United States Governors 2

[GreyhoundFan]

The first ruling has come in against Trumpkin! "Judge rules for 7 Va. school boards, temporarily halts Youngkin mask mandate ban"

Quote

A judge has granted seven Virginia school districts a restraining order against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s ban on mask mandates.

Judge Louise DiMatteo, of the Arlington County Circuit Court, issued a temporary restraining order against Youngkin’s ban, which went into effect Jan. 24 and has been the subject of lawsuits from school systems and parents’ groups ever since.

In her 10-page ruling, DiMatteo agreed with the school boards of Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Falls Church City, Hampton Roads, Prince William County and Richmond City that mask mandates should stay in place while the matter continues to be worked out in court.

The decision hinged on several factors.

The judge said the school boards “will likely succeed” on their claim that Youngkin’s executive order conflicted with, and could not supersede, Virginia law.

The law says that school boards must “provide such in-person instruction in a manner in which it adheres, to the maximum extent practicable, to any currently applicable mitigation strategies for early childhood care and education programs and elementary and secondary schools to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 that have been provided by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

The CDC recommends “universal indoor masking” in K-12 schools.

The judge also said that the schools would suffer irreparable harm if the order went into effect before it could be worked out in court, and that the “balance of equities” was in favor of the school systems’ keeping in place the rules that have been in effect all year.

In a joint statement, the seven school districts pointed out that they educate a total of 350,000 children, and said the order “allows schools to continue to protect the health and well-being of all students and staff” while the legal process continues.

The systems said Youngkin’s order put student health at risk, overrode the authority given to school boards in the Virginia constitution and attempted to “reverse a lawfully adopted statute.”

WTOP has asked Youngkin’s office for comment.

Writing about his move last month in The Washington Post, Youngkin tried to redefine the word “mandate,” saying he hadn’t banned mandates but rather had ordered that parents didn’t have to follow them if they didn’t want to.

I realize that the Handmaiden/I Love Beer block on SCOTUS will rule in favor of Trumpkin when the case inevitably gets escalated, but I'll take any victory I can get.

[Cartmann99]

I love this woman.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

More from Trumpkin and his crew: "Youngkin campaign attacks high school student on Twitter"

Quote

RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s campaign lashed out at a high school student as well as Democrat Ralph Northam on Twitter this weekend, tweeting out the teen’s name and photo after the boy shared a news story about part of the Executive Mansion where enslaved workers once lived.

On Saturday afternoon, Ethan Lynne, 17, retweeted a report from the Richmond public radio station VPM suggesting that Youngkin (R) might be scrapping efforts pursued under two previous governors, Northam and Democrat Terry McAuliffe, to highlight the history of enslaved people at the mansion. The report contained an error, which Lynne noted on Twitter hours later, when VPM issued a correction.

But by then, “Team Youngkin” — the official Twitter account for Youngkin’s campaign — had attacked Lynne, posting a photo of the teen with Northam taken at a Democratic fundraiser in October.

“Here’s a picture of Ethan with a man that had a Blackface/KKK photo in his yearbook,” Team Youngkin tweeted a little before 5 p.m., pairing the October photo with a racist picture from Northam’s 1984 medical school yearbook that surfaced in 2019.

The tweet drew immediate backlash from Democrats, who called on Youngkin to apologize to Lynne. The attack on Youngkin’s predecessor drew less notice since Northam is a public figure and adult, although it ran counter to Youngkin’s public expressions of thanks toward the Democrat for an “incredibly cooperative” transition.

Team Youngkin removed the tweet late Sunday morning but offered no apology.

“A governor’s campaign account has attacked a minor — to me that was a new low,” Lynne said in an interview Sunday morning. “And they just now took it down. It was up for over 12 hours. I received no apology, no communication, nothing.”

Youngkin ran for office as a sunny, basketball-dad-next-door figure who promised to transcend political divisions even as he stoked culture wars related to K-12 education. “Love your neighbor,” he recently urged Virginians after a Page County mother, emboldened by the governor’s order to make masks in schools optional, threatened to show up with loaded guns if her local school board continued its mask mandate.

Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter did not respond to questions about the tweet.

Matt Wolking, a Youngkin campaign spokesman who continues to work for the governor as a strategist at Axiom Strategies, responded to inquiries sent to Porter. He declined to say who wrote the tweet.

Wolking said Team Youngkin decided to remove the message after belatedly learning that Lynne — identified on Twitter as “Virginian. HS Senior. Democrat.” — was a minor. Wolking called Lynne a “Democrat Party official” and suggested that Democrats had made Lynne a fair target by previously promoting him on Twitter.

“It was brought to [our] attention that this Democrat Party official repeatedly elevated by Senator Louise Lucas as a source of official Democrat Party communications is actually a minor, so the tweet was removed,” Wolking said in a text message.

Lucas (D-Portsmouth), the state Senate’s president pro tempore and a high-profile member of the Legislative Black Caucus, recently touted Lynne as a Democratic teen leader worth following on Twitter. She also jokingly urged Twitter followers to nudge Lynne to volunteer for her 2023 reelection bid.

Lucas blasted Youngkin for the original tweet — “cyber bullying of the worst kind” — and took issue with Wolking’s description of Lynne as a party official.

Lynne, who lives in Hanover County, said he has volunteered for Democrats since he was 10 years old. A former page in the state Senate, he now works after school as an unpaid intern for state Sen. Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax).

“I have never been paid,” Lynne said. “I got paid through experience.”

The controversy stemmed from a pair of VPM news stories related to the historical quarters for enslaved people in a building adjacent to the mansion. On Wednesday, VPM reported that historian and archaeologist Kelley Fanto Deetz, who worked to reinterpret the site under Northam, arrived to work there last month to find her office emptied. She was unsure if she had a job under Youngkin, the report said.

The original report also said that the Youngkins had converted a classroom area into a family room. Porter, Youngkin’s spokeswoman, said that part of the report was incorrect — but she didn’t note this error until Saturday.

Porter did not take issue with the family room claim in the original story, issuing a statement to VPM saying only that first lady Suzanne Youngkin and her staff “are in the decision-making process regarding the executive mansion.”

On Friday, VPM reported a new development: Deetz had resigned. Lynne retweeted that story Saturday at 3:20 p.m.

“NEW: The historian tasked with teaching about slavery at the Virginia Governors Mansion just resigned after finding the Youngkins converted her classroom into a family room - and emptied her office,” he tweeted. “Shameful.”

As the story of Deetz’s resignation drew more notice Saturday, Porter pushed back on the claim about the family room. VPM’s Ben Paviour issued a correction that evening.

“Important correction to my stories on Exec. Mansion: Youngkin’s team says he hasn’t converted an educational space -> family room, and I’ve verified that,” he wrote. “Frustrating to learn this 2+ weeks after I emailed them about it, but I also should’ve dug more.”

Lynne promptly retweeted Paviour’s correction: “Update: It appears the ‘family’ room thing is TBD, still looks as though her office was emptied however.”

Team Youngkin had lashed out at him on Twitter earlier, but Lynne said he didn’t notice for hours.

On Sunday morning, Lynne was back on Twitter, thanking legislators and others who’d come to his defense — and scolding Youngkin.

“In school, we are taught how to spot bullying, and their tweet last night, perfectly fit that description,” he wrote in a post that had drawn more than 40,000 likes by Sunday afternoon. “It is disgusting, disturbing, and unbecoming of the Commonwealth to see the Governor and his office stoop this low, especially on a public platform.”

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Oh please, he couldn't give a rat's ass about bringing Virginians together, unless it's bringing us together under his and TFG's jackboots.

[Dandruff]

2 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Oh please, he couldn't give a rat's ass about bringing Virginians together, unless it's bringing us together under his and TFG's jackboots.

What if the authorizer is the tweeter but is too busy tweeting to authorize?  Also, would that be one regret or two?

There are many Virginians already united in the fervent wish that he leaves office asap, and his work is the reason.

[GreyhoundFan]

39 minutes ago, Dandruff said:

There are many Virginians already united in the fervent wish that he leaves office asap, and his work is the reason.

I would agree, but the Lt. Governor is just as bad, if not worse. She likes to pose for pictures with her AR-15. I wish I were kidding. 

[47of74]

Oh lookie who the GQP picked to deliver the GQP response to Biden's State of the Union speech...that's right, Iowa's very own CovidKim

Quote

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will deliver the Republican response to President Joe Biden's upcoming State of the Union address.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy announced on Tuesday that Reynolds will give the Republican address to the nation from Des Moines, Iowa, after the conclusion of Biden's speech. His remarks are scheduled to take place next week on Tuesday, March 1.

The speech will give Reynolds a prominent national platform to speak to the country and counter Biden's message. It comes as Republicans work to make their case to the American public ahead of pivotal midterm elections that will determine which party controls the House and Senate.

Yeah so the entire country gets to see what a shit show they've got going down in Iowa these days. 

[Cartmann99]

Rest of thread under the spoiler:

Spoiler

In case there's still any confusion about Roger's worldview:

Spoiler

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Trumpkin really wanted Andrew Wheeler to be in his cabinet, but the state legislature blocked his nomination. Now he's hired Wheeler as a "senior advisor". Sigh. "Youngkin chooses Trump’s EPA chief to serve as senior adviser"

Quote

Democrats in the Virginia state Senate may have dashed Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s pick for a key Cabinet post, but that didn’t stop the governor from hiring him anyway.

Andrew Wheeler, a former Trump administration official and lobbyist for coal companies, will serve as a senior adviser to Youngkin, a spokeswoman for his administration confirmed Tuesday.

The governor had previously nominated Wheeler, who led the Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump, to serve as his secretary of natural and historic resources. While Virginia’s General Assembly rarely blocks Cabinet nominations, Democrats in the Senate said they could not support Wheeler, who had spearheaded a rollback of environmental protections while serving in the Trump administration.

“We received a letter from 150 former EPA employees who suggested that Mr. Wheeler had undermined the work of EPA and worked against the environmental interests of this country,” Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath) said during a committee hearing on the nomination. “We think that members of the governor’s Cabinet ought to be people that unite us Virginians.”

The move to block Wheeler led to a growing partisan spat in Richmond in recent weeks that has spilled over beyond environmental policy. In February, Republicans in the House of Delegates voted against confirming 11 state panel appointments put forth by former governor Ralph Northam (D), again breaking from tradition in the State Capitol.

Youngkin is not the first Virginia governor to turn a rejected Cabinet nominee as an adviser. After Democrats opposed efforts by Republican governor Robert F. McDonnell to nominate Robert Sledd for commerce and trade secretary, McDonnell made Sledd an unpaid senior economic adviser.

 

[Cartmann99]

Some good news from Utah:

 

[Cartmann99]

The article is behind a paywall.

 

[Becky]

11 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

The article is behind a paywall.

 

I don't understand why states don't want their residents to have access to the federal plans.  Is it simply because they don't want the feds to "win" or something?  I mean, it is a GOOD thing if your residents have access to reasonably priced health insurance, yes? Georgia, by the way, has an uninsured rate over 13%, according to one source.  What a travesty.

[47of74]

Covid Kim is as corrupt as ever

Quote

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R) said she pushed legislation for more public dollars to go to private schools in a closed-door meeting with Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA01) in attendance at a meeting in Marion Wednesday.

The meeting, which happened in the basement of the administrative and operations facility in Thomas Park, was not on the Governor’s official public schedule as of Wednesday and the media members weren’t allowed in the room with or without cameras.

Multiple elected officials were seen leaving the two-hour closed-door meeting in Marion, where some children attend the Linn-Mar Community School District. The district passed a new policy for Transgender students in April. Many, who spoke at the board meeting when the policy passed, were against the policy because parental involvement isn’t required along with concerns about student safety, privacy in bathrooms, and concerns over Christian values.

 

[47of74]

While CovidKimmy is holding secret meetings with donors Gov. Walz is doing stuff

Quote

On the waters of Lake Winnibigoshish, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan celebrated the 2022 Governor's Fishing Opener on Saturday.

Walz won this year's competition with the Lt. Gov. after reeling in a 21-inch walleye.

“We’re proud of our state’s abundant natural resources and the businesses that make up our strong outdoor economy," Walz said in a statement. "I hope this year’s Opener encourages people to get out and explore new areas of the state and take part in the wonderful tradition of fishing.”

Yeah I was gonna say pics or it didn't happen but he had that taken care of already.

[CTRLZero]

I’m posting excerpts of a Seattle Times article, just because it seems so typical.  I bolded the portion that made me do an FJ eye roll.  GOP gubernatorial candidate facing fraud lawsuits -Seattle Times
 

Excerpts:
Former Bothell mayor and 2020 gubernatorial candidate Joshua Freed has been accused in a spate of lawsuits of misleading investors, failing to pay creditors and misappropriating money that was supposed to go toward a Kingston town home development.

Freed, a longtime homebuilder, resigned abruptly as chair of the King County Republican Party in early February, not long after contractors and a lender sued him for unpaid debts.

Freed declined interview requests. In an email he questioned whether the cases were newsworthy and characterized the lawsuits accusing him of wrongdoing as “misunderstandings that have been dismissed.”

Several of the lawsuits center on a 140-unit town home development called Seaside Kingston, which has been under development by Freed for years, less than a mile from the Kitsap County town’s ferry terminal.

Some of the most serious lawsuit allegations overlap with Freed’s unsuccessful 2020 gubernatorial campaign, when he sought to become the Republican challenger to Gov. Jay Inslee. Freed placed third in the primary after sinking nearly $700,000 of his own money into the contest.

A prominent Bellevue real estate investor, C. Edward Springman, accused Freed in a lawsuit filed last year of misappropriating more than $2 million that Springman had invested in the Kingston town home development.

. . . .

The alleged misappropriations took place in late 2019, a period when Freed was launching his candidacy for governor. . . .

In quitting as head of the King County GOP in February after a little more than a year in the post — a move that caught local Republican activists by surprise — Freed said he had “many new business opportunities across Washington and ministries here and overseas” that he’d be focusing on with his family.

[Alisamer]

On 4/30/2022 at 9:17 AM, Becky said:

I don't understand why states don't want their residents to have access to the federal plans.  Is it simply because they don't want the feds to "win" or something?  I mean, it is a GOOD thing if your residents have access to reasonably priced health insurance, yes? Georgia, by the way, has an uninsured rate over 13%, according to one source.  What a travesty.

Wow, how did I miss that? It's got to be unconstitutional to ban US citizens access to something federal, right? I was sure Florida would be the first to try to secede but Georgia seems to be neck and neck with them.

And why don't they want their residents to have access to the federal plans? I can think of several reasons - the plans are "Obamacare", the federal plans cover things like birth control that R's might want to start restricting very soon, to "own the libs" somehow. (By killing off their constituents?)

But I can guess at another reason, based on my experience working at a printer. We print for a lot of businesses of all sizes. The percentage of small business owners who are black, native, hispanic, Jewish, immigrant, or first generation from immigrant parents is very high. These people, and their employees (like me and my co-workers!), along with young people starting out, young moms with etsy shops and side hustles, and part-time workers are much more likely to be using the Marketplace for access to insurance than the old white male CEOs who have been with the same large business for many years. Big companies often provide health insurance. Small companies largely don't. 

And the old white guys making the rules, and voting for the people making the rules? Guess what most of THEM have for insurance! Yep. Good old socialized government healthcare. 

[Cartmann99]

He's the one that assaulted Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs for asking a question he didn't like back in 2017.

Spoiler

 

[47of74]

So Greg pulled a Cancún Cruz.  I assume that if Govs Walz or Evers were out of the country even on official business and a disaster struck their states Greg would probably be all over them.

[GreyhoundFan]

So Trumpkin is thinking of inflicting himself on the rest of the U.S.. Trust me, that would be a bad thing.

"Youngkin meets with megadonors amid hints he’s mulling White House bid"

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RICHMOND — Gov. Glenn Youngkin flew to New York last week to meet privately with GOP megadonors in Manhattan, a move that underscores recent hints that the Republican is considering a run for president in 2024.

The day-long visit, which was not listed on Youngkin’s public calendar and included a trio of national TV interviews, comes as the new governor prepares to headline his first out-of-state political event since taking office, with an appearance next week in Nebraska. He also has begun speaking more often about the needs of “Americans,” not just “Virginians,” and has subtly changed how he answers questions about whether he will seek the White House.

Youngkin, a multimillionaire and former private equity executive, used to respond that he is solely focused on his new job in Virginia. More recently, he’s begun saying he is “humbled” that so many people “request” that he run.

“I am always humbled by this request, but we have a lot of work to do today in Virginia,” Youngkin told Brian Kilmeade last week, as the Fox & Friends co-host queried him about a run during an interview in Richmond. But when Kilmeade pressed him on whether he’d made a decision, Youngkin seemed to acknowledge that he was actively considering a bid, saying, “I have not made a decision yet.”

Youngkin appeared to encourage the speculation in a separate Fox interview that aired Monday, when Kilmeade noted that there’s “a buzz about you running for president.”

“We’ll see what comes next,” Youngkin replied.

Matthew Moran, a former deputy chief of staff for Youngkin who is transitioning to a new role as his full-time senior political adviser, confirmed that the governor met separately with three Republican megadonors in Manhattan on June 23, two days after Virginia’s congressional primaries, seeking donations to his Spirit of Virginia political action committee.

Moran declined to identify the potential donors or say if the governor succeeded in raising money. Asked if the fundraising and media appearances were signs that Youngkin is inching toward a presidential run, Moran did not answer directly.

“The governor’s made it very clear that he’s focused on doing the job he was elected to do in Virginia, and that includes rebuilding our party here, winning back these competitive Virginia congressional seats and showing Republicans across the country that there’s a path forward in competitive states,” he said.

Presidential buzz revved up around Youngkin even before he assumed the governorship — his first public office — not quite six months ago. Most of the excitement centered on the high-wire act he pulled off to win a swing state that a year earlier had gone for President Biden by 10 points.

By projecting an upbeat, basketball-dad persona while leaning in on “election integrity,” critical race theory and other culture-war issues popular with supporters of former president Donald Trump, Youngkin managed to excite the deep-red base without alienating moderate suburbanites. He engaged in an awkward dance with Trump throughout, by turns embracing and distancing himself from the 45th president.

Republicans pointed to his win as a template for a way forward from the Trump presidency, vaulting Youngkin from political obscurity to lists of potential 2024 contenders.

“I think the governor showed real political skill in his 2021 campaign,” said Alex Conant, a founding partner at Firehouse Strategies and communications director for Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign. “I think he also created some national name ID overnight by winning a state that Biden had won just a year earlier. And now serving as governor in a big state with the national media in the backyard, he has a platform to potentially run for higher office.”

That said, Conant and some other political observers think it would be a challenge for Youngkin to break through, even if Trump, who has broadly hinted he will run and would surely dominate the field if so, does not enter the race.

“I think he has a lot of fans and there’s a lot of interest, but there’s lot of people who’ve been running for president for several years now who are spending a lot more time in New York and Florida with the Republican megadonors,” Conant said.

The PAC that Youngkin pitched to donors in Manhattan is one of two political organizations he established this year — ostensibly to promote fellow Republicans running for office in Virginia and elsewhere, but with the fringe benefit of raising his national profile through cross-country travel.

While Virginia governors routinely set up PACs to help bankroll in-state races, and some have traveled out of state to raise money, Youngkin’s entities stand apart with their national objectives — feeding speculation about his own aspirations.

During a Richmond political roast in May, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Barry Knight (R-Virginia Beach) joked that he was keeping Youngkin in the loop on budget negotiations — but had to go to Iowa and New Hampshire to catch up with him.

In truth, Youngkin put travel on hold until the budget was behind him, although just barely. Two days after ceremonially signing the spending plan, he was in New York. Next week, he will be in Nebraska, headlining the state GOP’s convention.

The Nebraska appearance, first reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, is the only out-of-state event of its kind on Youngkin’s calendar so far, political aides said. But the governor is expected to campaign aggressively around the country starting in August, once primaries have concluded in every state.

Youngkin has yet to pick the out-of-state candidates he will stump for, but he will focus on those running in blue districts that he thinks can be flipped red, Moran said. For the time being, Moran said, Youngkin is focused on three competitive congressional races in Virginia — in the 2nd, 7th and 10th districts.

Youngkin’s New York trip came after he reached a key milestone of his young governorship: getting $4 billion in tax cuts out of a divided General Assembly. He touted that partial victory — he’d wanted $5 billion — in his in-studio interviews Thursday with CBS This Morning, Bloomberg TV and Yahoo Finance. Among other wins he noted: adopting a record education budget; ending school mask mandates; and landing big-name businesses, including Raytheon, Boeing and Lego.

The CBS interview took him well outside his usual orbit of Fox News and Fox Business — offering the Republican a more mainstream audience but also more aggressive questioning on topics he has typically tried to sidestep, such as the Jan. 6 insurrection, gun control and abortion.

The nearly seven-minute interview, led by host Gayle King, had Youngkin reprising his balancing act, as when he was asked what happens to abortion rights in Virginia if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion nationwide. In the interview, which came the day before the court issued its ruling overturning Roe, Youngkin said he’d respect the right to protest but also enforce any law needed to “keep Virginians safe,” including the three Supreme Court justices who live in the state.

As King pressed him on what he’d say to “women who may be worried” about losing access to abortion, Youngkin kept any policy plans to himself. He said that “nothing changes immediately” under state law, adding that as a “pro-life governor” he would “work with our legislature to see the next path. … We’re going to start that work.”

Youngkin was more specific in an interview with reporters, editors and editorial writers at The Washington Post the next morning, just as the court announced its decision. He said he will support banning the procedure after 15 weeks, with exceptions for rape, incest and when the mother’s life is at risk, but would settle for a ban at 20 weeks if he can get that through Richmond’s divided Capitol.

In the CBS interview, Youngkin treaded lightly on the subject of the Jan. 6 insurrection and Trump’s false claims that Biden stole the 2020 presidential election. Last year, Youngkin refused to acknowledge that Biden had legitimately won the White House until he’d secured his party’s gubernatorial nomination, and he appeased election deniers by pressing for “election integrity” throughout his campaign.

Noting the work of the Jan. 6 committee, King asked Youngkin if Trump was hurting the GOP by refusing, “even as we sit here today,” to acknowledge that Biden won the presidency.

“I do believe that Joe Biden was elected president in this country and I think what happened on January 6 was awful, awful. It was a real blight on our democracy,” Youngkin told King.

He went on to assert that Jan. 6 is not the kind of “kitchen table” issue that ordinary Americans focus on and suggested that TV ratings for the committee hearings had been poor. (The first, prime time hearing drew nearly 19 million viewers, well below viewership for presidential debates but on par with Sunday Night Football, the New York Times reported.)

“I think the media cares more about this than the people do,” he said. “There’s prime-time coverage and, candidly, not many people are watching it. And this is because around the kitchen tables in Virginia and, I think, America, it’s runaway inflation. It’s crime. It’s schools. These are the issues that Virginians and, I think, Americans are worried about.”

Virginia is the only state in the nation that prohibits its governors from serving back-to-back terms, so they all enter the office knowing they’ll need a new job in four years. But Bob Holsworth, a veteran Richmond political analyst, cautioned that aiming for national office while governing can be a difficult road.

Divided attention can make it harder to get things done in Virginia, he said, and Youngkin’s ambitions could be costly for his party if it hampers the GOP performance in legislative elections next year.

“Doug Wilder often said that was the worst mistake he ever made, trying to do that,” Holsworth said, referring to the Virginia Democrat who launched an unsuccessful bid for president in 1992, less than two years after he was sworn in as the nation’s first Black governor.

More than a few political observers have suggested that Youngkin needs to learn the ropes of his first job in government before seeking a promotion to leader of the free world.

“He hasn’t been around enough. He hasn’t toured enough. He doesn’t have the faithful cadres in Iowa and New Hampshire,” said Ed Rogers, a veteran of the Reagan and George H.W. Bush White Houses and founding partner of the lobbying and communications firm BGR Group.

Rogers nevertheless thinks running would be “a good audition” for Youngkin, perhaps leading to a Cabinet post that could boost his profile and chances down the road.

But others say Youngkin has a shot given that social media has made it easier for non-household names to mount credible campaigns.

“You don’t necessarily have the standard we used to have — they have to be, like, a two term-governor or a very established politician. That’s definitely changed in the era of digital politics,” said Kevin Madden, a longtime Republican operative who advised 2012 nominee Mitt Romney and is an executive at the philanthropy Arnold Ventures.

“Pete Buttigieg was nobody and became a national political figure in the space of a few months,” he said, referring to Biden’s transportation secretary, who sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination as mayor of South Bend, Ind.

Youngkin’s swing-state win is reason enough to take him seriously should he decide to run, Madden said.

“He won in the state of Virginia by talking to these disaffected votes that had previously been motivated by Trump, but he did so without having to wear a MAGA hat,” Madden said, noting a plethora of potential contenders for the nomination aside from Trump. “The question is, is there really a market for a Trump alternative, and if so, is he the best one?”

The operative who said that Pete Buttigieg was "nobody and became a national political figure" failed to mention a key difference between Pete and Trumpkin. Pete is a brilliant, hardworking, and decent human being. Trumpkin seems to have a room temperature IQ, is a typical capitalist businessman who thinks he knows everything, and he only cares about rich white men.

[GreyhoundFan]

Because of course: "Youngkin appoints Confederate statue defender to historic resources board"

Quote

RICHMOND — Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has appointed a historian to the state Board of Historic Resources who has defended the state’s Confederate monuments and condemned their destruction as a “dangerous” rewriting of history.

Ann Hunter McLean of Richmond, the former head of a Christian school, told an online publication that she believes Virginia’s heritage is “under attack” as she begins serving on the board, which oversees state historic-site designations.

Last year, as the last vestiges of Richmond’s Confederate monuments were being taken down in the wake of social justice protests, McLean lamented the loss.

“This whole tragedy is that these statues were built to tell the true story of the American South to people 500 years from now,” McLean said to a Richmond radio host on Dec. 23, 2021, after state archivists opened a time capsule found under the site where the statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee once stood on Monument Avenue. “People want to destroy the evidence of that story,” she continued, saying the Civil War was fought for the “sovereignty of each state and constitutional law.”

Then-Gov. Ralph Northam (D) had taken down the Lee statue as a racist symbol erected to honor a war that was fought to preserve slavery. McLean said Northam’s actions amounted to “lawlessness.”

Last year, Youngkin acknowledged Northam’s authority to take down the statue under a decision by the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Macaulay Porter, a spokeswoman for Youngkin, said Friday via text that “the governor supports preserving the history of Virginia and believes that the referenced statues should be preserved in a museum or other facility.”

McLean did not respond Friday to an email and a phone message requesting comment. She was quoted in the online publication Virginia Star as saying in an interview that she was uncertain whether her role on the board would involve decisions regarding monuments.

“But I am not into destroying people’s fine art. I think there’s something cosmically wrong with doing that under any circumstances,” she said, adding that she is particularly interested in overseeing the language on state historical markers.

Approving and revising those markers is one of the primary functions of the historic resources board, which consists of seven people appointed by the governor. The board meets jointly with the State Review Board four times a year to consider nominations to the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. It also holds easements at historic sites around the state.

Del. Lamont Bagby (D-Henrico), the head of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, said McLean’s appointment showed Youngkin’s “callous attitude toward Black history in Virginia and the lingering effects of institutional racism.” Via text message, Bagby said Youngkin seems intent on “erasing our voices, images, and pain without flinching. He must believe that no one is paying attention to his appointments or he’s just that brazen to repeatedly thumb his nose at us.”

Virginia has taken dramatic steps in the past few years to wrestle with its troubled racial legacy. The former capital of the Confederacy boasted more Confederate memorials than any other state, but began dismantling many of them after the racial justice movement sparked in 2020 by the killing of George Floyd by Minnesota police.

The city of Richmond has taken down all of its Confederate statues save one — a monument to Gen. A.P. Hill that stands in a traffic intersection atop the soldier’s grave. City officials are negotiating to relocate the remains and get the statue down later this year.

Many longtime defenders of the monuments, including Confederate heritage groups such as the Virginia Flaggers, conceded that public sentiment called for removal but argued that the statues should be relocated to places such as museums and battlefields.

The enormous statue of Lee, festooned with protest graffiti, became an international protest symbol until Northam had it taken down last year. In December, when the first of two Lee time capsules was unearthed and opened, McLean spoke with host John Reid on WRVA radio in Richmond to lament the whole process.

After Reid complained that the movement to take down statues was being driven by “vehement hatred” toward people who lived 50 to 100 years ago, McLean said she agreed “completely — spot on.”

McLean then seemed to suggest that state officials had a nefarious plan for using a possible photograph of President Abraham Lincoln in his casket that was rumored to have been placed in the Lee time capsule but was not actually found.

“The dead Lincoln photograph seems to be the thing they are blisteringly interested in achieving and getting,” she said, “and I am very concerned when they get that, what are they going to do with that? You know, central planning is so a part of this, and it’s almost like there’s a folder and a plan they pull out every two or three days or two or three weeks … And we see it with the mandates for the [coronavirus] vaccines but we also see this with history and what they’re doing to our culture.”

In the introduction to her 1998 doctoral dissertation, McLean wrote that the Confederate statues erected from the late 1800s through the 1920 “were created primarily as vehicles of moral uplift at a time of rapid urbanization and social change, when idealism typified the American portrayal of martial art.”

She goes on to acknowledge that the African American perspective on the statues “is one of several complexities inherent in the subject.” She wrote that the Lee statue was “erected to inspire virtue in the public, and as a tribute to Lee around whom grew a heroic myth embraced by both North and South, [but] today reminds some in society of the open wound of racism.”

McLean also writes for Bacon’s Rebellion, a conservative commentary site, and serves on the board of The Jefferson Council, a group aimed at preserving Thomas Jefferson’s heritage at the University of Virginia. In a recent article for The Jefferson Independent, a student-run conservative website, McLean blasted “cultural Marxists” for tearing down the legacies of Lee — a “Christian soldier” — and Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, “a Sunday School teacher for a class of young black children.”

Youngkin made one other appointment to the historic resources board: Aimee Jorjani, who served under President Trump as chair of the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

Meanwhile, another Youngkin appointee who has drawn criticism — Casey Flores on the state’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Board — has stepped down, the governor’s office said Friday. Flores attracted criticism for crude and vulgar postings on social media, but now has “resigned from the Board as he is accepting a professional opportunity outside of the Commonwealth,” Porter said via text message.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Trumpkin is fucking over Virginia. No big surprise. "Youngkin’s culture wars are good for him but bad for Virginia business"

Quote

Don L. Scott Jr., a Democrat, represents Portsmouth in the Virginia House of Delegates, where he is minority leader.

Thanks to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s leadership, Virginia is no longer the best state in America in which to do business.

CNBC’s 2022 list of “America’s Top States for Business” ranked Virginia third, behind North Carolina and Washington state. Early in his tenure, the governor has managed to topple Virginia from the No. 1 position it won in unprecedented back-to-back rankings under Democratic leadership. In 2021 — with a Democratic “trifecta” — Virginia held on to its No. 1 ranking while pulling the commonwealth up 27 spots in Oxfam’s report on the best states for workers. Democrats know that making Virginia work for its people is good for business, too. Unfortunately, Youngkin’s presidential aspirations have kept the governor laser-focused on culture-war issues that poll well among Republican primary voters in Iowa — not building the economy or supporting working Virginians. As CNBC’s business rankings highlight, leadership that makes Virginia a less welcoming place for workers makes it less welcoming to business, too.

Youngkin’s top priority as governor has been to erase equity from state government, and businesses are taking note. One of his first acts in office was to literally take the word “equity” out of the governor’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He proceeded to set up a statewide snitch line for teachers who acknowledge race and racism. When Youngkin’s appointed health commissioner denied the impact of structural racism on infant and maternal health disparities and claimed that discussing racism “alienates White people,” Youngkin refused to take action. This spring, Youngkin vetoed a bill to study disparities in business that had previously passed the General Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support. It’s no wonder why Virginia’s score in CNBC’s “Life, Health, and Inclusion” category plummeted between 2021 and 2022. Even Lego was set to invest $1 billion in a new factory in Chesterfield — a deal begun during former governor Ralph Northam’s (D) term — recently revealed some trepidation over Youngkin’s stance on racial equity.

Next, with marriage rights under existential threat at the federal level, an unprepared Youngkin appeared on national television misquoting the Virginia Constitution and refusing to say whether he would act to codify protections for same-sex marriage. He has indicated on record that he does not personally support same-sex marriage. Another byproduct of buying into the anti-LGBTQ hysteria is that it’s bad for the economy. Last year, nearly 300 national companies signed on to a statement warning that anti-LGBTQ legislation would influence which states they decide to invest in. Nonetheless, all indications are that Youngkin will continue to pick his own political aspirations over the best interests of Virginians and Virginia’s economy. It’s no surprise, then, that “economy” was another CNBC category in which Virginia’s score has fallen since Youngkin took office.

Virginia also lost stature in 2022 with a lower “workforce” score. Besides publicly criticizing our community college system and cutting $20 million from his predecessor’s G3 “Get a Skill, Get a Job, Get Ahead” workforce development program, Youngkin has attacked Virginia’s workforce by threatening their bodily autonomy — and women are paying attention. Days before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Youngkin introduced a budget amendment to prevent low-income Virginians from accessing abortion care even with the most severe fetal diagnoses. The governor followed up the move by proposing a new abortion ban and promising to sign “any bill that comes to [his] desk” to restrict reproductive freedom. While my caucus in the legislature, along with Virginia organizers and activists, work to protect past progress on reproductive rights, Democratic governors in other states are looking to recruit businesses from states that would restrict their employees’ bodily autonomy, as Youngkin is hoping to do.

Democrats handed Youngkin record surpluses and a booming economy. Six months later, our growth is stalling as businesses reconsider whether they want to invest in a state whose governor is willing to defund its infrastructure and education system while alienating its workforce. The problem with Youngkin’s backward social agenda is that his positions are cruel and out of step with the will of most Virginians. It is simply the natural result that our economy and national reputation will suffer the consequences. But the governor doesn’t really care what happens to Virginia’s people or its economy because he isn’t that interested in Virginia; his sights are set on the White House.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

This is a good look at how Trumpkin is awash in Pentecostalism: "Wolf in Fleece Clothing:  Glenn Youngkin and Religion"

Quote

London, 1995

The music played as the evangelist implored people to come forward for a blessing. The congregation was standing. Swaying really. To the music, to the rhythms of the Spirit present in our midst. Most people prayed with raised hands, reaching toward heaven begging for miracles to fall upon them from the skies. I was standing, too, my palms gently turned upward. Watching, perhaps waiting, wanting to fit in. Trying to find my place in the flood of emotions. People pressed by me to go to the altar to claim gifts of wholeness and holiness. At the front of the church, ushers aided those who had fainted with joy. Next to me, a man began crying, with audible sobbing. And then, much to my surprise, he started making guttural noises, animal-like sounds that resembled my dog’s response to the postman. In the early 1800s, people attending revivals in the backwoods of Kentucky and Tennessee reported episodes of “holy barking” among participants. Until then, I always thought those accounts were exaggerated. But it is different when a man in a business suit is worshiping in a church yapping like a terrier. I looked over at him just as his face was transfigured by ecstasy - and he collapsed to the floor. The ushers rushed over to check on him: “He’s fine,” one said. “More than fine,” the other replied smiling.

I wasn’t attending an American revival meeting. Nor was I visiting a Pentecostal church. Instead, this scene unfolded at an Anglican church, in a neo-Gothic building dating from nearly two centuries ago, with stained glass windows and graceful arches, this wild chaos was framed by an architecture of order, tradition, and stability.

When I left the service, a friendly greeter asked, “Did you enjoy the service here at Holy Trinity Brompton? People come from all over the world to be here! Did you receive a blessing?” I smiled. “Thank you for your hospitality,” I replied in a non-committal way. I didn’t tell her that I was working on a column about revivalism for the New York Times syndicate service. The fainting businessman, the strange angularity of New Testament miracles and elite Anglicanism, something didn’t really set well with me. I didn’t know what to say.

* * * * *

I haven’t thought about Holy Trinity Brompton for many years. But my visit there in 1995 is still vivid - the sounds, the smells, the images caught like photographs in my memory. A quarter of a century is a long time ago for an episode to remain so easy to recall. But then again, it is hard to forget a regular-looking businessman barking next to you in a the midst of Pentecostal fervor, especially when one is standing in a parish of the historically-crusty Church of England.

What brought it all back? That particular day?

Glenn Youngkin. The Republican businessman candidate for Virginia governor. This paragraph from an Associated Press story:

I remembered all the sweaty, speaking in tongues, spiritual chaos - the fainting, the weeping, the barking - and all those well-dressed, successful-looking parishioners shedding every ounce of British stiff-upper lip and tony Shakespearean worship in favor of revivalistic fervor from the Second Great Awakening in the American South.

When I read that paragraph, everything I’d been wondering about here in Virginia during this strange, surprisingly vague and politically slippery governor’s race clicked. And I’m not sure I like the way the pieces come together.

* * * * *

Before continuing, I’d like to make two things clear.

First, I’m comfortable discussing a politician’s religious views. Religion forms people morally and serves as the arbiter of conscience. Politicians should make their religious affiliations known, including how their personal faith influences the ways in which they deal with difficult issues - and how they themselves navigate their own disagreements with their faith traditions. There’s a contemporary history of doing this in American politics from John F. Kennedy through Jimmy Carter and Mario Cuomo to Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Politicians who understand moral commitments and the ethical call of their vocations know it is important to address their faith. Religion shouldn’t be a prop to get votes. It provides an opportunity - and an angle of vision - to reflect on some of the deepest issues with which we struggle.

Second, reporting on a candidate’s religion should never be an uniformed or bigoted attack on any particular faith. Too many reporters and pundits don’t really understand theological complexity, historical developments, or the sociological dimensions of religion - and why and how people (including politicians) make particular moral choices vis-a-vis faith. Religion should be “fair game” to understand the character and political influences of any and every candidate; it isn’t “fair game” to stir up animus against someone’s prayer preferences or theological beliefs no matter how unfamiliar or exotic-seeming they may be to others.

With these two things in mind, I’ve been reluctant to talk about Glenn Youngkin and religion. Because of that day in 1995 at Holy Trinity Brompton. I worried that anything I might write could be construed as an attack on Pentecostalism, and on religious enthusiasm more generally.

I have no animus regarding Pentecostal Christianity. My much-admired late grandmother (who died when my father was six) was a Pentecostal evangelist. As a young woman, she converted in the great revivals of the 1920s. Her brother, my great-uncle, was a pastor ordained to the ministry by Aimee Semple McPherson herself. I treasure this family history and am deeply aware of the Pentecostal spirituality that has shaped my own Christian life. I’m not actually afraid of prophecy, tongues, healing, fainting in church, or any of those supernatural things - even “barking in the spirit.”

But I find myself with questions. Worrisome questions about Youngkin’s campaign, about how the particular practices and political twists of Holy Trinity Brompton have found their way to Virginia’s governor’s race.

* * * * *

My grandmother became a Pentecostal after her father was killed in a gruesome construction accident in the 1920s. He was a carpenter working on the steeple at a Catholic church when he fell to his death, leaving behind a widow and six children. In those days, there was no worker’s compensation and no welfare. They were plunged into poverty, living hand-to-mouth and on the charity of others. My grandmother - although a church had killed her father - found comfort in faith, in the new expression of Pentecostal religion.

She wasn’t alone. In the first years of the twentieth century, millions of people embraced an ecstatic form of Christianity that emphasized signs and wonders and promised new life through the power of the Holy Spirit. In those decades, Pentecostalism was racially diverse and appealed to the poor and outcast, those on the margins of society, a faith that found a home among (what one historian called) “the disinherited.” Although some critics thought that Pentecostalism served as a kind of “psychic adjustment” to economic inequality and injustice, others have pointed out that early Pentecostals bent social rules to remake racial and gender roles and formed a core constituency for the New Deal and other labor reform movements.

However radical early Pentecostalism was, over the decades, it changed and muted its more radical earthly expectations - eventually leaving the hope for justice in the hands of a miracle-giving God and succumbing to apocalyptic hopelessness in the political realm. Pentecostalism eventually became as racially segregated as the rest of American religion, and, although women originally held important roles in its leadership, Pentecostals came to embrace the same patriarchal forms as other fundamentalisms. Perhaps the last robust expression of left-wing Pentecostalism was birthed on the golden sands of California beaches in the 1960s during the Jesus Movement, where spiritual enthusiasm meshed with utopian countercultural dreams of searching baby boomers, where it was rebranded as “charismatic.”

Eventually, the charismatic movement made its way from the beaches to churches, the least likely of these receptive congregations being parishes of the Episcopal Church. Although there had been scattered episodes of Pentecostal expression in the mainline congregations through the late 1950s, the charismatic movement within denominations is typically traced to April 3, 1960, when Rev. Dennis Bennett, priest at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Van Nuys, testified to his parish that he’d been baptized by the Holy Spirit and invited them into the same experience. From there, the charismatic renewal movement spread throughout the Episcopal Church, eventually reaching - and transforming - two important congregations in northern Virginia - the Falls Church and Truro Church.

The encounter of Pentecostal enthusiasm and Episcopal upper-middle class respectability in the Virginia suburbs resulted in a new form of charismatic politics - a right-wing social activism based on a nostalgic longing for a Christian America and elite Republican social mores. While worship might be enthusiastic, and while parishioners might still hope for miraculous interventions in their personal lives by God, charismatic Episcopalians developed a distinctly political theology of order. The charismatic Episcopal churches of northern Virginia wooed and won hosts of conservative luminaries as members, including political operatives and Supreme Court justices like Oliver North and Clarence Thomas. To these Episcopalians, “renewal” meant experiential personal piety AND participation in an orderly body politic, where people submitted to biblical rules for good societies, and were overseen by godly male authorities in duly appointed roles. Thus, personal devotion (no matter how freely expressed) was always tempered and guided by wise patriarchs - those men in family, church, and government who ensured God’s will in all things.

That political vision meant being against abortion and other feminist concerns of women’s autonomy, health, and sexuality; opposition to marriage equality and the ordination of LGBTQ persons (and in favor of gay “conversion” therapy); standing against any and every human rights movement deemed to somehow be contrary to the teachings of the Bible; and celebrating American exceptionalism through a mighty military to defeat ungodly Communism. Everything was meant to restore American greatness - and secure political power to build the Kingdom of God on earth.

In one of the most ironic turns in American religion, Pentecostalism thus became a conservative social movement among upper-class white people - people with access to power and a global reach. They mobilized for the cause, meshing charismatic religion with a single political party - first through the politics of Reagan, then Bush, and finally, Trump (it is notable that almost all of Trump’s religious advisors were Pentecostal and charismatic Christians). And they worked on take-overs and schisms in the Episcopal Church - and then other Protestant denominations - through what were euphemistically termed “renewal” movements.

If you were inside these churches, you believed you were on the winning side of history, and that your Savior Jesus Christ would emerge as a triumphant Lord. Speaking in tongues, miraculous healings, swooning in the Spirit - these were the signs and wonders that anticipated his coming Reign and marked you as a citizen of that holy realm. In polite company, however, in a world shaped by aspirations of tolerance whose prestigious institutions were allergic to any sort of religion that smacked of fundamentalism and “holy rollers,” you needed to practice a kind of sacred subversion and disguise your true intentions. You knew when you were with other true believers; you learned how to pass in the halls of power. It was stealthy. Like being part of a secret army, a people on a mission sent by God to save America. The Episcopal church provided nice cover for religious conservatives who didn’t want to scare their enemies too much - until, of course, the Episcopal church outed them by ordaining a gay bishop and they broke away forming their own congregations while still trying to retain Anglican respectability.

But it was all a bit too late. The Trojan horse political movement worked. What had begun as a movement of the “disinherited” transformed itself into a religion of inheritance - a political movement to insure that the right Americans would always be beneficiaries of the nation’s wealth and privilege. The godly deserve no less.

* * * * *

How does a group maintain its spiritual vibrancy with a political agenda based on a quest for authoritarian order? With periodic revivals, of course.

And that’s where Holy Trinity Brompton comes into the story. In 1994, a new Pentecostal revival broke forth in a church in Toronto - thus earning the moniker “The Toronto Blessing” - and made its way across the Atlantic and landed at Holy Trinity. The church became Ground Zero of the revival, a powerful “third wave” of charismatic enthusiasm. This third wave movement emphasized spiritual warfare, the centrality of supernatural signs and wonders, and, perhaps more than anything else, a profound belief that the Spirit is transforming the true church - a purified church - into the actual Kingdom of God on earth. In short, this third wave Pentecostalism is not escapist - it is necessarily and purposefully political, complete with enemies (those who disagree with their theology), a miraculous tool-kit (financial prosperity, charismatic leaders), and a mission - to renew the entire globe on the basis of God’s order through the body of true believers. There is nothing shy about this, it is obvious to insiders, but to those unfamiliar with this history and language, it is hidden in plain sight.

And the faithful marched to a new crusading hymn:

Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this land with the Father's glory
Blaze, Spirit, blaze
Set our hearts on fire
Flow, river, flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth your word
Lord, and let there be light

* * * * *

The revival of the 1990s - with its signs and wonders - was a spiritual jab in the arm reminding people of the piety empowering charismatic true believers. Holy Trinity Brompton led the way - a parish serving as a global spiritual refueling station. But it was always about more than the piety. Along with inviting people to get baptized in the Spirit, Holy Trinity heavily promoted the Alpha Course, a packaged and orderly presentation of what they consider basic Christianity, but is, in reality, a kind of systematic evangelical vision of the Bible and what could be called “soft” hierarchy. While Alpha has reached millions of people around the globe, there’s been a consistent line of criticism around it as well, mostly from those suspicious that Alpha promotes a quietly traditionalist political agenda.

Here’s part of an interview with Holy Trinity’s rector Nicky Gumble from The Guardian in 2009:

And more along the same lines, with increasing frustration on the part of the journalist:

If you read the entire interview, you’ll notice there is a thread throughout: a particular form of Christianity based on submission to authority dominates and a certain style of genial non-answers is the vicar’s stance. The interview clearly reveals a theology of insiders and outsiders while - at the very same time - presenting certainty and their desire to convert the world with a kind of “aw shucks, I’m just a regular guy who like every other regular Christian” persona. Reporters have long noticed Gumbel’s practice of side-stepping:

Nicky is on stage, leaning against the podium, smiling hesitantly. He reminds me of Tony Blair. "A very warm welcome to you all. Now some of you may be thinking, 'Help! What have I got myself into?'" A laugh. "Don't worry," he says. "We're not going to pressurise you into doing anything. Perhaps some of you are sitting there sneering. If you are, please don't think that I'm looking down at you. I spent half my life as an atheist. I used to go to talks like this and I would sneer."

Nicky is being disingenuous.

The article is titled, “Catch Me If You Can.” The stealthy bit again.

The charisma is there - and one part of the agenda is perfectly clear: join the church. Indeed, another reporter who attended Alpha discovered that the final week was intended to recruit her to a local church. When she asked the leader, “Why should I join?” He replied, “because if you’re a Christian, you’re our friend.”

Be like us. Join up. The soft-sell business guy. The “I’m just like you” wink-wink. That disarming way that Nicky Gumbel is, indeed, going to “pressurise” you and take you somewhere you ultimately don’t want to go. Whether a business suit or a clergy collar, there’s something else here - an agenda behind the smile. Come to Alpha. Join up with us. You’ll be our friend. Only, however, if you are a Christian. And, most likely, only a certain kind of Christian at that.

“Nicky is being disingenuous.” Those words trouble this Virginian. Glenn Youngkin went to his church just then - at the time of these articles - in the first decade of the twenty-first century, a few years after my visit to London. Nicky Gumbel was Glenn Youngkin’s pastor. Maybe his role model, too. The business suit, the clergy collar - in this Virginia election, it has become a fleece vest.

Be our friend. The line might echo the words of Fred Rogers, the radically inclusive Presbyterian minster and television host, but it hints of something else. Something conditional, something secretive - if you’re a Christian. If you agree with us, if we believe the same things.

We’re a long way from Mr. Rogers here.

* * * * *

The front page of Holy Trinity Church in McLean, Virginia states:

HTC is a Christ-centered, non-denominational church with Anglican roots and a contemporary charismatic expression.

Anglican roots. Charismatic expression. “Holy Trinity” just like Holy Trinity Brompton.

Holy Trinity Church in McLean was founded by Glenn Youngkin. In his basement. This pull quote from the AP sounds a vaguely familiar homage to his years in London:

It is worth noting that Youngkin’s foundation owns the building in which HTC is housed. The church pays him $1 for its yearly rent. And Youngkin served on its vestry (Anglican term for “church board”) for years. On the church’s tenth anniversary (last October), Glenn Youngkin and his wife gave their “Top Ten” reasons why they loved HTC on a Facebook video - reason #2 being “Alpha” and reason #1 being “The Holy Spirit.” (Don’t be surprised if they take down or limit views to the video if this column gets any traction).

Over the decade, the church’s clergy have mostly been Anglicans - having connections with Holy Trinity Brompton and the charismatic Episcopal churches in Fairfax County (none of which are still part of the Episcopal Church - all of which left the denomination over LGBT ordination). But this year that changed and the two lead clergy now come from Pat Robertson’s Regent University’s theological training program - no real Anglican connections there, but with more obvious Pentecostal and religious right ties.

After I tweeted about this, a follower reached out to me by email:

“Saw your tweets on HTC, the Youngkin church. We’ve gone a few times. It feels very evangelical and not overtly partisan. For instance, big push to help Afghan refugees right now. But the last time we were there, maybe 6 weeks ago, left the sanctuary and went into the lobby and Josh Hawley was out there shaking hands. Had a visceral reaction. Never went back.”

My correspondent, who liked the church (and praised its diversity), further said: “Something about the church and Youngkin and the Republican politics in the background felt creepy to us.”

I remember walking out of Holy Trinity Brompton all those years ago - I didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t really the Pentecostal worship. Something in the background felt, well, creepy.

* * * * *

So what does this say about Glenn Youngkin?

It tells me that he isn’t being straightforward about his connections, his intentions, and his political agenda. Youngkin is shaped by a religion that, over the decades, has slowly and surely given its soul to Trump Republicanism, revealing it worst motives of inequality, racism, and authoritarian order. But Youngkin also learned to cloak whatever may be off-putting or seem extreme regarding his faith in regard to politics. He knows how to speak to the secular world and how to use power. The fleece, the smile, the genteel “Anglican roots,” all serve to smooth over an exclusivist and literalist faith, right-wing political activism, and its theo-political quest for the Kingdom of God on earth. It is Christian nationalism with a human face, and carrying a prayer book to boot. All designed to comfort and reassure suburban Virginians that all will be well, especially when the patriarchs regain control.

And it reminds me that I’ve heard someone warn of this before. Oh yes. Jesus.

 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)

Do fleeces count as sheep’s clothing?

 

[GreyhoundFan]

So Trumpkin enriched himself at the expense of taxpayers. I'm so surprised. /s

 

 

I guess he didn't mean himself when he sent this tweet in January:

[GreyhoundFan]

The latest from the embarrassment that is the governor of Virginia. He can't even clap in time.

 

[47of74]

Of course, corrupters gonna corrupt

Quote

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem asked a state ethics board to dismiss a complaint against her without a public hearing and to seal off certain records, documents released Friday by the state’s Government Accountability Board show.

The Republican governor, who is widely seen as eyeing a 2024 White House bid, argued in an April motion that the state’s attorney general, a fellow Republican who filed the complaint, was out for political retribution and should be removed from the complaint. Noem had pushed former Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg to resign and later for his impeachment over his involvement in a fatal car crash.

The attorney general’s complaint was sparked by a report from The Associated Press last year that Noem had taken a hands-on role in a state agency. Shortly after the agency moved to deny her daughter, Kassidy Peters, a real estate appraiser license in July of 2020, Noem held a meeting with Peters and key decision-makers in her licensure. Days after the meeting, Peters signed an agreement that gave her another opportunity to meet the licensing requirements.

The South Dakota Legislature’s audit committee, controlled by Republicans, unanimously approved a report in May that found Noem’s daughter got preferential treatment.