Schewel: Confirm LeBlanc

Why do so many people ignore politics?

On the one hand I can’t see how folks can avoid seeing how important it is to be a well-informed citizen, particularly in matters of public affairs. However, time has shown me that for many others politics is just so painfully predictable, on a certain level of detached overview, that it is impossibly boring. To them, the endless arguing back and forth is so off-putting and unproductive they can’t allow themselves to see through it.

Here’s just one example of the blur of tedium: After listening to Republicans expound voluminously on how President George Bush ought to have his qualified appointees confirmed by the Senate, based on the idea that his winning the election gives him that privilege, now we hear them holding against that very same precept. In the Virginia’s General Assembly union-busting Republicans are standing in the way of Dan LeBlanc’s appointment as Secretary of the Commonwealth.

In other words, Bush’s appointments should not be opposed by legislators on ideological grounds, while Gov. Tim Kaine’s should be opposed. Suffering succotash! Why are Virginia's Republicans not worried about being seen as hypocrites?

Oh well, rather than go on about that, and risk boring my readers any further, I’ll allow Michael Schewel, who served as Gov. Mark Warner’s Secretary of Commerce and Trade to speak on behalf of LeBlanc’s appointment. Click here to read his reasonable and brief OpEd piece from yesterday’s Richmond Times-Dispatch.

"...[LeBlanc] has an exceptional record of service and accomplishment and a keen understanding of what it takes to keep Virginia's economy at the cutting edge of global competition."