a "fanatic," the children at Blow Me, Virg ... er, "Blue Virginia" have disinterred Ayn Rand, dusted her off, and slapped her around a little bit.

Which should be taken just as seriously as ... well, just about everything else they say.

After all, these people know "crazy."

Creating The Illusion Of Support

The moonbatosphere reallllly hates Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart.  After all, he has made substantial steps toward addressing the problems caused by illegal aliens at the local level.  According to the far Left, making sure lawbreakers don't get away with it makes Stewart a "bully."

Perhaps more seriously, he has held the line on taxes and government spending, something that his predecessor, Repubmocrat Sean Connaughton, couldn't manage to do in good times, posturing as a tax reducer when, in good times, average home values were increasing.  Connaughton reduced tax rates, but of course, increase assessments meant that the average homeowner's tax bill increased by more than 60% during Connaughton's tenure, enough to support his profligate spending spree.  Then, of course, Connaughton got out of Dodge before he had to make the tough choices made by his successor.

The far Left is running Dr. Babur Lateef, a local opthalmologist, against Stewart in this cycle, and at least one far-Left website is crowing that "Babur Lateef Nearly Matches Corey Stewart in 1Q11 Fundraising."

Wow.  This sounds serious.

Until you look at the real numbers.  Lateef reports total contributions of $146,894 during the reporting period.

But of this number, $10,000 comes from ... Babur Lateef, M.D.

Of course, that's OK: a candidate should put his own money where his mouth is.

Then there are three contributions totaling $10,533 from Advanced Opthalmology, Inc., in Woodbridge, Virginia.  And who is the principal in the eeeevil corporation?  Well, it appears to be ... Babur Lateef, M.D.!

So that's a total of $20,533, or nearly 14% of the total, from Dr. Lateef himself.

Then there are the out-of-state donations, totaling a whopping $60,850.  To be fair, some appear to be from family members (other "Lateefs"), but many are not from people who are readily identifiable as members of Dr. Lateef's family, i.e., those with the same surname.  Nevertheless, fully 41.42% of Dr. Lateef's donations are from individuals residing in West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Georgia, and Texas.  At least one donation even came from California!

I suppose Chairman Corey Stewart should be flattered that the far Left's enmity for him extends so far.

Then there are the other donations from outside of Prince William County.  Donations from other places in Virginia total $44,850, or 30.53% of Dr. Lateef's donations.

In total, then, of the $146,894 in donations reported by Dr. Lateef, more than 70% come from outside of the County, and more than 40%, from out of state.  And let us not forget the nearly 15% that come from the candidate himself.

In toto, then, excluding money from the candidate himself, from out of state, and out of the County, Dr. Lateef has raised only $21,161, or less than 15%, from County residents or businesses within the County.  Many of the last appear to be from other medical professionals, medical suppliers, and even one of Dr. Lateef's employees (if Lateef were a Republican, no doubt the far Left would be screaming about how this individual was browbeaten into contributing, or some other nonsensical charge).

With these numbers, my guess is that many, perhaps most, of the "Friends of Babur Lateef" couldn't identify Prince William County on a map.  And to borrow a phrase from the moonbatosphere, one has to wonder whether the fact that most of Lateef's donations come from out of the County will prove to be "a disservice to Prince William County's more than 400,000 residents."

Why Congress Will And Should Be Paid

Many among my friends are complaining that Congress will be paid during the prospective government shutdown, and believe that they should not be.  I would remind them of the provisions of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment:

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

Const., amend. XXVII (1992)

I don't like seeing the bastards --- particularly the Democrat bastards, who didn't bother to pass a budget when they were in charge --- getting paid while the government is shut down.  Particularly since they won't bother to save the taxpayers money be declining to pay retroactively government employees who are furloughed.

However, Conservatives must stand up for the Constitution.  All of it.  After all, if we don't, who will?  Certainly not President Barry and his Obamorons.

Therefore, I have no problem with paying Congress during a government shutdown.

Of course, you can see here for the uneducated moonbat position.