Virginian-Pilot changes mind on spending
By Brian Kirwin | Thursday, December 10th, 2009 | PolicyThe Virginian-Pilot editorial board has suddenly found spending it doesn’t like. It wants more taxes for more roads, it wants more taxes for colleges and universities, and I’m sure it would absolutely love to reimpose the full car tax.
But when it comes to executing murderers, the Pilot suddenly thinks government is too big and it spends too much!
“Doing away with the option of a death sentence makes sense on several levels,” says the Virginian-Pilot.
Actually, doing away with the Virginian-Pilot makes sense on a lot more levels.
“When prosecutors decide not to pursue a punishment of death, defendants are more likely to plead guilty,” argues the Pilot.
Wait a minute! I thought all those people executed were innocent. Isn’t that what the moratorium folks say? These were folks railroaded by a biased system, right? Now the Pilot wants them to plead guilty.
“For what it costs to execute one person – in North Carolina, the most recent estimate is more than $2 million – Virginia could educate hundreds of children.”
Works out to 0.017% of the children in Virginia schools. Way to go, Virginian-Pilot! Only 99.83% to go! All we need is to save 6,000 murderers from execution and we can cover the entire education budget.
If that made sense, Mike Dukakis would’ve been President.
“it would keep the state from killing someone later found to be innocent”
Wait a minute!!!! Didn’t the Pilot just tell us that these folks would plead guilty if there was no death penalty? Now, they’re telling us death row is full of innocent people. Which is it?
Is the Pilot actually saying that innocent people will plead guilty if all they have waiting is life imprisonment, even though they are innocent? But if the death penalty is an option, these innocent people only then decide to plead innocent because of the death penalty?
Liberal logic is so easy to defeat. Just listen to what they say, and repeat it back to them. Even they realize how foolish they sound when they start calling you names and attacking you in response.
Read their entire editorial here. It’s obviously more than they did.
Tags:
Contribute for Conservatism!
Share this post
About the author
The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled.
We're 75% there! Thank you to everyone who has so far contributed! Just $2000 to go!
Comments
7 Responses to "Virginian-Pilot changes mind on spending"
I am astounded, and to be quite honest a bit angry, about the total lack of press coverage or any sort of investigative journalism NOT being performed by virtually every major DC-area media outlet regarding the state of Virginia’s mind-bogglingly awful mishandling of the millions & millions of dollars allocated to it by the federal government for urgently needed jobless benefits for VA citizens. President Obama signed the allocation of this EMERGENCY money OVER AN ENTIRE MONTH AGO and the state is keeping any information about why its not in the hands of those it is intended for & what it is in fact actually being utilized. Many large states like Virginia – and some much larger TX, MI, NY, OH, FL, not to mention Maryland and the District – processed claims and distributed funds WEEKS AGO to their residents. Only CA remains as completely far behind as VA but even they at least keep citizens informed through bi-weekly status press updates, while Virginia does/says nothing and no one seems to care to ask it why. Please journalists & media members – DO YOUR JOB, do what’s needed & what’s right – make the government of Virginia and its leaders account for these $$$millions so the families who will have nothing this Christmas will at least have a voice….and with any luck, some answers too.
I wonder how many children could be educated if the Pilot did away with their editorial board and donated the money to our public schools instead. The paper needs to get smaller anyway. Let’s do it for the children.
Brian, everybody in prison is innocent. Just ask them.
I read a few of the comments from readers to that editorial you linked to. JPJones had an awesome one that hit the nail on the head.
“Why is cost to the taxpayer no object when it comes to things like health care plans, cap and trade, and other “green” foolishness, but all of a sudden important when it comes to executing cold-blooded murderers?”
- JPJones, commenting on the Pilot editorial
They also ran an editorial that the three Navy SEALS should be prosecuted. What do you expect from one of the most liberal, Democratic newspapers in the country?
I am going to stir the pot here – just for fun. This is a little off topic, but ties in nicely to the events of the past week. Do my eyes deceive me or was the Virginia Pilot just called one of the most liberal papers in the country, by people who adamantly argued that Jeff McWaters (endorsed by said LIBERAL newspaper) wasn’t really that liberal – just sayin. As for the Pilot, is anyone surprised? If people stop buying the paper they will either change, or go out of business – simple solution to an annoying problem.
Govgirl, sometimes the Pilot, like the NRA, endorse not on principle, but according to which candidate they think will win. The idea being that you prove the power of your endorsement by later pointing to all the winners that you endorsed in the past. (For that reason, I check VCDL endorsements to know a politicians real standing on gun rights.) In other words, the Pilot took their best shot at looking relevant.
Honestly though, the Pilot would have been happy with either one. The Democrats didn’t even need to run anybody. One wants mandated health coverage the other voted for taxes, spending, and bragged about “creating or *retaining* jobs” while on council in her radio ad. Kinda like Obama “creating or saving”. It was a win either way for big government. Fiscal conservatives were choosing the lesser of two evils or maybe McWaters just got credit for not having a voting record.
Govgirl I do perceive sour grapes, however, I do agree if grassroots Republicans stopped buying the Virginian Pilot they would go out of business. I don’t think they could change to be unbiased as they have been so entrenched in liberalism for too long.
I just wish they would stop advocating bipartisanship when they don’t practice it. There isn’t a single conservative on their entire board.
Leave your response