Now VA-02 has *two* Democrats to choose from!
By Shaun Kenney | Saturday, June 26th, 2010 | PoliticsNow I will admit very quickly — I supported Kenny Golden very early on in the VA-02 race for a number of reasons. As a Navy veteran, someone who paid his dues to the Republican Party, as a former unit chairman, and as a close friend of former Virginia Governor George Allen, you couldn’t help but like the guy. Plus, I thought he was every bit the Jeffersonian conservative he — at the time — sounded like he would be.
That, of course, is when it all came crashing down.
First, Golden jumped ship from the GOP primary contest to entertain his own independent bid. Given the fact that there are a number of independent/Libertarian bids for Congress, I didn’t see too much harm. Besides, I disagreed with the jump, but when you put in that much time and effort into the Republican Party and not get the support of friends, one could see where an independent shot makes emotional sense.
Then… I saw this. And you should see this too, because this is not the guy I knew working with the state party:
In case you don’t want to see the entire video, allow me to offer you some highlights:
* Golden does highlight his reason for leaving the VA-02 primary as a lack of loyalty from those he had helped in the past. Tough pill to swallow, and I can understand (though disagree with) that motivation… still, there it is.
* Kenny Golden is personally pro-life, but does not believe human life in the womb deserves the protection of our laws. In fact, if you believe that human life deserves the protection of our laws from womb to tomb, Golden identifies you as one of these “ultra pro-lifers” and claims it’s a religious rather than a reasonable justification to protect human life.
* Golden also believes in creating civil unions for homosexual couples. So the power of the state should not be used to save the lives of babies, but should be used to create civil unions! No word on whether this is a religious motivation or a reasonable one…
* Golden opposes drilling for energy off Virginia’s coastline, and says his reformation on this idea came in the wake of the BP oil spill in Louisiana.
* Golden’s top priority? Fighting the War on Terrorism. First consistent item I’ve seen so far… draws comparisons between Islam and the COMINTERN.
* Wants a 2% reduction in each of the top 10 departments, and admires Obama’s call for a 5% reduction.
* Vivian Paige wonders how an “independent thinker” like Golden ended up in the GOP? Golden describes his experience, roots in Virginia, business roots, and describes most independents as fringe candidates. The difference with himself? He’s not a partisan… and will not hack a partisan line.
I will say this much: Golden has always been an independent thinker, though never an opportunist, which some have come out and charged him as being.
What strikes me as a difference this time is that Golden has opted to moderate himself on a series of key points, or perhaps bought into the idea that sloughing off the social conservative wing of the GOP somehow will merit deeper consideration from others in VA-02 who grow distant from Nye, but cannot stomach the hard core conservative roots of Scott Rigell.
Ouch.
Of course, this has been a running battle in conservative circles since the Goldwater era, and the recent topic of many Washington insiders over the last two weeks. Quin Hillyer with the American Spectator gave a resounding refutation of the idea that moderating the conservative ethic holds the slightest bit of water. To wit, Hillyer quote conservative icon Barry Goldwater:
Conservatives are interested in the whole man, while the radical-liberals confine their interest to the material side of his nature. Conservatives believe that man is in part an economic and animal creature, but that he is also a spiritual creature with spiritual needs and spiritual desires.… The conservative respects the individuality of man, realizing that man’s spiritual and material development is not something that can be directed by outside forces. Every man, for his individual good and the good of his society, is responsible for his own development. The choices that govern his life are choices that he, not a super-state, must make. And these are choices that must involve the whole man [emphasis Goldwater's own], if they are to be the right choices. If life were concerned only with material things, as the Liberal approach indicates, then I suppose the conduct of some men might be justified. The materialistic philosophies of Marx and Engels, which call for the suppression of the individual and glorify the collective, are only acceptable to people who deny the possibility of a more significant explanation for man’s existence….
The Liberals, with their emphasis on collectivism and conformity, and their willingness to use compulsion to achieve their ends, are actually suggesting a course of action which thoughtful men have rejected throughout history. The reason man must be treated as an individual is because he has an individual immortal soul. Thus, his freedom comes from God — as do all of his rights. In the scheme of things, government’s only proper role is in the protection of man’s God-given freedoms and rights. [All emphases again are Goldwater's own.]
The conservative recognizes that the concentration of power in the hands of the few has always been the undoing of those who aspired to the fruits of freedom. Aware of the overbearing evidence of history as to the truth of this postulate, the conservative is fearful of the concentration of power which accompanies central government.
In short, one cannot divorce economic liberty and moral order. Otherwise, one cannot be properly called a conservative. Hillyer adds:
[N]ote what Goldwater said about “the whole man.” Note that the concerns are not merely economic or material. Note that both the roots and the fruits of conservatism are spiritual as well. And note that the spiritual and material parts of conservatism are not an “either/or” proposition, but a “both/and.” They are necessarily so. They are not two separate features grafted into a coalition, but naturally part and parcel of each other and mutually dependent on each other as complementary features of a single whole.
…
Whether the cause be continued deepwater drilling or freedom from abusive lawsuits or protection from union thuggery, whether it be battles against regulators run amuck or against Supreme Court justices who put their own values above the law, the duty of the whole man is to rise up from stupor on behalf of liberty. That’s why conservatives these days need to be political activists, whether TEA Partiers or otherwise, and need to use their activity on behalf of both economic liberty and of the moral order which is both its nursery and the greater result of its full flowering. Conservatism is more than mere fusion of economic freedom and the moral order; it is the recognition that both are of the same root, tree and branch, and that they must continually be watered and tended. As Goldwater wrote, “These are the choices that must involve the whole man, if they are to be the right choices.”
Beware the conservative who chooses to confuse license with liberty, just as one should equally beware the conservative who claims tyranny over any part of the human race to be the price of your liberty.
I sincerely hope Kenny Golden re-evaluates his positions on these issues, because I do consider him a friend even if he’s chosen poorly this election cycle. Until then, there isn’t much that distances Golden from the policies of Glenn Nye and any so-called centrist progressive.
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About the author
Shaun Kenney is the Chairman of the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors, former Communications Director for the Republican Party of Virginia, and an active blogger since 2002. Shaun lives in Thomas Jefferson's backyard with his wife, six children, and a modest attempt at a farm in Kents Store, Virginia.
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52 Responses to "Now VA-02 has *two* Democrats to choose from!"
Shaun, you quoted Kenny “Golden opposes drilling for energy off Virginia’s coastline, and says his reformation on this idea came in the wake of the BP oil spill in Louisiana.” Um, I played the video twice.. May I request you do the same? Did you not hear the same position on this issue I heard?
And you state “.. there isn’t much that distances Golden from the policies of Glenn Nye and any so-called centrist progressive.” Oh Really???
Shaun, tomorrow is a Golden opportunity for the candidates to stand up and be heard. Kenny Golden can speak for himself just fine and I am most certain Scott Rigell can as well. Lets ask them in person face to face, mano-a-mano, at the convocation center among supporters of either candidate and let their positions be heard. Kenny is the most conservative candidate in this race and he is the only candidate who did not make a donation to progressive socialist Barack Obama.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Shaun Kenney, bearingdrift. bearingdrift said: Web: Now VA-02 has *two* Democrats to choose from! http://bit.ly/93mXhC [...]
Quotes:
Yeah — saw the same video. Care to take a second peek yourself?
Sorry… if you are unwilling to defend human life in the womb, you are not a conservative. I love Kenny to death, I think he’s a great guy.
He’s just not a conservative. And if I lived in VA-02, I’d be voting for Rigell.
I’m thrilled to death that “conservative” apparently isn’t a label that includes Kenny—that tells me that the Republican Party has moved awfully, awfully far right.
FWIW, I think Kenny’s a great guy. It’s great to see him put into action a lot of what he talked about during our time in Sorensen together, lo those many years ago.
Fixed it for ya Shaun.. “Sorry… if you are willing to donate generously to a far left democrat, you are not a conservative. I love Kenny to death, I think he’s a great guy.”
As for the moratorium.. that is not the same as banning is it? A moratorium is needed to revise the safety mechanisms, uncompromise safety inspections and implement all of the conformance with safety regs needed to prevent this type of disaster from ever occuring again. I know numerous people in the oil well drilling and well frac/wireline/down hole video arena and they unanimously agree this was an entirely preventable disaster that was the result of poor management and slack compliance with established government/industry safety regs. This disaster, even though it is far away, still has the potential to devastate our coastal VA waters, sicken and slaughter marine life and poison our marshes.. storm season is here buddy. Rigor mortise and rotting carcasses litter the gulf now due to human greed and carelessness, Kenny called it what it is. What is not conservative about that?
And Shaun, out of respect for Kenny Golden and EVERY active duty veteran who has sacrificed so much more than most of us mere mortals EVER will, we owe it to ourselves to beg god to forgive us for our imperfections. Kenny Golden is imperfect but he is willing and able to make reasonable compromises. On the abortion topic, I believe his approach will result in less abortions through the process of education. And it will remove government beaureaucrats from the difficult decision only a woman should be lawfully obligated to deal with regarding what goes into or out of her birth canal. Yes, I am pro life.
There is no perfect politician and no perfect answer to the abortion question. We live in a fragile constitutional republic that respects individual liberty and the right to pursue happiness. Fortunately we have 3 good yet imperfect candidates to choose from.
Actually Shaun, Kenny didn’t moderate anything. If you know anything about Kenny, which I’m sure you do, you know he doesn’t mince words and he never goes back on his word. Those have always been his positions, with the exception of offshore drilling. In the wake of the BP disaster, I think its perfectly fine for someone to change their mind. Kenny’s new stance is that we need to make offshore drilling safety like the Navy nuclear program and then it can be safe for the next 100 years. Just read his intervied on AltDaily.com, he explains his position very well.
Soros Investment In Brazil Oil Company Gains From BP Disaster.
A six-month moratorium on drilling is a death sentence. Why? Why is it a death sentence? Well, you know those big oil platforms that are sitting down and they’re going a mile down to drill — those big oil platforms are not cheap. They don’t just sit around if they’re not being used. They are immediately leased to some place else in the world and they are used for as long as they last.
Let me tell you here about George Soros, the billionaire progressive activist that funds the Center for American Progress. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Center for American Progress — which is the group that Van Jones and everybody has been hiding out in and picked the president staff — helps the president write his talking points and makes decisions.
Brazil is the one that really stands to benefit from the BP oil spill catastrophe. As the U.S. moratorium makes more rigs available for other countries, Brazil is going to gobble them up. Brazil is plowing ahead now with a $220 billion, five-year — $220 billion five-year plan to tap oil fields that are deeper than BP’s ill-fated Gulf well. Remember, $220 billion, it’s deeper than what we have here and the equipment is going to go from the Gulf down there.
But again, George Soros has nothing to gain from this. He is just telling the president what to do through the Center for American Progress. Soros Fund Management, LLC — I guess we should tell you this — holds a stake in Petrobras. That is the oil company in Brazil in the amount of $900 million as of December 31, 2009.
Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company, that the Obama administration — get this — the Obama administration is now lending $2 billion to. You ready? Wait for it. What is the $2 billion going for? To perform offshore drilling in Brazil.
Let’s see if I have this right: We ban it here; we lose the jobs here; we send the rigs down there; we loan Brazil the money to do the drilling in deeper water; the oil company — the big investor is George Soros who is advising the president on how he should handle the Gulf. Hmm.
The criminally-negligent media are too busy right now showing you pictures of birds with oil on them. They don’t have time to bring you stories of politician and billionaires with grease all over their palms.”
http://mindbodypolitic.com/2010/06/24/soros-investment-in-brazil-oil-company-gains-from-bp-disaster/
http://redcounty.com/hands-across-sand-linked-brazils-oil-company-petrobras/41302
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/jun/27/hot-button-sunday/
Oil-spill fix? Blow it up!
Around the world, scientists have turned their ingenuity toward looking for ways to stop the ever-expanding oil slick spreading through the Gulf of Mexico, and one answer keeps popping up: explosives.
Both in Russia and in the U.S., some scientists are suggesting nuclear blasts to bury the oil rig and send molten rock down to seal the leak. Other scientists say smaller, controlled explosions can stop the flow with shock waves.
The non-nuclear option
Even Brownfield, however, has suggested BP also consider putting America’s supercomputers – instead of its super explosives – to work at solving the problem.
“Our military could potentially use a carefully placed combination of conventional explosives to collapse the well,” Brownfield suggested. “Our technology is much better than that of the Soviet Union in 1966, so we should be able to make this work without having to go nuclear.”
Pryor told WND of a similar plan that wouldn’t be as haphazard as burying the well in rubble but would still use explosives to stop the flow.
Pryor’s plan involves using supercomputer-timed explosions that would send shock waves through the water to crimp closed the leaking pipe.
“The explosions I have in mind are contained in pipes sent down near the Deepwater Horizon, and you set off an explosion in each of the pipes simultaneously,” Pryor explained. “A good friend of mine at Sandia Labs has done preliminary analysis, and it shows that it does in fact close the pipe.
“The plan does need some analysis, for you have to factor in displacing the fluid in the pipe itself. When you try to pinch the pipe off, you have to stop the flow of oil,” Pryor said. “The bottom line is they need to do some parameter studies: how close can they get (BP would have to tell us), how deep can we make it, lots of issues that need to be addressed. Long, running calculations are needed to determine this sort of stuff, so you would need funds to go into these labs and go do analysis and review.”
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=158297
It never ceases to amaze me that some contrived laundry list of issues is the basis for determining labels. Liberal, Moderate, or Conservative; Republican or Democrat; Progressive or Constitutionalism.
More important is candor, honesty and trust. Creditability is the belief that what one says is what one will do. Golden is the only one in this race that says what he believes. The others rely on a party boilerplate of issues with party authored responses. We need leaders, not lemmings.
I’m still a relatively new member to the GOP and there’s one thing that rubs me the wrong way…
I don’t understand the mentality that if an individual has “paid their dues” to the Republican party via donations, chairmanship or other volunteerism that somehow can justify nominating him or her to run for office.
This constantly comes up within the ranks of the GOP and it’s quite disgusting to me.
Forget about where the candidate stands on individual liberty, free markets and smaller government – if the person has “paid their dues” to the GOP, that’s absolute qualification to send that individual to higher office.
It’s that kind of gross mentality that disenfranchises the base and leaves us without a say in Congress and/or the executive branch.
Until we (the GOP) return to our true conservative roots and stop worrying about the guys and gals who “paid their dues,” we should expect nothing less than authoritarian and socialist government via the rule of the Democrats – AND WE DESERVE IT.
@Christopher –
Think of it this way — if you worked hard for 10, maybe 20 years as a grassroots operative, helped dozens of candidates get elected, then chose to run in turn… you’d rightly expect some deference from the friends you helped get elected, right?
Now I do agree that the best person should win — hands down.
All that having been said, if you spend the next 10 years building up C4L, then chose to run for public office, and discovered that C4L was working to elect your opponent, you’d be hurt… and so yes, I can understand how Kenny felt when he jumped from the Republican Party.
@James –
If your argumentation on abortion ends in “and then you can kill the baby” you are not pro-life — you are pro-abortion.
Even if you praise the invaluable preciousness of that human life, and then argue that the mother has the right to kill it (and the abortion industry the right to make millions pressuring young women to do the unthinkable) — you are pro-abortion.
So long as one is willing to allow the destruction of a fellow human being and give *that process* the protection of our laws — you are pro-abortion.
Now if you believe everything that you, I, and even Kenny professes to believe about human life, then it follows that one should do everything in their power to protect human life. That’s not a religious statement, it’s a reasonable extension of a logic that says every human being deserves the right to exist.
Kenny, in this interview, clearly doesn’t believe this. I hope sincerely he changes his mind.
@Shaun
I look at it less like a personal relationship and more like a business contract…
We (the GOP) haven’t been electing people based on the issues. We’ve been electing big-government neo-conservatives for the past twenty years that have “paid their dues” – and it has put us in a world of political pain.
I wouldn’t expect to receive support unless I could raise money, campaign effectively and, most importantly, took a firm stand on the GOP platform and pledged to defend it.
If we continue to nominate and elect the folks based on their loyalty to the good-old-boy network within the GOP and not on the issues, we will never return to true conservative/constitutional government.
Shaun sez if you believe this but don’t believe that, then you aren’t a conservative. A ‘true conservative’ is what we say it is, and Kenny isn’t it. That’s how the RPV got into trouble in the first place, erecting a Big Tent surrounded by razor wire, with the only means of entry a notarized pledge to toe the party line.
Isn’t that outhouse thinking how the Tea Parties got started, and Sarah Palin became so idolized? They must not be conservatives either, since ‘true conservative’ Rigell doesn’t want to be seen anywhere near Palin.
Know when to say When. Vote for Glenn.
@Christopher –
Granted entirely. One would think after 10/20 years of service, you’d be able to stand on your own two feet and run!
Of course, that has everything to do with the party structure.
In short, I totally concede your point. Still, Kenny probably felt like he deserved a better shake from friends he helped get elected. That’s all.
“I love the smell of napalm in the morning”.. Get this righteous Wagner rif rolling and put it in the background:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V92OBNsQgxU
Shaun, Congress has a credibility problem. There are lots of friends who helped friends get into office. Congress is no longer representing the people, it is a cancerous country club on capitol hill eating away at the constitution and the American way. It is a diseased cesspool of special interests and good ole boys & girls steeped in corruption that have decimated the middle class. George Washington knew this would be the result someday as did Thomas Jefferson. They warned us. WTF happened? The political partys’ got too big to serve.. too self important.. too insulated from the average citizen and too damn powerful. Congress is a cluster of cliques. This overwhelming power did not come from the people, it was taken by conniving salesmen with law degrees. America was hijacked by friends of friends and is held hostage by the very government body that was established to represent them.
The DC good ole boy network is an overpaid cluster of phony party loyalists who bend towards those whose clout buys power, access to campaign money and the resolute power and authority abused by their party’s senior leadership, we the people be damned. You must know this Shaun, you are an intelligent guy. Most people realize this hence traditionally low voter turn out.
Shaun, Kenny did not leave the republican party, the republican establishment left Kenny Golden. Republican ideals are not the problem, the present leadership of the republican party have failed to uphold conservative ideals. Failure should not be an option but that is what the party chose when it saw money and bought influence. The GOP establishment FAILED to uphold support for candidates exhibiting integrity, leadership and experience. Rick Santelli and Richard Viguerie hit the mark..
@James –
There’s no question in my mind the Republican establishment is failing the conservative movement. I also believe very firmly that — they too — wouldn’t mind abandoning social conservatives (much as Golden is doing when he abandons his pro-life plank).
So now I’m confused. On one hand, you rail against the establishment GOP and their abandonment of our values. OTOH, you take a candidate that perfectly aligns themselves with the establishment line… and say he’s the real conservative?
I’m confused. Or maybe I’m not confused and someone else is?
Ok, Shaun, I get it that you say Golden is a Democrat.
Who’s the Second one?
Shaun, for the last time, Golden has not abandoned anything. Kenny got elected 224-4 as chairman of the RPVB on a pro-choice vote. He stood up and said he was pro-choice, French Mackies stood up and said he was pro-life and that Kenny wanted to kill babies, and then Kenny won the race.
You are trying to paint Kenny as someone who has changed his positions to run for office, but in reality those have always been Kenny’s positions, except for drilling which I have already explained.
@Meeropol –
Kenny Golden was always pro-abortion? No way… I don’t believe that for a second (not to question you, but I am genuinely shocked at that charge).
If you see anyone who is not pro-life as pro-abortion, then I am sorry that you feel it necessary to use such flawed logic.
Kenny has always been pro-choice, ask around to people who know Kenny in the 2nd and they will confirm what I have stated. Call French Mackes or David Bartholomew for starters, they were both there.
If you look on his website, you will see the following item under proposed legislation;
14. Give a Child a Chance Act – Strengthens the Hyde amendment that prohibits federal funding for abortion by including provisions that forbid any federal subsidies for health care from going to any entity that performs abortions. Increases federal funding for programs that promote adoption and support expecting mothers.
Golden’s wants to see Roe v Wade overturned, he believes that a state can ban abortion, but he disagrees with any kind of blanket federal ban except on the obvious things like partial birth and late term abortions.
I’ve witnessed Kenny argue with many strident pro-lifers at his office happy hours, the crux of his point is an anecdote that goes like this;
So you do a blanket federal ban of all abortions and your daughter gets pregnant. She goes to a doctor, they record that she is pregnant and that in 9 months she will have a baby. Your daughter decides she wants an abortion, but it is illegal to have on in the US. She takes a plane to another country, gets an abortion, and returns home. After 9 months has passed, she goes to jail or is fined because she never had the baby and instead got an abortion, albeit in another country.
The point is this; if you make abortions illegal, it will not stop happening. If you do everything you can to prevent people from having babies that they don’t want and do everything to educate people about the adoption process, then you will save more babies than if you simply tried to make it illegal on a federal level.
Additionally, Kenny’s stance on civil unions has always been the same. He has a brother that is gay and he loves him to death. He just won’t use the word marriage to describe it.
Shaun, Every human life is sacred.. there is no such thing as an illegitimate child, there can only be illegitimate parents. Chris above did a great job quoting Kenny.. thank you friend.
The problem with pro life vs pro choice is that is paints anyone who is not with the pro-life movements agenda as pro choice and this is a conflict for me.
Kenny Golden and many others who share my belief that human life is sacred also know there is a limit to how much government belongs in control of each of us. The abortion issue belongs with the states moreso than the federal government. If virginia wants to go pro life then that is fine by me. If a resident can’t accept that then they are free to find another state that suits them. We can agree to disagree but ultimately it comes down to government. Federal government is too damn big. It is killing freedom. Big government is not a solution, its a disease. Big government has no business mandating what a woman does with their reproductive organs period. But, our society has the burden of upholding moral values, not mandating it.. at the local level.
Shaun, as always good to hear from you. Thanks for the help in getting Democratic votes…I’ll need some of Glenn’s to win, however no one in the Democratic party will probably ever consider the former Chair of the RPVB a Democrat, not even my great friend Ollie Bates (former Chair of DPVB). My position on Abortion has never changed, it is an abomination, a sin, and wrong in any sense of the word to me and my wife Francie, a staunch Catholic. Early in our wonderful daughters life we agreed to support her if the terrible tragedy of an unwanted pregnancy occurred and help her keep the child, not kill it, all a personal decision. My official position is on the website, “Give a Child a chance”, it requires a young woman contemplating abortion to go through a sonagram, review a list of options to include all the organizations and actual people that will be there to support her when she decides to keep the child. I will stand by any group that will stand by her. She must sign a document that says she has reviewed her options. If she decides to kill her child, that is her decision. One which I believe is wrong. This has and always will be my position, it won’t change. I have personally stood outside the abortion clinic behind Merchants Tire and Auto here on Va. Beach Blvd and asked, politely, and respectfully for young women to keep their child. I will do so again in the future and for the rest of my life. No public funding of any kind for abortion and no partial birth abortion of any kind should be legal.
On “Drill Baby Drill”, my position has been stated again and again on the website and on my weekly radio show, take the MMS and fix it to reflect the type of program that we have made to protect our country from a Nuclear Disaster in the US Navy. As I write this, at least six to eight Nuclear “Teapots” as producing power for two of our aircraft carriers and several submarines. We celebrate over 50 years of safe operations for our country and we can do the same in the oil industry and protect our environment. We really have no choice, we have to get the energy off our coasts and our interior but not the way we have been doing it. Einstein’s quote about “Insanity” comes to mind. Shaun, always know our friendship is still solid and always will be no matter which party we may be with and there is a beer with your name on it in my HQ. As a reminder, we have a happy hour every Friday at 5 Pm, I look forward to seeing you there some time and I’ll make sure my Buddy Gary Byler doesn’t find out!
Waldo, you rascal, super to hear from you and please come by if you’re down here, same beer promise for you and your lovely Bride. All the best, r Kenny
http://www.facebook.com/#!/shaunkenney?v=wall&story_fbid=10150198880005012
Great topic of discussion.. One thing is missing though.. The opinions of women.
@Meeropol –
If you pass laws against theft, murder, rape, etc. they will simply keep occurring. Because the laws do not provide a 100% prevention, does that mean you’re in favor of repealing laws against theft, murder, and rape?
If not, why not?
Hence… the fallacy of that argumentation.
Kenny –
Appreciate the honesty. Still not sure why we wouldn’t take that extra, final step and extend the protection of our laws to every human being… but again, we can agree to disagree.
Next time we run into one another, we’ll discuss over a pint or two.
Murder, rape, and theft are all crimes committed by one individual against another individual. The standard for individual being a separate physical entity. Although I believe a child is a child at the moment of conception, the fact remains that the mother has control over her own body to the fullest extent.
Like Kenny, I think it is a sin, but I don’t think we should be issuing blanket federal regulations over what one person can and cannot do with their body.
Drinking and smoking while pregnant will kill or seriously injure a baby. Would you advocate making that illegal? If not, then where do you draw the line?
This is all an ego trip by Kenny paid for at the taxpayer’s and our time’s expense. Kenny has no political friends, no money and no momentum. If anyone thinks Rigell will debate him during the general you must be smoking crack. Why would he share the stage with this zero? A man disavowed by his own party. If Kenny got no respect by the VB GOP he must ask himself why? Simple – Because people don’t like him and they sure as hell don’t him to be their congressman. Kenny is an egotistical maniac and is using this campaign to garner attention for himself and to have some of his whacked out strap-hangers over for a beer or 10 every Friday afternoon. Enough about this total loser already.
The new moderate Kenny Golden is highly amusing to me. He spent a good while chatting it up with us at the John Birch Society table at CPAC, and I think just about everyone knows where we stand on the issues. I’m no fan of Scott Rigell but this is one more reason for us to get him into office.
Ron, I look forward to meeting a person who can call a 31 year Vet a loser, 67 years of service between my wife, my daughter and myself. My daughter flew 29 missions over Iraq from the HST in the Med while I commanded and dodged Skuds in the Persion Gulf. I guess we are all three losers.
On your ego theory does ego spend six years supporting various candidates and even quitting a race for Lt. Governor at the request of the RPVB, spend two years as Ops officer of the RPVB, 2 years as Chuck Smith’s vice chair, and two years as Chair supporting both John McCain, Sarah Palin, Thelma Drake and winning in VB for McCain and Palin never once asking for a party seat? How about taking off from work the entire year of 2008 to run our efforts leaving a $100k plus job in DC just to serve my friends because they ask me to. Last year running the party as we went 10 for 10 in elections and refusing to step down as Chair but keeping my promise to Governor McDonnell not to run but to help him and the other candidates. Again I spent three hours helping Scott start his campaign in early 2009. So much for your ego theory. My only reason for running is I believe I have more experience and will do a better job than Glenn Nye or Scott Rigell, simple as that. I owe that to my country, my state and the area Francie and I call home since returning here in 1995 from a command tour in Japan. If I’m defeated, I will not run for anything else.
Dan, whoever you are, spent several minutes at the John Birch booth listening and not talking and a moderate I have never been and my record is clear. On my campaign people have always known where I stand, on Rigell, how can you ever know with his record? Cool aid is something you must serve regularly at JBS. r Kenny
God Bless the U.S.A. by Lee Greenwood
Ron, don’t be ashamed or bashful.. it is time to up the meds friend.
The VB GOP has alienated MANY conservatives this year. To look and not realize that is to not look at the facts.
I’m not sure how anyone can say that Kenny Golden is the most conservative candidate when he is a) pro-choice [his "i'm personally pro-life, but government shouldn't make that decision", is the EXACT same position as Governor Cuomo, John Kerry and Bill Clinton]
b) Supports “pay-go” legislation and stated he would support tax increases
c) Is against off-shore drilling
@ Christopher – what you are not realizing I think about Kenny’s feelings on this is that the party establishment did not go with the best guy, they went with a scum bucket who had a lot of money and was part of their social set, this is the problem, not going with the person who ideologically is the best candidate.
Govgirl, No, Scott Rigell is not a scum bucket.. I object to namecalling any candidate in this race. Scott Rigell is a nice individual and for that matter, Nye is a nice guy too. This is not about personalities, it is about experience to lead. That said, aside from his own deep pockets and access to ultra wealthy establishment donors and endorsements from party leaders who know Scotty’s vote can be counted on (wink wink), Scott Rigell is nowhere nearly as qualified as Kenny Golden is. Kenny Golden is the candidate that the two Obama supporters simply do not want to debate Kenny Golden because it is not good for a campaign to lose.
Now, as for the GOP establishmentarians who orchestrated the cash-for-faux primary, they deserve your scorn. They have failed the republican faithful and they will be thrown under the bus by the next generation of conservatives, aided and abetted by the core conservatives who know failed leadership when they see it.
Respectfully, T
@ Mr. Golden, I respect you yet strongly disagree with your pro choice agenda. Scott Rigell is absolutley clear on his Pro LIFE stance and he will get my vote.
I do believe because of sour grapes you are doing harm to the GOP. A vote for Golden is a vote for Nye. (@James C.: I don’t know why you believe that the GOP in the 2nd is alienating, I see it gaining momemtum. Perhaps it’s the mis-information put forth by the head of HRTP.If they supported Loyola & now he’s endorsed Rigell…well you get the picture.)
Mr. Golden, DROP OUT OF THE RACE for the good of this country.
Dona, Freedom Fest was a good opportunity to hear from second district aliens.
Dona, I disagree.
Many TEA Party conservatives in the 2nd District seeking a better Congress that is not the same old business-as usual status quo may not support Mr. Rigell or Congressman Nye.
Mr. Rigell’s $10,000 donation to the YES Campaign reveals to many thoughtful Conservatives that Scott a person that supported a corrupt and dishonest business lobby agenda – and agenda that was rejected by our region’s voters by a 2 to 1 margin.
Many thoughtful conservative voters might vote for Kenny Golden as opposed to not voting at all – because the Republican Party and Democratic Party choices on the ballot are not anything to become too happy about.
I live in the 2nd District. I am a Libertarian. I would have been excited to vote for Ben Loyola. Now? I’m not motivated to support anyone on the ballot.
Amen, Reid Greenmun, I feel the same way.
And wow, why would someone bring up HRTP and vaguely charge them with “misinformation,” when they are not the subject of this article or string of comments? Also, based on Mr. Golden’s June 27, 12:57 comment, he clearly does not have a “pro choice agenda.” D. Donziger’s comment seems like misinformation from someone with an agenda. Just sayin.
From the article:m “Kenny Golden is personally pro-life, but does not believe human life in the womb deserves the protection of our laws. In fact, if you believe that human life deserves the protection of our laws from womb to tomb, Golden identifies you as one of these “ultra pro-lifers” and claims it’s a religious rather than a reasonable justification to protect human life.”
WOW, does not “DESERVE” protection? “REASONABLE JUSTIFICATION”. you can justify anything if you want, it doesn’t make it right. Life begins at conception, Abortion is murder, period.
I have meet Mr. Golden 2x, once at the Accomack GOP meeting and once at the 2nd Congressional debate sponsored by the ESVA GOP. I asked questions and kept an open mind, after my own research I ruled Golden out long before he jumped ship.
@Linda: you are well aware what my comments mean. If you recall I was against HRTP endorsing ANY canidate and commented several times that it was clear that the leadership (or lack of) was the one with the agenda. I still maintain that position and still call for K. Hurd to step down.
Hey Donna,
Why don’t you watch the video instead of quoting someone who is NOT quoting Kenny. Shaun put those words in Kenny’s mouth. If you watch the video he said no such thing.
Do your own research and don’t believe the spin Mr. Kenney has decided to put on Kenny’s position.
Shaun has yet to respond to my previous point, so I suppose he has no response?
Kenny believes that a state can ban abortion all they want, he is simply opposed to a blanket federal ban for the same reasons you yourself oppose blanket federal legislation on a number of things. The Federal Government simply should not have the power to regulate what a person does to their own body.
Kenny supports overturning Roe v Wade so that the states, who are closer to the people, can make that decision.
“The Federal Government simply should not have the power to regulate what a person does to their own body.”
Does that mean Kenny Golden favors ending Federal drug laws?
I obviously don’t speak for Kenny personally, but my own opinion is that there should be no federal laws against drug use.
Leave the laws against use to the states and the feds can enforce the laws against trafficking and distribution.
It is one thing to regulate what a person can do with their body, it is another to regulate a substance that is sold for profit.
Kenny – I’m speaking about you as a candidate. Your record in the military is all well and good but we are not electing an admiral from the Second District. You tried running among the people you claim know you best – the GOP – and you got virtually no suppport, raised no money and if you want to take credit for going 10 for 10 in 2009 why is it that NONE of those candidate’s endorsed you? Is it all some big conspiracy? I think not. In fact they are terrified at the thought of you as their congressman. Get out you egomaniac!
Brian, how effective are todays fed drug laws really working? The lawmaking power in this country has become way too centralized and states lawmaking powers have been marginalized. I would much prefer that more of those laws fell into state hands and see more of the drug enforcement dollars managed locally by the municipalities.
We will continue to fail at reducing drug use until we legalize, educate better, tax the hell out of narcotics and treat drug dealers that cooperate with drug exporters bringing narcotics into the US as if they were no different than terrorists. The IRS may do a better job of reducing drug abuse than the present agencies involved with interdiction. I formed this opinion over a few bottles of Killians red while discussing the issue with a 25 year coastie with 20 years of drug enforecement work offshore. Present day drug prevention is a dismal failure.
Ron, Why is it so tough for the prettiest girl at a dance to be asked out sometimes? Intimidation maybe?
Brian K., is that your quote or Kenny Golden’s? Abortion isn’t just doing something to one’s own body. It’s doing something to someone temporarily living in one’s body. That’s a whole different ballgame.
It was from Chris in the previous comment.
Susan, each candidate will have an opportunity to state their platform position on abortion at the debates that are now in the discussion and planning phase. I would encourage all three candidates to cooperatively work with the student and professional organizations that have expressed interest in hosting these public events and to welcome live press/blog coverage. I’ve got your 6 JR.
@Chris: I agree with some of your comments, however because abortion IS murder, and we have laws on such, I can not understand Golden’s position because He say’s he’s anti-abortion. Yet he is Not.
@James: are you on Golden’s payroll?
@Dona, No I am not on Golden’s payroll but I am proud to be a major donor to his campaign. I am also one of the few that republicans have not been warned by other campaign & party hackers not to support or endorse Kenny. It is insulting to to every active duty or retired veteran to see the way an accomplished and honorable man such as the Commodore has been treated. Disgraceful and insulting.
I could watch Schneidlr’s List and still be happy after reading this.
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