Remember a year ago when the debate was raging over then-candidate David Ramadan’s religious persuasion?  Remember how the nuts of the Anti-Sharia Task Force screamed that he couldn’t possibly represent “true” Americans because he was a Muslim and the Muslim faith was fundamentally at odds with an obligation to faithfully execute the laws of Virginia and the United States?  Remember how ridiculous all that was?

Ramadan sure doesn’t.

In voting against the confirmation of an openly homosexual nominee for a district court judgeship on the basis of his sexual preference, or even his perceived inability to apply Virginia laws on same sex marriages because of his sexual preference, Ramadan is every bit as guilty of the bigotry and prejudice of which he himself was the victim only one year ago.

Of all the “no” votes on the nominee, Ramadan’s stands out as the most  hypocritical and disgusting of them all.

HT: Novascout for the thought provoking post and Loudoun Progress for the photo

Time for a break from those mundane and everyday political conspiracy theories.  It’s time for a round of Loudoun Mad Libs.  The rules are simple.  Grab a piece of paper and fill in the list below of words.  Then click on more, read your new story, hopefully laugh (or cry), and if you like… post it in the comments.  And yes, you can be as stupid and break the rules as much as you ever do in Mad Libs.

Loudoun Election Eve

Adjective 1: ___  Year of a BOS Election: ___  Your Favorite Supervisor: ___

Noun: ___  Adverb 1: ___  Adjective 2: ___ A Form of Political Fundraiser: ____

Your least favorite Supervisor: ___ Term of Endearment: ___  Verb 1:  ____

Local Conspiracy Theory: ___ Loudoun Gov’t Entity: ___Local Company: ___

State or National Figure:  ___  Adjective 3: ___ TC Poster 1: ___  Verb 2: ___

TC Poster 2___ Adjective 4: ___  An Activity: ___  Adjective 5: ___ A Drink: ___

Verb 3: ___  TC Commenter 1: ___ TC Commenter 2: ___  TC Commenter 3: ___

Adjective 6: ___

(more…)

For chrissakes, Del. Bob Marshall is opposing a nominee for a General District Court judgeship  for no reason other than the nominee is gay.  Keep in mind that the nominee is a 12 year veteran prosecutor, was nominated by fellow Republican Del. Manoli Loupassi, and is, in Loupassi’s words, “absolutely well qualified.”

Now, also keep in mind that the General District Court decides  such weighty issues as traffic tickets, simple assaults and other People’s Court-type stuff.  Look, unless your defense to a speeding ticket is that you were late to a pedicure, the fact that a district court judge is gay is never going to  make a difference.  (That’s my attempt at a Modern Family-style joke, by the way)

Psst.  I think I just saw Marshall and Delgaudio sharing an appletini.  Just sayin’  . . .

There’s certainly an interesting debate raging over the Metro rail extension to Ashburn, particularly with the looming “opt-in” deadline.   Just for the record, here’s how I see the arguments shaping up.

On the one hand,

• Is it necessary today?  No
• Will it cost us money?  Yes, but not clear how much
• Will taxes go up?  Probably, but, again, not clear how much
• Will it drive billions of revenue to Loudoun?  No.
• Will it reduce traffic?  Not much.

Other the other hand.

• Will it bankrupt us?  No.
• Will it bring in some revenue?  Yes, but not clear how much.
• Are buses a realistic alternative?  No.
• Will it raise the value of my home?  Probably, but not sure how much
• Is it a generally a good thing to have (money aside)?  Yes.
• Will it lead to rampant crime?  No.
• Will it make some commutes better because they can take the train?  Yes.
• Will we live to regret not building it?  Depends on how old you are.

In the end, I’m for it for two reasons.

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is still the phone company.

Here’s a recent story that would make Ernestine proud.

For Mother’s Day, my gift to the War Department was to be a new iphone.  After suffering through a crappy Samsung for almost two years, not to mention two c-sections, I figure she’s earned one.  Her renewal with Verizon Wireless  was due on June 1, so I asked the Verizon Wireless store to allow me the upgrade price two weeks early so I could surprise her on  Mother’s Day.

But nooo.  Request denied.  I even went to a couple different Verizon Wireless stores, but got the same answer: full price $650 instead of the $200 upgrade price, even after the explanation yada yada.   I could not believe just how poor the customer service was.   All for a matter of two weeks.

Then it all came back to me.  Verizon is still very much the “phone company” of old, right down to Ernestine’s famous tag line,  “We don’t care.  We don’t have to.  We’re the phone company.”

Happy Flippin Mother’s Day, Verizon!

Team Fairfax-

Our mission is clear: we are the grassroots organization that will fight the “ground war” for our Republican candidates. We have created a structure, built an organization, and now it’s time to activate. FCRC headquarters is open 6 days a week, identifying new Republican supporters with help from volunteers like you.

Please be sure to RSVP so we can plan accordingly. Contact Susan Falconer at sfalconer@rpv.org or by phone at (703) 766-4467.

Sincerely,

Jay McConville, Chairman
Fairfax County Republican Committee

P.S. – Help us take back the White House by volunteering today! Our Headquarters is open on Monday – Friday from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM and Saturday from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM. We’d love to have you!

You may recall my  earlier post about the media attention given the 2% of the bills this General Assembly session dealing with divisive social issues and how the media effectively ignored the achievements  in that other 98%.  While I asked for examples of the achievements in that 98%, the discussion really didn’t get too far.  Well, now that the legislative session is over and the governor has signed pretty much all the bills he’s going to sign, it is a bit clearer who in Richmond is really doing the work to revive the Virginia economy.

It sure is not worthless, Loudoun-hating  liberal Barbara Favola.  Talk about social agendas.  Favola was the chief patron of bills to increase the gas tax, increase gun regulation and make it easier for convicted drug dealers to get public assistance.  Not surprisingly, they all failed.  In fact, only one of her bills made it through at all (an uncontroversial bill allowing towns to acquire property through a voluntary sale).

Extremists at the other end of the political spectrum didn’t do much to help the economy either.  Dick Black, for example, was chief patron of  a variety of politically-popular-but-economically-irrelevant bills such as immigration inquiry upon arrest, homeschooling, Sunday hunting and the pandemic of the week, Lyme disease.  Like Favola, he did absolutely nothing to move the economy, create job opportunities or bring businesses to the state.

Then there’s Barbara Comstock, a true unsung hero of this legislative session.  She quietly did the (boring) stuff that must be done to keep Virginia competitive.  As just a few examples, she sponsored, and more importantly got through to the governor’s desk, bills that cut taxes on data centers making Virginia more attractive for employers with high-density jobs; limited union control of public works projects; streamlined government agency reporting; and extended the telework tax credit.  That betters our economy.  That makes good jobs possible.  That keeps Virginia competitive.

That is what a legislator is supposed to do.

I guess Geary Higgins is the designated amateur entomologist for the Loudoun BOS.  Too bad he has no clue as to what he is talking about as he tries to defend the ridiculous park insecticide spraying.   Luckily a real entomologist is available from Virginia Tech to school Higgins and the readers of the story.

UPDATE:  GREAT analytical post by Realloudoun on this stupid move.