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Sheila Johnson Blasts McDonnell for Confederate History Month

Sheila Johnson, the billionaire co-founder of Black Entertainment Television and major Democratic Party donor whose endorsement of right-wing Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell helped sell his image as a "moderate," releases a statement slamming McDonnell’s decision to reinstate Confederate History Month.

The statement:

"I must condemn Governor McDonnell’s Proclamation honoring ‘Confederate History Month,’ and its insensitive disregard of Virginia’s complicated and painful history, the remnants of which many Virginians still wrestle with today. The complete omission of slavery from an official government document, which purports to be a call for Virginians to ‘understand’ and ’study’ their history, is both academically flawed and personally offensive. If Virginians are to celebrate their ’shared history,’ as this proclamation suggests, then the whole truth of this history must be recognized and not evaded."

Politico's Ben Smith notes that one of the GOP's rising stars' decision to re-litigate the Civil War plays to "the narrowest perceptions of the GOP as a regional, cultural party." That, as well as the complaints of a billionaire black supporter with a high media profile, ensures this conversation will continue. So it's working out very well for them , no?

Last summer, the billionaire BET co-founder had high hopes for the extreme anti-gay and fundamentalist McDonnell. Instead of reigniting a race riot and proclaiming that gays didn't need employment protections, Johnson said McDonnell's focus would be "jobs, jobs, jobs."

Watch Sheila Johnson's endorse McDonnell and one of her campaign commercials AFTER THE JUMP ...

BET Billionaire Johnson Mocks Democrats' Speech Impediment

In July, Rod 2.0 reported that Sheila Johnson (R? D?), the billionaire co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, endorsed the extreme anti-gay and fundamentalist Republican Bob McDonnell for Virginia governor. At a recent rally for McDonnell, Johnson mocked the slight stutter of McDonnell's Democratic opponent Creigh Deeds.

Johnson said: "The other people I talk to, and especially his op-p-p-p-ponent (INAUDIBLE). He could not articulate what needed to be done. So communication is hugely important."

This coming from the woman who made a billion dollars selling gangsta rap and "Tip Drill" videos to the black community?

UPDATE: Johnson offers a faux apology "for any offense he, or others, may have taken.”

Watch, via Think Progress, ON THE JUMP.

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BET Co-Founder Sheila Johnson Supports Anti-Gay Republican Bob McDonnell for Virginia Governor

Now this is very interesting. Sheila Johnson, the billionaire co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, Democratic Party donor and quickly becoming a major player in Virginia politics, endorses anti-gay Republican Bob McDonnell for Virginia governor, reports the Washington Post.

Sheila Johnson joined McDonnell at a Monday appearance in Richmond. She says she thinks the Republican can turn around the state's sluggish economy and prefers him over his Democratic opponent, R. Creigh Deeds.

Johnson and her former husband, Robert Johnson, sold BET in 2000 to Viacom for $3 billion. She backed Barack Obama for president, but has given some money to GOP candidates in the past though most of her support has gone to Democrats.

McDonnell is a social conservative and a firm opponent of gay rights and a woman's right to choose. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1992–2005 and then served as the commonwealth's Attorney General. McDonnell opposes a woman's right to choose, "even in cases of rape and incest and the health of the mother, the most extreme position." McDonnell's record on gays and gay righst is just a extreme, reports the Virginia Democrat blog.

"Several years ago, Mr. McDonnell sought to block the reappointment of a Newport News Circuit Judge named Verbina Askew because she was allegedly gay. [McDonnell] went to great pains to assert that the judge’s sexual orientation did not matter to him; rather, the fact that she may have violated Virginia anti-sodomy statute in force at the time, which prohibited oral and anal sex, was a factor to consider in her reappointment. Said McDonnell at the time, 'It [possible sodomy] certainly raises some questions about the qualifications to serve as a judge. There is certain homosexual conduct that is in violation of the law. I’m not telling you I would disqualify a judge per se if he said he was gay. I’m talking about their actions.' " 

Would Bob McDonnell deny a gay Virginian a job in his Administration? And what does Sheila Johnson say about this?

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