You know, it's a funny thing about Bill Clinton. No matter what nasty things Republicans say about him, they can't get around the fact that he's on President George W. Bush's autodial when disaster strikes. It's hard to credibly knock a guy who serves, and serves so well, when duty calls.

I guess Jerry Kilgore is more comfortable spending time with Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, men who can never be questioned for their ethics or integrity...

Clinton? Liberal? You'd think these people have never heard of the word "moderate." And judging from their campaign's positions, the word definitely isn't part of their vocabulary.

Kilgore is a joke. His only agenda is throwing labels like 'liberal' and 'anti-death penalty', and hoping it sticks.

All Kilgore can do now is slime. Well, if you don't have a positive record, what else can one do but lie and slime.

If you believed Kilgore, you'd think that Clinton was the most unpopular President ever instead of one of the most popular. He's deluded.

Amen to the previous comments. Kilgore has no qualms about having Dick Cheney on his side, a liar and war profiteer of the first order, but he denounces Bush's go-to man, Bill Clinton. Clinton is more popular than Kilgore, Cheney and GWB put together and Tim Kaine is rightfully proud to have Clinton on his side.

Kilgore, on the other hand, deems it appropriate to question the constitutional right of defendants to have an attorney to defend them in court. Apparently lynching would be Jerry's preferred method of justice. More than a little scary, coming from the former attorney general.

Grow up, Jerry. You're not fit to run this state.

I hope George Allen does run for President -- that will give everyone in Virginia another opportunity to look at the "relationship" he has with Jerry Kilgore. I hope someone will demand to see what they are hiding in the closet concerning the eavesdropping case.

If the Republicans are as clean as they say they are, then WHY NOT release the deposition that Kilgore game on this matter? Why did Allen go along with the Atty. General meeting with Matricardi et. al. once the Democrats learned that the Republicans had illegally eavesdropped on their telephone conference?

If Allen and Kilgore are as innocent as they claim -- then why did the Republican Party pay a million bucks-plus to the Democrats to make this scandal go away?

And, if Allen and Gilgore tire of discussing the eavesdropping scandal, maybe they can answer a few questions concerning the administration of the juvenile justice system in Virginia and about WHY the U.S. Justice Department was called in to investigate.

Those with good memories, will recall that overcrowding and abuse in the state's juvenile detention centers could qualify Virginia for a "Shame of the Nation" award.

Under Kilgore's tenure as Allen's Secretary of Public Safety, there were not just simply ALLEGATIONS of child abuse, but CONFIRMED CASES of children being beaten into unconsciousness by guards.

This all came to light in May of 1996, when the Justice Department, tipped to routine abuse of children, launched an investigation.

Allen, having been elected on a "tough on crime" ticket, established harsh new standards for juvenile offenders, putting them in prison for lesser offenses and keeping them in longer. Kilgore was bright-eyed, BUSHy-tailed and ever-eager to please.

Overcrowding inevitably got worse, abuse became more common, and the whole system quickly ceased to rehabilitate children, and instead turned them into hardened criminals.

This was a stark contrast to just a decade previously, when Virginia's juvenile-justice system was considered the model for the nation and the envy of leaders of states across the country. Allen and his Secretary of Public Safety, in an effort to prove themselves to be "tough guys," turned that whole system on its head and managed to destroy everything good about the system, making it worse than useless.

Despite the obviousness of the abuse -- the reaction from the Allen administration and Jerry Kilgore was shocking.

Rather than admit fault, express even an iota of shame at the federal government's need to get involved, they became very defensive. Get this. Kilgore CLAIMED the whole probe was purely political, and attempted to BLAME it on President Clinton, saying that Clinton was making up stuff (hmmmmm, sound familiar?) to detract from Allen's juvenile justice overhaul.

As the Virginian-Pilot wrote in an editorial at the time (May 23, 1996):

Much as Virginia would like to handle its own problems, officials should listen carefully to what the Justice Department has to say. This probe should not disintegrate into a federal/state standoff, but should be taken as a chance to assess what's wrong and move forward.

Lives may be at stake, literally - those of errant juveniles, of the men and women who guard them and of a public that sooner or later will have most of these young people back in its its midst.

Is blaming someone else for a problem considered... "LEADERSHIP"? Is claiming ignorance of a problem... "LEADERSHIP"? Is the ability to tell BIGGER AND BIGGER lies to protect your boss... "LEADERSHIP"?

How many of the juvenile offenders who were warehoused and subjected to abuse in the Allen/Kilgore administration are now adult offenders contributing to increased crime across the state? Are these chickens coming home to roost?

Just wondering when Mr. Kilgore will stop whining and blaming other people for his troubles and stand up as a man, "a man in full," and take some responsibility?

If the Republicans are as clean as they say they are, then WHY NOT release the deposition that Kilgore GAVE (pardon the typoe above) on this matter? Why did Allen go along with the Atty. General meeting with Matricardi et. al. once the Democrats learned that the Republicans had illegally eavesdropped on their telephone conference?

In terms of what he actually accomplished thanks to divided government, vs the hype, Bill Clinton's 8 years were as conservative, if not more, than Bush's have been. Clinton backed welfare reform. He didn't advance lefty causes and mostly woo'ed Republican business interests in his policies. Spending was down.

So... liberal? That's pretty desperate.

The biggest reason the Republicans so love to despise Clinton is that Clinton "OUT-REPUBLICANED" them all!

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