When public policy replaces private virtue

Jay Jones is the current Democratic Party candidate for attorney general for the Commonwealth of Virginia. His candidacy has become a national scandal since it was revealed that he, through texts to and a phone conversation with Virginia Republican state legislator Carrie Coyner in 2022, said horrific things about Todd Gilbert, then the Republican speaker of the Virginia House of Representatives.

Among Jones’ appalling statements were that if he had only two bullets, and had the choice to kill Gilbert, Adolf Hitler and/or Cambodian mass murderer Pol Pot, he would put both bullets in Gilbert’s head. Jones said, “Put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”

But that wasn’t enough. Jones also suggested that Todd’s children (then aged 5 and 2) should be killed, and that Todd’s wife, Jennifer, should have to watch her children die in her arms. Jones justified his views, accusing Todd and Jennifer Gilbert of being “evil” and of “breeding little fascists.” He further elaborated to Coyner, “I’ve told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”

Keep in mind, this man is running to be the highest-ranking law enforcement officer in the state.

Even if one assumes that Jones would not actually put a bullet in the brain of a political opponent, it is reasonable to ask what he would do if someone else did. What will his approach to law enforcement be? Americans are already outraged by the treatment of criminals by prosecutors and judges whose “progressive” views make them soft on crime and impervious to the damage criminals inflict on innocent, law-abiding citizens.

Just a few examples: In Milwaukee in 2021, Darrell Brooks Jr. was released on $1,000 bond after trying to run over the mother of his child with his car; less than a week later, he plowed that car into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, killing six and critically injuring dozens. In North Carolina, Decarlos Brown had a history of serious mental illness and had been arrested 14 times, but Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes let him loose; on Aug. 22, he stabbed Iryna Zarutska in the neck on a Charlotte train, killing her. On Dec. 7, 2015, Ronald Exantus broke into a house in Versailles, Kentucky, and stabbed four members of the Tipton family, killing 6-year-old Logan. Exantus was acquitted of Logan’s murder on grounds of insanity, and was just released from prison after only seven years because of “good behavior.”

Is this the kind of “justice” Virginians can expect from an attorney general who so cavalierly wishes death upon those with whom he disagrees?

In the not-too-distant past, statements like the ones Jones made would produce bipartisan calls for his withdrawal from the political race.

Not anymore.

Not a single notable Democrat at either the state or national level has demanded that Jones exit the race: not Democrat gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger (who is running around the state telling her constituents, “Let your rage fuel you.”) Not either of Virginia’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Tim Kaine or Mark Warner. Not U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer or House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

To the contrary, Democrats in Virginia and elsewhere are expressly standing behind Jones. The current speaker of the Virginia House of Representatives characterized Jones’ texts as a “distraction.” The Virginia Beach Democratic Committee invoked the Bible, dismissing Jones’ remarks by saying, “Let those without sin cast the first stone.”

What explains this?

For large swaths of the population in America today, being virtuous is no longer defined by individual behavior; it is your political viewpoint that gives you the moral high ground. In other words, your own words and actions can be utterly despicable, and that’s A-OK as long as you hold the “correct” views – meaning leftist views – about public policy.

Jones’ vicious texts are only the latest examples. After conservative activist Charlie Kirk was murdered (just four weeks ago), social media was filled with people who hated his conservative politics, and who therefore celebrated his death and cheered for the man who assassinated him. Luigi Mangione is accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in the middle of New York City; Mangione is being hailed as a hero by the Left.

By shifting the definition of virtue from their personal conduct to their public policy positions, the “Free Palestine” crowd can justify ripping down posters of Israeli hostages and murder victims, storming buildings on college campuses, destroying property, assaulting innocent people and yelling, “Globalize the intifada!”

Making left-wing policy a proxy for actual virtuous conduct is why New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani can – without a trace of irony – proclaim himself to be looking out for the common good, even though as a student in Cairo, Egypt, in 2013, he witnessed women being brutally sexually assaulted during protests there but did nothing to intervene or even seek help for them because he thought doing so was culturally insensitive.

Proclaiming your lefty policy bona fides is cheap grace; it demands nothing of you personally.

In truth, this isn’t a completely new phenomenon; Hollywood has made it an art form. The entertainment industry is populated with people whose personal lives are a mess: they are notorious for their sexual excesses (including criminal sexual conduct); most can’t stay married (at least, to the same person); they are regulars in rehab (or need to be). Yet astonishing numbers of these celebrities feel free to lecture Americans who don’t share their views – ill-informed as those views may be – and to call us “fascists,” “racists,” “white supremacists” and every other conceivable slur. Actors’ and musicians’ personal shortcomings don’t matter, as long as their politics are reliably leftist.

But the magnitude of the societal shift is new. This phenomenon is not limited to Hollywood stars or tenured Ivy League faculty, groups isolated by wealth and tenure from the consequences of their pernicious worldviews. It is nurses and doctors, teachers and school administrators, mid-level managers, soccer moms and veterinarians.

It is elected officials and candidates running for elected offices.

It is impossible to overstate the dangers of this worldview, which is completely antithetical to the founding principles of the United States. Our constitutional liberties depend upon a population that practices virtue in their everyday lives. Nor is this some “slippery slope” fallacy; we are watching the consequences in real time, every day: murder, rape, theft, arson, censorship, political persecution, lawfare – all are justified when the perpetrators are in pursuit of so-called progressive goals and the victims are conservatives.

Statements like the ones Jones made are either a disqualification for the office, or a qualification) for it. There is no in between. Jones has issued an apology, for whatever that’s worth. But if he’s elected, the next candidate who expresses similar sentiments toward others won’t.

Because he’ll know he doesn’t have to.