FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 27, 2008
Contact: Anthony Fasolo, Communications Chair, LCDC

LOUDOUN COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE ADOPTS RESOLUTION SUPPORTING FREEDOM TO READ, TRANSPARENT BOOK CHALLENGE POLICY

The Loudoun County Democratic Committee voted at its monthly meeting on Wednesday, March 26th to adopt a resolution strongly supporting diverse library collections and instructional materials in Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS), and calling on the School Board to make specific revisions to the policy governing book challenges.

The resolution cites the existing LCPS objectives for the selection of library and instructional materials, which require that materials “realistically represent our pluralistic society” and instruct education professionals to “place principle above personal opinion and reason above prejudice.” The Committee further calls for the LCPS policy governing the challenge of materials to provide for the public disclosure of such challenges, transparency in the procedures used to address and resolve such challenges, and the capacity to petition for the reinstatement of removed materials.

“We, as Democrats, strongly support a system of public education that encourages critical thinking. The ability to judge the merit of different ideas and think for oneself is fundamental to our democratic society,” said LCDC chairman Tim Buchholz. “We need to be sure that books can’t be restricted just because of someone’s ideological disagreements. Otherwise, we’re going down a dangerous road.”

The resolution was prompted by the recent series of decisions concerning the book And Tango Makes Three. During the course of that controversy it became clear that the existing policy does not adequately provide for public disclosure and input. The School Board is currently discussing revisions to the policy.

Anthony V. Fasolo
LCDC Communications Chair
10 South King Street
Leesburg, Virginia 20175
(703) 771-3366

Resolution on the Freedom to Read

All eyes are on the 5th of February and the many primaries held that day.  Will Hillary or Obama take control of the nomination on that day or will they still be very close in delegate count when the day ends?  No one knows.  Polls tell us that both are in a virtual dead-heat (as if this were a horse race- a very expensive one but a horse race) have been wrong in the past and it is amazing that we still use them at all.  Arianna Huffington recently asked that all her readers sign a pledge not to take part in the polls.  I agree with her and think that polls should only be used AFTER an event takes place.  As it is now the polls are used by the media in a “fortune telling ritual” that can become a self-fulflling prophesy.  When was the poll taken, how were the questions phrased?  did you really get a representaive sampling of people?  were people truthful in their answers? what is the margin of error?  These items are often left out of a reporter’s story.  Too many variables! So I agree with Arianna–don’t take part in “futuristic” polls!!!

Freedom’s Watch has loudly announced that there will be no limits to what it might do.

“Freedom’s Watch” (the name sounds like a hybrid of the widely ridiculed far-righties “Free Republic” and the theocratic hate group “Watchmen on the Wall”) is the Bush Administration response to MoveOn - a political advocacy organization that operates outside the constraints of campaign finance law. Think of it as a general-purpose swiftboating group. It’s run by a group of former Bush White House aides, and pours money into the kind of lurid, fear-based advertising favored by the now impotent Sterling Supervisor in his day job as a fundraiser.

From the Washington Post:

Wes Boyd, who co-founded MoveOn.org with his wife in their home in Berkeley, Calif., said the two groups are fundamentally different because his liberal organization was set up outside the influence of Democratic Party operatives and is funded primarily by small-dollar donors around the country.

Freedom’s Watch, on the other hand, is “doing attack ads by Beltway operatives, financed by billionaires, at the request of the White House,” Boyd said by e-mail. “MoveOn helps millions of real people get engaged and be heard and is solely funded by these same people.”

Here, via Talking Points Memo, is the fundraising letter “Freedom’s Watch” recently sent. This part seems odd:

Your 2008 Citizens Census is being conducted by Freedom’s Watch as a first step in taking back our nation.

Wait, what? Aren’t these the same folks who have been running our nation into the ground for the past seven years? In fact, the whole thing reads as if the GOP has been sent to its room without supper. Maybe this was written for use after the 2008 election, and was sent out early by accident. Somebody must really be in trouble for that. How embarrassing.

Speaking of embarrassing, some Republican House members booed at a group of high school students who were introduced in the chamber yesterday.

Apparently this “no limits” thing is a big problem. The “Freedom’s Watch” people may not have meant it that way. But there are certainly many reasons to think that they did.

We can’t help being amused by the recent blogospheric noise pointed in the general direction of Delegate David Poisson (D-32): Incoming from the right (local anti-immigrant gadfly Greg Stone with the terribly clever taunt “lib’s lib”)…incoming from the left (anonymous complaints of uncertain origin and purpose, but indicating that the Delegate is “not liberal enough”).

This all adds up to the textbook definition of a centrist, which is what most Virginians, and certainly most Virginians residing in the 32nd House District, appear to be. All the while, Delegate Poisson is doing his best to represent common sense and his constituents - for example, in the clown car that is the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee. One might assume that a bill to make Virginia firearms law verbally consistent with federal law in the case of persons who are subject to a protective order - in other words, persons who have been determined by a judge to be a threat to another person - would be non-controversial. If so, one would be wrong - and unfamiliar with the behavior of House Republicans when they find themselves in a pack.

At any rate, we digress. The attacks continue apace, culminating yesterday in what is perhaps the sorriest, most desperate attack piece this individual has yet published, by the openly racist dissembler that owns Black Velvet Bruce Lee (oh, sorry, Li. Wouldn’t want him to get sued for copyright violation again!) I’m not giving him a link. Here’s the truthful part (except for the misspelling of Loudoun):

At the request of Delegate David Poisson (D-Loudon), the opening prayer of the Virginia House of Delegates was offered today by Imam Mohamed Magid.

The pathetic little racist in question then goes on to imply that the Imam is…wait for it…

…a terrorist. Betcha didn’t see that coming.

What he neglected to include is that Magid happens to be the Imam of the ADAMS Center. That would be the ADAMS center in Sterling, the one that co-sponsors a civic picnic every year, the picnic which in 2007 drew over 1000 community members and 70 candidates for office - including Delegate Poisson’s opponent.

Here is Imam Mohamed Magid’s bio from the Peaceful Families Project:

Imam Mohamed Magid is the Imam and Executive Director of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, ADAMS Center, in Sterling, Virginia. Under his direction, the Center has grown to be one of the largest Muslim community organizations in the Washington Metropolitan Area. With his encouragement, ADAMS has become active in local interfaith dialogue programs, social work, government relations, civic involvement, community service, and the education of the local public about Islam and Muslims. Very active in the Islamic community, Imam Magid is Vice-President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and serves as a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Muslim, Sikh and Arab Advisory Board. He also occupies the Chairmanship of the Fairfax County Faith Communities in Action, is a board member of the Fairfax County Partnership for Youth, and is a member of the George Mason University Campus Ministry. Imam Magid’s domestic violence advocacy activities include serving as a board member of FaithTrust Institute, and as a member of the National Interfaith Planning Committee for Domestic Violence.

In May 2006, Fairfax County Human Rights Commission awarded Imam Magid with their Human Rights Award. A Sudanese-born American, Imam Magid is the son of the Grand Mufti of Sudan. At the hand of his father and other notable scholars, he studied and graduated in traditional Islamic disciplines, including Shariah (Islamic Jurisprudence) and Tawwauh (Islamic Spirituality). Imam Magid views marriage and pre-marital counseling as his passion. He currently resides in Reston, Virginia with his wife and daughters.

The House of Delegates was honored to have Imam Magid offer an opening prayer. Thank you, Delegate Poisson, for simply representing all of your community without apology. It’s a simple thing, and obviously the right thing, but still difficult for some people to grasp.

Ok, so I’m not really a car guy, but I’m pretty confident that this is not a Lamborghini. Steve Snow has apparently gone off the deep end with his latest round of mailers. One of them features “a copyrighted photo stolen from Stevens Miller’s Web site and used without permission. In it, he states that Miller ‘campaigns in a $230,000 Lamborghini,’ and shows a picture of a sports car put on display at a community fair by a Miller supporter. (Miller’s car is a used Jeep Wrangler, which he likes very much.)”

Please visit Stevens Miller’s website to help with the campaign.

Snow appeared to think that he was creating the ultimate “gotcha” moment when he smugly demanded an “apology” from Miller for calling out his exclusionary, fake Waxpool “task force” for what it is. He wasn’t prepared for what he got in the video below, from the Easterner debate. You would think that after this embarrassing trouncing, Snow would know better than to underestimate his opponent.

The Miller campaign, in spite of early hopeful whispers from the LCRC that he is “boring,” and a “dud” and similarly dismissive descriptors, has in fact turned out to be one of the most dynamic and interesting ones, even drawing in author John Grisham. My best guess is that Snow is trying to compete by coming up with the most entertaining and ridiculous attacks his little mind can conjure. We can’t wait to poke fun at whatever he comes up with next. Meanwhile, Miller can continue talking with the people who live in his district about taking back their local government and having it work for them, not the shareholders of the development industry.

Bruce Roemmelt wipes the floor with Bob Marshall in this debate before the Prince William Committee of 100. Marshall is so angry and flustered by the end that he refuses to answer Bruce’s question and refuses to ask a question of his own (a Committee of 100 debate tradition).

The Washington Post endorsement says it all (hmmm, this seems like a familiar pattern):

District 13: The mention of Del. Robert G. Marshall’s name is enough to inspire eye-rolling at his legislative antics, even from fellow Republicans. Few lawmakers offer so much off-the-wall legislation on divisive social issues; fortunately, little of it is enacted. When it comes to bread-and-butter issues such as increasing transportation funding for his district, Mr. Marshall was one of the few delegates to vote against a compromise forged by moderates in his party. In Richmond, he is seen mainly as a provocateur. Little wonder that, in a break with tradition, he was denied the chairmanship of a state commission on immigration established by his own legislation. His opponent, Democrat Bruce E. Roemmelt, a former firefighter now in private business, would represent an enormous improvement if he did nothing but sit mute in the House of Delegates; in fact, he offers constructive ideas on education funding and energy conservation.

In this video, Independent Scott York endorses 5 Democratic candidates.

It’s unfortunate that he doesn’t also condemn Lori Water’s irresponsible demand that charitable nonprofits function as immigration police, and other examples of “penny-wise, pound-foolishness.”

Here is Broad Run candidate Phyllis Randall discussing transportation and the budget:

Leesburg Today reports this week on the campaign finance disparities between our Democratic candidates and their opponents. Disparities are greatest in the Eastern Districts, where the county’s infrastructure is rapidly growing. We’ve got to hand it to the Republicans, fund raising in Sterling, Sugarland Run and Dulles is spectacular. We’ve decided that words don’t really capture the story, so here it is in pictures. Each bar graph illustrates total commercial and PAC funding broken into two categories; 1) real estate and construction and 2) other sources. These graphs are derived from the August 31, 2007 campaign finance reports as analyzed and reported by vpap.org. Please note that these figures do not represent total contributions, only commercial and PAC contributions.

As a special note, USA Today, citing statistics from the Pew Hispanic Center, reports that undocumented immigrants account for 14% of all construction workers. You may want to ask the bulldozer-driven Republican candidates to explain their “illegal alien crackdown” claims, again.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to do that at the League of Women Voters candidates forum, agreed to months ago - Supervisors Delgaudio, Staton and Snow are now refusing to participate.

From the department of silver linings:

Without the distraction of the fearmongering, simple slogans, and dubious “facts” that surely would have accompanied Republican Jill Vogel, had she chosen to honor her commitment to Wednesday’s League of Women Voters 27th Senate District forum, there was more time for a real, and even entertaining, discussion of the issues. In that sense, the voters should thank her for not showing up.

Democrat Karen Schultz and Independent Don Marro both showed themselves to be impressive moderate candidates, with a nuanced understanding of how issues and bodies of government must be viewed as parts of an interrelated whole, and that local, state and regional authorities must be able to work in partnership. Many in the audience of about 50 had not made up their minds, and had come seeking information that would help them decide. One gentleman remarked before asking his question how disappointed he was that Ms. Vogel hadn’t come, so “my vote is going to be between the two of you,” a sentiment that was echoed by several others.

As one might have predicted, there were a few questions about transportation. Both candidates provided a good overview of the brokenness of the current approach. When asked about the transportation bill, Marro got a laugh with “It’s a good bill in that they got something passed. It’s a bad bill in that it doesn’t do anything about transportation.” He further stated the obvious: That funding our transportation system is not something that should be “debated every year.”

Schultz pointed out that funding for transportation has been neglected for many years, leading to the current situation. While applauding the General Assembly for getting something passed and at least starting a dialogue, the bill will certainly need “more than tweaking.”

The problem, she explained, is that transportation and growth are currently not being addressed as an integrated system, and that is what fundamentally needs to change. Treating transportation as just a funding or road-building problem, independent of land use planning and the way we work, isn’t the answer. “We’re not getting out of this with paving,” Schultz said. “These issues need to be addressed in totality,” and with the recognition that local and state government have not been coordinated well enough. Local authorities need to have more of a voice in the determination of transportation priorities and growth, and for this reason more attention needs to be paid to local elections, so that the actions of these authorities can better dovetail with those of state government.

Interestingly, all of the candidates in this race represent themselves as being able to step into the moderate shoes of retiring Senator Russ Potts, but Marro had some zingers for the right wing of the Republican party, which he clearly believes Jill Vogel represents. When asked, as an independent, how he would align himself in the legislature, he said he couldn’t say without knowing what the makeup of the parties would be. However, he said that “if the right wing of the Republican party is the majority, I ain’t part of that.” He also described a Vogel campaign mailer with “a picture of the director of ‘Gods and Generals,’ spewing vitriol [about immigration].”

Schultz said that Vogel’s presentation of the immigration issue in her campaign pieces is “grossly oversimplified.” The situation is in fact “incredibly complicated; the federal government has messed up, and the burden has been shifted to localities.” Schultz reported that she has met extensively with Sheriff’s and Police departments across the district about this, and this burden amounts to an unfunded mandate. These departments “do not have the funds for a ’round ‘em up and send ‘em back’ approach,” she said; instead we need to concentrate on enforcing the laws on the books and speeding up the process for those who are seeking residency and citizenship in a legal manner.

Both candidates vehemently oppose the Dominion Power line, and agree that it is unnecessary. Schultz said “I’m a researcher, and they have provided no evidence that this line is needed.” She has also testified under oath against the line.

Schultz’s extensive experience working in the health care field made her especially suited to answering audience questions about the issues our senior population is facing. With regard to a question about matching funds from the state to assist seniors who are being forced out of their communities by rising taxes, she took the question beyond an allocation of funding, saying that keeping seniors in the places they call home is “a crucial part of community-building.” The “aging-in-place” approach to geriatric care has actually been shown to provide a net gain in places where such considerations are part of the planning process. Beyond the moral issue of doing the right thing - making it possible for our older citizens to have dignity and remain in their own communities, it also makes good economic sense to plan for diverse, vibrant communities with all ages living and interacting together. Vibrant communities with good quality of life and a diverse workforce are attractive to business development, creating more revenue. Schultz closed her remarks by describing herself as “a connector, a bridgebuilder, and a listener.”

Those of us who vote in the 27th district thank both candidates (and the empty chair) for coming to Purcellville, and the League of Women Voters for all the work they do to make these forums happen.

For more media coverage of the forum, see the Loudoun Times-Mirror, Winchester Star, and Leesburg Today.

Another online interview with candidate for Sheriff Mike George is posted over at Loudoun Force. This interview specifically concerns the immigration issue that will almost certainly be the hot-button topic of this election season - especially for certain Republicans seeking reelection who desperately need to distract voters from their abysmal performance in office.

Mike does a great job cutting through the rhetoric on this emotional issue, bringing to the table some much needed common sense from the perspective of law enforcement.

The discussion is ongoing, and readers are encouraged to leave their questions for Mike in the comments section. Go on over and join the conversation.