Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

Virginia Major Party Primaries, 2019

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Primary elections for the Democratic and Republican parties will be held on June 11, 2019. Off on a Tangent is making recommendations to party primary voters in each contested state- and federal-level primary race in Virginia, as well as those for Loudoun County local offices.

Political parties are private organizations that should not have any official standing in our political system, but Democratic and Republican primaries are held by the Virginia Department of Elections and are funded by Virginia taxpayers. The purpose of a party primary should be for members of that party to choose who will represent them on the general election ballot. Virginia, however, has an “open primary” system where any registered voter may vote in any one (but not more than one) primary each year.

This series of recommendations only applies to taxpayer-funded primaries. Both the Republican and Democratic parties are making some of their nominations at party conventions. The Libertarian Party, which currently qualifies as a major party under the Tangent style guide (section 10.70), nominates its candidates in party conventions and is not holding primaries.

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South Riding Board of Directors, 2019

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South Riding Proprietary
South Riding Proprietary

The South Riding Proprietary is a homeowners’ association (HOA) that acts as a defacto local government for the South Riding community in Loudoun County, Virginia. At the proprietary’s annual meeting on May 21, 2019, two seats on the Board of Directors are up for election. Members of the board serve three year terms. South Riding property owners may cast votes for these two board seats either by attending the annual meeting in person, or by submitting a proxy vote ahead of time. Proxy votes may be cast using paper ballots that were mailed to property owners, or electronically on the South Riding Proprietary web site.

The annual meeting must achieve a quorum (combining in-person attendance and proxy ballots) of at least ten percent of all South Riding property owners. If a quorum is not achieved, the meeting will be recessed for a period of less than thirty days. At the resumption of the meeting, a quorum of only five percent is required. The meeting may then be repeatedly recessed and resumed until the five percent quorum is achieved. The South Riding Board of Directors cannot seat members or perform any official work without a quorum.

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Toyota Prius
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Things still remain strangely calm in the world of ugly cars. None of last year’s cars have been discontinued, but one—the Jeep Cherokee—went through a mid-cycle refresh and is now much less ugly than it was. This made room for the Fiat 500L to make its list debut.

The criteria for inclusion is pretty simple. I don’t include models that aren’t sold in the United States. I don’t include models that sell in very low volume (and volume is defined subjectively based on how many I see on the highways in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area). I don’t include exotic, military, or special-purpose vehicles—so no super-cars, tanks, or postal trucks. I also don’t include vehicles reserved exclusively for the commercial market, such as the persistently horrific Ram Promaster.

This list is my personal opinion. If you own one of the cars on this list . . . well . . . don’t take it (too) personally.

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I’m Running for President

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I am running as an independent candidate for President of the United States of America.

The three main focus areas of my campaign are: human rights, federalism, and balanced budgets. A detailed review of these and many other issues can be found on the campaign web site.

Politicians, both Republican and Democratic, have married themselves to their respective party talking points. Many of these talking points are fundamentally misguided. Those that aren’t are, too often, just talking points. For example, the Republicans talk a lot about federalism and balanced budgets . . . but once they get power, the government keeps growing and the debts keep mounting. And Democrats talk a lot about human rights . . . but don’t seem to know what they are and often govern in a way that is directly opposed to them.

It’s time to get the United States of America back on track. No more hesitation. No more dissembling. No more partisan nonsense. No more lies. No more dumb excuses.

The campaign is managed by a registered campaign committee, Scott Bradford for President LLC (SCC ID S812506; FEC ID C00699330). It can accept donations and receive royalties on merchandise sales, and its funds may only be used for campaign purposes.

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Mueller Investigation Concludes

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Updated

Special Council Robert Mueller (R) has concluded his investigation into the Russian government’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. As required by law, Mueller today delivered his final report to Attorney General William Barr (R).

Investigations into Russian interference began in 2016 under the authority of the U.S. Department of Justice. After taking office in 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R) recused himself from the Russia investigation because, as a senator, he had contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak before the election. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (R) served as acting attorney general with regard to this investigation.

After Trump fired then Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey (R), and then made controversial comments tying that firing to the Russia investigation, Rosenstein appointed Mueller to continue the investigation as special council on May 17, 2017.

Over the course of the Mueller investigation, various indictments and criminal referrals have been made against Russian nationals involved with election interference. Additional indictments were made against some officials associated with the Trump campaign, including Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, and Roger Stone, for matters not directly linked to Russian interference. A former Trump attorney, Michael Cohen, was also charged with campaign finance violations and fraud. Other sealed indictments have likely been made, but this is unconfirmed and details have not been released. (Ed. note, March 24: A summary report submitted by Barr states that no further indictments are recommended, and no sealed indictments have yet to be made public.)

The law does not require that the special council report be made public, however the attorney general has the authority to release it if he chooses. The U.S. House of Representatives voted this month 420-0 in a nonbinding resolution that called for the report to be released to Congress and to the public (with redaction of classified material or confidential grand jury testimony). Trump has also said that he believes the report should be made public.

In his official notification to Congress that the investigation had been completed, Barr states that he “may be in a position to advise you of the Special Council’s principle conclusions as soon as this weekend.” He additionally stated that he is consulting with Rosenstein and Mueller to “determine what other information from the report can be released to Congress and the public,” and that he is “committed to as much transparency as possible.”

Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.