Talk to the Hand

He’s baaaack! God save us all, but it looks like Dick Black is gearing up for something. Glad-handing it up at the last LCRC meeting (and claiming himself as a Sugarland Run resident), Black has reemerged in the political world following his ill-fated, ill-advised 2007 carpetbagging run for Congress in the 1st district. Check out his new Facebook page. Old military and campaigning pictures – and a cheesey profile picture that would make Chester Cheetah envious. The pictures pretty much tell it all.

And what of his “law firm?” The website does not even list a street address (goes with the carpet bagging). Notably, the firm bio also states he “left” the General Assembly in 2006.

Of course, it neglects to mention that he didn’t leave voluntarily.

A Presidential Blog?

It may be hypocritical, but I really have a big problem with the fact that the White House has a blog. General updates are fine, but taxpayer funds should never be used when the site is nothing more than a political springboard (like Barney Frank's House Financial Services Committee website). Check out this post from the White House press secretary, for example http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/05/06/obstruction-a-political-strategy

It's a campaign piece clearly, and taxpayers shouldn't have to front the bill for such trash.

The Ruse of Airline Security

As I await a flight myself, I wonder the dollar value of the resources devoted to airline security. The security checkpoints. The ID checks. The baggage checks. And for what? As evident time and time again, the "security" is, at best, something that may make us only feel more secure because it certainly doesn't keep the bad guys off the planes.

The New King of Embarrassment

A week after his very public and wholly unprofessional outburst at Eugene Delgaudio, Supervisor Stevens Miller is at it again. This time, he’s berating Ralph Buona, the chairman of the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce, with all the eloquence of a whiny schoolyard twerp. With it, he takes the crown from Delgaudio as Loudoun’s King of Embarrassment.

Motivating his wackiness against both Delgaudio and Buona is Miller’s suggestion that private organizations whose members are also on county boards should be subject to the same level of public oversight in those private activities as with public boards. Mr. Buona in the Loudoun Independent well explained the chilling effect of such a requirement on public participation. And he did so in a very professional, respectful way. Judge for yourself.

Contrast that with Mr. Miller’s statement, which took a distinctly personal tone. Just as he went off on Delguadio last week, he fires into Mr. Buona personally with unjustifiable vitriol using words like “silly,” “deceptive,” “ridiculous,” “absurd,” “fear-mongering” -- all in just one letter to the editor. Ironically, on the page before Miller’s diatribe is an editorial citing Miller’s last outburst and urging decorum in board of supervisor meetings.

His proposals, and his bizarre attacks on opponents to it, simply reflect Mr. Miller’s lack of confidence in himself and the board of supervisors (which, after all, is the entity that makes the laws - not the CEOs). Miller has proven he has neither the temperament nor the perspective for the job. Loudoun's businesses and its citizenry clearly deserve better.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Conceding that the Obama administration has failed to devise any workable plan to resolve the housing crisis, Secretary Geithner effectively threw up his hands and asked for anyone’s help. Got any good ideas?

Meanwhile, Rep. Barney Frank has turned the House Financial Services Committee’s web page into a political hack that makes Blue Virginia look like Karl Rove’s diary. That in itself is bad enough, but in his latest missive, Rep. Frank has the gall to blame Republicans for the Fannie/Freddie crisis. You’ve got to be kidding me. Frank’s chumminess with the GSE’s was the single biggest contributor to the unbridled growth and unparalleled decline of those government sponsored behemoths. He personally took huge contributions from the companies’ executives, undoubtedly prompting his repeated defense of them. In 2003, Frank said, "These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis. The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing." In 2004, Frank again said at a hill hearing that the regulator’s report on illegal activity by Fannie Mae does not "raise safety and soundness [of Fannie Mae investments] problems at issue.”

Oh, wait, there’s more. There also are reports that he was once romantically linked to a Fannie Mae exec. Ahh. Maybe that explains it all.

A Reluctant "Maybe" on Jack Ryan

I supported Lori Waters in her race against Jack Ryan for Broad Run supervisor, and I had some bad feeling when Mr. Ryan failed in his bid for the Republican nomination and ran as an independent. I still seriously question his integrity given that maneuver alone.

However, he did step up and volunteer for the Broad Run district chairmanship when no one else would take it. No one. Moreover, it’s not as if he orchestrated his election as Broad Run chair through deception and outrights lies (cough, cough, Sugarland Run). Mr. Ryan jumped in when no one else wanted the job and, at least nominally, is willing to sacrifice time and effort to lead the Republican cause in Broad Run. Indeed, he volunteered to take the chairmanship cognizant of inevitable personal attacks given his history with Loudoun politics. As such, part of me has a newfound respect for Mr. Ryan and believes he should be given a fair opportunity for redemption.

After reading his posts and those of others, though, the other part of me is slapping the back of my head saying, “Grow up knucklehead! Don’t be so naïve.” He sold out the party and disregarded his pledge to support the Republican nominee. That much is hard to ignore. Why wouldn’t he do that again – and this time, from a position of greater “power?”

Just call me Sybil.

True Enemies

In his first address to the Loudoun County Republican Committee, the new chairman referenced political opponents as “enemies” to be defeated. Now, that first meeting was a train wreck for many reasons, but I want to focus on this one word because I think reveals, perhaps inadvertently, the mindset of the new leadership of the Committee.

“Enemies,” to my way of thinking, are Osama Bin Laden, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong-Il, cancer, and lima beans. Democrats are not “enemies.” They have a different agenda based on a different set of beliefs relative to the role of government. They do not seek to destroy the nation. They are not trying to kill us. Now, like lima beans, they may make us gag from time to time, but most elected Democratic politicians seek to do what they believe is best for the country, state or county.

The vitriol spewed from the chairman, intentional or not, simply engenders the divisiveness that has, at its highest level, both paralyzed Congress and marginalized the role of the minority party. It has no place in politics at any level. Indeed, the language used by the chairman and others calls to mind George Washington’s warning about political parties as creating “ill-founded jealousies and false alarms.”

My fervent hope is that our new chairman can keep the proper perspective on politics and parties for everyone’s benefit.