Jeannemarie, Chap Court Gay Voters

Re: When Donna Henshaw votes for Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis on Nov. 6, it will be the first time the 51-year-old has ever voted for a Republican.

Is this the way the paper "acts" to endorse Davis?

>>The issue of gay rights has less to do with political party affiliation and more to do with regional affiliation, said Devolites Davis.

This is her tunnel vision of Virginia state politics, the good old boys down south vs. progressive liberals up north. True enough as far as it goes but that's just Virginia. Chap is right in that the bigger picture is nationwide... worldwide... where the Democrats lead on this issue. The only consequence in Henshaw attempting to endorse Davis may be to throw some intellectually lazy votes her way, but this will amount to no difference for gay rights in Virginia since both candidates are equally moderate and repressed, and state politics are dominated by the good old boys down south. At least Chap is calling it like it is for himself AND for his party, and for his prospective constituents, while Jeannemarie continues in her personal/political identity crisis.

The big question is, 'Who is Henshaw to me and why is her singular bias being broadly published as a blatant political endorsement for the entrenched incumbant?'. There's a Republican backstory here! They sure are trying hard to hit Chap from every possible angle. With three plus weeks to go, expect Jeannemarie to keep wallowing in the mud.

Jeannemarie, Tom, Maud, Jane - they're all in this stinky political machine together.

I wonder how Steve Shannon fits in the picture?

And what does THIS have to do with traffic? I think people who are gay, straight, and in between all sit in traffic, and are faced with most of the same issues. Let's keep an eye on the big picture!

I would advise Chap to keep an eye on the voting process... Vienna has already shown its willingness to allow for the voting process to be corrupt. I would make sure there are people in the voting areas that have an interest in Chap's votes, to insure that something like what happened to Stich and Brehoney doesn't get repeated with Chap.

I was appalled to learn that Jeanemarie Davis did absolutely nothing when she learned that there was widespread corruption in the last Vienna elections. I voted for her in the past, but I will never ever do so again, and that goes for TD too, sad to say. I would like to see Warner take Warner's seat in the Senate, if only because he seems to be a very conservative person, and has less ties with the likes of the corrupt bunch of people we have running the show here in Vienna.

I agree with TG, who the hell is Henshaw? and what difference does she make? Is she supposed to be some kind of guru? I suspect not, and based on this paper's track record, it's probably scripted to reveal a good light on JMDD, which, is a joke, if you want my opinion.

Devolites Davis said personal experiences had caused her to rethink some stances.

"I have four daughters, one of which has been in trouble. It has opened my eyes to other things," said Devolites Davis.

A bank-robbing-serving-jail-time-daughter really does make you rethink the whole gay thing. They're all just law-breaking criminals on the fast track to hell who deserve some forgiveness along the way?

Seriously, Jeannemarie, where were you going with that one?!

I can't vote for Jeannemarie Devolites Davis this year, either.

I lost all respect for Jeannemarie when she allowed Maud Robinson and Jane Seeman's friends to tamper with voters and their votes last election day.

I thought Stich was a big Republican where is her sign?

"I have four daughters, one of which has been in trouble. It has opened my eyes to other things," said Devolites Davis.

A glimpse into her personal affairs. Unfortunately, Jeannemarie, your awakening comes a bit late for your four daughters, as is often the case. With three still underway, I suggest you pursue the silver lining in your political defeat. You can set politics aside and work on those 'other things you now see'... start by just being there. Groveling for the gay vote is of no service to your family... nor your party or anyone else for that matter.

Sounds like Jeannemarie has the Mad Maud/Mayor Boob affliction when it comes to cameras. Where are those fantastic pictures of these two holding up paper over their faces at Town Council meetings?!

Petersen-Davis debate canceled

Fairfax County
By Frank Mustac
Source: Fairfax County Times
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10 2007
UPDATED WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10 2007

A planned Monday debate in Fairfax City between the two candidates running for the 34th District state senate seat was canceled, and the main reason seems to be video technology.

Incumbent Republican Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis said she had made a request that no video cameras be permitted in Old Town Hall during the debate, other than those from media organizations and the city's cable television station.

The campaign of her Democratic opponent, former state delegate Chap Petersen, would not accept the condition, so the decision to cancel the debate was made on Friday, Oct. 5. Petersen wanted anyone to be able to videotape the event.

The Petersen campaign, Devolites Davis said, had previously edited and distributed video clips of her speaking at a September candidates forum at Thoreau Middle School in Vienna. The clips were posted on the popular Internet Web site YouTube.com.

"It's been cut and pasted, and I'm not going to subscribe to that," Devolites Davis said on Monday. "Chap's campaign has done this to me twice now."

"I can't trust his campaign to be honest," Devolites Davis said. "I just have to put my foot down."

Instead of the debate, which originally was to be sponsored jointly by the Republican and Democratic committees of the City of Fairfax, Petersen on Monday evening held a town-hall-style meeting at the same venue.

"We had a debate scheduled. My opponent pulled out," Petersen said on Monday evening to about 40 people gathered inside Old Town Hall.

He said he was disappointed that the debate, which was to be the only joint appearance by the two candidates in Fairfax City, would not take place, and that voters deserved to hear both candidates.

"I always tell people, it doesn't matter how thin the pancake is, there's always two sides," Petersen said.

Aside from the videotaping controversy in what appears to be a very close race, according to each candidate's own polling, voters in the 34th District, which includes all of Fairfax City and Vienna and surrounding areas of Fairfax County, have received a number of glossy campaign literature pieces from both candidates.

One of the latest is a piece from the Devolites Davis campaign giving a failing grade to Petersen on ethics, saying that the national law firm Petersen was a partner in up until about 2005 lobbied for Enron Corp. and the Bechtel Corp., a company involved in the proposed project to build rail to Washington Dulles International Airport through Tyson Corner.

"They do a tremendous amount of lobbying," Devolites Davis said to The Times in September. "He was with them the entire time he was with the House of Delegates. To me, there is an integrity issue."

Her opponent's campaign said that none of Petersen's old law firm's clients, including any of Petersen's own clients, had lobbied the Virginia state government while the candidate was employed with the firm.

Devolites Davis' recent campaign mailer comes on the heels of one sent out by Petersen stating that he would sponsor laws to crack down on legislators receiving what was described in the mailer as "unearned income" from lobbyists.

The Republican's name does not appear in the mailer, but the Petersen campaign piece may have been prompted by a 2006 article in the Washington Post that says Devolites Davis works for a consulting firm that has close ties to her husband, U.S. Rep. Tom Davis (R-11th) and which also does business with the federal government.

"I'm running against someone who is employed by a lobbyist," Petersen told The Times.

The next scheduled candidates forum to include Devolites Davis and Petersen is set for Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 7:30 p.m. at Mantua Elementary School, 9107 Horner Court in Fairfax.

Believe it or not, many Republicans will not be voting for Jeannemarie this fall. Blind party loyalty does not determine how I will vote.

everyone must watch this at least 1x per week until elections:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSwsX5HV57U

Davis: "Incumbent Republican Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis said she had made a request that no video cameras be permitted in Old Town Hall during the debate, other than those from media organizations and the city's cable television station."

Is she really an American? Sounds like Maud and Seeman on issues of documentation of Town Hall Meetings. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!

For the Virginia Senate
Control of the upper house is in the balance, and some key races are in Northern Virginia.

Monday, October 15, 2007; Page A14

AFTER A DECADE of Republican control, the Virginia Senate is up for grabs this year in a state that has tilted Democratic in several recent elections. With all 40 Senate seats (and much else) on the ballot Nov. 6, several of the key races are in Northern Virginia, whose political muscle in the General Assembly has not kept pace with its economic weight and exploding population. It's vital that the region field a strong legislative delegation for the coming battles in Richmond over transportation and education funding, illegal immigration, deficit-cutting, and more. The Post's endorsements in contested Senate races appear below in bold type.

District 34 : Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis , first elected to the legislature as a conservative Republican, has scrambled to reposition herself as this Fairfa x County district has turned solidly Democratic. Her transformation has prompted knowing smiles from politicos, but it's certainly been energetic: This year she pushed hard to persuade hard-liners in her own party to accept a $400 million transportation funding plan for Northern Virginia. Breaking again with GOP orthodoxy, she's also backed more extensive background checks for gun buyers. In the year's most closely watched and expensive Senate contest, she faces Democrat Chap Petersen, a tough-minded, intelligent former state delegate whom we've backed in past races for other offices. In this campaign, though, Ms. Devolites Davis, a competent, hardworking legislator, has the edge and deserves reelection.

Witnessed at Louise Archer Elementary: Jeannemarie Devolites Davis and Tom Davis refused to pay $5/each to attend the PTA sponsored Sock Hop on Friday evening. Seems that when you are "just stopping by" for a little campaigning, you do not need to pay. The poor woman collecting the tickets was so confused that JDD refused to pay. The other ticket collector told her "That's JDD and TD." I'm not really sure how that's gets you free admission ...

Anyone else think they need to send a $10 check made out to the LA PTA specifically earmarked for the Sock Hop?! This was an event for children not a place for TD and JDD to collect a few extra votes.

In the year's most closely watched and expensive Senate contest, she faces Democrat Chap Petersen, a tough-minded, intelligent former state delegate whom we've backed in past races for other offices. In this campaign, though, Ms. Devolites Davis, a competent, hardworking legislator, has the edge and deserves reelection.

She has "the edge"? Gee, would that be that she sleeps with our congressman and works for his lobbyist buddies in a political system that is so out of wack that it has the local liberal rag flip-flopping for the local Republican with the pointed rationale, she has "the edge"? Let me be more blunt... she cheated her family, she is cheating the system, and she is cheating her party's values to get re-elected... she does not deserve to continue representing northern Virginia in state government no matter how connected she is and no matter how reluctant all of her vested political action groups are to lobby and recruit a new candidate to their cause. She can scramble, reposition, and transform... lie, cheat, and steal... with all of the energy she has got, but she does NOT deserve to be re-elected to represent northern Virginia. It is always time to set a higher standard for public office!

Witnessed at Louise Archer Elementary: Jeannemarie Devolites Davis and Tom Davis refused to pay $5/each to attend the PTA sponsored Sock Hop on Friday evening. Seems that when you are "just stopping by" for a little campaigning, you do not need to pay.

Gee, Tom and Jeannemarie cheated an event admission fee. Why am I not surprised! Maybe that was just their idea of a hot Friday night date... campaigning together at the public's expense. Is gate crasher Tom even running for office, or was he just sneaking around with Jeannemarie again?

Wow Town Green - great post!

JMDD is not the only one in her family to take advantage of their position in the government.

I had my own run-in with Tom Davis when I worked for a federal government contractor.

Tom was on the committee that oversaw my government client. Reps from his office let me know that Tom Davis wanted me to bring on another company owned by big-time Davis campaign contributors as a sub-contractor. The work they were proposing to conduct would have violated the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act of 2001.

I refused, and told them why I would not hire said company to perform illegal work.

I also told Tom Davis' reps that I was a constituent, and that I was pissed that they were trying to strong-arm me into doing something illegal and a waste of tax-payer dollars. I also told them that I was going to call the media if I ever heard from his office again on this issue.

Thank you to the Prince William County Board of Supervisors for displaying the courage to stand-up against illegal invaders and turncoat sympathizers... if only we had more politicians like these to vote for in No. VA.

Making Virginia "legal" one town at a time.

With Prince William's vote two nights ago citizens in Fairfax need to be concerned. Please note that Gerry Connelly considers Fairfax County a sanctuary, and does not consider working with surrounding Counties important. I guess he is like our TC and gets a check minus in working well with others. Vote him out!

Candidates debate in Vienna

Frank Mustac
They verbally poked, prodded and jabbed at one another, but for the most part, the two candidates for the 34th District state Senate seat who faced one another in Vienna last week talked about the issues.

Incumbent Republican Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis and her Democratic opponent Chap Petersen stood in front of more than 50 people in attendance at the American Legion Post 180 on North Center Street during an evening candidates forum on Oct. 18 sponsored by the Ladies Auxiliary.

On her home turf in the town where she lives with with her husband, U.S. Rep. Tom Davis (R-11th), Devolites Davis touted her 10-year tenure in the Virginia General Assembly as both a senator for the past four years and as delegate previous to that, telling the audience she was the main patron of more than 140 bills during that time.

"I was the chief sponsor who created [our] famous SCHIP program in Virginia, which is currently providing health care for 90,000 children in working poor families in Virginia who didn't have health care before," Devolites Davis said, referring to the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Petersen, who is a lawyer, a former Fairfax City councilman, and a former state delegate who ran for lieutenant governor in 2005, spoke about spreading the tax burden for transportation projects equitably across the state.

He was critical of provisions in the state-funding package for roads and rail, sponsored by Devolites Davis and passed earlier this year, that increase the grantor's tax, a surcharge on residential real estate sales, as well as a local option to increase an annual commercial real estate fee.

Petersen also called for increasing the gasoline tax so that out-of-state drivers who also use Northern Virginia's congested roads could pay their share.

"I am not satisfied and I will not be satisfied that what was passed this year in the General Assembly was fair, because what it does, it takes money out of the real estate property tax base and does not spread it equally across the state or across the people that use our roads," Petersen said.

Devolites Davis corrected Petersen, who told the audience that the grantor's tax on the sale of a $500,000 home, at 40 cents per $100 of value, would be $20,000.

"I have to do a little correction in math," she said. "When you sell your house for a half a million dollars, you don't pay $20,000 in grantor's tax, you pay $2,000. There's an $18,000 difference there."

"You know I am proud of the transportation bill," Devolites Davis said. "We built that consensus and we brought the money home."

Perhaps the most heated exchange came when the moderator asked about accusations made by each candidate that their opponent was previously or currently employed by companies that perform lobbying services.

Devolites Davis said that Petersen during his four years in the House of Delegates failed to disclose all the clients his former law firm had provided services for in Virginia, "which is an ethics violation," Devolites Davis said.

"If I disclosed all of the firm's clients, I would have put in a disclosure the size of a telephone book. That's not what the state law requires," Petersen said about his former employer, the national law firm Bracewell & Patterson, now known as Bracewell & Giuliani.

"My opponent's in a different situation, because she actually has a job in which the purpose of her firm is to give access to the leadership in Congress," said Petersen, referring to his opponent's current employer, ICG Government.

"My husband brought my job to the ethics committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, and they ruled that I was not doing anything unethical and that I was not doing business with Congress," Devolites Davis said.

For a complete transcript of the Oct. 18 debate between Devolites Davis and Petersen, visit www.FairfaxTimes.com.

A little history about parenting.

Mothers don't get to choose their children's future as former Democratic presidential candidate and former Sen. George McGovern sadly learned when his alcoholic daughter died on the snowy streets.

This buzz about Devolites daughter is absolutely reprehensible. And anyone who posts the details is a troll of the vilest kind.

Oh and glad to note that comments are reviewed "for approval by the blog owner."

This just makes the entire sad saga hunky dory, no doubt.

>>Mothers don't get to choose their children's future

Actually, it's 'children don't get to choose their parents'. And parenting goes a long way toward deciding what choices your child makes in their life. Choosing armed robbery suggests no respect for one's parents.

>>This buzz about Devolites daughter is absolutely reprehensible. And anyone who posts the details is a troll of the vilest kind.

What buzz? It's reported in the Washington Post.

Mimi Schaeffer:

Is this your blog post?

ponder the fact that for some folks, a life of crime is preordained; and any capable and ambitious prosecutor like Ebert can have an embarrassment of riches as a result.

For instance, when Mr. Andrews was a tyke and his mother was abusing drugs and his step-father was beating him to a pulp and his father was on death row, who protected the vulnerable lad from the world...?

The Washington Post reports:

[D]efense attorneys [argued that] Andrews' actions stemmed from a deeply troubled childhood. Andrews had a father on death row, a drug-addicted mother who often left her three sons to fend for themselves and an abusive step-father.
Not exactly the picture of an idyllic childhood. Moreover, if proponents of the ultimate punishment are right and murderers are deterred by capital punishment, how did Mr. Andrews become a hardened criminal with his father as the textbook example of deterrence?

The answer lies that if you have an at-risk child from a poor, abusive family with little by way of social services, once they reach adulthood, the mean streets will take their toll.

Like weeds in unattended lots, too many children are left to fend for themselves; and as adults, we then incarcerate or execute them because they grew wild as blazes.

Until we learn to protect our offspring from the scourge of poverty, illiteracy, missing fathers and broken families, the cycle of violence continues -- unabated.

If these are your words, it would appear that your advocacy against the death penalty highlights the role of family, parents, and parenting in shaping children into criminals... and that society must show compassion toward such criminals, not execute them. Fair enough.. society should so consider the role of the parents of criminal children... and then perhaps choose not to re-elect them as their representative in public office.

I suggest that in your zeal to abolish the death penalty... to defend the defendable... you have overlooked your own "little history about parenting"... perhaps because it is so sanitized... so stereotypically cast among the poor and underprivileged. Maybe in this case, money and priviledge have nothing to do with it... or, maybe they have everything to do with it.