Maureen Caddigan: The adult in the room

MoonHowler

2012 Official Portrait Supervisor Caddigan

Bristowbeat.com:

When the Prince William Board of County Supervisors meet again on Aug. 3, they will vote on whether or not to grant the school board $1 million for class size reduction.

The agreement is contingent upon the school division matching that $1 million with its own $1 million for class size reduction, but not signing upon the school board signing a memorandum of agreement.

Potomac Supervisor, Maureen Caddigan, who proposed the legislation, is willing to approve it even without the MOA. She hopes it will gain support of enough supervisors to pass next week.

At the July 12 Board of County Supervisors meeting, Caddigan withdrew the motion to vote on the $1 million for class size reduction after supervisors disagreed on whether the grant should be accompanied by a the signing of the MOA.

Supervisors Jeanine Lawson (Brentsville-R), Peter Candland (Gainesville-R) and Ruth Anderson (Coles-R) said the supervisors should require the school board put the agreement in writing. With Chairman Corey Stewart (R) and Woodbridge Supervisor Frank Principi (R) absent, it would have likely been a tie vote.

 
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Charges dropped against man accused of murdering Chandra Levy

MoonHowler
F
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Washingtonpost.com:

District prosecutors have dropped charges against the man who had been accused in the murder of Chandra Levy, saying in light of new information it has concluded it can “no longer prove the murder case.”

Prosecutors did not detail what that information is, saying only that it was received in the past week. The suspect, Ingmar Guandique, was set to go to trial in October.

Levy was a 24-year-old intern with the Federal Bureau of Prisons when she disappeared May 1, 2001. The case gained national attention because police investigators at first looked closely at former California congressman Gary A. Condit, with whom Levy had an affair. Authorities later ruled him out as a suspect.

Levy’s remains were found in 2002 in Rock Creek Park. Guandique, who had pleaded guilty to attacking other women in the park, was charged. He was found guilty of Levy’s murder following a 2010 trial, but his conviction was overturned last year and he is set to be tried again in October.

The D.C. Public Defender’s Officer said in a statement that Guandique has “maintained since the beginning, when he passed an FBI administered lie detector test, that he did not kill Ms. Levy.”

“This dismissal vindicates Mr. Guandique. Finally, the government has to concede the flaws in its ill-gotten conviction,” the statement read.

So where does this leave the Levy family, who moved heaven and earth to locate their daughter’s killer?  Will Gary Condit be considered again?   Will he be considered a person of interest?  Will Guandique be deported?  What about the charges from the other women?  There is much that has not been explained.

I have always been a little suspicious of Gary Condit.

We need to watch this story.  So much is going on now with both political conventions and the Olympics beginning.  I hope it does not become buried.  This story is too important.

Trump calls on Russia to hack his opponent’s email

MoonHowler

NYTimes.com:

DORAL, Fla. — Donald J. Trump said Wednesday that he hoped Russia had hacked Hillary Clinton’s email, essentially encouraging an adversarial foreign power’s cyberspying on a secretary of state’s correspondence.

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Mr. Trump said, staring directly into the cameras. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

 Mr. Trump’s call was an extraordinary moment at a time when Russia is being accused of meddling in the U.S. presidential election. His comments came amid questions about the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s computer servers, which researchers have concluded was likely the work of two Russian intelligence agencies.
Later in the news conference, when asked if he was really urging a foreign nation to hack into the private email server of Mrs. Clinton, or at least meddle in the nation’s elections, he dismissed the question. “That’s up to the president,” Mr. Trump said, before finally saying “be quiet” to the female questioner. “Let the president talk to them.”

The Clinton campaign immediately accused Mr. Trump of both encouraging Russian espionage against the United States and meddling in domestic politics.

 “This has to be the first time that a major presidential candidate has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent,” said Jake Sullivan, Mrs. Clinton’s chief foreign policy adviser. “This has gone from being a matter of curiosity, and a matter of politics, to being a national security issue.”
Trump simply works outside the law.  When has any presidential candidate called on a foreign state to spy on his opponent?  I have been around a long time.  I have never seen anything like this thuggery from a candidate.

 

American intelligent agencies believe Russia responsible for hacking DNC documents

MoonHowler

putin

NYTimes.com:

WASHINGTON — American intelligence agencies have told the White House they now have “high confidence” that the Russian government was behind the theft of emails and documents from the Democratic National Committee, according to federal officials who have been briefed on the evidence.

But intelligence agencies have cautioned that they are uncertain whether the electronic break-in at the committee’s computer systems was intended as fairly routine cyberespionage — of the kind the United States also conducts around the world — or as part of an effort to manipulate the 2016 presidential election.

The emails were released by WikiLeaks, whose founder, Julian Assange has made it clear that he hoped to harm Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the presidency. It is unclear how the documents made their way to the group. But a large sampling was published before the WikiLeaks release by several news organizations and someone who called himself “Guccifer 2.0,” who investigators now believe was an agent of the G.R.U., Russia’s military intelligence service.

The assessment by the intelligence community of Russian involvement in the D.N.C. hack, which largely echoes the findings of private cybersecurity firms that have examined the electronic fingerprints left by the intruders, leaves President Obama and his national security aides with a difficult diplomatic and political decision: Whether to publicly accuse the government of President Vladimir V. Putin with engineering the hack.

Is it just me?  Is anyone else concerned that Russia might be attempting to manipulate our national election?   It seems that all the emphasis to date has been to moan and groan over Debbie Wasserman-Schultz putting a weighted thumb on the process.

It’s very concerning to me that any foreign country would attempt to manipulate our elections.  It is even more concerning that one of these countries is Russia.  I guess Putin figures  he would be better off with Trump in charge rather than Hillary.

The Democratic Convention…How’s it working?

MoonHowler

It has begun. It was a rocky start. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, former chair of the DNC is gone. Donna Brazile is in. The Bernies misbehaved, especially the California delegation. Sarah Silverman told them they were ridiculous.

The great speakers of the night were Corey Booker, Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. There was lots of excitement in the air. Hopefully the Bernies have been put in their place and will now play nice with others, especially since Donna Brazile gave a very specific apology.

How, what are others walking away with as they watch?

So let’s talk about Roger Ailes, now the dust has settled

MoonHowler

I postponed this story as it was unraveling. It’s just wrong to show too much glee over someone getting their come-uppins. I always wondered about Gretchen. She’s a smart woman, Stanford grad and no one’s fool. So why did she perform like such a bimbo. Money? Perhaps. I never saw her solo show, just Fox and Friends in the morning. She absolutely was a bimbo.

Now other women have stepped forward, her case is even more validated. What will Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity have to say about all this? Will they stand by her or will they say she is flattering herself or that she “asked for it?”

O’Reilly himself has been accused of sexual harassment. He was sued. Very little is known about the outcome.

So where will Faux News go? Will it continue to be the bastion of ignorance that it always has been? Will it continue to attempt to bring down anyone moderate or liberal? Probably. Perhaps it would do a service and start presenting real conservative ideas rather than mind-sucking its listeners, including many seniors. Maybe it will stop becoming the tool of the GOP.

What do you think?

Jon Stewart does a Trump take-down

MoonHowler

He’s back….at least temporarily!!!!

God, I have missed that man. I needed a Jon Stewart laugh, especially after that convention.

Speaking of which, I think Hillary should recruit Ivanka for her introduction. Ivanka is the most closeted Democrat I have ever hear….or rather not-so-closeted.

What will become of Faux News without Roger Ailes?  Hats off to Gretchen Carlson for delivering the death-blow.  Now I know why a smart woman, Valedictorian of her class, Stanford graduate, acted like such a bimbo.

Perhaps the biggest take-away from the skit:

theDailybeast.com:

“I saw a lot of people on the convention floor with their ‘Blue Lives Matter’ rhetoric who either remained silent or actively fought against the 9/11 first responders’ bill reauthorization,” he continued. “So I see you, and I see your bullshit,”  (triggering CBS’s censors.)

Melania Trump: Just a little plagiarism?

MoonHowler

Nothing wrong with a little plagiarism as long as you don’t get caught. First Lady Wannabe Melania Trump needs a new speech writer–one who uses original words, not plucked from the speech of the current first lady.

Then again, Melania’s competition is Bill Clinton.  I have to admit, she is prettier than he is, just not as smart.

The Trumpers need to get this one behind them and fast.  Campaign manager Paul Manafort will have none of that, according to TPM.com:

Paul Manafort, the chairman of the Donald Trump campaign, on Tuesday morning denied that Melania Trump’s Monday night speech used part of Michelle Obama’s address at the 2008 Democratic convention, arguing that Melania Trump’s speech used “common words.”

“There’s no cribbing of Michelle Obama’s speech,” Manafort said on CNN’s “New Day” when co-host Chris Cuomo asked about the speech “cribbing” from the now-First Lady. “These were common words and values — that she cares about her family, things like that. I mean, she was speaking in front of 35 million people last night. She knew that. To think that she would be cribbing Michelle Obama’s words is crazy.”

Jarrett Hill appeared to be the first to notice that Melania Trump’s speech lifted significant portions from Michelle Obama’s speech, but Manafort blamed reports of plagiarism on Hillary Clinton.

“This is once again an example of when a women threatens Hillary Clinton, how she seeks out to demean her and take her down. It’s not going to work,” he said on CNN.

It seems to me that the video comparison speaks for itself.  The Trump campaign has to own this one.  The denial is pathetic.

 

Police officers ambushed and killed in Baton Rouge

MoonHowler

After Dallas, after Baton Rouge, after so much violence, can we put the myth to bed that keeps telling us that all that is needed is “a good guy with a gun.”

I am sure these officers were well-armed. Their guns didn’t do them a lot of good, did they? The officers are still dead.

The platitude and slogans have to stop. Wayne LaPierre is simply not correct. A good guy with a gun isn’t an instant cure for the violence in this country.

Joseph George: Still Learning the Prince William County Political Landscape

MoonHowler

Guest contributor Joseph George shares his thoughts about the political landscape in Prince William County.  Joseph ran unendorsed for the school board seat in the Neabsco District in the last election.  We hope he continues his county involvement.

 

Still Learning the Prince William County Political Landscape

 

As a person who is still new to the political landscape of PWC, many of the current situations remind me of a circumstance that I became a part of during a leadership training class that I attended:

Two people were having a disagreement.  One person stated that this house had four windows and two doors, where as the other believed the house in question had five windows and one door.  Each side presented diagrams and provided downloads of city permits to validate their perspectives.  When neither side was willing to concede, insults were thrown, challenges of the other’s level of intelligence were made, and conspiracies of a bigger scheme were made.  I decided to intercede by asking what the address of the house in question was.  Upon hearing of the location, I informed them they were both correct, which caused both combatants to look confused.  One was referring to the front side of the house, while the other was referring to the backside of the house.

 

I feel that many of the political conversations over the past several months in PWC have been doing the same thing, defending someone’s perspective, without considering the other’s viewpoint, even becoming venomous in their justification.  The next three situations are solely from my experiences and background.

 

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Candland, Lawson and Anderson attempt to “blackmail” school board

MoonHowler

crowdedclassroom

Insidenova.com:

The Prince William County Board of Supervisors is threatening to cancel a promised $1 million grant to help reduce class sizes in county schools if the school board won’t comply with their request to sign a formal agreement about how the money will be spent.

The school board signed such an agreement last year, but has so far declined to renew it, based in part on advice from their attorney that Virginia law does not permit county officials to dictate how school boards spend local tax dollars.

Still, the school board pledged in their recently approved budget to spend an extra $2 million to continue class-size reduction efforts they began last year. The money includes the promised $1 million grant from the county board as well as the required $1 million in school-division matching funds.

School Board Chairman Ryan Sawyers said Tuesday the school division is already spending the money to hire teachers for the coming school year.

Also, at the supervisors’ request, Prince William Superintendent Steven Walts sent a letter to the supervisors Tuesday reiterating the school board’s commitment to fulfill the terms of the grant.

“The school division, in the spirit of trust and cooperation, funded its $1 million on a recurring basis,” Walts wrote in a letter dated June 16. “Not only are the funds budgeted, but the school division has affirmed its commitment to the program by assuming the risk of authorizing the contracts necessary for applicable staffing to sustain the program in 2017.”

But apparently the “spirit of trust and cooperation” is not flowing both ways.
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Dallas police chief David Brown says cops are asked to do too much!

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

DALLAS — The police chief here said Monday he feels that law enforcement officers across the country are being asked to take on too much, comments that came as his department was still investigating the mass shooting of Dallas police officers last week and protesters in other cities continued demonstrations against how officers use force.

Even as the Dallas police worked to sift through massive amounts of evidence from the shooting rampage that killed five officers — an effort that entails watching hundreds of hours of videos and conducting scores of interviews — David Brown, the Dallas police chief, said he believes officers in his city and nationwide are under too much strain.

“We’re asking cops to do too much in this country,” Brown said at a briefing Monday. “We are. Every societal failure, we put it off on the cops to solve. Not enough mental health funding, let the cops handle it. Here in Dallas we got a loose dog problem; let’s have the cops chase loose dogs. Schools fail, let’s give it to the cops. That’s too much to ask. Policing was never meant to solve all those problems.”

If cops are being asked to do too much nation-wide, I also throw in that teachers are asked to do too much.

How about it?  Are cops asked to do too much?  Our cops here in Prince William County often have a masters degree.  They are highly educated and highly skilled.  They are held to tough standards.  These folks are hardly getting  rich.

What are things that cops must do today that 50 years ago were just unheard of?

Stewart’s statements disavowed by the Trump campaign

MoonHowler

I hesitate to post this.  I feel certain Corey will want to walk his words back at some point.  I will do so upon request.

Washingtonpost.com:

RICHMOND — The chairman of Donald Trump’s Virginia campaign on Friday placed responsibility for a police massacre in Dallas on Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton and another Democrat, Virginia Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam.

Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey A. Stewart (R), who like Northam is planning to run for governor in 2017, posted an article about Thursday’s slayings on Facebook early Friday, along with this comment:

“Liberal politicians who label police as racists — specifically Hillary Clinton and Virginia Lt. Governor Ralph Northam — are to blame for essentially encouraging the murder of these police officers tonight.”

Trump’s campaign disavowed the post, issuing a statement through John Fredericks, host of a conservative radio talk show and vice chairman of Trump’s Virginia campaign.

 

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