After a 29 year reign of terror Senator John Chichester has decided today to “retire” as apposed to getting voted out of office. After reading Chichester’s press release (you can find it most anywhere, but NLS had it up first), I am saddened to report that Chichester did not “wake up one morning to realize what he had done to Virginia and decide to do the only responsible thing” as I had hoped. He instead driveled on as any defeated politician does. Here are some of the lowlights:
Chairing the Finance Committee brings many things – not the least of which is a respect for the complexity of real life and the need to balance many worthwhile and competing interests, while maintaining the highest fiscal integrity. That balance can’t be achieved without a firm grounding in all aspects of the enterprise that we call state government.
The job of chairman brings a steep learning curve, and the learning never ends. It is a full-time job, and one that is all-consuming. In order to be successful, the Finance Committee chairman must be willing to live and breathe the state budget on a day-to-day basis. He must be willing to trade instant gratification for the state’s long-term prosperity. He must be willing to advance positions that are sometimes unpopular. He must leave behind parochial interests and think ecumenically, because the chairman’s district becomes the entire Commonwealth and her assets.
The rewards are many, but there is a price to pay. That price is exacted both physically and through the yoke of responsibility for Virginia’s financial health, economic prosperity and fiscal structure that accompanies the position, not just for two months that one is in Richmond, but for 365 days of the year.
I hope and pray that his words do not ring true. Virginia has suffered too much under his ideological tyranny.
But alas, Chichester must be commended for doing the right thing, even if not for the right reasons. Chichester was absolutely right when he said, “In 1978, when I first ran for this office, I said that the seat in the Senate belonged to the people and not to me.” Chichester has turned the seat back over to the people!
This is a great victory for Virginia and the Chichester Must Go movement. Chichester Must Go started as a small grassroots movement in the minds conservatives in Virginia. Chichester Must Go and its supporters merely provided the catalyst for what was already there.
I would like to personally thank D.J. McGuire for his contribution to this effort. Thank you also to the many blogs that supported this movement:
- Bearing Drift
- Black Velvet Bruce Li
- Renaissance Ruminations
- Southwest by Southeast
- The Right-Wing Liberal
- The Virginian Federalist
- The Ward View
- V*CAP
- Virginia Virtucon
Finally, thank you to the many fine citizens of Commonwealth for their support. It is the pressure you put on Chichester that was the real cause for his “retirement.”
As for what will happen to Chichester Must Go, we will enjoy this victory and then look toward the future. All suggestions are welcome.
5 comments:
We could become the unofficial John Van Hoy blog.
Congratulations! I'm saddened at the thought of this Web site becoming "unemployed." May I suggest WARD ARMSTRONG MUST GO, TOO as your next objective??
And if you have time, how about at STOLLE MUST GO, or NORMENT MUST GO?
The RINO's are falling like dominoes...who's next?
Rumor has it that Chichester’s brother, Chichester, will be running. If this is true, I would like to know something about him. If he is anything like his brother then this site's next task would be to keep anyone named Chichester out of the Senate. HOWEVER, I am NOT committing to this until I know something about his brother. We shall see . . .
Keep up the good suggestions and thanks for your continued support.
John's problem was he first saw himself as a servant of the commonwealth and not of the people. He viewed himself as a governor and not as a representative. You can see that in his farewell press release.
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