It’s sad that our country has come to this. A Democratic candidate has requested, and has been granted (!!!) something that one would not even consider needing. Then, once you remember the bullying culture that started all the way up top with Trump, it shouldn’t surprise us, but it does. It’s a shock, no matter what you remember or what comes to mind. From Raw Story:
A Democratic candidate for the Virginia legislature was granted a protective order against his Republican opponent on Friday following allegations that the state lawmaker had “harassed” a supporter of theirs while armed with a gun in a government building. Democratic candidate Virgil Thornton is running to unseat Virginia Rep. A.C. Cordoza, a Republican, but announced Saturday that a judge had granted the protection order against Cordoza following what he called an “ongoing pattern of intimidation.”
Ooookay then. Ongoing pattern? This is not a good thing. Virgil Thornton is running for an office. He’s using the media in all its incarnations against his opponent. That’s a “standard” kinda thing you would expect in a campaign. But he had to go to the court for a protection order. A*protection order*. In 2025. What the f*ck is WRONG with these people? This is more like the mafia than a “normal” campaign.
The new protective order comes amid an ongoing feud between the two candidates, which included another protective order being granted just days earlier, though against Thornton’s campaign staff after Cordoza alleged that Thornton’s campaign staffer – also his niece – had threatened to “put a knot” in Cordoza’s head. Thornton, however, refuted Cordoza’s version of events and said that Cordoza had actually been the instigator of the confrontation, having “surrounded” his niece and “used his size to intimidate her.”
Now, we have no idea about the age and size of his niece, but being protective of her is not necessarily a bad thing. Being protective of any family member is not a surprise. But doing something to a family member who isn’t involved in the campaign, or apparently isn’t involved, that’s stupid. And arrogant. The problem here is that we don’t actually *know* anything about his niece. There’s a lot of guesswork involved.
“Sadly, this is not the first time he’s been on the wrong side of the law,” the statement from Thornton’s campaign reads. “In fact, his most recent TV ad even featured a wanted fugitive. We’re grateful to law enforcement for their quick response and professionalism in de-escalating the situation. The safety of our volunteers and staff is our top priority, and we’ve again instructed them to keep their distance from the delegate for their own protection,” the statement reads.
And by the way, if you want to read an *interesting* piece written about Cordoza, go here. Mr. Thornton seems to be correct in requesting the protection order. That shouldn’t be needed in today’s world. We are better than that, except, it seems, for certain Republicans. It makes us angry and sad. Apparently, Trump and his attitude “trickled” down to this state race. He’s only been in office for 9 months. If we are seeing this sort of thing happening *now*, what does the future hold?
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