The Gate City/Willie Mae Controversy: It's Baaaaack!

It?s certainly possible that there?s a connection to the fact that Jerry?s mother (Scott County registrar) , father (long-time chairman of the Scott County Republican Party), and extended family essentially run a small-time political machine in that part of Virginia. It?s also possible that the many indications of cronyism, corruption, and arrogance displayed by the Kilgore family over the years have nothing - nothing whatsoever - to do with Jerry or his brother Terry.

Well, maybe we?re a bit cynical, but let?s just say we tend to believe there?s something to the sayings ?where there?s smoke there?s fire? and ?the apple doesn?t fall far from the tree.? For now, though, we simply hope to find out more from our own investigations and also through tips from helpful readers.

The Gate City piece led to a flurry of exchanges between writers here at RaisingKaine, supportive readers, and a couple of anonymous Kilgore supporters (or, who knows, Kilgore family members?) who were outraged at our supposed "attacks" -- in the article and subsequent comments -- on the Kilgores.  One of the outraged readers called himself "Addison."  Later, however, it turned out that he was NOT the "Addison" of Sic Semper Tyrannis fame.  He then wrote an apology under the name "Not Addison."

In response, I have the following to say.

"Not Addison:"  I accept your apology as well.  However, I would like to make a few points as well.  First, Jerry Kilgore, Terry and Willie Mae are all public officials.  As such, they often advocate policies which affect "real people."  Worse than that, they are often harmful to those "real people."  Cuts to education and health care?  Very harmful.  Running a corrupt political machine in Gate City?  Certainly harmful to the residents of that town. Executing minors on flimsy evidence?  Deadly to those whose DNA may or may not later exonerate.  Whoops!!

Second, I would point out that the Kilgore campaign HAS attacked Tim Kaine personally, including most recently the sincerity of his religious beliefs!  They keep calling him a "liberal" as a sort of curse word, even though Kaine is a centrist Democrat.  They have hired Scott Howell, (see the appropriately shadowy photo of Howell at left) one of the nastiest, slimiest political consultants around, as their chief strategist and media advisor.  Remember that Scott Howell, as we have pointed out here numerous times, was the guy who slandered former Georgia Senator Max Cleland, a Vietnam War hero and triple amputee, as a Saddam- and Osama-loving traitor.  Hey, isn't Max Cleland a "real person" too?  Isn't calling someone a traitor a bit nasty?  And isn't it a bit hypocritical for Kilgore supporters to complain about ad hominem attacks against their candidate when Jerry himself has gone and hired the worst of the worst when it comes to ad hominem and even race baiting?

Third, I've got to say I'm a bit surprised that conservative Republicans, who love to pride themselves on being "tough" and "strong" and "not-PC," would all of a sudden be so dang SENSITIVE about peoples' feelings getting hurt.  I wonder what THAT is all about!

Finally, let me just remind eveyone here that this is POLITICS, not tiddlywinks.  It's a rough game, "all's fair" and all that if you choose to run for public office.  If you don't like a bit of rough and tumble action once in a while, perhaps you might want to take up another career?  Regardless, what you've seen on RaisingKaine to date, I would argue, is NOTHING compared to what you've already seen and will CONTINUE to see from the Kilgore campaign.  By the way, I would remind our Republican friends what some members of their own party did to Bill Clinton, for instance, accusing him of being a drug-running murderer, among other things.  RaisingKaine hasn't even gotten within one thousandth of that degree of nastiness, and we never plan to.  When it comes to Jerry Kilgore's record, the truth is bad enough!

To conclude, I think I speak for all of us here at RaisingKaine that we intend to continue poking fun at the Kilgores while also pointing out their heinous and irresponsible policies, exposing their cronyism, corruption and incompetence, and rebutting their attacks on our man, Tim Kaine.

Thanks again for your apology, "Not Addison."

Sincerely,

Lowell (also not "Addison")
RaisingKaine

Comments