I also respond to Frank Ruff through the local papers

I had planned to send this off last night, but didn't get to it, as I was looking at the MZM PAC information. Click here to see how many 5th District residents were actually on that 2004 MZM donor list and check here to see how many 5^th District residents are on the 2006 MZM donor list. I wasn’t aware that Tampa FL, Tempe AZ and San Diego CA were so close to us!

March 7, 2006

Dear Editor,

This letter is in response to one sent by Republican State Senator Frank Ruff (District 15) and published in many local papers on Friday, March 3, 2006.

I found it extremely hilarious to have someone (and especially a Republican politician, no less) finally put into print that the problems with jobs in Southside Virginia (and especially the 5th District) had become worse in the last 10 years—the exact length of time that Virgil Goode has been in office. I’m sure the connection was not lost on others who read it. And, if it was lost on them, then they can now relate his statement to the economic reality of this district.

In addition, Senator Ruff talks about Virgil’s integrity and honesty. Let’s not get too hasty in casting stones at others (namely Bern Ewert and Al Weed) who, like me, are upset about what’s going on in Washington. Personally, I’d prefer to wait until we see the paperwork about the donations to Virgil’s campaign by MZM and check it against the timing of his voting as well as his very small record of sponsoring and writing legislation actually benefiting Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. While the MZM PAC information is available on the Internet, the earmark documents themselves will tell the whole story about “Representative A.” Even the news media is interested in seeing this information, as the ongoing investigation into Virgil’s activities have been covered in several national magazines, including Time, Newsweek, USA Today and U.S. News and World Report, as well as many of the current political talk shows on regular, cable and satellite channels. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire—so we’ll just have to wait and see whether it will take a garden hose or an ocean to put it out.

Perhaps the next time someone wants to promote another candidate’s character as “unquestionable,” he will have be sure to have his letter checked and approved by the campaign of the candidate in question. This letter certainly didn’t do it for me. As a matter of fact, his letter associating and supporting others with questionable actions in their recent past leads me to wonder what I will find when I check Ruff’s own background when he runs for State Senate again in my county.