McDonnell gets his day in Court
Former Gov. Bob McDonnell had lots of promise.
A Catholic, graduate of Notre Dame, and with an earned law degree from Pat Robertson’s Regent University, McDonnell traversed several worlds: American Catholicism, Evangelical Protestantism and conservative politics.
I first met Bob at a Notre Dame alumni meeting in Virginia Beach in the late 1990s.
I was not impressed with his wife, but I reserved judgment on Bob.
As a member of the Virginia state legislature, however, he approved of raising taxes and as Governor didn’t act “political.” A member of the Republican National Committee told me that after Bob was elected Governor, he didn’t give him the time of day. There was something in Bob’s makeup that didn’t “fit” with the way serious politicians conduct their careers.
Nevertheless, I felt that Bob’s conviction on federal corruption charges was overstepping. It wasn’t illegal in Virginia to do what Bob did, so why should he be convicted on federal charges?
Fortunately, it appears that the U.S. Supreme Court agrees and Bob McDonnell will not serve time in jail. May he now go peacefully into the obscurity he deserves.
