From the Archives: Virginia political leaders react to news of Osama bin Laden’s death

Virginia political leaders react to news of Osama bin Laden’s death
May 2, 2011 3:19 AM MST

President Barack Obama’s late-night confirmation of the death of Osama bin Laden – an announcement that had been preceded by hours of speculation on Twitter – led naturally to reactions by political leaders across the country, including those in Virginia.

Congress

U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA7) said that the “men and women of our armed forces and intelligence community have fought valiantly for the last decade and this is a major victory and testament to their dedication. I commend President Obama who has followed the vigilance of President Bush in bringing Bin Laden to justice. While this is no doubt a major event in our battle against terrorism, we will not relent in our fight against terror and our efforts to keep America safe and secure.”

In a news release distributed by his office, U.S. Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-VA6) said:

“The brave men and women of our military work hard day in and day out to preserve our security and deserve our gratitude for accomplishing this dangerous mission. Without their dedication to the mission and their resolve to track Osama Bin Laden, tonight’s announcement would not have been possible.”

Freshman Representative Scott Rigell (R-VA2) tweeted:

“Hearing now that Navy SEALS led the operation. So incredibly proud of them. True warriors in defense of freedom.”

Candidates
Three Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated after the 2012 election by Democrat Jim Webb also had reactions.

Former Governor and Senator George F. Allen released a statement that said, in part:

“The death of Osama Bin Laden is important symbolically and strategically, but it is not the end of the war on terror. Radical terrorism is larger than any one person or one group. America and her allies are still the target of the enemies of freedom, and we must remain vigilant in our fight.”

Jamie Radtke, another candidate for the 2012 GOP nomination, said on her campaign web site:

“Our war against militant Islamic terrorism is not over. Prudence suggests that we face greater risks in the near-term, as al-Qaeda attempts to show that bin Laden’s demise does not end their war against America and the world. It is my prayer, however, that Osama bin Laden’s death will be a turning point in the war in Afghanistan.”

Northern Virginia businessman Timothy Donner, the most recent entrant into the Republican Senate race, said on Twitter:

“We are grateful and proud to our brave military for making this moment possible” and “while this death stirs memories of the unspeakable horror of 9/11, this represents the triumph of American will.”

Party Leaders
Pat Mullins, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, said in a statement distributed via email to journalists:

"This is a tremendous day, not only for the Commonwealth of Virginia, but for our entire country. The man who plotted the murder of hundreds of innocents on Virginia soil and thousands elsewhere has finally been brought to justice.”

Former Governor L. Douglas Wilder (D-Richmond) first tweeted “Looks like we got him,” followed by “Americans owe a great debt of gratitude to our men & women in the U.S. military and in the intelligence community.”

As this goes to press, other members of the Virginia congressional delegation, other announced candidates for the U.S. Senate, and other state party chairmen had not responded to the news of bin Laden’s demise.

Publisher's note: This article was originally published on Examiner.com on May 2, 2011. The Examiner.com publishing platform was discontinued July 1, 2016, and its web site went dark on or about July 10, 2016.  I am republishing this piece in an effort to preserve it and all my other contributions to Examiner.com since April 6, 2010. It is reposted here without most of the internal links that were in the original.

From the Archives: Virginia businessman Tim Donner relates ‘eerie’ memory of 9/11 in New York City

Virginia businessman Tim Donner relates ‘eerie’ memory of 9/11 in New York City
September 10, 2012 7:38 PM MST

Like all Americans who were old enough to comprehend what happened on Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, Northern Virginia businessman Tim Donner has vivid memories of that day. His recollection, however, includes what he calls a “chilling coincidence” that borders on the eerie.

Donner is the owner of Horizons Television in Great Falls, Virginia, which specializes in documentary, educational and promotional video production, and founder of One Generation Away, an educational and public policy organization. He was a candidate for the U.S. Senate before withdrawing from the race and endorsing Republican nominee George F. Allen. He also contributes commentary to the online journal of news and opinion, Bearing Drift.

It was his role as a video producer that placed Donner and his wife in Manhattan on the morning of September 11, 2001.

Remember the Regency

As he related the story to the Charlottesville Libertarian Examiner in a telephone interview, “[we] were in New York on business that day doing a historical documentary for a longtime client and we were staying at the Regency Hotel.”

The significance of the name of the hotel and “why that fits into the story,” he added parenthetically, would become clear “in just a little bit.”

Continuing, he explained, he and his wife got their “gear together for a video shoot that day and as we head out the door, the doorman at the hotel says a plane just hit the World Trade Center.”

Unperturbed by that news, Donner figured “that perhaps this was a light plane, similar to one that had flown into the White House months before that, so we didn’t make much of it.”

So they went about their business and, once they arrived at their client’s office, he recalled, “we sat there and watched on TV live as the second plane hit the World Trade Center.”

‘Chill up my spine’

At that point, he said, like so many others, “we realized we were under attack and at that moment it struck me -- it struck me hard, it sent a chill up my spine -- that I had been to the Regency Hotel [just] three or four times in my life.”

His first visit to the Regency, he said, was when he was about eight years old: “The first time that I had been there was having lunch with my grandparents on November 22, 1963.”

On that occasion, Donner said, “a waiter came up and told my grandmother, ‘The president has just been shot.’”

Two seminal moments

Tim Donner

The spinal chill he felt eleven years ago, he explained, “came from the sudden realization that I was in exactly the same spot on November 22, 1963, when John F. Kennedy was shot and killed, that I was on September 11, when we were attacked in New York and Washington.”

Those dates, he went on, “are the two seminal moments that anybody our age will remember for the rest of their lives. They’ll remember where they were and what they were doing.”

For Donner, “this is a coincidence of incalculable proportions,” he said, “because you couldn’t even set any odds upon being in the same place for both of those events, especially when it was some random hotel that I’d not been to more than three or four times in my life.”

That coincidence, he concluded, “was eerie, to say the least, because the chances of that happening were so astronomical as to be off the charts. The realization of that just makes one wonder about larger metaphysical questions.”



Publisher's note: This article was originally published on Examiner.com on September 10, 2012. The Examiner.com publishing platform was discontinued July 1, 2016, and its web site went dark on or about July 10, 2016.  I am republishing this piece in an effort to preserve it and all my other contributions to Examiner.com since April 6, 2010. It is reposted here without most of the internal links that were in the original.

Tim Donner Withdraws from U.S. Senate Race

Tim Donner in Richmond

Norman Leahy had the story first at Bearing Drift: 

U.S. Senate candidate Tim Donner has ended his quest for the Republican nomination to succeed retiring Senator Jim Webb.

That leaves four candidates in the Republican field:  former Governor George Allen, Bishop E.W. Jackson, political activist Jamie Radtke, and lawyer David McCormick.  Although Tim Kaine is the likely Democratic nominee, he also faces at least one opponent.

Donner's announcement came at 4:00 p.m, but 45 minutes earlier he telephoned me to give him a personal heads-up.  I took the opportunity to interview him about his decision and about his plans for the future -- including whether he might consider a third-party bid for the U.S. Senate or any other elective office.

The interview has been published in two parts on Examiner.com:

Exit interview, Part I: Senate candidate Tim Donner withdraws from race

and

Exit interview, Part II: U.S. Senate candidate Tim Donner ends campaign

In a part of the interview that was not published, Donner said to me:

Thank you, Rick, and I just want to say I’ve always respected your reporting. You have been more pro-active than almost any of the other journalists that I’ve come to know in the course of this campaign.

One of the things that struck me the most about the media, and I always knew there was a left-wing media bias, that was nothing new to me, but what I didn’t realize was just how lazy so much of the media has been in their unwillingness to do anything more than repeat press releases and poll results and fundraising efforts and FEC reports.

You’ve been out there on the scene, watching people speak, watching them interact, interviewing them in person, and so I have a great deal of respect for the work that you’ve done.

I wasn't seeking praise, but I certainly appreciate it.

I hope the other candidates I have interviewed -- including Allen, Kaine, McCormick, and Radtke -- feel the same way. I do all I can to be fair, even to interview subjects with whom I disagree profoundly (examples include Tim Kaine and Tom Perriello).

By coincidence, Donner's announcement came on the same day that former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson ended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination and announced he will instead seek the Libertarian Party's nod.

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