This Week in Statehouse Action: My Heart Will Vote On edition

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Statehouse Action is hot

And you know you are, too.

Yeah, it’s Valentine’s Day.

Yippee.

Oh, don’t get it twisted. I love romantic stuff. And flowers. And candy. And jewelry. And all that stuff that’s generally associated with Valentine’s Day.

I just hate that there’s this one random day when you’re, like, supposed to do/give these things.

Any other day of the year? Awesome, bring it on.

Campaign Action

But I’ve had so many people I care about feel bummed on Feb. 14 because of their situation—single, or in a relationship but let down by their significant other because of the expectations attached to the holiday, or broken up with on or just before it, etc.—that I’ve come to see it as a kind of adversary.

So suck on some state politics news, Valentine’s Day. There’s not much sweet about it right now.

Gov. Northam’s Lonely Hearts Club Band: Gov. Ralph Northam is still governor of Virginia, and that’s a big damn problem.

By all appearances he’s digging in and plans to go on an “apology tour” around the commonwealth.

No, really. I’m not being snide. Someone said the quiet part loud in the press release about Northam’s appearance at a VUU Faith, Identity, and Social Justice event next week.

Meanwhile, Northam postponed Wednesday’s scheduled Black History Month reception at the governor’s mansion at the last minute. On Monday, black leaders said they planned a protest outside of the event, but Northam thoughtfully kept the event on everyone’s calendars until the day of. A spokesperson (who’s somehow still content to work for Northam) said the governor “is still thinking through better ways to honor Black History Month.”

You’ll pardon me if I’m skeptical of the capacity to figure out a “better” way to honor Black History Month of the guy whose denial of being in blackface in a photo was predicated on this other time he definitely did blackface.

This week, Northam also proudly announced that he’d restored the voting rights of over 10,000 Virginians who’d previously been permanently disenfranchised because of felony convictions, touting his belief in “second chances”—something he seems to think he’s entitled to as a governor who admitted to wearing blackface to win a dance competition. Yes, restoring voting rights stripped because of an extremely racist method of disenfranchisement is always a good thing. But Northam’s obvious attempt to win some “See? I’m totally not racist” cred is pretty small potatoes compared to his predecessor’s accomplishments in the civil rights restoration arena. As governor, Terry McAuliffe restored the voting rights of over 170,000 Virginians. That comes out to over 42,000 for each year of his governorship.

from Daily Kos http://bit.ly/2V3Jv7b