Tim Kaine noted with an air of righteousness worthy of a medieval pope that he has "nothing but loathing for those who take the tragedy and make it political." Well, not that it matters, but I have nothing but contempt for people like Tim Kaine. People who have been instrumental in converting the term "political" into a slur only to themselves score points in a political board-game. By making this statement Kaine was embarking in this most "Bushian" of activities: pre-emptive strike. Not politician of note in the US made a statement linking guns and the crime on VTech's campus, not one, that itself a sad reminder of the collapse of meaningful debate in the US, and of the sterilization of politics from anything like substantive discussion. Yet the Democratic governor struck and made a hyper-political move by attacking those who had not expressed themselves, i.e. the cowed, defeated majority of Americans who want gun controls. Like a nasty tyrant unleashed on the hopeless majority, Kaine created a false enemy and then savaged that imaginary foe, so as to strike a chord with the demented pro-gun electorate he serves in Virginia. As if the gun-control majority has not been savaged enough over the years by representatives too weak to take a stand and legislate. It is Kaine who deserves loathing for libelling the gun-control majority and scoring political points with the gun-totting nuts. It is Kaine who is a sad reflection of what the future of the Democrats and the country as a whole looks like. I would be ready, if not too happy, to accept this type of Democrat if at least they were truly liberal in issues of class, if they represented an odd gun-slinging ABBA-style scandinavian economic vision. Yet I think that we can safely discount this. Just because Webb is a populist, it does not mean we are in for a new New Deal. Be pessimistic people, Tim Kaine is evidence of days to come. And I loath the days and the governor.