I have been trying to keep from writing too many political columns. As they say, “Don’t discuss politics or religion.”

But sometimes I just cannot keep silent.

To me, many of these issues are not conservative, liberal or even moderate thinking, but just common sense.

Some of the news that has circulated over the last couple of weeks just blows my mind.

Here we go.

This is from an online story I read from the Virginia Mercury:

“What began as a quiet October Friday in Virginia politics erupted into a full-blown national scandal when screenshots of private, three-year-old text messages showing Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones fantasizing about shooting then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert and his children were made public.

“The National Review story revealed an August 2022 exchange between Jones — a former Norfolk delegate and one-time assistant attorney general — and Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield. In the texts, Jones described a scenario in which Gilbert “gets two bullets to the head,” followed by a wish that the Republican lawmaker’s children “die in their mother’s arms.”

How could anyone consider voting for this man? Whether you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent, this is just horrible. Jones should drop out of the race. However early voting has already begun in Virginia.

… Former congressman Newt Gingrich had this comment I thought was very good: “The Democrats’ panic about the massive and massively expensive COVID health insurance subsidies is a great reminder that the Affordable Care Act was not affordable. It was a major step toward government-controlled health care, and it has proven to be enormously expensive. We need reforms to make health affordable, more than gimmicks to prop up the impossibly expensive trends we are now caught in.”

… The government shutdown is a political football. It should not even happen. Just do the research and you can decide which side you support. All I can say is that this should never happen. While there is a shutdown, Congress should not receive pay either.

… Many of this country’s larger cities are plagued by high crime. Chicago is a good example where there are shootings and murders every week. The statistics are almost unbelievable. Just look up the murder rate in that city.

President Trump has deployed National Guard troops to help patrol the streets and reduce crime in some of these cities. Many of them lack the police force to handle the rampant crime rates.

It has worked in Washington. Crime rates have decreased since the National Guard was deployed. The statistics do not lie.

However, political leaders in Illinois and in Portland, Oregon, are filing lawsuits trying to stop the sending of federal troops into their cities. They say the administration is trying to form a “police state.”

If these officials can’t control the terrible, violent crime that harms good law-abiding citizens, then they should be removed from office.

… The fact that people are attacking ICE officers and even putting their personal information online is horrible. These men and women are just doing their job. For them to be threatened is awful. They are only arresting violent illegal immigrants and taking them off the streets.

What is wrong with that? They are just trying to keep America safer.

Until next time.

(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)