Recall if you will Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s campaign. His twenty year old college thesis, the left would have us believe, should have disqualified McDonnell from ever being elected governor because of his advocacy of traditional family and lifestyles.

Consider a host of people on the right who through various indiscretions, dumb acts, etc. the left would make sure we never move beyond, never forgive, never forget, and never allow redemption.

Now consider Tim Russo. He is running for political office in Cleveland, OH. Nine years ago “in November 2001 he solicited sex from an FBI agent posing online as a minor “.

Of course you and I know exactly how the left responds. No, Bob McDonnell, because of what he wrote, should never have been elected Governor of Virginia. But Russo and his predilection for underage sex? According to Howie Klein at the Huffington Post, “Local media want him to pay for that for the rest of his life.” Poor him.

Russo, you see, is the victim. He is trying to move and get over the “dumb things” he did. I know first hand the need for Christian forgiveness and giving people second chances. I’ve experienced that in my life with dumb things I’ve done.

But elected office? Hey, no worries the Huffington Post tells us,

An FBI agent posing as a minor conversed with him about sexual acts, and a meeting was arranged. Only, Russo didn’t stop at the pre-arranged stop; he continued driving past. The police picked him up anyway. It would be the most boring episode of To Catch a Predator ever– one where the perp shows a conscience, some second thought, and drives by the house instead of going inside.

If you search the entire article, one word is left out — one crucial, vital, relevant word. Can you guess what it is?

Felony.

Tim Russo was charged with and convicted of being a felony sex offender, charged with importuning (a fancy way of soliciting sex with a minor), attempted disseminating matter harmful to a juvenile, and possessing criminal tools.

Yeah one little detail — how could they ever have forgotten to put that in. But it’s okay. Russo wants everyone to know he did not have to register as a child predator. Seriously.

So because he did not have to register as a child predator, it is okay now? It is okay to serve in elected office?

Oh, and he wants to make it okay for others to do the same. Part of his platform is “advocating for a new law in Cuyahoga County forbidding discrimination in employment and public services based on criminal record unrelated to the job or service.” No word on if there would be a prohibition on pedophiles becoming janitors at the local elementary school. The way the Huffington Post reports it, that is not only a logical outcome of Russo’s proposal, but an intended outcome of his proposal.

Sadly we are forced to take these people seriously simply because they are so unserious — what is good is bad and what is bad is good. Up is down and down is up.