So now Kilgore is the one who has to promise to uphold the law. Interesting.

I find it intriguing that one of Kilgore's refrains is to say that Kaine talks out of both sides of his mouth, considering that Kilgore (morphologically)appears to be only able to speak out of one side is his own mouth.

Could this be "mouth envy?"

If only Kilgore cared as much about the children who are already born as he postures that he does on the abortion issue.

How can he say in one part of the state that he cares about the "culture of life" when he brags in another part of the state that he dedicated his tenure as George Allen's to building more and more prisons and throwing kids in juvenile facilities where they were beaten unconscious by so-called guards?

Kilgore's tenure as Allen's Secretary of Public Safety was so shameful that the U.S. Justice Department was called in to investigate.

A little research reveals 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 Director 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, after tipped off 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 eager to please and more than ready to lock'em up and throw away the keys.

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?

We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.

User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.