A Stab at Political "Sincerity"

To bolster the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s endorsement of Jerry Kilgore, Editorial Page Editor Ross Mackenzie (depicted on the right) used the top of today’s OpEd Page to hurl scorn at Tim Kaine’s integrity. In his almost sneaky piece Mackenzie served up the same twisted/cynical argument that Tom DeLay’s attorney Dick DeGuerin successfully employed down in Texas to have a judge replaced -- claiming the judge can't do his job because he has some history of supporting Democrats in elections.

So, does this mean a judge who is a Yankees fan should not hear a case in which the defendant is a Red Sox fan? If you went to Tech you can't be trusted to sit on a jury if the defendant went to UVA?

Mackenzie and DeLay are both using the old argument-against-the-man ploy; they assert that anything their opponents say will be tainted because of who they are. They say their enemies, Democrats, by their nature are simply incapable of being honest.

Well, I say both men are looking at the world through a win-at-any-price-tinted lens. In matters political this partisan tint prevents either of them from recognizing the difference between honesty and Shinola; they assume everybody cheats to win.

Consequently, these apes see, hear and speak right-wing "talking points" no matter what happens on any given day. As high-profile Republicans line up for their days in court in DeeCee and Texas -- charged with crimes of dishonesty -- here in Richmond Mackenzie stoops to decry Democrat Tim Kaine’s lack of “sincerity.”

“...Kaine also tries to present as the centrist he is not. He is a liberal (my emphasis), no question. ...If elected, would Kaine revert to the views he has held on a death penalty moratorium and tax referendums? Would he follow through on what he insists are his convictions -- or not? Only when elected, and too late, would Virginians learn what he really believes?”

Mackenzie’s attack on Kaine is at best boilerplate. Maybe the editor should go back to writing his so-called Random Walks, rants about unconnected topics in which he flings yesterday's blather in every direction, trying to be funny.

(Illustration by F. T. Rea)