Dude! Joe's Jottings, Mostly Junk

"I pledge to continue to represent you all to the best of my abilities without regard to race, creed, religious beliefs, national origin or sex.  That's the kind of Sterling Americans you all have been for me and for our community and I pledge to continue to be that kind of Sterling American for you." - Roger Delgaudio, Sterling/Loudoun, "There is no place in Sterling for hate" (from his monthly newsletter to us residents)

Yeah, that's right.

Roger Delgaudio is a man so Conservative he hasn't even caught up to the fact that most of the country, and most of his subjects, considers discrimination and prejudicial writings against people on account of sexual orientation is Hate.

Some of his choice quotes (as 'public policy spokesman for a pro-family group', as he brushes off) he WON'T put in the electorate newsletter, but loves to put in that sidelines business, "Public Advocate" (which he operates on government resources, which is why he is under investigation...I note his letter didn't say a thing about the actual charges in the slightest)

• "The homosexual lobbies fully support the invasive body cavity searches of elderly citizens, small children, young women and the absurd and dangerous X-Ray machines that scan the human form in minute detail— anybody and everybody for little security reasons whatsoever." - October 24, 2012
• It was worse than I ever imagined. Row after row of boxes bulging with pro-homosexual petitions lined the walls, stacked to the ceiling. My mind reeled as I realized hundreds, maybe thousands, more boxes were already loaded on the tractor-trailers. [...] Driving away, my eyes filled with tears as I realized he might be right. This time the Radical Homosexuals could win.
• [An open Letter to Mitt Romney on who should be his VP candidate] “Matt Drudge, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Reagan, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Joe Farah, or Chuck Norris would be a great pick from just ten top conservative leaders,”
  

Another (very specifically fundraising) letter he wrote mentions dangerous legislation like

• 1) The Homosexual Classrooms Act, requiring every school — even private and religious schools — to teach appalling homosexual acts.

• 2) The Offense to Marriage Act, repealing the Defense of Marriage Act which has stood for over a decade against the Homosexual Lobby.
  If passed, wedding gown-clad men smooching before some left-wing clergyman or state official is just the beginning.
  You’ll see men hand-in-hand skipping down to adoption centers to “pick out” a little boy for themselves.
  

• 3) The Gay Bill of Special Rights, granting special job rights to homosexuals. Every homosexual fired or not hired becomes a potential federal civil rights lawsuit.
  Radical homosexuals will terrorize day cares, hospitals and churches.

culminating, of course, with "In fact, if I’m to effectively defeat even one of these bills, I’m going to need an immediate influx of funds." - Fear-mongering, hatred, and an annoyingly active imagination unable to see reality in the slightest, and his flock should give him money for that. 

How detached from reality is he? He even made a post (I think a tweet, but I can't recall now) about how "his" Sterling so overwhelmingly voted Republican in November (facts? Obama took 65%, Kaine took 68% - both contributing to their late-night wins once the votes were counted - and within Sterling, Wolf was in the minority, though he took his district thanks to Fauquier and Winchester, not Loudoun which went 50/50).  A few hours later, he took that one down.

By the way, the mailing list of people who love to read that kind of stuff?  In the months prior to the election, he sold it.  To Bachmann, Rand Paul, Scott Walker, likely more.

He personally takes home about $171,000 a year writing this stuff, according to analysis of public tax filings.  And this is a 'non-profit' advocacy group, btw.  And that's on top of his PACs, his investments, and his income from the Loudoun Board.  He actually primarily lives in Falls Church (ironically because it has better schools for his kids, who knew?).

And no, I have NO intention of linking to to those pages...but he clearly owns it, as shown by the whois records for the domain.

But no, he's not one who "hates" and there is no "hate" in Sterling, except against him.

Really.

Virginia Set to Close 18 Rest Stops - washingtonpost.com:

Virginia's major roadways will become a less hospitable place in two weeks when the cash-strapped state closes 18 rest stops, including those in Dale City and Ladysmith.

The closings will leave the long stretch of I-95 between Richmond and Washington without a public toilet for northbound drivers. This is a portion of highway that can be measured in miles -- 105.99 miles, to be precise -- but cognoscenti of traffic mayhem generally prefer to use a watch. On a bad day it can take hours of crawling, and as of July 21 northbound drivers will not have a rest stop to, well, rest in, or whatever else they may need to do.

"We looked at the distance between our rest stops and found we had them as close as 29 miles," said Jeffrey Caldwell, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation. "We decided we'd shoot for about 120 miles, or about two hours, between rest stops."

This will save the state agency $9 million against its $2.6 billion revenue shortfall.

I know they say every little bit helps, but this is ridiculous...

on the other hand, by forcing people to do the "guilt" thing and have to buy something at the zillions of fast food joints along that same stretch in order go, that'll increase the tax revenues some.

News from CNS:

When voters cast their ballots in Virginia's Feb. 12 Republican presidential primary, they'll be required to sign a document stating they intend to support the party's nominee for president. One conservative leader called it a "bullying tactic," but a nonpartisan election official dismissed the pledge as just "a piece of paper." On Monday, the State Board of Elections approved text to be included with the ballot that states: "You can vote in this presidential primary only if you sign and print your name to the voter pledge below. You will not be permitted to vote if you refuse to do so." The pledge says: "I, the undersigned, pledge that I intend to support the nominee of the Republican Party for president."

This to me is such confirmation that the republicans are scared, nee terrified, that the religious right of the south and midwest will just "stay home" in November if any of the current frontrunners (McCain, Romney, Guiliani) get the nod.

The overpass of Sterling Blvd over rt 28, which would take one stoplight (and about 15-30 minutes) off my commute, particularly at night, was supposed to have been opened already.  But instead, battling bureaucrats have decided to hold it back because of a neighboring intersection...

Times Community Newspapers - Rte. 28 interchange may open Nov. 28:

The interchange, the sixth in a series of new interchanges being built along Route 28 in Loudoun and Fairfax counties, was supposed to be open to motorists by Nov. 21, according to VDOT project manager Susan Shaw.

However, because of a recently commissioned safety study into whether traffic from nearby Cedar Green Road should be allowed onto Route 28, VDOT said it may be forced to put off opening the interchange until the evaluation is completed sometime in December.

The reason for the study, VDOT said, is that it fears cars on Cedar Green turning onto northbound Route 28 from a stand-still could pose a threat to the flowing traffic on Route 28.

The real curse of all this?  Nobody uses Cedar Green anymore.  Unless you are one of the limited few who actually know that road as a way in or out, you don't bother.  They are basing their decision not on current traffic there (which is next to nil) but on what it used to be when that intersection was the way to avoid horrendous stoplight delays at Church/Waxpool.

And to top it off, nobody comes on at a "dead stop" from there to 28 northbound because they build a 1/4 mile acceleration lane.  There is plenty of space to get up to a reasonable speed, and as I said, with Sterling Blvd being open as an overpass, there's next to no reason to bother to take that old route in the first place.

Jerks.