By Brian Wheeler Charlottesville Tomorrow Thursday, March 11, 2010 The University of Virginia Research Park adjacent to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport will be expanding with a rezoning unanimously approved by the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Wednesday evening. Thirty acres will...

"When the walls ... comes tumblin' down..." The ominous refrain in that John Mellencamp song is probably being sung in The Bronx this month, as the demolition of Yankee Stadium (the original one, more or less) reaches the climactic phase. For weeks it has seemed that the process was dragging on forever, but the winter weather was the main reason for that. Over the past week or so, workers have been drilling seams into the upper deck, in preparation for pulling it down one section at a time. The first and second decks were demolished from December through early February, and the wall in back of the bleachers, with the imitation decorative frieze, was taken down last week, exposing the crumbling innards for all the world to see. I know it was i

Just developing right now at the State Capitol. Governor Bob McDonnell’s Chief of Staff Martin Kent has just passed along  “Executive Directive #1″. The essence of the directive reminds state agencies that “employment discrimination for any reason other than merit and ability has no place in state government”.

The letter from Kent, reminds State Employees that it is the administration’s position that the Governor cannot change the Virginia Human rights act on his own, but that the state workers should not fear for their job for any other reason than merit.

The Governor is expected to speak on this issue soon. We will have more on NBC12.com and NBC12-tv.

Here is the full text from the directive:
——————————————

STANDARD OF CONDUCT FOR CABINET MEMBERS, EXECUTIVE BRANCH AGENCY
HEADS, MANAGERS, SUPERVISORS AND EMPLOYEES CONCERNING EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION

As the chief executive officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia, I hereby establish a standard of conduct to ensure that all cabinet members, Executive Branch agency heads, managers, supervisors and employees
understand and enforce state and federal law prohibiting employment discrimination.

Employment discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated by this Administration. The Virginia Human Rights Act recognizes the unlawfulness of conduct that violates any Virginia or federal statute or regulation governing discrimination against certain enumerated classes of persons. The Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution prohibits discrimination without a rational basis against any class of persons.

Discrimination based on factors such as one’s sexual orientation or parental status violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Therefore, discrimination against enumerated classes of persons set forth in the Virginia Human Rights Act or discrimination against any class of persons without a rational basis is prohibited.

Consistent with state and federal law, and the Virginia and United States Constitutions, I hereby direct that the hiring, promotion, compensation, treatment, discipline, and termination of state employees shall
be based on an individual’s job qualifications, merit and performance. No employee of the Executive Branch shall engage in any discriminatory conduct against another employee.

Executive Directive 1 (2010)

Executive Directive 1 (2010)
Page 2
Allegations of any violation of the law or this standard of conduct shall be brought promptly to the attention of the Director of the Department of Human Resource Management for review and corrective action. Any cabinet member, agency head, manager, supervisor or employee who discriminates against a state employee or prospective employee in violation of the law or this standard of conduct shall be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, ranging from reprimand to termination.

I further direct agency heads to ensure that every manager and supervisor in their respective agency is aware of and enforces this standard of conduct. Civility, fair treatment, and mutual respect shall be the standard of conduct expected in state employment.
/s/ Robert F. McDonnell, Governor

Many different groups are weighing in tonight on Governor Bob McDonnell’s surprise decision to issue an executive directive regarding discrimination in state hiring practices. The response is all over the map and perhaps, more than anything, demonstrates how unprepared the political chattering class was for this move.

Republicans appear to be walking a fine line of support for McDonnell, without providing overwhelming ethusasium at the move. Democrats, are happy the pendulum seems to be swinging their way, but are quick to point out that it is not nearly enough. Meanwhile, independent analysts are wondering how this could impact the Governor’s future.

Here is what some are saying:

From Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli:
“I applaud Governor McDonnell for the tone he is setting for the Commonwealth of Virginia. I will remain in contact with the Governor and continue to work with him on issues important to Virginians. I expect Virginia’s state employees to follow all state and federal anti-discrimination laws and will enforce Virginia’s laws to the fullest extent.”

From Lowell Feld, liberal blogger at Blue Virginia:
“I certainly didn’t expect this, but at first glance it looks strong. I’m particularly impressed (and amazed) that McDonnell’s order specifies “one’s sexual orientation” as a “class of persons” that can not be discriminated against in state.” – full post

From David Mills- Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Virginia:
“While we applaud the administrative gesture made by Governor McDonnell today, his non-binding statement of policy does little to protect Virginians from discrimination. The Governor is instituting half-measures necessitated by political crisis, and the time for these games is over. We call on Governor McDonnell to definitively and permanently eliminate the threat that discrimination poses to the lives, jobs, and welfare of all Virginians.”

From Lt. Governor Bill Bolling:
“I agree wholeheartedly with that statement…. As the Governor has said many times, we do not support and we will not tolerate employment related discrimination in any form.”

From Pat Mullins, Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia:
“I applaud Governor McDonnell for putting down on paper what anyone who has done business with the Commonwealth of Virginia has found — that Virginia doesn’t tolerate discrimination,”

From Marc Armbinder, Political Editor of the Atlantic:
“(The directive) may illustrate the degree to which Republicans, who want McDonnell to be a presidential contender at some point, are anxious about his image as a culture warrior…. There are lots of proxy battles here, but McDonnell didn’t have to issue the directive — and he did. It remains to be seen whether independent voters, who don’t want to admit voting for a governor who seems anti-gay, will give him credit for it.” –full post

From Victoria Cobb, President of the Family Foundation:
“The Family Foundation continues to maintain that adding additional classes of persons to the Commonwealth’s non-discrimination policy is unnecessary. Again, no evidence of discrimination has been presented. We do agree with the Governor that state employment should be based on ‘qualifications, merit and performance.’”

It certainly dominated the headlines, but Governor Bob McDonnell’s decision to extend an executive directive on statewide hiring practices was only one part of an incredibly busy day at the State Capitol.

With the General Assembly session winding down, a fury of bills are making their way to McDonnell’s desk.  Many of these issues are legislative priorities that the Governor advocated for either as a candidate or prior to the state of the legislative session.

The Governor, who often provides the press corp with a running tally of his legislative wins, would probably much rather being talking about some of these issues, than highly divisive fight over the state non-discrimination policy.

Among the big wins for the Governor today, approval for the state to begin the process of drilling offshore for oil and natural gas, and eventually turn a portion of that revenue into funds for transportation. McDonnell signed the bill into law today (pictured above, by the Governor’s photographer Michaele White). There are still a number of hurdles to go before early exploration even begins, but McDonnell touted the signing as a significant step forward. Andy Jenks covered this story for NBC12 Wednesday. You can see his full report here.

In addition to the drilling bill, McDonnell saw the passage of expansions to the death penalty, a rejection of a significant portion of the proposed Washington health care reform plan and approval to begin the process of expanding charter schools. We recapped them all Wednesday night on NBC12 news at 11. You can see our report below.

Hunger for the Word of God

“I rejoice at Thy Word.” Psalm 119:162

Job said, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). When God’s Word is as important to you as your physical food, then you’re going to start to grow in your Christian life.

I wonder if one day the dust on our Bibles is not going to testify against us. The following poetic lines sober my heart: “These hath God married and no man shall part, dust on the Bible and drought in the heart.”

Oh, that we would hunger for the Word of God!

Fast from one meal today. Sense just a touch of the hunger our hearts are to have for the Word of God, and remember to pray for those who need the pure milk of His Word!

Adrian Rogers, Love Worth Finding

I wanted to reach out and thank you for your interest in Monday’s federal job fair in Stafford. I know it was a long day for many and we apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. Through our online pre-registration process, we had planned for as many as 5,000 jobseekers to attend the job fair throughout the day. We even extended the length of the event so that it would end at 4 p.m., and not at noon as we originally had planned. Unfortunately, we were not able to accommodate the more than 7,000 participants who ultimately turned-out on Monday. We apologize for the traffic you encountered and your extended wait in line. For those of you who were able to leave resumes with my staff, we are sending them to the participating federal agencies. Please remember that you must be registered at USAJobs.gov to be considered for any openings and that the processing and decision times vary by agency.  Interested agencies will contact you directly through USAJobs.gov. I encourage you also to check our website, http://warner.senate.gov/jobsfair, for links to all of the participating federal agencies.  Each agency has a jobs page on its website that contains much of the information that agency recruiters provided at Monday’s job fair.  Later this week, we will post online video of the federal government’s training session with some helpful guidance about applying and interviewing for federal jobs. You may be interested to know that, after returning to Capitol Hill on Monday, I spoke on the Senate floor about our job fair. I told my colleagues that the individuals who I met during my visit that morning did not care about filibusters or the partisan procedural tactics that too often dominate our discussions here in Washington. I reminded them that it is crucially important that we put partisanship aside and get serious about an effort to create more, and better, jobs. Again, I thank you for your patience, apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced, and urge you to contact my office if you need further assistance. Thanks, Mark Warner P.S. — As we plan for our next job fair — which we hope will include both federal agencies and private-sector employers — we would love to hear your thoughts on how we can improve. If you have a few moments, please click here and complete this short survey to let us know how we can improve.

Good God!

Talk about drama over literally NOTHING. Ken Cuccinelli puts a kindly written letter out to the publicly funded colleges, bringing to their attention that they have inadvertently broken state law by inserting a clause that was never passed by the Virginia Legislature. In response, the college(s) leak the letter to the press, who quickly drum up a fabricated uproar over something that has been in place for YEARS?!

Give me a break. VCU sends a thousand people into the streets because the Attorney General did his job!? Where was the protest and frustration when the legislature, you know, the people who MAKE the law, rejected the term ’sexual orientation’ over and over and over again for decades?! Yet Attorney General Cuccinelli, who rightfully points out that state colleges have circumvented the law, is the bad guy?

It doesn’t help when articles like this (from RTD about the protest today in Richmond) refer to the issue as Cuccinelli’s ‘opinion.’ Wake up people. It’s not an opinion, it’s not an interpretation; it’s the LAW. And as Attorney General, it’s his job to defend the LAW. The state colleges are in clear violation of it, he pointed it out rightfully, because it’s his, you know, job!

So the backlash swells, Cuccinelli doesn’t back down (not really sure how you can back down from the law? Going oh yeah, nevermind?) So McDonnell swoops in today, as Jason throughly reported here and issues a Governor’s directive clarifying that discrimination will not be tolerated. This placates the alleged controversy, and doesn’t cut out Cuccinelli’s knees from under him. Why?

Because a Governor’s Directive is not law. It’s not an Executive Order, as Tim Kaine famously and unconstitutionally did in regards to this specific issue. So McDonnell placates the left and shuts them up (and you can tell by the headlines and press releases today, it worked). However, the same issue remains. State colleges are in violation of state law. For a state that has altered its constitution to recognize that marriage is between a man and a woman, this is not likely to go away.

I’d salute Ken Cuccinelli, but it is his job. However, way to stay strong in the face of a fabricated firestorm of nonsense and not losing sight of how blatantly wrong the opposition is on this issue.

Paco gets the inside information on the latest White House staff meeting.

Rumors continue to abound (I have heard this through at least four individual sources, including three campaigns) that Chuck Smith, the first candidate to drop out from the 2nd District Republican nomination (and likely not the last), is contemplating re-entering the race. I wish I had a credible reason could possibly justify this decision. I like Chuck and I, like many others, think he’s a nice guy. But he ran once, got no traction. What changed from him leaving the race to make him believe he has a better chance now?

He demonstrated a proven failure to raise money, even while he was the only announced candidate in the race. He garnered little support in the grassroots or business community. And on hand funds?

At the end of the last filing period, 12/31/2009, Chuck had $717 in his bank account.

Put that number in perspective?

Glenn Nye: $852,210
Chuck Smith: $717

Result? Chuck didn’t even have half a percentage point as much as Glenn Nye.

If you know Chuck Smith, please encourage him to stay out of the race.

The D.C. police union says a detective accused of unholstering his gun at a snowball fight faces a possible 10-day suspension.

Mid-Atlantic Region

Under the circumstances, it seems both odd and wrong to chide Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell for being two-faced, especially given that I like the result.

Today Governor McDonnell reversed his long-held position that only the General Assembly possesses the authority to add "sexual orientation" to the list of categories protected against discrimination in state government employment.  After having, as Virginia's Attorney General, advised his predecessor that an executive order extending employment protections to gay and lesbian Virginians with state jobs was not permitted under the law, McDonnell today issued a similar -- if not stronger -- executive order doing precisely that.

McDonnell's order comes on the heels of a widely-criticized letter sent by the new attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli, which told state colleges and universities that they could not include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policies -- neither formal nor informal policies.

I'm divided on this issue because, as far as Virginia statutes go, Attorney General McDonnell was right on the law and wrong on policy.  Now Governor McDonnell is wrong on the law and right on policy.  I believe, as Attorney General McDonnell did, that the General Assembly had to act in order to expand Virginia's employment non-discrimination protections.

It's a mixed bag, to say the least.

A few weeks ago, I testified before the state Senate's Committee on General Laws and Technology in favor of SB66, a bill introduced by Senator Donald McEachin that would have added sexual orientation to the protected categories.  I noted then that "there is no rational justification" for excluding sexual orientation from a broad anti-discrimination policy.  Indeed, the committee members who voted "nay" offered no argument to explain their votes.

That bill later passed the state Senate -- a historic first for this type of legislation -- but it was killed in a House subcommittee, again with no Delegates offering an argument against it.

Just before that House vote, I spoke at a news conference at the State Capitol, along with Senator McEachin, Delegate Adam Ebbin (D-49), and other supporters of the bill.  You can see the complete event below.  (My remarks come in the second segment.)

In Part I, Jon Blair of Equality Virginia introduces the first speaker, former Secretary of Administration Viola Baskerville and offers some remarks of his own. This segment also includes remarks by Glen Pond of the Virginia Governmental Employees Association and Patricia W. Cummins of the American Association of University Professors.

My remarks (representing the Republican Liberty Caucus of Virginia) open the second segment (Part II), which also includes comments by Andres Tobar of the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations; Irving Taylor of AARP Virginia; Ben Greenberg of the Virginia Organizing Project; Falls Church city council member Lawrence Webb; and Delegate Adam Ebbin.  Note that I make clear that, if SB66 applied to the private sector as well as the public sector, I would oppose it -- as would the RLC-Virginia.

In Part III, State Senator Donald McEachin (D-9), chief patron of Senate Bill 66, speaks to a gathering of journalists and activists to explain why the bill is needed. McEachin answers questions from the Associated Press, Virginian-Pilot, and other news organizations. The news conference ends with a few announcements by Jon Blair of Equality Virginia.

In his answer to a question, McEachin took a cheap shot at Governor McDonnell, suggesting that he had created an atmosphere conducive to protests by the virulently anti-gay (and clearly insane) members of the Westboro Baptist Church (the people behind godhatesfags.com). This was uncalled for, since the Phelps clan also held protests in Virginia during the administrations of Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, often demonstrating at the funerals of soldiers who lost their lives in service to our country.

Getting back to today's announcement by Governor McDonnell, it's noteworthy that he asserts in his executive directive that the rights of lesbian and gay people are protected by the U.S. Constitution.  He says:

The Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution prohibits discrimination without a rational basis against any class of persons.

(Andrew Sullivan may have been the first to point this out, but others may have mentioned it, as well.)

Bearing Drift -- which first reported the story about the new McDonnell administration policy -- has posted excerpts of a news release from Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, who as Virginia's new "job creation czar" has a particular concern for issues like this. Bolling said:

“While various federal and state statutes set forth certain classifications in which employment related discrimination is prohibited as a matter of law, our policy and practice will be much broader than this. All state employees should take comfort in knowing that we will not tolerate employment related discrimination in any form or for any reason, including sexual orientation.”

What is troubling is the terse response by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who -- if you read between the lines -- seems to have no intention of enforcing the governor's executive directive. Here is the complete comment by Cuccinelli:

I applaud Governor McDonnell for the tone he is setting for the Commonwealth of Virginia. I will remain in contact with the Governor and continue to work with him on issues important to Virginians. I expect Virginia’s state employees to follow all state and federal anti-discrimination laws and will enforce Virginia’s laws to the fullest extent.

Since neither state nor federal law recognizes "sexual orientation" as a category subject to employment non-discrimination protection, then Cuccinelli can "enforce Virginia's laws to the fullest extent" without including gay and lesbian employees in that protective umbrella. His words sound expansive but, in fact, they offer nothing more than his -- and the previous Bob McDonnell's -- insistence that only the General Assembly can add sexual orientation as an anti-discrimination category.

As I noted before his election as governor, Bob McDonnell has matured on issues regarding gay and lesbian Virginians since his notorious reply to a reporter that he could "not recall" whether he had ever engaged in oral sex (or any violation of Section 18.2-361 of the Code of Virginia -- still on the books despite Lawrence v. Texas).

Although I agree that Virginia statutes do not currently allow an expansive sort of non-discrimination policy for Virginia state employees, I believe this is a quirk in the law that should be scrutinized and reversed.  For me, the legal standard should not be "unless it is permitted, it is prohibited."  Notwithstanding the General Assembly's pride of place in the making of policy, the standard should be:  "Anything not prohibited is permitted."

In his new executive order, Governor McDonnell acknowledges that latter, and better, standard.  Let's hope his legal judgment -- as Governor, not as Attorney General -- holds up in both the court of public opinion and the courts of law.

Having made the trip to Williamsburg by mass transit buses, I thought I'd post the directions for anyone wanting to go with the season just around the corner. I'll give the directions coming from South Hampton Roads:

1. Take Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) Route 961 to the Newport News Transportation Center (NNTC).

2. From there, take HRT Route 107 to Patrick Henry Mall.

3. Travel HRT Route 116 the length of the route: from Patrick Henry Mall to Lee Hall.

4. At Lee Hall, take the Gray Line of Williamsburg Area Transport (WAT) to Busch Gardens.

Heading towards Williamsburg, get off at the stop at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. The England entrance of Busch Gardens is within sight. Heading back, the bus stop is on the other side of the road.

There is no WAT service on Sunday. For other Williamsburg attractions, continue on the Gray Line into downtown.

This post is an observation that answers a question.  Why do they call a country with a large welfare system a “nanny” state?

Let’s consider the term nanny.

nan·ny

–noun,plural-nies.a person, usually with special training, employed to care for children in a household.

The idea of a nanny sounds reasonable enough, but a nanny is not the same as the mother or father of a child.  A nanny is merely employed to care for children.  We can only hope a nanny will love the children he or she is employed to care for.

Because almost all parents love their children, almost all parents raise their children to care for themselves, to become self-disciplined and responsible adults.  A nanny may or may not do such a thing. In a world where parents have no choice about which nanny they hire, the nanny they can hire will tend to do that which makes the nanny’s life easiest.  Such is the nature of human beings. Instead of raising children to be responsible adults, a monopolist nanny can just plop his or her charges in front of a boob tube — and get away with it.

When government becomes a nanny state, it has no competition, and there is little accountability. So as the caretaker of the welfare population, the nanny state does that which makes its life easiest. The nanny state does not try to get its clients off welfare.  Instead, nanny state politicians just work to secure the votes of their welfare clients.

An expanding nanny state is one which seeks to eliminate all competitors. With paternalistic arrogance, the rulers of such a state see it as their job to make all decisions. After all, they know what is best for everyone else. Their public just does not know what is good for them.

Now let’s consider what is going on in this nanny state, the United States of America. Our great and glorious leaders want us to nationalize our health care system. These people think we need them to run our lives for us, whether we want them to or not.

Consider this quote on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s website.

But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy. (from here)

We have told Congress we do not want the Health Care Bill passed, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to pass the bill so that we can find out what is in it? That is nuts! Yet there the statement sits on her own website.

Read her entire speech. It is emotional drivel.  It is not about us making our own choices. It is about us being nannied. If that is your idea of America, please move somewhere else.

Filed under: Health Care Nationalization

There are 12,533 federal lobbyists in Washington at present. The federal budget is $3.55 trillion dollars. Most of the lobbyists are concerned about money, either as it affects the commercial interests of businesses or causes. Do the math, which works out to each lobbyist fighting to get $283 million dollars spent for his company, trade group or cause. Figure each lobbyist costing a million dollars and that’s a good investment in getting your part of Americans’ money.

The cost of getting hold of the trillions sloshing around the Federal sty is not that high. As government gets bigger, the cost of getting rich at the people’s expense goes down. To the history minded, it’s beginning to smell very much like the Sun King’s court.

And that's the way it is.

"You cannot insulate your clothes with animal bones"

Well, it could be true ... so much of this administration is smoke and mirrors.

Bob at The Journey calls Ramsey's Draft Wilderness "the wild western side of Augusta County" ... and that's why many of us live in the less-populated part of the county. His photo of a bold mountain stream from melting snows shows water tables, thankfully, are up.

Governor McDonnell signs HB787 and HB756, legislation to allow for offshore oil and natural gas exploration, production and development as well as allocate 80% of future offshore royalties and revenues to transportation and the remaining 20% to the Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Other attendees included (L to R):
1st Row: Secretary of Natural Resources Doug Domenech, Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, Governor Bob McDonnell, Delegate Ron Villanueva, Delegate Chris Stolle, Senator John Watkins

2nd Row: Delegate Matthew James, Delegate Onzlee Ware, Delegate Charles Poindexter, Delegate Barbara Comstock

Photo courtesy of Michaele White, Governor’s Photographer

Wild Virginia is hosting an environmental film festival at Vinegar Hill in a couple of weeks, showing a whole mess of short films on that theme.

McDonnel Overrides AG Cuccinelli's Order To Withdraw Gay Protections At Virginia Universities

Do they really think that they are fooling anyone? At least anyone with a brain?

Check this out on the census.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
<Gaywatch - Virginia Edition>
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

Click image to enlarge.


I posted previously about a friend, Chris Stuart, who is throwing his hat in the ring and running for Hampton City Council. Chris is kicking off his campaign tomorrow and I encourage Hampton residents and voters to try to attend. We need people on City Council who will genuinely represent ALL members of the community. Chris is one such person. The boyfriend and I hope to see readers there tomorrow. The details are set forth on the flyer above.

This post is cross posted from The Bilerico Project and also includes an update in the form of the directive that Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. The directive flies in the face of an attorney general opinion McDonnell issued as Attorney General attacking former Gov. Tim Kaine's Executive Order 1 (2006), which is the subject of a case now pending before the Virginia Supreme Court. It also contradicts the opinion issued by current Virginia Attorney General "I'm a Kool-Aid Drinker" Cuccinelli. Here's the post:
*
With all Hell breaking loose at colleges and universities and even some Republican members of the Virginia General Assembly seeking to insert gay non-discrimination protections in pending legislation, Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell has issued what some are calling an edict (others a directive) barring all forms of discrimination in Virginia's governmental offices. This action would seem to be a direct blow to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli who inflamed the issue last week with his directive to Virginia's public colleges and universities to rescind their non-discrimination policies that made sexual orientation a named protected category. Only time will tell if this action can stem the firestorm that McDonnell and Cuccinelli have unleashed on themselves and the GOP in Virginia. Hopefully, but most of us see McDonnell's action as too little too late.
*
Both the Virginia Pilot and the Richmond Times Dispatch have stories. First highlights from the Richmond Times Dispatch:
*
In an executive directive sent today to all state employees, Gov. Bob McDonnell projected his strongest stance yet on non-discrimination in the workplace, but stopped short of calling for the legislature to add a protection based on sexual orientation.
*
"Employment discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated by this administration," it states. "Consistent with state and federal law, and the Virginia and United States Constitutions, I hereby direct that the hiring, promotion, compensation, treatment, discipline, and termination of state employees shall be based on an individual's job qualifications, merit and performance.
*
"No employee of the Executive Branch shall engage in any discriminatory conduct against another employee." The first Executive Directive from McDonnell further states that "any cabinet member, agency head, manager, supervisor or employee who discriminates against a state employee or prospective employee in violation of the law or this standard of conduct shall be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, ranging from reprimand to termination."
*
On the House of Delegates floor this afternoon, Dels. Joseph D. Morrissey, D-Henrico, and David L. Englin, D-Alexandria, called on the governor to send a bill to the General Assembly before it adjourns on Saturday to add sexual orientation as a protected class in the state code. Just this week, the Republican-majority House refused to act on a tabled bill that would have added that protection to the state code. . . . At Virginia Commonwealth University, meantime, more than 1,000 people turned out to protest Cuccinelli's opinion.
*
The Virginian Pilot is also carrying the story. Here are highlights from that coverage:
*
In a strongly worded edict, Gov. Bob McDonnell today instructed state agencies not to discriminate against gay and lesbian workers during the hiring process or in the workplace.
*
His directive comes in the wake of a recent firestorm ignited after Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli wrote to Virginia college and university officials telling them they lack the legal authority to adopt employment policies with protection for gay workers.
*
While McDonnell's missive takes a strong stand on Virginia's non-discrimination posture, it doesn't carry the weight of law, as an executive order does.
*
Earlier Wednesday, Sen. Tommy Norment tacked a sexual orientation amendment onto an economic development bill from the McDonnell administration as it passed out of the Senate Finance Committee. The James City County Republican altered legislation that would give the governor greater flexibility to offer financial incentives to attract companies to Virginia.
*
It is widely viewed as vehicle to recruit defense giant Northrop Grumman, which is considering Virginia as a site for a new headquarters.
*
Inasmuch as the question of the strength of an Executive Order is now pending before the Virginia Supreme Court, equality advocates need to insist on legislative action. The irony, of course, if this happens will be that Cuccinelli's overreaching with the backing of The Family Foundation might prove to be the undoing of The Family Foundation's anti-gay agenda. Here is the text of McDonnell's Directive:

With warmer temperatures, the boys have been playing outside after school. Kicking the soccer ball around, getting ready for the season.
Next door, my neighbor was throwing batting practice to his daughter for the upcoming softball season.
It's almost spring sports time in the Valley.

February was Black History Month. Now it’s March, and March is Women’s History Month.

Will someone tell me when is Southern Jewish History Month? I must have missed it last year.

Also, a friend just gave me a copy of Nell Irvin Painter, The History of White People. Is there a White History Month that I’ve also missed?

February was Black History Month. Now it’s March, and March is Women’s History Month.

Will someone tell me when is Southern Jewish History Month? I must have missed it last year.

Also, a friend just gave me a copy of Nell Irvin Painter, The History of White People. Is there a White History Month that I’ve also missed?

About a year ago I was feeling left out when the White House created a special council on women and girls: Men And Boys Need Not Apply: Obama Wants Fairness For “Women And Girls”. Now I feel left out just about every month.

The Loudoun Times-Mirror has an article this morning linking the AG’s letter to university presidents to his anticipated opinion on the authority of our own board to update Loudoun’s Equal Employment Opportunity statement. Once again, it’s necessary to point out that in neither case do the policies prohibit “discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender” people. They prohibit discrimination against ALL people on the basis of sexual orientation, and sometimes gender identity. For the purpose of political misdirection, it’s important to characters like Messrs. Marshall and Delgaudio that such policies be described as if they only apply to some people, but that’s not the way the law works.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli started an uproar on college campuses last week when he said colleges could not ban discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender students.

Now, Loudoun’s Board of Supervisors likely can expect a similar directive from him regarding the county’s employment policy.

Loudoun supervisors voted Jan. 6 to include homosexual and transgender individuals among the groups protected from discrimination in the county’s employment policy.

Del. Bob Marshall (R-south-central Loudoun) questioned that move, asking Cuccinelli to issue an opinion on the board’s action.

Marshall said the board’s move was illegal—the same statement Cuccinelli recently issued in a letter to the state’s colleges and universities.

The state attorney general’s letter said state institutions cannot include sexual orientation in their nondiscrimination policies without first getting approval from the General Assembly.

The “opinion and advice” offered in the letter is just that - the opinion and advice of one lawyer. Other lawyers have expressed robust disagreement with the AG’s selective interpretation of Virginia law. Furthermore, the letter itself demonstrates a clear propensity for activism. The AG is supposed to issue opinions only in response to requests from individuals who have legal standing, and the request published. No such person has been identified, so what prompted this action? Mr. Cuccinelli’s apparent activism in this case makes any future opinions from him, at least in the area of civil rights, highly suspect.

Although the article suggests that the pending opinion on our own Board of Supervisors action is the equivalent of the one in the university letter, they do not actually pertain to the same parts of the Virginia code. College boards and local governments are entirely different things, and are addressed differently in the code with regard to their authority to set policy; a sweeping declaration that no state agency or public institution can determine its own nondiscrimination policy “absent specific authorization from the General Assembly” is, at best, overreaching. That said, while the particular sections of the code ignored by Mr. Cuccinelli’s interpretation in the case of our local board action may be different from the sections he ignores in the case of the universities, the principle that unites them is the same: Mr. Cuccinelli’s assertion that the law and public policy of Virginia requires state agencies and public institutions to permit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

That alone is stunning, given that the Supreme Court has ruled such a public policy unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. If, in fact, the public policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia is in violation of the U.S. Constitution, it might be good to get that cleared up once and for all.

In any case, neither the college boards nor our Board of Supervisors need to do anything in response to this. They can simply say “Thanks, but no thanks.” There is no force of law behind an AG opinion, and for any of these policies to be challenged in court, someone with standing would have to file a lawsuit. And in order to establish standing, that someone would have to demonstrate that they are in a position to be harmed by these policies. Since it is impossible for someone to be harmed by not being permitted to discriminate against someone else (although it might be amusing to hear them argue that they are), that seems unlikely.

I have a strong suspicion that Mr. Cuccinelli desperately wants there to be a lawsuit, and is hoping to instigate one by bullying localities and public institutions with good policies to back away from them and allow unlawful discrimination. His self-serving behavior should be ignored.

Someone sent me a copy of a flier for the Caroline County Optimist Club’s Winter Sports Festival. For those unaware, the Director of the Optimist Club is County Administrator Percy Ashcraft and the club’s President is Percy Ashcraft’s wife. Its Recording Secretary is Karen Jenkins, who is the county’s “public information officer” as well.

Now, if you look at the sponsors of this event, you might recognize some of the names:

• Amerigas
• Jarrell Properties, Inc.
• Utility Services, Inc.
• Diversified Ambulance Billing
• Clark’s Cut II
• World View Solutions
• E.M. Gray & Son, Inc.
• Dominion Resources, Inc.
• Massey Enterprises
• Purvis Ford
• Rosner Toyota
• Virginia Sports Complex
• Computer-Telephone Technologies
• Linda Perry Taxes

Jarrell Properties, Inc., whose commercial rezoning application was approved by the Board of Supervisors on January 26th of this year.

Diversified Ambulance Billing? Those are the folks responsible for billing county citizens for the EMS fee program. It also turns out that they’ve fleeced county residents out of $39,000 over the last two years.

In addition, while I can’t find any connection between “Massey Enterprises” and the county, their offices are one suite over from where Diversified Ambulance Billing is located in Virginia Beach.

Clark’s Cut II is the controversial sand/gravel extraction site off of Route 17 whose approval by the Board of Supervisors has prompted legal action against the company as well as the Board (full disclosure: I supported that special exemption permit application and still do).

World View Solutions? They’re a geographic information system (GIS) provider…who just happens to be doing the county’s GIS project.

Virginia Sports Complex, who in 2009 was granted a special exemption permit to serve alcohol at their facility.

So, when does the “goodwill” from these companies become a conflict of interest (or create the appearance of a conflict of interest), especially when the group receiving the money is ran by the County Administrator and his wife?

And as a side note, is the County Administrator’s Office so pressed for work they are selling tickets to an event for a third-party, non-governmental organization? I smell some room for budget cuts there, maybe we can rededicate that money to something important, like education.

Cross-posted at “I’m Surrounded By Idiots”.

The Wild Western Side of Augusta County


Ramsey's Draft flows strong, fed by this Winter's melting snow.

Check out all of the facebook groups that have been formed in opposistion to Ken. Click here.

Ken needs to back down or fix this situation. Otherwise, no Governor Cuccinelli for Virginia.

Hoping to quell a growing uproar on Virginia's college campuses over gay rights, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) issued a directive to all 102,000 state employees Wednesday that prohibits discrimination in the state work force, including on the basis of sexual orientation, and warns he will reprimand or fire anyone who engages in it. McDonnell's directive comes a week after Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli distributed a letter to the state's public colleges and universities asking them to remove references to sexual orientation from their campus nondiscrimination policies. Cuccinelli argues only the General Assembly has the authority to extend legal protections to gays. McDonnell has said he supports the legal reasoning of that opinion, which mirrored his own advice on the issue as attorney general. The governor said Wednesday he continues to believe that without legislative approval, universities and state agencies cannot issue orders that would allow employees or others the

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell signed legislation that would apportion any state revenue from offshore drilling toward transportation and energy research, but fiscal experts said it’s highly uncertain when the state could realize any revenue from such activity.
.
More at Washington Business Journal
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2010/03/08/daily53.html

Download the report at:
http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahep09044/index.htm

Register at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/462130408

Also some Iron Maiden