I used to be an idealist, and in some ways I still am.
Not a Pollyanna, but I still tend to judge my politicians and my policy preferences in light of some ideal. I like principled politicians--unlike many people, I admire Rand Paul despite his being a total pain in the ass, and aside from John Fetterman (who would have guessed?!), the Democrat currently in office I admire the most is Ro Khanna, despite my disagreeing with him on almost everything in terms of policy.
Over the years, I have gotten more cynical (I bet you couldn't tell!), and I am reconciled to the fact that the best is the enemy of the good, so compromises have to be made because politics is the art of the possible.
But there are times when I can't help but get depressed, and more than a little angry about just how low our politics has become.
When Trump got into the race in 2015 and made his meteoric rise to the presidency, I thought it was depressing. Trump is hardly presidential, is crude, and I hate his tendency to ridicule people--especially people I admire. It took me over a year or more to begin to appreciate Trump's virtues, and while I didn't vote for him in 2016, I did in the subsequent two presidential elections.
Trump's art of the deal is a version of the art of the possible. For all his character flaws (and occasional policy missteps), I accept that Trump is a flawed vessel through whom God is working, at least metaphorically. Think King David, who had a flaw or two.
Trump, however, is not pure evil. His sins are venial, not mortal. Embracing Trump with all his flaws is nowhere in the same category as embracing political violence, even psychopathy (whatever George Conway thinks of Trump). Yet when I look at where the Democrats are nationally, and right now in Virginia, I despair for my country.
After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, it was the rare elected Democrat who openly celebrated his murder. Many came close, but they understood that doing what so many of their constituents were doing would be political poison. So they didn't.
🚨 NEW AD: Jay Jones dreamed of murdering two young kids and their dad over politics—and Abigail Spanberger wants him to be attorney general. pic.twitter.com/RoipSKn436
— Winsome Earle-Sears (@winwithwinsome) October 5, 2025
But what is going on in Virginia suggests that they might have been wrong about that judgment. It turns out that even musing about one's desire to murder a fellow elected official is not seen as disqualifying, and rallying to support the candidate who mused about a mother holding her dying child is A-OK in the book of most Virginia Democrats.
I can almost understand the practical decision that many Democratic Party elected officials have made to not demand Jay Jones drop out of the race--the voting has, unfortunately begun (EARLY VOTING IS A TERRIBLE IDEA!!)--but I cannot either understand or forgive the fact that Democrats are standing up and vouching for Jay Jones' character after his evil nature has been exposed for all to see.
It is, in a word, demonic. In the midst of a wave of political violence that is literally leaving bodies in its wake, Virginia Democrats have decided to endorse the very idea of political violence by endorsing a candidate who says that only violence can change minds.
“Yes, I’ve told you before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy”
— C3 (@C_3C_3) October 5, 2025
- Jay Jones
(Commenting on his opponent’s children dying)
This guy is an absolute psychopath. pic.twitter.com/SP1BwgXhr9
But look at the odds on Polymarket. Abigail Spanberger, who embraced Jay Jones after his vile comments came out, is herself running on a platform of "rage." She is, according to the smart money, almost a lock to win the Virginia governor's race. (Shame on you, Republicans, for abandoning Winsome!)
Abigail Spanberger told her supporters to “let your rage fuel you.” Jay Jones took her literally.
— Winsome Earle-Sears (@winwithwinsome) October 8, 2025
Reject rage, Virginia. pic.twitter.com/WCIbiCb8JO
What does this say about Virginia voters? What does this say about the massive number of Democratic-leaning government workers who are managing our lives through our gargantuan federal government?
They hate us. That is what it says. They are just fine with electing people who feel that the moral thing to do is kill us, or force us to feel pain, in order to implement their policies.
Jay Jones isn't running to be dog catcher. He is running to be the top law enforcement officer in Virginia, and he is a proven psychopath with fantasies about murdering people. But that's OK, because he wants to murder the RIGHT people, apparently.
I despair. Virginia, in the early days of our Republic, gifted us some of the best leaders any polity has ever had.
And it has come to this.
UPDATE:
Nick Minock reminds us of this:
Around the same time Jay Jones sent his violent texts, some in a Facebook group with ties to Virginia elected officials threatened and retaliated against parents and Loudoun County residents who spoke at Loudoun County School Board meetings.
— Nick Minock (@NickMinock) October 9, 2025
•“Im telling you. SOMETHING has to… https://t.co/CF4YpR8lqN
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