Bob Marshall's Case to Ban Gays from the VA National Guard

Shortly after the U.S. Senate voted to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell, Bob Marshall said he would introduce a bill blocking gays from serving in the VA National Guard. This quickly lead to criticism from people on both sides of the political spectrum as people argued Virginia did not have the constitutional authority to make that decision. Bob Marshall has stood firm in his decision, and recently explained how the states have the constitutional authority to determine who joins the ranks of its national guard.

Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story noted in his Commentaries on the Constitution: "Thepower over the militia ... was limited, and concurrent with that of the States. The right of governing them was confined to the single case of their being in the actual service of the United States ... . It was then, and only then, that they could be subjected by the general government to martial law ... . The power to discipline and train the militia, except when in the actual service of the United States, was also vested exclusively in the States; and under such circumstances was secure against any serious abuses."

In Virginia, the National Guard denies applicants who have more than five traffic tickets or if they use drugs. States can impose tougher standards than Congress. Will state legislators and congressional Republicans listen to the troops and their constituents?

While I can not support the legislation until there is a written version, something needs to be done about the relentless push to make Americans unquestionably accept as normal, and embrace a lifestyle that is morally repugnant. While people may argue allowing gay people in the military is no big deal, it is one battle in the assault on traditional marriage and families. If we keep surrendering the battles, we will lose the war.

To quote Tom Seeman a long time member of the LCRC, and Precinct Operations Chair in 2009.

Likewise, the debate about gays in the military is about a lot of things, but military readiness isn’t one of them. Progressives couldn’t care less about either military readiness or the institution of marriage. What they want is to force the acceptance of the gay lifestyle on society. They want it taught in the schools, they want it instituted in law, and most of all they want to silence all debate on the issue.

Virginia Rally for Life - January 13th

Virginia Rally for Life

January 13, 2011
Rally 10:30 – 11:30 am
(assemble at 10:00 am)
Lobbying 11:30 am – as time permits

Why: To witness to the sanctity of life, to urge Governor McDonnell to initiate regulations for first trimester abortion facilities, and to support pro-life legislation.

When: Thursday, January 13, 2011

Rally: 10:30am-11:30am, (assemble at 10:00am), Lobbying: 11:30 – as time permits

Where: Richmond State Capitol Grounds, Rally at Bell Tower, Lobbying at General Assembly Offices

Who:
Delegate Bob Marshall
Bishop Earl Jackson
Alveda King (by audio), Priests for Life
David Bereit, 40 Days for Life
Shawn Carney, 40 Days for Life
Dr. John Seeds, M.D., Obstetrics & Gynecology
Andrea Pearson, Silent No More
Rita Dunaway, Valley Family Forum
Tom Glessner, NIFLA
Karen Zbinden, Concerned Women for America

Maddy Curtis singing the National Anthem and more……

Radtke: Marco Rubio or Christine O'Donnell

Jamie Radtke's senate campaign kicked off with an interview on FOX News. The reporter began by asking, "Will Jamie Radtke be the next Marco Rubio or Christine O'Donnell?"

It is interesting to think of what kind of Tea Party senate candidate she may be like. Rubio being one of the most inspiring, and O'Donnell being one of the more embarrassing. She is someone without a legislative record, or a record of fighting for things when the heat was on, and a decade experience as a political consultant to different degrees. When you look at her bio, at first glance it seems more like the unqualified, unvetted O'Donnell than the experienced proven record of Marco Rubio. Hopefully I am wrong in this comparison, but after some of the Tea Party candidates that were nominated last cycle we need to be cautious about the ones we nominate in the years to come.

Jamie Radtke Announces for U.S. Senate

Jamie Radtke is the first to announce her intentions to run for U.S. Senate against Jim Webb in 2012. The former head of the Virginia Tea Party Federation filed the paper work to run in the last couple days. George Allen, Bob Marshall, and Corey Stewart are also almost certain to file in the next month or two.

In an interview, Ms. Radtke said she decided to run after watching Congress pass
legislation during this month’s lame duck session, including a package of tax
cuts, that added to the national debt.

“It has become clear that many in Congress still don’t get it,” she said. “The tax bill did nothing to cut the huge debt burden on all of us.”

Ms. Radtke gained some prominence in Virginia this year as the main organizer of a large tea party convention in Richmond, which drew nearly 3,000 participants.

If she is going to win she needs to unite the ant-George Allen elements, and a strong first quarter fundraising could go a long way towards that. Also for the record she decided to run well before the tax deal was negotiated.

RPV State Central Roll Call Vote

At the RPV Advance, state central voted for a primary. The following is the list of how everyone voted. It was a public roll call vote. Regardless of how you wanted the vote to turn out, it is an important vote with potentially important consequences.

__________________________________________________________

Republican Party of Virginia State Central Committee Roll Call

Vote to Hold 2012 U.S. Senate Nomination by Primary.

Vote held on November 20, 2010

* A Yes vote is a vote for the primary

Chairman, Pat Mullins Abstain

First Vice Chair, Mike Thomas Yes

Morton Blackwell, National Committeeman No

Kathy Hayden Terry, National Committeewoman No

Paulina Campbell, Secretary Did Not Vote

Brian Plum, Treasurer Yes

Linwood Cobb, Budget Chairman Yes

Lee Goodman, General Counsel

William Fralin, Finance Chairman Yes

Juanita Balenger, Eastern Vice Chairwoman No

Kevin Gentry, Eastern Vice Chairman No

Judi Lynch, Western Vice Chairwoman Yes

Wendell Walker, Western Vice Chairman No

1st District

Tom Foley, Chairman Yes

James Bowden sent a proxy, which was disallowed, opposed the primary

John Van Hoy No

Michael Lowe No

Carol Dawson No

Allen Webb No

2nd District

Gary Byler, Chairman No

David O'Kelley Yes

Curtis Colgate No

Roger Miles No

3rd District

Mike Wade, Chairman Yes

Bryan Meals Yes

Chris Woodfin Yes

Cortland Putbrese Yes

4th District

Jack Wilson, Chairman Yes

Col. William Flanagan Yes

Irene Hurst Yes

Wayne Ozmore Yes

Bob Wheeler Yes

5th District

Bill Stanley, Chairman No

Christopher Shores No

Renee Trent Maxey No

Gene Smith Yes

Rachel Schoenwald Yes

6th District

Trixie Averill, Chairman Yes

Mickey Mixon No

Matthew Braud Yes

Jim Crosby No

Mark Peake Yes

Lynn Mitchell Yes

7th District

Linwood Cobb, Chairman Yes

Kristi Way Yes

Marie Quinn Yes

John Tucker Yes

Doug Rogers Yes

David Fuller Yes

8th District

Mike Ginsberg, Chairman Yes

Vellie Dietrich-Hall Absent

Michael Giere No

Mark Kelley No

9th District

Michelle Jenkins, Chairman Yes

John Kilgore Yes

Jerry Lester Yes

Jack Morgan Yes

10th District

Howie Lind, Chairman No

Jo-Ann Chase No

Elizabeth Kay Gunter No

Gary Lofton Yes

Mary Gail Swenson Yes

11th District

Becky Stoeckel, Chairman Yes

Keith Damon No

David Ray No

Patsy Drain No

Caucus Representatives

Senator Emmet Hanger Yes

Delegate Morgan Griffith Yes

Senator Frank Ruff Yes

Delegate John Cosgrove Yes

Virginia Federation of Republican Women

Fay Williamson VFRW President Yes

Vicki Alford Yes

Anna Lee Yes

Young Republican Federation of Virginia

Micheal Hardy, President Yes

Andrew Vehorn Yes

Neil Miller Yes

College Republican Federation of Virginia

Lena Morill, President Yes

Jadan Horyn Yes

Lexy Rusnak Yes

6th District Treasurer Race Story

A few weeks ago I wrote a story about the 6th District committee refusing to remove a member, Dexter Gaines, who opposed a Republican nominee in the general election. The 6th District Watchdog also did a story on it as well. As a result of the story someone who tried to run for treasurer of the committee asked to share his story which I am republishing. The man's name is Lee Carter, and the rest of this post is the narrative he wrote about trying to run for the position Dexter Gaines now holds.

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My name is Lee Carter and back in May of this year a friend of mine who is a conservative Bible believing Christian and a member of the 6^th District Republican Committee told me that perhaps I should consider running for the Treasurer’s position on the committee since it was coming open. When I told him I would consider it closely he sent me an application with instructions. I decided to give it a shot since the worst thing that could happen is that I’d get a good look at how politics works. Did I ever! The instructions on the application form said that I must submit an original form directly to the Chairwoman who was Trixie Averill and a fax or email copy to the then secretary Kelly Keech both before five o’clock on June 11^th. Before noon on the deadline day I called Trixie and asked if I could deliver my application to her on my lunch break. She was at home so she gave me her address and I met her in her driveway sometime around noon. She was very pleasant and of course inquired why I decided to run and more importantly who told me about the position. I was completely honest with her on all counts. Near the end of our meeting she emphasized to me that I had to submit my application to the Secretary via email or fax by five o’clock that evening.

When I returned to work, I did indeed work on getting the application to her before the deadline and as business goes, I didn’t get the opportunity to email the application immediately but I did hit the send button on my email with the attached application at 3:47, more than an hour before the deadline. After that I went directly back to doing my other business. As it turned out, at about six o’clock that evening I got a call from Kelly Keech informing me that she never received my application and thus didn’t meet the deadline. I of course informed her that I sent it via email at about 3-ish but she said she never got it. I asked her if she checked her spam filter and everything and she said she did. After I got off the phone, being extremely perplexed that she didn’t receive my email, I took a short drive back to work to find out what might have happened on my end. Indeed I did find out that the outgoing email server was not working, or perhaps a setting on my outgoing email properties was not correct. Nevertheless I quickly sent another email to her and this time to everyone of the 6^th District Committee. I used a different email account this time and again I attached my application AND I attached a copy of the original email that I sent at 3:47 with the time stamp proving that I had sent it in on time. After that I called Kelly Keech back to tell her of the circumstances but I didn’t catch her so then I called Trixie and let her know of the circumstances. Though I didn’t catch her either I did leave her a message. Later that evening I found a voice mail on my phone from Trixie explaining that, regardless of my circumstances, my application would not be accepted because I did not meet the very specific instructions on the application.

The next day or two I called my friend and told him about the situation and he said he thought it was terrible for them not to accept my application when I had submitted the original on time and I had proven that I sent the email on time and that the Secretary had received my email application albeit about an hour after the deadline. After that I left it all to those on the Committee to sort out.

I was kept in the loop of some of the discussions regarding my application and there is one incident and statement by Trixie that really stands out. An individual named Carl Tate submitted an application to run for the position of Vice-Chairman. After some time and consideration he decided to withdraw his name from the running. His explanation was thus, “This entire process has been disappointing and a further reminder to me of just how divided this committee/district still is. I contacted the chairwoman of this district inquiring about running for vice-chair of this committee and asking about any pre-filing requirements. I was sent an email stating there would be no pre-filing requirements. Yet the very next day I receive an email, along with the committee, that outlines a set of pre-filing requirements. It is my contention those requirements were established to discourage individuals from standing for election. Something that is unfair and contradicts our stated efforts to grow our party. Further it has also come to my attention that those requirements have been used to block someone from standing for Treasurer, although the individual had delivered his application to the chairwoman. Again, something that is unfair and contradicts our efforts to grow our party. I became a member of the Republican Party over fifteen years ago. I have served at just about every level of the party – from precinct work and lit drops to two presidential appoints. And I actually looked forward to working for the party here at home in the sixth district. That won’t happen now. I am completely turned off by the petty maneuvering, the back-biting and the in-fighting I’ve seen over the past two years. What I have seen happen in this district is the reason people hate, not only politics, but the GOP. And I can see why some of your unit meetings barely attract quorums as opposed to the area tea party meetings where hundreds of activists come out.”

After Carl sent out this email, Trixie responded thus, “Pre-filing does not block anyone from participating in an election. We pre-file regularly to attend conventions, and to run for office. We had pre-filing for the Chair candidates for the 6^th District. The requirements were clearly stated at the top of the form and were mailed to everyone on the 6^th District Committee so that they could recruit candidates. The individual whom Mr. Tate references waited until the last afternoon to turn in his form to me, and then failed to have his electronic copy sent to the Secretary (as required) by the deadline. When all the other candidates (including one who had his own wedding to prepare for) got their forms in on time, to make and exception would, in my opinion, be grossly unfair to the others. As I said at the convention, and I’ll reiterate now, we have all had enough divisiveness in the 6^th to last a lifetime.”

My own response to these statements of Trixie is that she said that the committee has too much divisiveness to last a lifetime. If that were really her concerns, she surely would have let my slight pre-filing hiccup pass rather than calling it “grossly unfair to the others” which really is a gross overstatement. She could have easily accepted my application as it was given to her and the other candidates wouldn’t have known anything happened. To me the real truth is she didn’t want opposition to Dexter Gaines, her own very special candidate to perform her own very special work as we now see.

But the story doesn’t end here. I was advised to attend the election meeting and that a couple other men were going to nominate me from the floor. So I attended that meeting to see how it would all come together. Though the minutes of the meeting were extremely brief and did not entail any of this event (probably for a reason) I have to recollect this information as best I can from memory and because of this lack of the detailed information, this will be brief. It was discussed how I applied and the Secretary stated that she did not receive my application by the exact time of the specified instructions and Trixie stated emphatically that I was therefore unqualified to run. Someone later attempted to nominate me from the floor and a Parliamentary rule was argued against such a motion and the motion ended without a discussion. Without my candidacy Dexter Gaines was able to run completely unopposed for the Treasurer’s position.

It is my contention through all of this experience that the majority makeup of the 6^th District Republican Committee is a partisan and exclusive non-Christian political good-ol-boy network that does not represent the good people of the 6^th district of Virginia. It is ugly self-serving politics as usual.

Defending Your Faith Can Still Get You Killed

In American we often take our liberty for granted. It is important to remember that in other countries people do not enjoy the freedom we do. One current example is Pakistan. About a year and a half ago, a woman in Pakistan defended her Christian faith in public when she was taunted for her beliefs. She was sentenced to die for blaspheming Mohammed. Even if she pardoned, she will have to go into hiding because the religious leaders have put a price on her head.

The freedom of religion and expression are important freedoms that flow from the Christian tradition of the west. It is important that we preserve these freedoms, and never take them for granted.

Mitch McConnell: Accomplishing Things as Minority Leader

Not long after the elections, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell joined Sen. Jim DeMint's efforts to put a caucus moratorium on earmarks. This was a pleasant sign that McConnell understood what the November elections were all about.

Sen. McConnell kicked off the lame duck session by releasing a letter signed by the entire caucus, promising to filibuster every bill until the Bush Tax cuts had been extended, and the government has been funded for the following year. As a result of this commitment, it seems that eventually the Democrats will grudgingly agree to a two year extension of all the tax cuts. This is quite the legislative accomplishment for a party that still has very little in this session of congress.

How Desperate is George Allen?

In less than two years Virginia will have a competitive election for U.S. Senate. It appears George Allen is all in as he fights to reclaim his old seat.

Regardless of your opinion on state central's decision to nominate our 2012 U.S. Senate candidate through a primary, the timing of the vote seemed to be politically motivated. While people were originally being told state central would vote on that issue in March, suddenly days before the November meeting Mike Thomas, a close George Allen ally, moved the vote to that meeting. While Mike Thomas denied the timing of the vote was politically motivated, a long time Allen ally ramming through a vote that would help George Allen seems to be a very political move.

As if setting the method of nomination in his favor weren't enough, it now appears George Allen is trying to clear the field of primary opponents. Corey Stewart is planning to run for U.S. Senate. He recently made some critical comments about a George Allen candidacy. (One of few high ranking elected officials to do that.) Days after making those comments, the Washington Posts that Corey Stewart may face a primary challenge in 2011. A few more days pass and we learn that George Allen may be behind this primary challenge.

Appearances suggest George Allen is setting the method for the nomination contest, and clearing the field of opponents. This smacks of some one desperate for power. George Allen has a record and connections. He should be using them to build support, and lay out a bold message for why we should support him, not manipulating the system so that he is the only option we have.

Trixie Averill Supports Undermining the Republican Party

This past year Rick Boyer was the Republican Nominee for Clerk of the Court in Campbell Co. Article 7 Section C of the State Party Plan makes it clear that party officials who oppose a Republican nominee shall be deemed to have resigned their position.

"Therefore, a member of an Official Committee is deemed to have resigned his Committee position if he (a) makes a reportable contribution to and/or (b) allows his name to be publicly used by and/or (c) makes a written or other public statement in support of a candidate in opposition to a Republican nominee in a Virginia General or Special Election."

On October 18th, the Treasurer of Virginia's 6th District Republican Committee, Dexter Gaines, sent out an e-mail calling on voters in Campbell Co. to support an independent candidate for the position.

Friends,

Below is a good article on the Clerk of Court for Campbell County. If you live in Campbell I would ask that you support Shelia Bosiger. I have met her and feel she is the best person for the job. As you know I am a Republican. Not ashamed of it but this is one time I can't support the nominee.

Please forward to everyone you know in Campbell and encourage them to vote for Shelia.

Thanks,

Dexter

(I linked to the article instead of posting it all here.)

As a result of Dexter's work, and the work of other Republicans, Rick Boyer lost to the independent candidate Dexter encouraged people to vote for. One would think that campaigning against a Republican nominee would result in punishment for a Republican Party official. In Trixie Averill's 6th District Committee, the opposite happens. Trixie Averill had the power to remove him as treasurer in accordance with the party plan. Instead she gave Dexter the volunteer of the year award for the district. While members of the committee tried to have Dexter removed from the committee for opposing a party nominee, Trixie Averill made sure Dexter was not punished.

If you call yourself a Republican, you can not oppose a party nominee. If you disagree with them either hold your nose and support them, or sit on the sidelines. Openly opposing a party nominee simply because you disagree with them undermines the party. This is what Dexter Gaines did. This is the action Chairman Trixie Averill supported.

Fat Poor People...

You would think that would be an oxymoron, but while advocating for the Child Nutrition Bill, Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman, Barbara Lee, stated that the bill would fight the twin problems of poverty and childhood obesity. Presumably these two factors describe the same set of people... If our poor people are obese, maybe they don't need more money for food...

Why Newt Gingrich Should not be President

Newt Gingrich wants to work with Nancy Pelosi to solve climate change. Why are we still thinking about him for president?