A Democratic takeover of the Senate remains a longshot, but according to Larry Sabato's "Crystal Ball", Democrats have a fair chance of winning a majority of Governorships in 2006. If 2006 proves to be a takeover year for Democrats, gains could be even more widespread.With 22 Republican and 14 Democratic governorships up for grabs in next year's elections, Alaska, Alabama, California, Florida, Iowa, Illinois and Massachussetts are impossible to call.
Assuming an even split in the current toss-ups, Democrats would gain four statehouses for a total of 26. If 2006 turns out to be a Democratic year, they could do better than that, and regain a bigger majority of the Governorships in the fifty states.
As always, nice analysis from Sabato's Team. [More Here and Here]
I found a comment by Rick Sincere on Albo's insane HB 1054:
Del. Dave Albo (R-Springfield)
Albo -- we swear we're not making this up -- introduced a bill in the 2004 session that would reduce raping one's own child from a felony to a mere misdemeanor (HB 1054). What the hell? He's generally opposed to sex, like these other guys, but apparently doesn't mind it quite so much when it's a father sodomizing his toddler.
Albo's not even the "looniest of the looney tunes in the House of Delegates", Sincere reserves that honor for Bob Marshall.
Check it out, there's also a really interesting discussion in the comments of this post. Take a look. http://ricksincerethoughts.blogspot.com/2005/01/virginia-family-values-pac.html
Albo did give a rationale. Basically he said that if you drop penalties for sex offenders, you get more convictions. In the words of PROTECT "there's no dressing up this pig".
Protect explored it.
Here are some links:
http://www.protect.org/virginia/vaAlboBillQA.html
If you'd like to do some research check out Protect's VA page:
http://www.protect.org/virginia/vaNews.html
Posta, I very rarely say this, but Albo doesn't deserve a single vote. There are a lot of reasons to oppose his candidcay, but this one is 100% fatal. He absolutely must be removed from office, please tell everyone you know.
It must be the "Albotross" around his neck. Albo must sink over this.
If by context you mean something like, "It's not Albo's fault he tried to make child pornography and child sexual assault punishable by fine, because he just didn't read the bill he sponsored."
Try that out on voters. Try it out on parents. See what they think.
You go and tell some parent in the 42nd that Dave Albo wasn't responsible for first sponsoring and then defending his bill that would have decriminalized child sex abuse, because he didn't read the bill.
Go hit a dozen or so parents with that one, and get back to me.
Hell, I'll asks a bunch of parents at my son's daycare what they think of it, and I'll report back.
let's please get some context here.
Feedback ranged from near swoons, to stutters, to blind outrage, to considered discussion of rusty spoon castration.
Suffice to say, I didn't talk to anyone who felt that "Albo didn't read the bill so he's not responsibile" was a viable defense. In fact, that took the tone from mild disgust to blood-vessel-bursting outrage.
Rudy, you may have handed Greg Werkheiser his greatest recruiting tool.
I mean does sending in a bunch of press releases really make you qualified to be AG, let alone Governor?
c'mon!
Good work Teddy. Keep taking the fight to 'em.
We're all in this together.
josh
It's really amusing to see Republicans fawning over Richmond mayor Doug Wilder after all the nasty things they used to say about him when he held other offices. But that is because now they want to use him to say nasty things about Tim Kaine, Democratic candidate for Governor who is moving ahead of his inept opponent Kilgore, Republican. Any observer of recent political history in America will instantly recognize the Republican tactics, straight out of the Lutz-Rove Republican right-wing Handbook, a field manual underlying most recent Republican campaigns all across the country: relentlessly attack your opponent's strong points so as to distract attention from your own weaknesses.
Kaine had the guts to take on an almost impossible situation in Richmond; no amount of smear, no degree of mis-quoting statistics can obscure the plain fact that he helped the beginnings of a turn-around for the city, a turn-around on which Mr.Wilder can now build, partly because the mechanics of the government itself have been improved since Mr. Kaine's stint. So Kaine did not totally erradicate all problems--- but compare where the city was when he started, and how much improved it was when he left; that's the key. Remember, Forbes Magazine (not exactly a liberal rag) named Richmond one of the 10 most business-friendly jurisdictions in America while Kaine was mayor. What's really hilarious is hearing Bliley and Kilgore complain that Kaine brought in someone "inexperienced " as city manager. Personally, I say that ditching the old fogies may be the only way to get fresh ideas and results when things are desperate. As far as "inexperienced" goes, that really describes Jerry Kilgore, whose every campaign pronouncement betrays the fact he has absolutely no concept of how to administer a large jurisdiction, because he never has-- what are we to make of such loopy ideas as subjecting Virginia voters to constant referenda? Of trying to impose a California-type Proposition 13 to limit real estate taxes, tying the hands of local governments? Maybe the Republicans should think again before they start attacking Kaine's experience as mayor.
Teddy Goodson
Fairfax, Virginia
#703-273-6526
tgoodson@earthlink.net
Dear Walt:
That indeed would be no change at all.
In the "Great Adventure" speech, Teddy Roosevelt wrote:
...honor, highest honor, to those who fearlessly face death for a good cause; no life is so honorable or so fruitful as such a death.
It is the responsibility of our national executive to determine a "good cause". Unfortunately our greedy, ignorant, and arrogant executive has never provided a good cause for us to be in Iraq, and thus his war of choice cannot be considered a part of Roosevelt's highest honor or his greatest adventure.
Those who serve, and those who die in service, must always be esteemed in that highest honor, regardless of the failings of leadership from above, but it falls to men and women of consceince to face all threats and obstacles to denounce the weakness of a failed President.
If we had a national leader of virtue akin to Teddy Roosevelt, I would sacrifice myself or engage my son to rise to that level of honor.
As it is, our War in Iraq cannot be considered part of Roosevelt's Great Adventure. The heroic achievements of our Fathers in the great wars were led by necessity. The pursuits of this war are an unwelcome failing by a weak and greedy executive.
Teddy Roosevelt also wrote:
"No nation can be great unless its sons and daughters have in them the quality to rise to the needs of heroic days."
But what if the days are not heroic, but scarred by greed, ignorance and the callous machinations of a tyrant.
In that case, a different kind of heroism is required, the kind of heroism that speaks truth to power, the kind of heroism dissents without fear, the kind of heroism that considers outcomes before taking action.
Did George HW Bush send his son into battle? Did George HW Bush lose a child to a war of honor? Did Dick Cheny choose to serve? Did Donald Rumsfeld? What about Scooter Libby? Karl Rove? Paul Wolfowitz?
Teddy Roosevelt was a serviceman and a warrior, worthy of sending others in to battle because he understood first hand the courage and the honor of the fight.
Our current crop of chickenhawks have no such claim to honor. Remember when war-profiteering was a bad thing?
Now it gets you elected to the highest office in the world.
Where's the honor in that?
"provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty..."
A pleasure as always to hear from you and don't be a stranger. We're all in this together and we need strong voices of dissent like your own to keep us honest and well informed.
Josh
I was refering to the subject at hand, the cleanup and reconstruction of the gulf region and infastructure.
Tell me how Haliburton will ever be held accountable without oversight?
Dude, with a bloody cabal of business and government running the world, we're screwed.
dedicated local cops...i am afraid is not the case...in one case when i approached another officer about enforcing the law...he simply laughed and drove away in his car...
hhmmmmmm...i distrust govt.
joshuabgood
joshuabgood
It's a known fact that the private sector does a better and more efficient job than the government when compared side by side.
no... they must have been talking about the nice weather. Or maybe they were talking about, the first day of school: you know, it's sad to see the kids go, but it's all for the best.
The followup comment was something like, "jeez, Bush is never going to recover from this." Maybe they were talking about hayfever.
Yeah, that's it! Hayfever
The fundamental flaws in that reasoning, however are accountability and outcome. When Government does something it should be accountable to the people, and the outcome should promote the public good. When a private organization does something it is accountable to a limited group of shareholders and a customer, and the outcome is always to create profit.
That may be fine for private concerns, but for public concerns it falls too far short.
Do we want Mercenaries rather than soldiers defending our nation?
Do we want PR schills rather than qualified civil servants running our governmental departments?
Do we want penny pinchers training our kids rather than dedicated teachers?
Do we want corporate thugs protecting our streets rather than devoted local cops?
The choice is up to us, but this is the time and this is the place.
The era of irresponsibile government must come to an end now. It's our job to create of future of Responsibile Government, Fair Markets, Strong Communities, Investing in the Future, and Leading by Example.
Let companies run markets, let people run the government.
Persons seeking a receptive audience for Kaine activism should be aware that a number of pro-labor Dems are planning to attend Jim Moran's "Coffee With Jim" event from noon until 2 this Saturday, 9/17/05 at the Lake Anne Coffee House in the Reston Town Center on the Lake Anne waterfront.
The audience will be very receptive to Democrats in general. You can read about plans for the Coffee With Jim event on Jonathan Tasini's excellent labor blog WorkingLife.Typepad.com.
Please consider attending and keeping Reston Democratic, pro-labor and pro-Kaine in November!
Maybe it is better not to have it. The phrase implies that one is actually losing, but hey, let's pat ourselves on the back because we have the Big Mo. The other guy, if the election were held today, would have the votes.
We don't know.
And once he's confirmed, we'll NEVER have a chance to ask another question.
Let's even make believe that a man who has spent a grand total of two years in his career as a judge at any level is really qualified to become the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
All we need to do is look at the law, specifically the federal statute on judicial ethics requiring that judges should remove themselves from cases if their "impartiality might reasonably be questioned." Such questions might reasonably arise if one side in a case being heard by a judge were to secretly make that judge a really juicy offer. Some of us might even say that a judge in such a situation is ethically obliged to call the cops.
As it happens, that's exactly what occurred during the Ahmed Hamdan suit, a major case regarding the military kangaroo courts at the Guantanamo detention center - except the cops weren't called. A lawyer for the defendant quietly offered Judge Roberts a nice bag of metaphorical candy shortly before the Hamdan appeal was heard, Roberts delivered the verdict the defendant wanted, and four days after that the candy was conveyed - in public.
The naive might think that Roberts should be preparing for prosecution instead of promotion, that the lawyer who materially interfered with his court would now be facing disbarment and indictment, and that senators of both parties would be demanding investigations by the Attorney General.
However, there's no need for that. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales already has the details, because he was the bagman who dangled that irresistible candy under the judge's nose. The bribe itself, of course, consisted of a nomination to the Supreme Court, and Roberts's acceptance of that nomination in such circumstances proves that he is unworthy of it, or any other judicial seat.
But then, I'm not presdient, now am I? :)
I was worried about Roberts to start with, and I'm still troubled by the "it's the settled law" thing (Seperate but equal was once the settled law...what would he have ruled in Brown v. Board of Ed?), but I think overall, things could be worse.
John Roberts is no Scalia/Thomas. But he's no Sandra Day O'Connor either. He'll be conservative, but hopefully, he'll be a unifier, and compromise on important issues.
The battle royale will be for O'Connor's seat.
You do realize that the Republican Culture of Corruption has spawned separate and concurrent nvestigations into the offices of George W. Bush, Tom DeLay, and Bill Frist, don't you?
Your missive seems to indicate that all politics necessarily requires corruption.
I'd suggest that you take a look in your own mirror, and maybe a deep breath, but I know you'd ignore me. You're pretty sure of yourself, and as long as you can keep people angry, greedy, and afraid, you've got your mission plan.
It doesn't matter at this point, Roberts is 98% in. The only way he wouldn't get conifirmed now is if he decided to screw a goat on the steps of the Supreme Court. unlikley.
The battle royale will be for the O'Connor seat.
Sharpen your knives, my friend. It's gonna get bloody.
Is it right to turn half the nation (women) and their doctors into potential criminals?
Is is right that 1 in 6 women have such high levels of mercury in their breast milk that doctors recommend foregoing childbirth?
Is it right to defend and support unwanted pregnancies? Is it right to keep teens ignorant of the working of their own reproductive systems and family planning options? Is it right to foist abstinence-only programs on the 3rd world resulting in condom shortages in the face of a worldwide AIDS epidemic.
I'm afraid you're confusing "right" with "radically inhumane".
We'll see where the investigations go. I'm not putting too much faith in them, however, since they're all being conducted under Gonzales (Bush) oversight. Even YOU can't claim that the Bush Administration is free of Corruption:
Bush Official Arrested in Corruption ProbeBy R. Jeffrey Smith and Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, September 20, 2005; A01The Bush administration's top federal procurement official resigned Friday and was arrested yesterday, accused of lying and obstructing a criminal investigation into Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff's dealings with the federal government. It was the first criminal complaint filed against a government official in the ongoing corruption probe related to Abramoff's activities in Washington.
The complaint, filed by the FBI, alleges that David H. Safavian, 38, a White House procurement official involved until last week in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, made repeated false statements to government officials and investigators about a golf trip with Abramoff to Scotland in 2002.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/19/AR2005091901859_pf.html
You'll remember that Clinton was endlessly pursued by Ken Starr who was on a lifelong crusade to destroy Democrats, had unlimited subpoena power, and had to finally drum up a perjury charge after his years of wasted investigations and millions of wasted dollars found nothing, absolutely no charge worthy of merit.
We pride ourselves on a meritocracy, but when the Radicals took over your party, fairplay went out the door.
You'll also note that Bill Clinton presided over 8 years of unparalleled prosperity in this nation. By balancing the budget, streamling government, and effectively ending welfare, he fulfilled the spirit and the letter of 20th Century Republicanism. Bill Clinton is certainly the last truly Republican president in American history, and the best I've seen in my lifetime.
Glad to see you're getting the Republican National Committee talking points emails. Unfortunatley, this is an empty threat and poor talking point. It's misleading at best and largely a falsehood. I do like to note how aggressive it is as a talking point. There's a deep and dark threat underneath it that says "if you oppose us now, we'll never work with you again and you'll be sorry." Very threatening, and par for the course from the Culture of Corruption that now owns the right wing.
The large majoritites you refer to were garnered BEFORE the nominations. That's because Clinton basically cleared his judicial nominees with Republicans before making the nominations. I know it's hard to remember, but there was a bygone era when Presidents actually valued the opinions of those across the aisle. There was a time when bipartizanship lasted for more than the 3 days after a president's innauguration. In addition to being called the first "black" president, Clinton could also be aptly refered to as the best Republican President of my lifetime.
I want to support Roberts. He's obviously a solid judicial scholar. He's got a strong record to say the least. What he does not have is my trust. How can he have yours? All he proved in his Senate testamony was that he's great at dodging questions.
When you tie that in with all of the withheld records, it just doesn't add up.
Moreover, you have to consider the source. George W. Bush has created a pervasive culture of misdirection, propaganda, and downright lies. That has to taint Roberts.
Anyway, we'll see in a few years whether we can certify Judge Roberts as a radical. Right now, we don't know enough to certify him as a dishwasher.
We used to call elected officials who claimed to speak for God "megalomaniacs". Now we have to call them things like "Mr. President", "Mr. Speaker", and "Your Honor" or in Jerry W. Kilgore's case, "Dubya".
This has to stop. The Founding Fathers must be exhausted from spinning in their graves.
Go tell Tim Kaine to fight fire with fire!
See the documents:
http://www.vuac.org/capital/marksheppard.pdf
http://www.vuac.org/capital/andregraham.pdf
Charming individuals whom I'm sure elitists in Northern Virginia wouldn't want in _their_ neighborhoods.
The two perps are no longer of concern, since they were justly convicted and executed for the crimes, in spite of Tim Kaine's efforts in the appellate courts to save Sheppard. :)
I wonder if we actually have any pictures of him in a dress.
From Shrek 2:
Shrek: Quick! Tell a lie!
Pinocchio: What should I say?
Shrek: Anything, but quick!
Donkey: Say something crazy like
"I'm wearing ladies' underwear!"
Pinocchio: I am wearing ladies' underwear.
*nose doesn't grow*
Shrek: *chuckles* Are you?
Pinocchio: I most certainly am not!
*nose grows*
Shrek: It looks like you most certainly am are!
Pinocchio: I am not!
*nose grows*
Shrek: What kind?
Pinocchio: It's a thong!
It falls in the same sick category as the cynical and manipulative use of 9/11 imagery to sell both a war and a presidency built on lies.
Republicans are apparently bent on proving --- one thirty second spot at a time --- that they have no shame, no morals, no ethics, no limits, no decency.
The only thing more nauseating is the fact that there are so many idiots that keep falling for it over and over.
Seems to me, as I understand it, that you missed something else as well: Kaine was assigned by a judge (court appointed) as the attorney for the guy on death row. For Will/et al, this is somewhat like Roberts stating that it was inappropriate to try to judge him on the statements he made on behalf of clients during his hearings. Kaine was a lawyer ... a judge assigned him to the case ... can't judge a lawyer based on what he did on a not-chosen assignment ...
Now, in terms of Kaine and the death penalty, it seems entirely sensible to have a 'moratorium' until the Commonwealth can find a sensible balance between the huge advances in science in the past two decades (e.g., DNA evidence) and potential future advances with the need for reasonable procedures for the judicial system. As a citizen of the Commonwealth, I truly do not want to find out the day after someone is executed with my tax dollars that DNA proves that someone else was responsible for the crime. Innocents have been killed and it is only those with no concern for life who are not concerned over the procedures in Texas. I believe the death penalty can be appropriate -- but I wanted it appropriately managed. A moratorium is a critical step toward making sure that moral and ethical citizens of the Commonwealth can sleep at night knowing that the death penalty is not being applied to innocents ...
Hey, we'll never know, but sometimes ya gotta wonder.
Tim Russert: Mr. Kaine, in the last few weeks we started hearing about this new animal called the "Warner-Kaine administration." For most of the last three-plus years, Virginia has been governed by the Warner administration. Could you list, say, three things that would not have occurred had you not been lieutenant governor?Kaine: The budget reform of 2004 would be first. The "Warner-Kaine administration" was a term that occurred to me when I read a letter that my opponent sent out attacking the "Warner-Kaine administration" and saying he wanted to undo the damage that we had done. The 2004 budget reform was the pivotal issue in Virginia during the Warner term because after two years, Mark and I, as part of his cabinet and president of the Senate, tightened our belt, reduced spending and the state workforce, and saved our AAA bond rating.
next question...
First of all, many of the same people who use gun issues to get elected support the elimination of your privacy in terms of access to birth control, your right to family planning, your right to guide your children's eduction, and your right to due process under the law. Talk about intrusive!
Now, I have to differ with you, as it is plainly clear that one-handgun-a-month, serves to reduce gun violence, and places no serious burden on responsbile gun owners.
You're pretty excited about this, so I'll just leave it at that. When the Crime Commission says the following, I have to believe them:
“Virginia’s (One-Handgun-Per-Month) statute has had its intended effect of reducing Virginia’s status as a source state for gun trafficking. The imposition of the law does not appear to create an onerous burden for law-abiding gun purchasers.â€
The second ammendment says:
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed."
Where's our "well regulated Militia"? There's obviously no requirement to belong to a "well regulated Militia" in practice in America today as part of gun ownership, so let's leave the absolute letter of the law zealotry at the door. mmm...
We're talking about a reasonable way to allow citizens to "keep and bare Arms". If you own a gun, you're keeping and baring. In your mind when do you actually fulfill your entitlement to keep and bare arms? When you can buy 10 guns at once? Maybe you'd like to be able to buy a thousand guns at once? Maybe a million. Yes. That's right, only when private citizens are able to buy at least a million guns at a time will we truly fulfill the absolute "original intent" of the constitution.
This thing was challenged, and found completely consititutional. We have a little thing in this country called the "Rule of Law", it exists, in part to keep the ignorant and the reactionary from undoing the good work of hard working lawmakers.
What part of "The imposition of the law does not appear to create an onerous burden for law-abiding gun purchasers.†do you not understand?
Look, if you've got a concealed carry permit, you've jumped through a lot of hoops, the likelihood that you're a faker out to sell a bunch of guns is practically nil.
btw, your syntax is very similar to IP freely, are you two related?
Sheesh, what part of "shall not be infringed" do you guys have trouble with? Why is it bad when the nations oldest civil rights organization, the NRA, defends second amendment protections, but good when journalists support the first or civil libertarians support the fifth? Are you capable of consistency or is the Constitution merely a set of situational guidelines that you can pick and choose from depending on your mood?
Here's a radical notion: lets prosecute the criminals who illegally traffic in firearms instead of tampering with the Bill of Rights or abrogating sections of Virginia's Declaration of Rights. Think your candidate can get behind that?
BTW, those Virginians with concealed carry permits can buy more than one hangun a month, yet the crime rate continues to drop. You think the Brady Bunch factored that into their screed? They wouldn't ignore data that contradicts there position, would they?
You'd like to talk about tactics? Like the tactic of taking a completely dead, non-issue and using it as an opportunity to say your opponent loves hitler!
Will, the entire culture of corruption followed Scott Howell into Virginia when he took over Kilgore's campaign, and it found itself in familiar company.
The ad obscures the truth, which I would expect from Kilgore. I don't think he's posted a single ad that didn't. And you come in to point fingers, which I also expect. Happens that way all the time.
There are no surprises here, Will, there's just a desperate Kilgore campaign watching it's hopes for the Governor's mansion disappear.
like the wind
1. I have no objection to defendants having due process of law. Mark Sheppard had every opportunity as did the 93 other men executed in Virginia since 1982. I believe the process should be timely and prudent.
2. Tim Kaine had to willingly _register_ himself as being available to take on capital litigation cases. The judge did not call him out of the blue.
3. The problem is that Tim Kaine is now trying to claim that somehow, in spite of his lawyer activity against the DP and his personal/religious objections to the DP, that as Governor he would respect VA law and allow executions to proceed. That sounds very far fetched to me.
4. I've covered several capital trials, written numerous recommendations for denial of clemency and witnessed executions at Greensville. So yes, I think I've had my share of reality and justice in Virginia.
see http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/xp-18863
I'm sure Virginia is using Diebold by now -
Dear Mr. Kilgore,
I have just one question for you: "Have you no shame, sir, no shame at all?"
As a citizen of the Commonwealth, I have been bombarded by your ads. As has come out, in every case, these ads have at least stretched the truth if not been simply untruthful.
Your campaign's latest ad attacks Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine on death penalty issues. Using the father of victims as your mouthpiece, the ad states that Kaine
* "Voluntarily" represented the death row inmate. That a judge assigned Kaine to the case - he was a court-appointed attorney - is a piece of information that viewers aren't told.
* "says Adolf Hitler doesn't qualify for the death penalty." That is simply not the case. Lt.Gov. Kaine has openly stated, for a long time, his religious concerns over life both in regards to abortion and the death penalty. He has said that "God grants life and God should take it away." When it comes to Hitler (and others), he recognizes the limits of leaving everything in God's hands as he has explained that Hitler, among others, might have deserved to be executed: "Of course they may for doing something heinous, they don't deserve to live in civilized society, they may deserve the death penalty."
There are other problems in the ad. For example, you have a mouthpiece attacking Kaine for doing a public service (acting as a court-appointed attorney). I am concerned about what it says about you that you choose to attack someone for doing something for which they merit praise.
Sadly, the distortions, falsifications, and questionable morality are not limited to this one ad. Newspapers around the state seem to have been forced to work overtime dealing with all of the various problems with your advertisements and campaign statements.
You appear in each of these false ads ... you state that you endorse all of these misleading and questionable pieces that have bombarded me in my home. You come before me and my family standing behind untruthful material on a daily basis as candidate. I am concerned what this would mean for the Commonwealth if you actually succeeded through this dishonest approach to an election.
At the end of the day, tired of watching campaign ads, I return to my one question: "Mr Kilgore, have you no shame, sir, have you no shame at all?"
go here:
http://www.kaine2005.net/pickMedia.jsp?letter_KEY=93&t=&state=VA
and submit that as a letter to the editor
I want to mention the name Sheryl Stack here - an innocent victim of a most vicious crime perpetrated against her by Mark Sheppard and Andre Graham, a month before the Rosenbluth killing. No drugs were involved in this crime, just sheer wanton brutality.
A few excerpts from newspaper articles in 1999 follow:
Former Richmond prosecutor Learned D. Barry, now deputy commonwealth's
attorney for Chesterfield County, said the 2 [Sheppard and Graham] went on a 2-month crime
rampage in 1993, robbing, maiming and murdering at least 10 people.
They were, he said, "a dangerous pair."
Sheryl Stack worked part-time as a receptionist at the Steak & Ale
restaurant on Midlothian Turnpike while attending Virginia Commonwealth
University. A junior with an education major, she had recently turned
20.
Edward Martin, 23, also was a student who worked part time at the
restaurant. They had gone out for dinner, then returned to the Steak &
Ale parking lot. They sat in her blue Volvo, talking and kissing.
They were startled by a man rapping against the car window with a gun.
According to Martin's testimony, it was Graham who forced them out of
the car at gunpoint. And Graham who told them to lie down and close their
eyes; that if they did, he wouldn't hurt them.
Martin doesn't remember how much time passed, but while his eyes were
closed, there was an explosion. The .45-caliber slug tore through his
cheekbone, entered his brain, damaged his eye and exited at the top of
his skull.
He heard a 2nd shot and reached out and took Stack's hand. She had
been shot in the back of the head and later died at Medical College of
Virginia Hospital.
But Martin lived to testify. Blind in one eye, limping as he approached
the witness stand, speaking carefully, as though considering every word,
pointing at Graham.
[Sheppard was at the crime scene, but as he had already been sentenced to death for the Rosenbluth murders, he was not tried. Testimony from Graham indicated that Sheppard was the one decided to enter the parking lot where the victims were after Graham said, 'we need to change cars'.
After the murder of Stack and wounding of Martin, Sheppard/Graham attacked an out of state businessman by barging into his hotel room at the nearby La Quinta Inn, whom they robbed and shot (victim survived).]
Is it your position that in Virginia, we are not entitled to due process of law?
Is it your position that Virginia lawyers should disobey when a judge orders them to take a case?
Is it your position that in Virginia when a lawyer takes a case they are to be held responsible for the crimes of their clients?
It's my position that nothing you've written has a damned thing to do with reality, justice or Virginia.
In Jerry Kilgore's Virginia, we hang the defenders of the public. In Jerry Kilgore's Virginia, the Law is put on trial. In Jerry Kilgore's Virgina if you have a religious conviction, you'd better shut up about it.
That's not America. Kaine never argued against destroying Hitler's body, but Jerry Kilgore argues to keep his spirit alive.