Stereotype

Mitt Romney in New Hampshire:

"And his hair was perfect."

Warren Zevon, Werewolves of London

Shameless Self-Pluggery

Now that my book, At the Speed of Foot, is in print I am posting excerpts and other items about my Appalachian Trail hike on my Speed of Foot blog. I invite you to check it out.

I would be remiss if I did not point out that the blog has a convenient purchase link.

More to the Story

Linda Wall, a Republican legislative candidate in Virginia has admitted to "sexual relations with a minor" as a phys ed teacher in the 70's. She blames it on pot, liberal professors and youthful indiscretion! But now she is blessed in the Lord! Angry Black Lady has a fine takedown that whole argument. Ms. Wall is garnering other attention as well.

What really caught my eye was the candidate's statement that she was corrupted by liberal college professors at Longwood College. Liberal and Longwood College is pretty much like military intelligence, a flat-out contradiction. Southside Virginia, where Longwood College is situated, is not a hospitable environment for liberalism.

Since the story is about Virginia politics and a region where I lived, I followed up to find a map of the district. Along the way I found that Linda Walls is indeed getting a lot of attention. But unless the victim files a complaint 40 years after the fact, Ms. Walls is likely to face only ridicule. Certainly, she rates a place in the pantheon of Family Values Perverts and Republican hypocrites.

Surprisingly, I never found a district map. The local media article about the sexual relations story states that the district includes portions of Albemarle, Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell and Nelson counties. I lived in Albemarle. Long-time friends live in Nelson.

Running against Ms Wall and another Republican candidate is a fine, well qualified Democrat, Nelson County Supervisor Connie Brennan.

Read the local media story all the way through and you will see that the revelations about Ms. Wall may work to the Republicans' advantage by unifying the Republican vote behind what I guess is the less controversial Republican, turning a three-way race into a virtual two-way race in an area where any Democrat's chances are slim at best. The last six paragraphs of the article provide a good backstory to the more sensational one.

Maybe rancor and hard feelings from earlier elections will metastasize with Christian resentment against those who question the Lord's forgiveness to still split the Republican vote and give Ms. Brennan the edge. I hope so.

(h/t: Horse's Ass)