Closed rest areas come back to bite Dem Tim Kaine

Democrat Gov. Tim Kaine played politics with Virginia citizens ... and lost. Instead of making interstate rest areas a political pawn, he should have found the $9 million to keep them open and played politics in another way.

Bob Holsworth wrote on his Virginia Tomorrow blog that Kaine tried to blame Rep. Eric Cantor ... but that blame belongs squarely on Tim Kaine's shoulders. The issue of rest areas should never have reached the point where federal intervention was needed. The last-ditch effort did not work and "CLOSED" has been splashed across rest area signs throughout the Commonwealth.

What a sad commentary. We ask visitors to come see Virginia. Tourists arrive and see, "CLOSED."

Billions of taxpayer dollars are being spent on laptop computers ... $14 million was announced earlier this week by Kaine for land to put in a nature preserve ... yet a measly $9 couldn't be found to keep rest areas open, something used by thousands of Virginians and out-of-state visitors. To close them in July at the height of summer vacation season was added insult and made more people take notice and realize it was a political move more than an economic savings.
Mr. Holsworth, political commentator and former political science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, wrote in Virginia Tomorrow:

The problem is that the issue should have never reached the stage where keeping the rest stops open depended on an eleventh hour reprieve from Congress.

By not allocating the funds to keep the rest stops open, I think that the administration miscalculated public sentiment and misunderstood the powerful (and negative) visual symbolism that the CLOSED signs send about Virginia. It also served up an issue to Bob McDonnell on a silver platter.
...
Let’s get the rest stops reopened- the sooner the better.

Republican legislators tried to avoid closings from the time it was announced last winter.

* Rep. Frank Wolfe (R-10th Congressional) said the rest areas should be reopened.
* Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell said the rest areas should be reopened.
* Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling said the rest areas should be reopened.
* Sen. Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) said the rest areas should be reopened.
* Del. Todd Gilbert (R-15th) said the rest areas should be reopened.
* Del. Chris Saxman (R-20th) said the rest areas should be reopened.
* Del. Steve Landes (R-25th) said the rest areas should be reopened.
* Del. Bob Marshall (R-13th) said the rest areas should be reopened.

So why are the Democrats keeping the rest areas closed?

H/T to CM

Obama's pastor said "God damn America"?

Barack Obama's pastor has been in the news the past week and I have not commented until now. But I have heard this passage over and over ... and it makes me cringe everytime. I have never heard my pastors over the years curse in church or rail against America, the greatest country in the world.

Jeremiah Wright has been described by Obama as his spiritual advisor, the man who helped him find Christ, the leader of his church for 20 years, the man who married him and his wife, the man who baptized his children. Wright associated with Louis Farrakhan. Wright blamed America for 9/11.

Interesting....

MoveOn.org gives marching orders to Democrat Party....

On Friday, MoveOn.org warned Democrat presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama not to support funding for the troops:

"Eli Pariser, [MoveOn.org's] Executive Director, told ABC News ... that MoveOn.org will expect Clinton and Obama to once again vote against any Iraq War funding that does not include a timeline for withdrawal. ...

What's more ... MoveOn.org wants the top Democratic Presidential contenders to speak out 'sooner and more vocally.' " (Teddy Davis, "MoveOn's Challenge To Clinton And Obama," www.abcnews.com, Accessed 9/17/07)

Then, on Monday, Clinton and Obama responded to MoveOn.org's pressure by promising not to fund the troops:

Seventy-two hours later, Hillary and Obama quickly responded to MoveOn.org's demand not to support funding for the troops.

"Seventy-two hours after MoveOn.org threw down the gauntlet, telling ABC News that Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., needed to speak out 'sooner and more vocally' in opposition to voting for an Iraq funding measure that does not include a timetable for withdrawal, both Democratic presidential contenders have done exactly that." (Teddy Davis, Jonathan Greenberger, and Donna Hunter, "Clinton, Obama Take No Funding Pledge," www.abcnews.com, Accessed 9/17/07)

What did Hillary say about it?

"I have voted against funding this war and I will vote against funding this war as long as it takes ..." (Sen. Hillary Clinton, Remarks At The Service Employees International Union Member Political Action Conference, Washington, DC, 9/17/07)

Obama's response was:

"If there is a funding bill that does not have a timetable for when we begin withdrawal, and the completion -- a plan for how that withdrawal will proceed -- I will not support it." (Teddy Davis, Jonathan Greenberger, and Donna Hunter, "Clinton, Obama Take No Funding Pledge," www.abcnews.com, Accessed 9/17/07)

Now, other Democrats are delaying funding for the troops while they "calculate" their next move to force an arbitrary withdrawal from Iraq:

"Democrats are not expected to take up President Bush's war spending request until November, giving them time to calculate their next move and see if Republican support for his policies deteriorates." (Anne Flaherty, "Democrats To Wait On War Funding Debate," The Associated Press, 9/17/07)

FLASHBACK: Hillary and Obama refused to denounce MoveOn.org ad attacking the top military commander in Iraq:

"Democratic Congressional leaders and the Party's presidential candidates ... refused to repudiate a liberal group's ad questioning Gen. David H. Petraeus' character." (Sean Lengell, "No Democratic Censure For Moveon Ad," The Washington Times, 9/12/07)

The Washington Post wrote:

"When...Gen. David Petraeus was slimed as 'General Betray Us,' Hillary Clinton looked the other way. This was the politics of personal expediency." (Richard Cohen, Op-Ed, "...What She Ducked," The Washington Post, 9/18/07)

Hillary pandered to MoveOn.org instead of defending Gen. Petraeus.

"[W]hen Clinton herself was asked to repudiate the abuse of Petraeus, she either saw no reason to do so or, much more likely, was afraid to alienate an important constituency, the 3.3 million members of MoveOn.org, who stand symbolically at the frontiers of New Hampshire and Iowa. She would, it seems, rather be president than be right." (Richard Cohen, Op-Ed, "...What She Ducked," The Washington Post, 9/18/07)

"Sen. Barack Obama wouldn't talk about this ad but suggested Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are team players for the White House." (Editorial, "Over The Line," The Oklahoman, 9/14/07)

FLASHBACK: Hillary and Obama previously pandered to MoveOn.org by voting against funding for the troops:

Obama and Clinton voted against the Iraq Supplemental Spending Bill. (H.R. 2206, CQ Vote #181: Passed 80-14: R 42-3; D 37-10; I 1-1, 5/24/07, Obama and Clinton Voted Nay)

MoveOn.org threatened Democrats who did not vote against the war funding bill.

"MoveOn.org, a leading antiwar group, rallied its 3.2 million members in an e-mail alert ... that declared that 'every single Democrat must oppose this bill.' The group warned that it would consider backing primary challengers to Democrats who vote yes. Other organizations issued similar angry threats." (Shailagh Murray, "Antiwar Groups Press Democrats To Vote Against Iraq Bill," The Washington Post, 5/24/07)

MoveOn.org is today's Democrat Party.

H/T: Thanks to RNC Research for information