Tracy Thorne Begland, Explained

Free thinking minds all over the nation and the Commonwealth of Virginia were appalled at the recent rejection for judgeship of one Tracy Thorne-Begland. Begland would have been Virginia's first openly gay judge, and was also a veteran of the US Navy. He has been an outstanding prosecutor in his home district of Richmond Virginia. The move was seen far and wide as an act of bigotry and hate. Delegate Bob Marshall then chose to throw gasoline on the fire, coming out with a homophobic and backwards thinking interview in which he ACTUALLY SAID "Sodomy is not a civil right."

This blogger believes that he has hammered the last blue nail into Obama's victory in Virginia this November, but that is a post for another day. While my beliefs tend towards libertarian, and I am pro gay marriage and gay rights, when I take a look at the reasonings offered by select members of Virginia's legislature, this issue can certainly be seen in a different light. The misunderstanding that many people have is that a judge is a-political. A judge should have no strong convictions whatsoever that could affect their judgements. Judges are important to the legislative process, but they are NEVER meant to make the law. They are meant to interpret the law that exists and no more.

I believe that many of the reservations shown by the House of Delegates were not motivated by hate of gay people, but by a fear that Mr. Thorne-Begland would use his position on the bench to advance a particular cause over another. I believe that the legislature would strike down a devout Catholic activist as well, if the slide went all the way to the other end of the political spectrum. With Roe v. Wade in place, I would expect the legislature to strike down an ardent pro-lifer as well.

I believe that Mr. Thorne-Begland, with all of the support he has been shown, could have a very exciting run for the legislature, and there he could effect the changes he wishes to see. He just cannot do it from a jurist's bench, says Virginia. Thats just what one conservative thinks.