Good news - Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin fails!

[DET]

You may recall that Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin proudly announced some time ago that he had negotiated a deal with billionaire Ted Leonsis to relocate Leonsis’ Capitals and Wizards teams from Washington DC to Alexandria, Virginia. The teams would be housed in a brand new stadium to be built at taxpayer expense. Unfortunately, however, Youngkin negotiated this deal without input from the legislature, the taxpayers, or the community.

When Youngkin finally announced the stadium deal, opposition was fierce. Youngkin proposed locating the stadium in Potomac Yard, a largely undeveloped big parcel of land in Alexandria near National Airport. My husband used to commute to that area every day and traffic is miserable under the best of circumstances. Game days would be hell. Taxpayers were not favorably inclined towards using a billion dollars or so of their money to underwrite an investment opportunity for a billionaire and a vanity project for the Governor. Moreover, there was no guarantee that the stadium would be a financial success, especially since parking was estimated to cost $75 per car and hotel rooms $700 per night. The Democratic legislature did not appreciate being left out of the negotiations. No one was more fierce in their opposition than State Senator and Senate President pro tempore Louise Lucas, an outspoken 80 year old Black woman. In the end, Ms. Lucas and other stadium opponents were able to delay the deal long enough for DC Mayor Muriel Bowser to negotiate a 515 million dollar deal with Leonsis to keep his teams in DC.

Meanwhile, a bizarre twist in the negotiations resulted in the proposal of a combined stadium and casino to be located in Tysons Corner in McLean, an upscale office/shopping/living complex. Tysons Corner is the size of a small city. Traffic there is unbearable. I used to commute to Tysons daily - until I couldn’t stand it anymore. It sometimes took half an hour just to get through one particularly awful traffic light in Tysons. Fortunately, this proposal did not get much traction.

The finger pointing has begun in Virginia with the collapse of the Alexandria deal. I’m sure Youngkin was counting on this deal to display his exceptional negotiating and revenue producing skills as a springboard towards the 2028 Presidency - generally assumed to be his ultimate goal.

Louise Lucas summed up this entire kerfuffle in her own inimitable way…

“This is a freakin legendary smackdown so now the incompetent losers behind the effort are out telling lies and conspiracy theories,” she wrote on X, “instead of just admitting they got their asses kicked by an 80 year old (affectionately called) ghansta legislator.”

[bpj62]

1. Youngkin is a punk.

I am a life long resident of Northern Virginia and this was a bad idea from the start. Youngkin had a secret panel making all the decisions and his administration has refused to release the details of those meetings. Now Youngkin is taking it out on the Democrats
by vetoeing good legislation such as the minimum wage increase. He is stuck issuing executive orders and siccing his lap dog attorney general on school districts that displease him. I am so glad he can only serve one term.
Sadly Ted Leonis lost any respect I had for him over his part in this deal as well.

[DET]

5. No Argument Here

Youngkin is on a veto frenzy, especially regarding Democratically supported gun legislation and criminal justice reform. And let’s not forget his opposition to Ford Motor Company’s proposed car battery research and manufacturing plant in Southside Virginia, an area that desperately needs this type of investment. His opposition was based on some alleged involvement of China in the factory. Especially hypocritical given Youngkin oversaw investments of at least $8 billion in Chinese companies while at the Carlyle Group.

[wolfie001]

7. What a Dumbkin thing to do

He's a self-righteous douche-bag.

[WarGamer]

12. I was in NoVA in the early 2000's and really liked it. Civil War battlefields etc...

Went back in 2020 on business... then COVID started.

I stayed in Georgetown for a year, riding out the first phase of COVID doing my work remotely.

I much prefer the NoVA of the 2000's... like Spotsylvania, Stafford, Fredericksburg... it's totally changed.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

2. at one time, the GOP considered Youngkin to be presidential material... now he is just a loser

with a creepy always smile

[DET]

11. Unfortunately...

I think Youngkin is still considered the Republican frontrunner for 2028 (although I’d love to be proven wrong). Youngkin won Virginia based on a series of lies. He promised to eliminate the teaching of ‘Critical Race Theory’ - which has never been taught in Virginia or pretty much anywhere else. And shortly before the election, there was a sexual assault at a local high school in the girl’s bathroom by someone pretending to be transgendered (to the best of my recollection). Youngkin preyed on parent’s fears to win - a popular Republican tactic. Last I knew, Republicans hope to spread Youngkin’s ‘magic’ to the rest of the country. Hopefully, he’ll go the way of Ron DeSantis.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

18. he was seriously damaged by that huge loss in last years election...when he bet on winning control of the legislature

but instead Dems gained. but true, after Trump exits the state, the GOP will take another look at Youngkin and DeSantis.

but I think neither are considered the sure thing they once were.

[LiberalFighter]

3. $75 to park? Geesh!

[DFW]

4. I notice the post refers to National Airport

Last edited Sat Mar 30, 2024, 04:49 AM - Edit history (1)

Those of us who grew up near there were furious when the Republicans renamed the airport after Ronald Reagan. We NEVER call it Reagan Airport. It was, and remains, National Airport, even for those of us who moved away more than 50 years ago.

[DET]

6. Actually, It's Not An Article - I Wrote That

And I agree with your sentiment. I just couldn’t bring myself to call it Reagan National Airport. Feels like a sacrilege. I was wondering if anyone would pick up on that.

[DFW]

15. Well written, and I corrected my post.

Since my brother still lives in the Langley area, and I still have several friends in Congress, I go back several times a year. I usually try to fly into Dulles to avoid Parkway traffic, but if I’m coming straight from Dallas, I can fly nonstop from Love Field, which is close to the house in Dallas, on Southwest, and they only fly into National. Reagan hated Washington, and we hated him. I still gag at that stupid statue of him at the entrance to the airport.

[EarnestPutz]

8. We still refer to it as National and we moved from there in 1975........

..... Worked for National Airlines back then, all the folks at the airport always said National too.

[DFW]

16. It wasn't renamed until 1998

So no one in the 1970s would have had to suffer the name change back then.

[raising2moredems]

9. Yep, National....

And though I've only been there once, National it is. Every time I see a raygun "placard" in my state, I have to control myself to not destroy it with bullets. Yes, democrats have guns. Yes, we use them prudently (and wisely). Tis our advantage the puke cult thinks no dems have guns. Matter of fact, added another to my "reserve" just this past weekend. And at no money out of my pocket.

[mountain grammy]

10. He just vetoed a minimum wage increase

Barf.

[angrychair]

13. I will argue to the day I die

That Senator Lucas is a national treasure and must be protected at all cost.

Also, I will confirm that it once took me 11 hours to drive from Alexandra to Hampton but over 8 hours of it was from DC to Fredericksburg and I started that journey at 1pm on a Friday.

[calimary]

14. I particularly liked the last passage

"Louise Lucas summed up this entire kerfuffle in her own inimitable way…
'This is a freakin legendary smackdown so now the incompetent losers behind the effort are out telling lies and conspiracy theories,' she wrote on X, 'instead of just admitting they got their asses kicked by an 80 year old (affectionately called) ghansta legislator'."

Nice!

[DFW]

17. Youngkin should never have been elected as Virginia's governor

McAuliffe didn’t take his opposition seriously and suffered the consequences—as did Virginia.

Youngkin is no more qualified to be president than he is qualified to be chairman of the physics department at MIT. That may not matter to Republicans, but it matters to the rest of the world, where, except for Putin, Xi and Orbán, the Republican candidate for president has few fans.

[maxrandb]

19. Youngkin was the "Great Fascist Hope"

Glen Trumpkin...err Youngkin is the fascist national Retrumplicans dream about.

If you wondered why EVERY fucking Retrumplican, from Presidential candidate to dogcatcher, suddenly started attacking the LGBTQ community, African American history, or "woke" businesses, look no further than the 2021 Virginia off year election.

Sure, Mcauliffe ran a "meh" campaign, but, this was mere months after the Retrumplican Party tried to violently overthrow the United States and create their own version of 1931 Germany.

Virginia voters could still smell the smoke, teargas and blood of Jan 6 waifting across the Potomac, yet they went to the polls and elected 3 straight-up fascists to the top 3 statewide offices....and if you think I am being hyperbolic, well, you may know Glen Trumpkin...err Youngkin, but just google our Lt Gov Winsome Earl-Sears and our AG Jason Miyares...STRAIGHT UP FASCISTS

Everything little Ronnie De-Nazi learned, he learned from Glen Youngkin.

- The sweater vest with the name embroidered on it.

- The attacks on non-existent CRT in kindergarten.

- Gender wars.

It all can be traced to this one Virginia election, where the Retrumplicans learned that you can even overcome the shitstain of violent insurrection if you give fascism enough people to hate.

Glen does it better than Ron. See, you can't run as an obvious racist and fascist. Glen and the national Retrumplicans learned that there is enough deep pockets of Civil War/Confederate ideology in the Old Dominion, that all you need to do is mine it.

Then it's easy.

- Racism is disguised as "parental rights".
- Fascism is disguised as "anti-woke".
- Homophobia is disguised as "protecting children in bathrooms"
- Misogyny is disguised as "a reasonable 15 week ban on reproductive health".

Retrumplicans wanted Youngkin to take this "aw shucks" fascism in loafers and a cardigan global.

Thank God Virginia voters sent the message that racism, fascism, misogyny, hatred and white supremacy FAILS, even when dressed as Mister Rogers.

The ONLY reason Virginia hasn't turned into Northern Florida, or Eastern Alabama is because Dems held a slim majority in the state Senate and flipped the Statehouse in November 2023.

Make no mistake, Ron Duh-SANTOS may have been more well known, but Glen is the Nazi the national RETRUMPLICANS dream about.

Defeating Donnie Dipshit in November presents another opportunity to yank it out by the roots before it germinates and spreads further.

[Mysterian]

20. The only reason Youngkin is governor

is because Democrats ran a guy who was a yes-man for Dominion Energy. McAuliffe would be infinitely better than Youngkin, but McAuliffe fell over himself proclaiming the greatness of the stupid Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which was so stupid its owners gave it up .... and it was the people of western Virginia who fought the hardest against that god-awful environmental disaster. McAuliffe totally ignored the pipeline opponents and heaped praise upon the idiotic pipeline project. A failure by Virginia Democrats running a corporate toady.