The situation is… really sad. I don’t know if the comments are disheartening, I think they’re mostly deserved. But this is also just a really miserable situation.
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A Kirk Cameron Production.
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…andTeaXians are in control of Congress…
~~AAAAAGH
McDonnell had visions of residency at Number One Observatory Circle (VP official residence), was going to be available to Mitt for anything, so I’d say the hubris was overwhelming. He was crooked and still dreaming of higher office.
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Some of the craziest of them are going to chair some of the most important committees. Texas is their model for how they want to run the US government.
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~AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHH
(just got told my ‘body is invalid’… and ’ try again’ :~0!
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I don’t think it exonerates or even mitigates McDonnell’s behavior in any way, but I do actually pretty much believe the picture being painted of Maureen McDonnell. Rumors of her toxic and unstable personality were rife within the first year she took over the Governor’s mansion in Richmond. I was pretty surprised at the gracious and kind testimony of the chief of staff, given the need for outside intervention to prevent a mass-resignation by all staff. This was well known years before the criminal investigation. Remember, none of this would have come to light if Maureen McDonnell hadn’t induced and encouraged the chef to embezzel and then in a fit of pique and revenge, turned him in to the police for it. Given our ridiculously lax laws here in VA, none of this would ever have come to light otherwise.
If Taliban Bob was going to toss Maureen under the bus for realsies, the time to do it would have been when he first caught her getting up to these things, returning funds, muzzling her (preferably in an institution), and airing it publicly. Instead he covered up for her (and for the sake of his presidential/national ambitions) - so no, he doesn’t deserve leniency.
Yes, the whole family is nouveau-riche trailer trash.
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Yes, it is a sad situation but the family wasn’t devastated by illness, job loss, or a similar tragedy. This is a family which presented itself as a model of Christian values but engaged in illegal, unethical behavior. The children aren’t guilty. They are, however, adults and this letter shows they are still phony and conniving - willing to protect one parent at the expense of the other.
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What a bunch of bullshit.
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I agree. There is no reason to revel in a family’s tragedy. Although the McDonnell’s committed crimes and betrayed the public trust, real lives have been ruined. I take no joy in that and neither should other progressives.
Mean spiritedness is unbecoming, especially for progressives who claim to be cut from a different fabric than “social conservatives”. This tale of greed is a true-life tragedy.
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I disagree, because it’s not just done as an ad-hominem trashing.
The McDonnells, and their “Christian Conservative” base - from Pat Robertson (who awareded Bob his post-graduate degree), on down - made a claim to be “more moral” and “more ethical” than those godless liberals. They wrapped themselves up in the flag and carried a cross, as some kind of a demonstration or proof they were better human beings because of their faith.
I think it’s completely reasonable to hold up for close examination the quality of the claims they themselves publicly asked to be judged by. Skewering Maureen and Bob is entirely approrpriate - they are the ones who publicly held themselves up as better than the rest of us. As somone who worked hard for Creigh in '09, the contrast in what real family values has worked out to mean as lived by these two candidates is pretty shockingly different. Creigh’s family values nearly cost him his life; Bob’s seem to amount to resorting to grift to maintain a facade for political purposes.
The children, although they appeared in plenty of campaign lit, and seemed to publicly enjoy their status as part of the first family, didn’t ask themselves for this, and shouldn’t be held up for ridicule (and there is plenty to say, particularly about the sons). This is a letter directed at the judge, not the public.
But I think the schadenfreude and trashing going on in these comments is primarily directed at the parents.
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“…I have seen my dad wear t-shirts with holes in them,
shoes with the soles falling off and pants that are too short,”
Qty 1 prison-issue orange jumpsuit
Qty 1 pair slip-on shoes
Qty 1 size large boxers
Qty 1 size large t-shirt
Ought to last him the duration of his sentence then.
jw1
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Maybe the next few years will enlighten both of them on the intricacies of the “vaginal probe”.
All these daughters are asking for is that their father be afforded the same treatment all white people with money are afforded. That is, he not go to jail. What’s the big deal?
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They know “Daddy’s where the money is” and are going with it. The vitriol being aimed at their mother is unseemly and tells more about them than it does about her (although by all accounts she is a miserable hypocrite).
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Well said va_dawg. People who hold themselves to a “higher standard” should be judged by that same standard.
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Quite. Hypocrites like this would not hesitate a second to throw anyone calling them out under the bus.
Good that they have fallen, but don’t think we can expect a just punishment.
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That may actually be a true statement. Depends on who she’s met.
Of Bob’s own making.
Breaking: “While attending the soirees at the Graybar Hotel, Maureen’s exclusive orange jumpsuits will be from Oscar de la LowRenta.”
…and suddenly, I understand, she’s having second thoughts on those “vaginal probes” her hubby’ was sooo’ keen on and with which she agreed.