Governor Bob McDonnell, as he has numerous times before, stepped up as a leader and righted Virginia’s listing ship of state with his anti-discrimination edict yesterday. Bravo!!!
Regardless of whether the Attorney General is right or not on the law (and focusing only on authority derived from the legislature, he is probably right), it was inevitable that his personal views on homosexuality would taint the public reaction to “The Letter.”
And it is likely that the tone and content of The Letter would have been less offensive if those views were different. For example, he could have reminded the universities of the prohibitions in both the Virginia and United States Constitutions. The impact was obviously exacerbated by the actions of the House GOP in not attempting to counter its effect legislatively.
The combination was lethal for Republicans. Obviously not to some of their base and maybe not in the short term due to the abiding hostility to the national Democratic agenda and the hemorrhaging of our financial credibility through spending and deficits that are mind-numbing.
But in the longer term with independents, younger voters and others, such apparent willingness to relegate gays and lesbians to second class back-of-the-bus citizenship will tarnish the problem-solving image of the GOP that the Governor and others labor to build.
At our core Americans by and large are decent, fair-minded individuals. Like every nation we have our historical darkness and cruelty. But I believe in our basic goodness.
From everything I know Attorney General Cuccinelli is a good, decent and caring man, and unlike some, I attribute no malice to him. But his stated views on homosexuality must inevitably influence his policy decisions at some level and the effect is most assuredly hurtful to our fellow human beings.
Discrimination because of one’s sexual preferences offends notions of fundamental fairness that lie at the core of who we are and over time those who fail to recognize that will not be chosen to lead Virginia or the nation.
To his credit, Governor McDonnell’s decency and fairness have shown through and Virginia should be grateful. Kudos too to Senator Norment for his efforts in the Senate, and to Delegates Plum and McEachin in the House.
The entire House should follow the Governor’s lead if another chance to do so surfaces before Saturday’s adjournment, as well it might.
It is clearly the right thing to do.
I agree. The Governor has clearly taken the right action and been consistent with the law and constitutional separation of powers, as he sees it. I hope that either he will submit legislation to the General Assembly or the House of Delegates will accept Senate amendments to add the force of law to the Governor’s directive. At some point in time, we will as a state and nation put this form of discrimination behind us, as we have with others throughout our history. Virginia is in the spotlight and the time is now to lead in the right direction.
I agree, as well. The AG is a stumbling block for Virginia, if he is allowed to
continue to pursue his agenda without regards to the other pressing problems
of the state … economic development, revenue stability and transportation solutions.
We have pressing issues that need our attention and we should not have the state’s image impacted nationally by those who promote fear and hate of people who live in our communities.