330 Upland Shores Drive, in the Water’s Edge subdivision of Franklin County, owned by Jonnie Williams, a friend to both Gov. Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. | Photo by Stephanie Klein Davis | The Roanoke Times

To get to one of the most noteworthy homes of late on Smith Mountain Lake, you head east on Virginia 40 from Rocky Mount. Pass the one-horse communities of Redwood and Glade Hill. Soon you’ll come to Penhook and the local landmark known as Carl’s Place, a friendly diner and gas station.

Just past Carl’s, follow some back roads for 3 to 4 miles to the lushly landscaped golf community called Water’s Edge. A little ways off a cul de sac at the end of Upland Shores Drive, you’ll find No. 330, a house owned by Jonnie and Celeste Williams.

Built in 1993, the cedar and stone-sided mansion stands on two waterfront acres, behind some shade-providing trees on a point that juts out into the lake’s Blackwater River side. There’s a stone-paver driveway with a turning circle, six parking spaces and an attached, two-car garage. It’s currently listed for sale at $3.9 million. (More pix are here).

There’s another waterfront home in Water’s Edge which Jonnie Williams owns with his son, Jonnie Jr. It’s at 125 Sconset Drive, and is smaller and is also for sale — for $649,000. )More pix are here.)

125 Sconset Drive, in the Water’s Edge Community of Franklin County, owned by Jonnie Williams and his son, Jonnie Williams Jr. | Shot by Dan

Neither home is particularly noteworthy at Smith Mountain Lake, where scores of similar mansions dot 500-some miles of shoreline. Instead, the recent prominence comes from the friends of Williams — a car dealer turned tobacco magnate — who he’s gifted with lake vacations in recent years.

One is Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate for governor, who’s vacationed three times at Williams’ expense. Twice, in 2011 and 2012, Williams gave the Cuccinelli a week in the summer (value of each: $3,000), according to the attorney general’s recently amended financial disclosures.

Once, in 2010, Williams provided a place to Cuccinelli for a four-day Thanksgiving retreat (value: $1,500). For that, Williams also provided a catered dinner.

Another is Gov. Bob McDonnell. In 2011, according to the governor’s financial disclosure, Williams gave McDonnell $2,268 worth of lodging and entertainment at Smith Mountain Lake. Williams has lavished other gifts upon the governor as well.

READ THE REST OF THIS COLUMN HERE.

Watch Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County and Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, as he rescues Attorney General Eric Holder from bizarre and rambling questions by Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas and a Tea Party favorite. And yes, Gohmert really did say what’s in the headline, right around 8:58.

h/t to Scott M!

Shot by Dan in Ohio

“Some 43 percent of voters in union households voted for President Bush in 2004, according to exit poll data.”
Linda Chavez

Do you think a GOP presidential contender will ever get that high of a percentage again? (For McCain the number was 38; for Romney it was 37).

AP Photo

A Guest Post — May 20, 2013

Note from Dan: The Irishman who wears a Panama hat writes for his blog, Wednesdays Wars. Below is his latest entry.

By Tom Callaghan

Our Republican friends think they have President Obama between a rock and a hard place on the issues of Benghazi, the IRS, and the Justice Department review of some phone records of a number of Associated Press reporters. In my opinion, there is less there than meets the eye.

Let’s look at these issues one at a time.

Benghazi. On September 11, 2012, the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya was attacked. The US ambassador and three other Americans were killed. The next day, President Obama referred to what had happened as “acts of terror.”

UN Ambassador Susan Rice described the situation on the Sunday talk shows four days after the event. She referred to a 14 minute video ridiculing Islam that had just recently been translated into Arabic. The video caused an outbreak of violence in Cairo, and her preliminary assessment was it had contributed to a volatile situation in Benghazi that “heavily armed extremist elements” exploited.

Anyone who was in Washington DC when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 could relate to how an event could cause a spontaneous reaction, which is then exacerbated and prolonged by heavily armed extremists with an agenda. I was there, and saw it happen. Ambassador Rice’s description of events in Benghazi, which she clearly described as “preliminary” made sense to me.

The Right goes nuts if something happens and is not called “Islamic terrorism” immediately. Obama likes to gather facts, and proceed based on what is known. The country prefers that approach. If they wanted impulsive bluster, they would have taken McCain-Palin. If they wanted someone who would do what Sheldon Adelson wanted, they would have taken Romney and the Marathon Man.

Read the rest here.

AP Photo

The Benghazi “scandal” is not going to stick, and neither is the IRS/Tea Party “scandal” or the tracking-the Associated Press-phone calls “scandal.” That’s because they rely on the silly notion that President Obama is an omniscient presence who knows everything that’s going on at all times in the federal government.

But Umbrella-gate may be another matter. There is no way the president can claim he didn’t know a U.S. Marine was holding an umbrella for him during a speech in the rain. Obama directed it, after all, and it’s a clear violation of law.

From The Daily Caller:

The commander in chief of the American armed forces today forced a violation of Marine Corps regulations, so he wouldn’t get wet.

According to Marine Corps regulation MCO P1020.34F of the Marine Corps Uniform Regulations chapter 3, a male Marine is not allowed to carry an umbrella while in uniform. There is no provision in the Marine Corps uniform regulation guidelines that allows a male Marine to carry an umbrella.

Nevertheless, during a press conference under a light drizzle with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan this morning, President Obama allowed the First Head to be protected from the elements by an umbrella held by a male Marine corporal.

Oh, man! Looks like they’ve finally got the president dead to rights now, eh? He’s too good to hold his own umbrella! And he forced the military to do it for him! And he violated federal law to boot! Will Umbrella-gate finally lead to Obama’s impeachment? Republicans in Congress must be drooling in anticipation of the next hearings.

Not so fast . . . Read more »

Wikimedia Commons

Post of the Day — May 19, 2013

Note from Dan: In the missive below, posted to this thread, Roanoke Tea Party activist Bill Gregory describes how greenways are part of the Agenda 21 / ICLEI conspiracy in a larger battle waged by the climate change crowd. Problem 1: Agenda 21 was ratified in 1992. The development of greenways (not in the Roanoke Valley, but in many other places across the country) predates Agenda 21 by at least two decades. Problem 2: Many of the longest and best known greenways in the nation, such as the Great Allegheny Passage Trail and the C&O Towpath (together they link Pittsburgh with Washington D.C.) have little to any commuter value. Problem 3: Many people who care not a whit about climate change vote with their feet for greenways every day.

“Climate change activists expect the Greenway system to be used more and more like an alternative commuter highway as the years go by. They want commuters to switch from motorized to non-motorized work commutes.

This is one of the main reasons the Greenway is being developed. VDOT funds are being diverted from conventional vehicular road maintenance / new roads to greenway systems in metro areas across the Commonwealth. Its all about reducing man-made CO2 emissions, which we all know is the main cause of global warming (debate on the subject is over, according to the Climate Change Alarmists). Read more »

Shot by Dan in Roanoke and Franklin County

“Now they show you how detergents take out bloodstains, a pretty violent image there. I think if you’ve got a T-shirt with a bloodstain all over it, maybe laundry isn’t your biggest problem.Maybe you should get rid of the body before you do the wash.”
Jerry Seinfeld

Bojin | Wikimedia Commons

If you’re curious why Roanoke County is sponsoring a bicycle safety event June 8 at Tanglewood Mall, you should listen to the stories of local lawyer David Harrison.

Twice in the past five years, he has been hit by cars while riding his bike carefully and legally. The first time was on the Blue Ridge Parkway in 2008 when he was bumped off the road by a passing sedan pulling a fishing boat. It knocked him off the pavement and he landed in adjacent grass.

That one left Harrison with some bruises and a busted cellphone. He rode away from the crash, but on the next one he wasn’t so lucky.

It happened on Edgewood Street just off Brandon Avenue Southwest in 2010. Once again, a car bumped Harrison as it passed him too closely; this time he went down hard on the asphalt. He fractured five ribs, broke his collarbone in two places and his shoulder blade in one, and suffered a collapsed lung. Read more »

Shot by Dan on Virginia 40 in Franklin County

“I am thankful the most important key in history was invented. It’s not the key to your house, your car, your boat, your safety deposit box, your bike lock or your private community. It’s the key to order, sanity, and peace of mind. The key is ‘Delete.’ “
Elayne Boosler

Hey folks, I have a boatload of stuff to do today so I won’t be around this blog much. Have a good weekend!

“With a Gun” by Steely Dan, from Pretzel Logic. h/t to Old Blue, who suggested this number.

Tragedies 1 . . . . 2 . . . . 3 . . . and counting

Got the date wrong, when I skedded this. The headline is fixed and a new tune will come tomorrow.