I just received an email from the Republican Party of Virginia with more snippets of Governor Tim Kaine's lies about the death penalty, with one as recent as March 22, 08!!!

Here they are:

“I’ll enforce the death penalty. As governor, I’ll carry out death sentences handed down by Virginia juries because that’s the law.” (“More Ashamed”, Kaine for Governor ad)

"I pledged to the voters of Virginia that I would enforce the law about the death penalty, which I don't believe in…I have personal opposition, but I do take an oath to uphold the law, and I do and I have, and I will continue to." (“Kaine Discusses Payday Loan Concerns,” Northern Virginia Daily, 3/22/08)

“Kaine responded in his own ad that ‘my faith teaches life is sacred. That's why I personally oppose the death penalty. But I take my oath of office seriously, and I'll enforce the death penalty.’" (Race for Va. Governor a Tight One to the Finish,” USA Today, 11/3/05)

“On the death penalty, Kaine said his opposition to capital punishment is based on his religious beliefs as a Catholic. However, he said he would not let his personal convictions interfere with his duty to carry out state laws that prescribe execution for those who commit heinous crimes. ‘When we run for public office and we put our hand on a Bible and we say we’re going to uphold the law, I view that as like my marriage oath,’ he said. ‘That’s an oath I’m going to honor.’” (“Va. Gov Race Pivots on Guns, Executions,” Stateline.org, 7/3/05)

“Kilgore insisted that my personal faith-based opposition to capital punishment would prevent me from carrying out executions …I was also able to respond through my own ads, telling voters that I took the oath of office as seriously as my wedding vows.” (Tim Kaine, “How I Won,” Blueprint Magazine, 2/9/06)

Kaine and his campaign event went so far as to promise not to stand in the way of lawful executions by using moratoriums, clemencies or other delaying tactics:

"Tim is not going to try to call for a moratorium…He is going to enforce the death penalty, just like any other governor has." (Kaine for Governor Press Secretary Delacey Skinner, “Kilgore, Kaine Trade Barbs on Capital Punishment,” Washington Post, 10/12/05)

“Kaine has said that, if elected, he would follow Virginia law in enforcing the death penalty -- as the oath of office requires. He would not attempt, he adds, to circumvent executions by using the governor's powers of clemency to pardon or commute death sentences.” (“Catholicism, Politics a Careful Mix for Kaine,” Washington Post, 10/31/05)

“He is morally opposed to capital punishment, he explained, but as governor he would allow executions to continue unabated.” (“Who is Timothy M. Kaine,” The Virginian Pilot, 10/16/05)

... but he didn't claim to be under sniper fire. I guess that's a good point.

Democrat Governor Timothy Kaine reneged on a promise he made in one of his ads in 2005 when he was running for Governor.

In 2005 Kaine said:

"My faith teaches me life is sacred," Kaine says in a television ad that responds to Kilgore's spots. "I personally oppose the death penalty. But I take my oath of office seriously and I'll enforce the death penalty."

Today Governor Kaine gave a reprieve of the death sentence to convicted CAPITAL murder criminal Edward Bell. Bell was convicted of the October 29, 1999 murder of Winchester police Sgt. Rick L. Timbrook.

He did this even though a Federal judicial court will be deciding his petition for a stay. Governor Kaine basically removed that decision from a court of law.

Attorney General Bob McDonnell, in a press release earlier today said:

"The question of whether a stay should be granted is first and foremost a legal decision to be made by a court. The Governor appropriately waited for the United States Supreme Court to rule on a request for a stay last October in Christopher Emmett’s case and I see no legal reason why Bell’s case should be treated differently.”

On top of that, he also placed a moratorium on all death sentences in the Commonwealth of Virginia until the Federal Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the lethal injection.

In Virginia, where death row inmates can choose electrocution or lethal injection, this effectively stops BOTH types of execution from taking place.

Attorney General Bob McDonnell further stated in his press release today:

“Further, I respectfully disagree with the Governor’s decision to impose a blanket moratorium on all executions in Virginia. This moratorium will pre-empt the United States Supreme Court’s ability to decide whether other Virginia capital murderers present sufficient legal grounds to stay an execution. Additionally, other death-row inmates affected by the Governor’s actions have yet to select a method of execution as Virginia law provides, and only lethal injection cases are at issue in the Baze case. Finally, without knowing the date on which the United States Supreme Court will rule in Baze, a moratorium may unnecessarily delay justice in other Virginia cases.”

I find Governor Kaine's actions in this case absolutely deplorable and ask for an immediate withdrawal of the moratorium.

This is hypocrisy at its highest level in the Commonwealth.

Other bloggers are talking about it too:

Mason Conservative's Article

Sic Semper Tyrannis' Article

Black Velvet Bruce Li's Article

The Contemporary Conservative's Article

Virginia Virtucon's Article

College Republican Federation of Virginia

If I have inadvertently left someone out, I apologize and assure you it was simply because I am tired. Send me a note and I will add your article in.