Roscoe Reynolds Authored Senate Version Of Civil Remedial Fees

When asked about recent legislation soon to go into effect in Virginia which places very high fees upon certain driving offenses Jeff Evans, candidate for the 20th Senate District said, "This was evidently not very well thought out. Of course it will place an undue burden on many of our low income citizens, and cause many more to simply ignore the law and place themselves in danger of serving jail time. Even worse, it only applies to Virginia residents, that is just not right. It must be amended as soon as possible in the next General Assembly, and I will work hard to do just that."

"But more importantly, in a recent interview with the Martinsville Bulletin, Roscoe Reynolds does not acknowledge the fact that he was the sole patron of this legislation in the Senate, claiming instead to oppose the new law."

"I understand that during a busy Senate Session things are sometimes overlooked, but Roscoe knew from the start that HB 3202 (the final Transportation compromise bill) contained these "civil remedial fees" because he himself introduced them to the Senate," Evans stated
[link to SB1196]

From the Martinsville Bulletin

Sunday, June 24, 2007
By SHAWN HOPKINS - Bulletin Staff Writer;

State Sen. Roscoe Reynolds, D-Ridgeway, said he can foresee serious potential problems with the new law. Those consequences are that people will lose their licenses because they cannot pay the large fines, be forced to drive anyway because they must work and then end up in jail, where they will become an additional drain on taxpayers.

[link to article ]

"In that article Reynolds also said the measure was not his first, second or third choice to provide more transportation funding, adding it was unfair to call the new law a compromise, saying that in a compromise both sides get something they want," Evans said.

"Also Reynolds is quoted in the article saying, 'You had two choices, either do something like that or do nothing.'

Evans concluded with the statement, "What my opponent does not say during that interview, and the Bulletin never mentions, is the fact that this legislation, which he now claims to abhor, was introduced in the Senate on January 10, 2007 by Senator W. Roscoe Reynolds himself ".

small "g" gods abound...

And all are evil.

Matthew 7:15-20 (King James Version)
King James Version (KJV)

15) Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

16) Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

17) Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18) A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19) Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

20) Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.



Intro translation;

We declare:

Saint Hans’ Eve has always celebrated the tradition of burning away the evil, in earlier times symbolized by the witch, who was supposedly directly connected to Satan. And if the witch was not burned then the harvest could not be safely brought into the house.

Now a new evil has arrived in Europe, an evil that lies and kills in the name of their so-called god. An evil that springs from the so-called prophet Mohammed. Therefore, in our time, it is he who symbolizes evil and it is not just one harvest that will disappear, but all of Western Europe’s future that will vanish if this evil is not dispatched to Hell.

Therefore will we burn the so-called prophet Mohammed, on June 23, 2007, in three nameless places.

We burned Mohammed in three different places across the country. We now release the video from the first burning. The next videos will be released on July 23 and August 23.

For a Mohammed-free Denmark!!!

For background on Islam, read;
Genesis 16:11-12 (King James Version)
King James Version (KJV)

11) And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.

12) And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

H/T Gates of Vienna

Excuse Me, Are My Knuckles Dragging?

I'm easily amused I suppose.

Here in Henry County we have a very diverse media. On the far left is the Martinsville Bulletin, a locally owned newspaper that makes no attempt to hide its owners liberal/Democratic bias. Oh, Ginny Wray, the paper's capable, dedicated, and hard working editor, will deny any bias, but there is never any real attempt to hide it.

On the other hand is a local cable access channel that can best be described as "eccentric" I suppose. The owner of this media outlet first gained fame in Henry County when he was stopped for speeding and some stolen video production equipment was discovered in his car. Soon after that he launched Media Six, a cable access television station in Martinsville. After several brushes with the law and a successful libel suit brought by a local prosecutor, his raucous, yet refreshingly honest brand of journalism is still on cable here in Henry County.

Somewhere in-between is the subject of my current amusement.

Bill Wyatt is the owner/producer/director/on-air-talent/janitor/bottle-washer-in-charge of several local media outlets. Two AM radio stations, a small, non-affiliated broadcast television station, an on-line daily newspaper/blog, and an on-line community forum constitute the Wyatt journalism empire. He's practically a one man media conglomerate.

A few days ago, during a typical Bill Wyatt monologue about how much fairer and balanced-er he is than the Martinsville Bulletin, and for no apparent reason, Bill launched into a diatribe directed toward this writer. Yep, me.

I first learned of this on Tuesday of last week when someone in Martinsville told me about it. You see, Bill's media empire does not extend into Patrick County where I work. At least not very far into Patrick County. Oh, on some days, when the atmospheric conditions are just right and your car is pointing in a favorable direction, his little AM station can be heard on certain sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway, but that area is a half mile high and in direct line of sight with the broadcast tower in Chatham Heights.

Anyway, I called badrose that evening and asked her to set up her recorder in order to see if the inevitable nightly repeat broadcast could be captured. She did, it was, and we finally found time yesterday to sit down and watch the show.

Did I mention that it was amusing? I'll have audio posted on here in a day or so. I may even risk further antagonizing Bill by posting a YouTube video. But for now I'll just hit the high spots.

Bill and I have never met. Other than a couple of calls to his evening talk show, I don't think we've ever had a phone conversation. We have corresponded via email on several occasions, though, but I repeat, we've never met. Nevertheless, his monologue consisted primarily of a long description of me. According to Bill Wyatt I am, "...a big, lumbering, man."

Those of you who know me are aware that it would take someone of very small stature to even consider calling me "big", and as to the "lumbering" part, I also plead innocent. While I'm certainly not as graceful as I once was, I am quite proud of the fact that I was an accomplished figure skater during the years that I also played hockey. No Bill, while I may seem big to you, I'm definitely not lumbering.

I do take a certain amount of pride in knowing that Bill considers me to be, "...one of the area's staunchest Republicans." But I take a small amount of offense at being described as "...a man who absolutely hates Roscoe Reynolds." Bill, I most certainly do not hate Senator Reynolds. I feel strongly that he has not risen to any acceptable level of competence while representing this area in the General Assembly, and I dislike the condescending air he takes on when speaking to the folks in Henry County, but I will maintain that he was a more than adequate Prosecutor for this area. Hate him? Of course not. But I do wish to retire him from the Senate.

Next I was described as a "wolf in sheep's clothing, but with a very large knife behind his back". Of course, Bill quickly pointed out that the knife was merely a metaphor, but I have no idea where he gets the wolf part. To my knowledge I've never betrayed Bill in any way, with the possible exception being that one time long ago when I pointed out a small lapse of journalistic ethics on Bill's part. But that was long ago and Bill immediately corrected the article in question. I hold no grudge of any sort over from that incident, and I would assume Bill doesn't either.

There's much more, and I promise to have audio here soon. Only then will you, my readers, be able to enjoy the full comedic impact of the monologue. Until then, I'll be lumbering off with knuckles dragging and a large knife tucked into my belt. See you soon.

Drop The Screwdriver, Lady...

...and nobody will get hurt. Lay down the hammer, step away from the paint buckets, and walk slowly toward your keyboard. Write something.

Badrose has been working on a small renovation to her home lately and has neglected her blog. Go encourage her to hit the keyboard for a while instead of nails.

Sorry, it never occurred to either of us to take "before" photos, but you may see some "after" shots here or at badroseblog.com

The Latest Reports Are Posted

Fund raising here in the 20th District is difficult. After losing thousands of good paying jobs during Senator Reynolds' tenure, the people of the 20th District are enthusiastically supportive of the Jeff Evans campaign. But they must decide which is more important, a small campaign contribution or the kid's bologna sandwiches. Bologna wins almost every time.

Another very important factor to consider is that since well before the era of A.L. Philpott there has never been a strong Republican candidate in this 6 county area, Virgil Goode is the exception, of course, but Virgil became well known as a very conservative Democrat long before he was a Republican. Our locally grown Republicans are not "cheap", they are simply unsure of how to financially support a viable candidate.

The latest VSBE report from each candidate is quite telling. Senator Reynolds raised much more cash, of course. He received many thousands of dollars from wealthy single interest groups throughout the state, even some from outside the state.

The best gauge of a candidate's effectiveness though, is local dollars raised. It's a good method of "keeping score" and a way to determine if the candidate is getting his message out to his potential constituents. On that score Jeff Evans is doing an excellent job, as evidenced by the fact that Jeff Evans' local supporters outperformed Senator Reynolds' by a margin of over two to one, or 201.35%.

Campaign contributions can indicate something else as well, the level of anxiety present in the campaign and it's party backers. During the previous reporting cycle Tim Kaine's Moving Virginia Forward PAC sent Roscoe a $20,000 check. That cycle also saw the Senate Democratic Caucus pay for "opposition research" by S&W Capitol Advisors, an Austin, Texas firm. (Which is yet to be reported as an "in-kind" contribution, by the way). The current report shows the Democratic Party of Virginia putting up the funds to pay for an extremely negative push-poll in the Henry County area. This shows that the Democratic Party is concerned that their incumbent is not up to the challenge of holding his Senate seat, and in typical Democratic Party fashion, the way to solve the problem is to throw other people's money at it.

Throwing money around won't overcome Senator Reynolds' serious shortcomings. After years of neglecting his 20th District constituents, and quite frankly, being a condescending oaf whenever he is forced to spend time with them, Roscoe Reynolds is not well liked in his district. We are not in a major TV market, and voters here know well the bias of the local newspapers, so personal contact is the single best way to get a candidate known out here. Jeff Evans excels at that aspect of campaigning, having spent every available minute attending Rotary Club breakfasts and other such events since October, and it shows in this latest report and his two-to-one fund raising advantage.

My Caricature

Some readers of this blog who have seen me just prior to my semi-annual haircut/grooming will recognize the little guy I just placed on the header of this blog.

So Carl, Chris, badrose, have I captured the essence of the character?