U.S. Marines know the difference...

Lt. Governor Bill Bolling Supports Offshore Drilling for Oil & Gas...

.

"More energy equals more jobs for Virginia," Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling said. "That should be priority No. 1 for everybody across the commonwealth of Virginia."

Over a 10-year period, Bolling said, developing an offshore energy industry in Virginia could:

create more than 25,000 jobs;

spur nearly $8 billion worth of investment;

yield $644 million in payroll;

and
produce $271 million in state and local taxes.

Rest of the story at Richmond Times Dispatch

Now remember a month or so back when Bob McDonnell challenged the three Democrats seeking the nomination for the Democratic party run for Governor?

McDonnell Calls On Democratic Candidates to Support Offshore Energy Exploration and Development - Proposes Joint Letter to Secretary of the Interior Following Request by Governor to Delay Process - -Offshore Development will Create Thousands of Jobs; Produce Hundreds of Millions in Revenue-

Donkey #1 says he: opposes drilling for oil and gas.

Donkey #2 says he: opposes drilling for oil but is open to limited exploration for natural gas 50 miles off of the coast.

Donkey #3 says he: favors drilling for oil and gas but with some caveats, including the way royalties would be distributed.

Three examples of bending to the different “Special Interests” groups in hopes of getting the most votes instead of doing what is right for Virginia, its citizens, and our future…

"Mile wide and a millimeter thick"... Bolling 3rd annual Bloggers-Day...

.
Actually this is not a direct quote of Lt. Governor Bill Bolling but it fit the photo so well I could not pass it up. For those Conservative bloggers who attended the 3rd annual Bloggers-Day event hosted by Lt. Governor Bolling, you know who made this statement and how true it is. In fact I believe this “Mile wide and a millimeter thick” description will be a key factor in Republican election wins in November…

It was a very good and productive day today in Richmond with a increased number of conservative bloggers attending this year and with “Improved Ground rules” that resulted in better discussions and information presented…

It was good to see numerous bloggers that I read often and many of these were authors of top quality political blogs here in Virginia…

Bearing Drift post from this morning...

Jeff Frederick "Your hands, Not their hands"...

Video of the Pro-Frederick rally that took place out front before State Central Committee voted to remove Frederick asw Chairman of the Virginia Republican Party...

Jeff Frederick was elected by the “Grassroots” of the party last year and it appears he was removed by the “Elite” of the party this year. Locally we requested numerous times that our State Central Representative for the 6th district, Lynn Mitchell to appear in front of the grassroots and local GOP committees to provide information and facts regarding the vote to remove Frederick from office. These requests were ignored and denied and our “representative” voted to remove Frederick from office without our consideration…

It has also been reported that one person who was carrying a “Pro-Frederick” vote was denied the opportunity to vote on a technicality issue that has never applied in the past. Important for the removal of the chairman was decided by one vote. In fact eight other proxy votes were allowed during this meeting…

Obama warns North Korea not to Launch Missile...

.

President Obama issued a stern warning to North Korea today, saying that it cannot go ahead with the planned launch of a long-range rocket with impunity.

"Should North Korea decide to take this action, we will work with all interested partners in the international community to take appropriate steps to let North Korea know that they cannot threaten the safety and stability of other countries with impunity."

So how does North Korea respond to Obama's "Stern" warning?....

Jeff Frederick ousted... Did the "Grass~roots" just get rolled over?...

.

The blogs are full with posts about today’s ouster of State Central Committee Chairman Jeff Frederick by the needed(?) votes required of the SCC executive committee members by party plan…

This issue has been a hot topic of the blogs, local, state, and national media for sometime and it is also interesting how this issue has been avoided by several bloggers and\or representatives of the Virginia Republican party…

There are numerous other blogs out there that have already and continue to report on the actual removal vote and the ongoing reports coming out of this SCC executive meeting. I find no reason to repeat the same info that appears in many of these other blogs for they are readily available to all of us for our own reading and dissection. Instead I believe it will be more beneficial to write about the local reaction to this coordinated ouster of our party chairman and those from Augusta County involved in and against this process…

Spank That Donkey has an interesting take on this issue and has been blogging about it for sometime leading up to today’s ouster. Spanky brings up the “Rumor” that our Augusta County 6th District State Central Representative, Lynn Mitchell, was in danger of losing her precious State Central Committee position if she did not support the removal of Frederick with her SCC vote. Several reports have been circulated for sometime that the 6th District committee had recently voted by a 18-3 vote count to censor Mitchell for her divisive actions within the local party and other serious infractions within the 6th district. It was also reported within the local GOP family that the 6th district sent a letter to State Central Committee requesting the removal of Mitchell from SCC. Now it appears that Mitchell possessed a very sought after vote in the ouster plan to remove Frederick from office and a apparent “Deal” may have been made to avoid her removal from SCC. Jeff Frederick was removed from the Chairman’s position by “One” vote…

As Spank That Donkey and other bloggers have pointed out, this is very surprising for Ms. Mitchell, Aka SwacGirl, had been a strong supporter of Jeff Frederick and his ability to bring the “Grass~Roots” to the party table and include them in this process. In fact if you check SWACGIRL you will find that she had over 18 blog posts about\supporting Frederick. Go quickly for we may not know how long they will be there…

The sad part about this whole issue is that many within the true grass~roots community had been asking for more info on this issue for sometime now. I personally made repeated requests (5) of Ms Mitchell to come before the Augusta County Republican Committee, which she is a executive committee member, to present information and facts to the ACRC members regarding Frederick. Ms. Mitchell refused to come before the committee and failed to reply to other requests to do the same by other members and surrounding area committee Chairman. Did the Grass~Roots community just get “Rolled-Over”?…

I have also been told that just before the SCC executive committee went into their closed door session (by their choosing) to vote on the removal of Frederick, a person not eligible to attend the closed door session, stood and said to the SCC executive members “So you want to vote to remove the Chairman but don’t want to do it for all to see”?

Are the “Grass~Roots” to rollover and just become “Mushrooms”?…
You know the description for Mushrooms don’t you?…

The Capitol and the Capitals...

.

Had the opportunity to visit both yesterday in Washington D.C. with friends and fellow bloggers. Toured the Capitol with Congressman Bob Goodlatte after stopping by his office in the Rayburn building at which time he stated that he had to go to the House floor to vote and asked us to walk with him.

If you ever have to head over to the House of Representatives to cast a vote or watch the proceedings be sure to take a member of Congress with you for they know the shortcuts. While walking over Congressman Goodlatte introduced us to many other Congress Representatives along the way with several of them taking the time to talk with us…

The Congressman took us to the gallery area of the House floor where we had the opportunity to watch Congress at work with 435+ people walking, talking, discussing, debating, voting, and shaking their heads in affirmative and negative acknowledgement. It was amazing to watch these guys talk and imagine what they were talking about just by viewing the expressions on their faces…

After his vote Congressman Goodlatte returned to the gallery to sit with us for a considerable amount of time and to tell us about the history and features of the House chamber.

Afterwards we walked to a hallway the next level down from the house floor and found a place to talk at the floor of an impressive statue of Thomas Jefferson. This was a great opportunity to speak with the Congressman about the happenings in Washington and the new administration. Much time was spent on the state of the economy and the actions that the new President is proposing…

The Congressman seemed very interested in the happenings of what was going on here in Augusta County as well as our opinions and viewpoints on what we saw. We discussed numerous issues including transportation, agriculture, local GOP party actions, Dairy industry, land values, among other issues. He asked pointed questions and valued our opinions and kept the conversation going for a considerable amount of time…

Interestingly enough while we were talking in the Hall Speaker of the House Pelosi walked by while speaking to one of her people and saw us in deep conversation with the Congressman. She stopped at the end of the hall and walked back and forth past us an additional 3 to 4 times with pausing as she passed by us. Personal restraint and proper training kept Yankee Phil from directly debating the Speaker of the House and interrupting our conversation with Congressman Goodlatte… See here…

The Capitals took the game 5-3 over the New York Islanders and Yankee Phil has a write up and photos here...

Mr. Jefferson... "Look what their doing to our country"...

Bob McDonnell & Mike Huckabee In Bristol...

.

Bob McDonnell with Mike Huckabee on the campaign trail...

Additional text and photos at: Bearing Drift

and Spark it Up...

The "Change" You Thought You were getting?...

Surprising to see some of these "Reports" coming from Mainstream media
who failed to ask the hard questions of "Candidate Obama"...

Found and link provided by Beverly Manor District Chair...