Tag Archives: Kerry Dougherty

McAuliffe’s COVID Lies Are an Ominous SIgn

Posted on October 27, 2021 by | 5 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

Politicians lie. We all know that.

But Terry McAuliffe is a special kind of liar. Not only does he prevaricate about Glenn Youngkin’s policy positions, but he deliberately spreads falsehoods about the severity of Covid-19 in Virginia.

Don’t take my word for it. The Washington Post just gave him FOUR Pinocchios for his continuing gross exaggerations about Covid.

In a piece headlined, “Terry McAuliffe Keeps Inflating Coronavirus Numbers,” the Post’s Glenn Kessler expressed astonishment that the Democrat keeps repeating wildly exaggerated numbers even after he’s been called out for it and his staff admits his numbers are way off.

We first became interested in this issue when McAuliffe in the second and final debate on Sept. 28 said that there were 8,000 coronavirus cases “yesterday in Virginia.” He then repeated the statement the next day and a week later, on Oct. 7.

But when we checked the records, you had to go back to January to find a single day when a combination of confirmed and probable cases in Virginia got close to 8,000. On Sept. 27, there were fewer than 2,000 confirmed cases…

Continue reading →

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Posted in Elections

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Another Let-Em-Out-of-Prison Campaign by the Press

Posted on October 26, 2021 by | 6 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

In a news story dripping with undisguised advocacy, the Virginian-Pilot last weekend published a piece practically begging for the early release from prison of a man serving 80 years for a string of armed robberies in 1997.

“His debt is paid, Portsmouth Man Fights For Pardon Of 80-Year-Sentence,” screamed the headline.

Virginia abolished parole in 1995 and only felons sentenced before that date or are old enough to qualify as geriatrics are sprung early. The Virginia Parole Board’s outrageous release of at least eight killers and other violent felons last year turned into a political scandal as the self-described bleeding hearts on that board acted with unbridled arrogance, wantonly breaking rules to get criminals out of prison.

That out-of-control Parole Board consisted of a mixture of members appointed by Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam.

Felons sentenced after the abolition of parole have two ways out of prison: escape or petition the governor to grant a pardon.

Northam has turned into a one-man parole board, freeing 604 prisoners so far — more than the past nine Virginia governors together, according to the newspaper. In other words, Northam casually substitutes his judgment for that of Virginia’s judges and juries, which had their reasons for handing down lengthy sentences.

Lucky us. Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in Crime , corrections and law enforcement

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Out-of-State Surrogates Are Coming!

Posted on October 25, 2021 by | 20 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

Here it is. Another sign of Democratic desperation.

I’m talking about this parade of out-of-state lefties coming to Virginia to demand we vote for Terry McAuliffe.

While Glenn Youngkin goes from overflow crowd to overflow crowd with a positive message for the future of Virginia: no grocery tax, more money for education, no CRT in schools, no return of parole, an increasingly frenzied McAuliffe screams two words over and over: “Trump” and “abortion.”

It’s ghoulish. And it’s as if he’s written off independents and centrists. McAuliffe is appealing to his base.

For instance, former President Barack Obama was in Virginia this weekend and in his peculiar sneering way lectured us about a “phony” culture war:

“We don’t have time to be wasted on these phony trumped-up culture wars, this fake outrage the right-wing media peddles to juice their ratings.”

Phony? Continue reading →

20 Comments

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Richmond Schools Closing Due to Teacher Burnout?

Posted on October 22, 2021 by | 5 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

Is anyone looking out for the kids? Does the welfare of students ever enter into decisions made by school and government officials?

Not often. Definitely not in Richmond.

On Wednesday, with less than two weeks notice, Superintendent of Richmond Public Schools, Jason Kamras, announced that he was closing schools for the entire first week of November.

Why? To give teachers a mental health break.

Oh, please.

They sat home for more than a year and two consecutive months of in-person teaching is wearing educators out? Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Education (K-12)

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McAuliffe Unhinged

Posted on October 20, 2021 by | 14 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

This is what happens when Democrat Terry McAuliffe gets tough questions from the press instead of his customary tongue bath:

This interview was taped last week by an ABC affiliate in Washington, WJLA 7News. The reporter, Nick Minock, interviewed Glenn Youngkin and McAuliffe, giving each candidate 20 minutes. McAuliffe stormed off after just 10 minutes, berating the reporter for not asking better questions as he left.

Not a good look. Continue reading →

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A New Low: Sleazy Attempt to Get Youngkin Voters to Stay Home

Posted on October 19, 2021 by | 20 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

There are all sorts of slimy political campaigns. There are campaigns that try to scare folks into voting against a candidate. There are campaigns built on distortions and outright lies.

Perhaps the most repulsive campaigns are those that engage in subterfuge to try to discourage citizens from voting.

Voter suppression is profoundly undemocratic. Surely we can all agree about that.

Yet we learned this week that Dominion Power gave generously to a shadowy PAC that has exactly one purpose: to pretend that conservatives are unhappy with Glenn Youngkin’s stand on guns in an attempt to convince rural Virginians to stay home in November.

Sick. Continue reading →

20 Comments

Posted in Elections

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McAuliffe Tries to Change the Subject

Posted on October 15, 2021 by | 3 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

Lemme get this straight, a band of far-right fanatics held a rally in Glen Allen Wednesday night and the governor of Virginia held a press conference the next day to demand that GOP candidate for governor Glenn Youngkin denounce them?

News flash, Gov. Northam: Youngkin wasn’t there. It wasn’t his rally. He had nothing to do with it.

Nice try, though.

At this point Ralph Northam is nothing more than a lame duck political hack trying to breathe life into Terry McAuliffe’s lackluster campaign. Never mind that during the 2019 Blackface Scandal McAuliffe told Northam to resign.

That’s just shoe polish under the bridge now. Continue reading →

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Posted in Elections, Politics

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Did Loudoun School Officials Cover up a Rape?

Posted on October 13, 2021 by | 11 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

In the winter of 2020 I had several heated arguments about HB257, which was introduced by Newport News Democrat Mike Mullen, approved by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Ralph Northam.

Here’s a news story where Mullen proudly touted his soft-on-crime bills.

One of those abolished the requirement that all criminal activity on school property had to be reported to the police.

Proponents of the measure claimed that principals were calling the cops to break up fistfights and as a result, minor skirmishes were escalating into criminal matters.

On March 12, 2020 Ralph Northam signed the bill into law, over the objections of many, including Virginia Beach’s Victoria Manning, according to WAVY-TV 10.

Virginia Beach School Board member Vicky Manning feels the law doesn’t help the lack of trust in the disciplinary process. Continue reading →

11 Comments

Posted in Crime , corrections and law enforcement, Education (K-12)

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Bedlam at Southwest Airlines

Posted on October 12, 2021 by | 11 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

At the risk of sounding like a paid Southwest Airlines P.R. person, I can truthfully say it’s my favorite airline.

No change fees. Two bags fly free. Decent fares if you book early enough.

Best of all, Southwest flies out of our sad little airport.

Those perks are nice, but what impressed me most was the time I was in the Norfolk boarding area, peered out the window and saw the pilot on the tarmac, helping the baggage handlers load the plane.

I asked another SWA pilot about the incident and he assured me it wasn’t uncommon. The goal is to get the aircraft turned around quickly. Everyone pitches in.

I’m a sports fan. I like teamwork wherever I find it. Continue reading →

11 Comments

Posted in Public safety & health, Transportation

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Desperate Dems Demand Medical Records

Posted on October 8, 2021 by | 18 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

Oh look. Desperate Virginia Democrats — along with their pals in the media — are trying to weaponize COVID-19 vaccines against what appears to be a resurgent Republican Party in the commonwealth.

It isn’t enough that gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin has said REPEATEDLY that he’s vaccinated, that he believes Virginians should be vaccinated and has even recorded a public service announcement urging his fellow Virginians to take the vaccine so the commonwealth can be open and prosper.

Nope. That isn’t good enough for the lockdown-loving authoritarians on the far left.

Terry McAuliffe maliciously refers to Youngkin as an “anti-vaxxer” because the GOP candidate doesn’t believe the government should be forcing people to be vaccinated. Continue reading →

18 Comments

Posted in Individual rights

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Virginia Beach: Will Cronyism Make a Comeback?

Posted on October 5, 2021 by | 2 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

Do you ever find yourself longing for the days of rampant, in-your-face, shameless cronyism in Virginia Beach?

Ever wish the Three Amigos were still on city council fetching water for their favorite developers?

Ever miss the days when the city’s business was conducted in secret with public votes just for show?

You may be in luck. Virginia Beach City Council is picking a replacement tonight for long-time Councilman Jim Wood who suddenly quit last month because of business demands.

Among the candidates is Linwood Branch, one of the Three Amigos, a trio of council members who were exceptionally developer-friendly. In fact, my former column-writing colleague, Dave Addis, once referred to Branch as a “goat boy” for the developers. Continue reading →

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Posted in Politics, Transparency

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Youngkin V. McAuliffe

Posted on September 29, 2021 by | 21 comments

Photo credit: Fauquier Now

by Kerry Dougherty

No one who knows my political leanings would expect me to watch a debate between Glenn Youngkin and Terry McAuliffe and declare the Democrat the winner.

And I’m not going to do that.

But I was worried before the cameras rolled. I’ve met McAuliffe. I’ve seen him work a room. The guy Larry Sabato once dismissively called “a bag man for the Clintons” can be rather charming.

That Terry McAuliffe was not on stage last night.

In his place was a man who was positively Nixonian: angry, dour and rude. He engaged in name-calling – repeatedly calling Youngkin “clueless” – and yapped incessantly about Trump. Continue reading →

21 Comments

Posted in Elections, Politics

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Northam’s Scare Tactics

Posted on September 29, 2021 by | 66 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

It was a gird-your-loins kind of day in Virginia on Monday. While we were on the radio in the morning, our producer handed me a bulletin announcing that Governor Ralph Northam was holding a press conference in the afternoon, on the subject of COVID.

Uh-oh.

I can’t repeat what I said off the air. But on the air, I reminded listeners that these press conferences fill many of us with dread.

The point of yesterday’s presser? To scold and scare Virginia’s unvaxxed. To begin pushing vaccines for children, even though they aren’t yet approved. And to field a couple of softball questions from the poodles in Virginia’s press corps. Continue reading →

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Posted in Public safety & health

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Kick Out the Punks Before They Kill Someone

Posted on September 23, 2021 by | 49 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

School officials are wringing their hands in Newport News right now, wondering what they could have done to prevent a shooting at Heritage High School that left a 17-year-old boy and girl with bullet wounds.

On Monday morning, outside of the school cafeteria, the boy was shot in the head and leg, the girl was also shot in her leg and several other students were injured in the chaos that followed the incident.

Frightened kids were herded out of the school to Heritage’s tennis courts, where they waited for their parents.

News reports initially said the suspect and the victims knew each other, but the injured boy told detectives he didn’t know the shooter. The Daily Press reports that much of the crime was caught on school surveillance cameras. After a brief fight in the hallway, which was broken up by a teacher, the suspect reached into his backpack, removed an item and minutes later pulled a gun out of his waistband and began shooting. Continue reading →

49 Comments

Posted in Crime , corrections and law enforcement, Education (K-12)

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Ignore the Fun Police. Football Is Safe.

Posted on September 22, 2021 by | 24 comments

Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium

by Kerry Dougherty

Travel back in time with me to the first weekend in September. Anyone remember what the COVID fear peddlers screamed when they saw packed college football stadiums during Week One of the 2021 season?

Just wait two weeks!

Super-spreader events!

Masks! Where are their masks?

And then there was the leader of America’s lockdowners, Anthony Fauci.

When the stadiums were rocking from Blacksburg to College Station to Ann Arbor, Fauci disapproved.

He likes his stadiums empty. Continue reading →

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