Today's Staunton News Leader has an amazing editorial which utterly eviscerates Jerry Kilgore as a "thin-skinned crybaby." This thing is so good, it's worth reading more than once. Here is the heart of the editorial, which refers to the fairy tale, "The Emperor's New Clothes" in discussing "poor little Jerry Kilgore's" incessant whining and moaning about Tim Kaine being soooo mean to him. Enjoy!
This nonsense about how Tim Kaine has insulted millions of Virginians by mocking poor little Jerry Kilgore's accent is just an updated version of the old fairy tale. It, like the emperor's invisible duds, has been concocted out of thin air by some rascals, namely Kilgore's campaign staff. Now people like Congressmen Bob Goodlatte, Virgil Goode and Eric Cantor are trying this suit of nothing on like it was Armani and declaring it splendid.Well guess what? Every last one of them is buck-nekkid. And all that Kilgore is accomplishing is to make himself look like a thin-skinned crybaby.
The truth of the matter is this: Kaine has criticized Kilgore for his perceived unwillingness to engage in public debates. He has taken exception to the fact that Kilgore has used "slick radio announcers" to do his "dirty work." Here's the transcript of what Kaine said:
"If I have something to say, I'm not afraid to say it myself. But Jerry Kilgore has been making things up about me, and letting slick radio announcers do his dirty work. Virginia deserves a leader who says what he believes himself."
Where is there anything, overt or implied, about Kilgore's accent? Nowhere. You have to search out U.Va. political analyst Larry Sabato, who made a great theoretical leap when he told the Richmond Times Dispatch that it was all about Kilgore's "Southwest Virginia accent."
By the way, a bunch of real men endorsed Tim Kaine today. I'm talking about the coal miners of Southwestern Virginia -- no thin-skinned crybabies here! Unlike Jerry Kilgore, these guys don't seem to believe that Tim Kaine is "prejudiced" against people from Southwestern Virginia. But, as we've said all along, this whole Kilgore hissy fit is not about his "accent" (which, by the way, he's worked to tone down with the help of a voice coach), but about another aspect of his voice which can only be fully appreciated by listening to it. Quack Quack!