Can a man who wishes death on his political opponents then credibly be the head prosecutor for an entire state? That is the unfortunate position Virginia voters find themselves in during an off-year election. Jay Jones shows none of the attributes of a man capable of impartially handling the law - in a sane political world, he'd resign.

There are two problems with Jones as he runs for Attorney General of Virginia. The first is that he had his private text messages leaked to the press. Those text messages, and the testimony revealed within them, show a man with a grotesque view of everyone to his right.

In a series of texts, Jones repeatedly attacked Republicans, making public statements regarding the death of moderate Democrat Joe Johnson Jr. In what can only be described as a moment of pure stupidity, Jay Jones "accidentally" sent his thoughts on the Republican states to a Republican lawmaker, Carrie Coyner.

Jones: Three people, two bullets

Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot

Gilbert gets two bullets to the head

Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time

Coyner: Jay

Please stop

Jones: Lol

Ok, ok

Coyner: It really bothers me when you talk about hurting people or wishing death on them

It isn't ok

No matter who they are

The Gilbert in these texts is Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert. Jones didn't stop there; he went on to attack Gilbert's children, calling them "little fascists."

National Review reports, "Coyner's alarm at her former colleague's violent rhetoric toward Gilbert prompted Jones to call her and explain his reasoning over the phone, a source familiar with the exchange told NR."

Jones still wasn't finished at this stage. He added:

Rather than deny that he had wished death on the children, Jones responded by saying, "Yes, I've told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy."

Faced with more pushback from his frazzled former colleague, Jones somehow took the conversation a step further: "I mean do I think Todd and Jennifer are evil? And that they're breeding little fascists? Yes," he wrote, referring to Gilbert's wife and two young children.

These texts and phone call conversations would be enough to disqualify Jones on their own. But we're still not done with the evidence.

In 2022, Jonbes was convicted of reckless driving, hitting speeds of 116 mph. As part of his conviction, he was required to complete 500 hours of community service. Jones claimed to fulfill all those service hours by doing them for his personal PAC.

It's not just that he's wishing death on other politicians and their children; in actual legal practice, when caught breaking the law, he bent the rules to advance his political career and call it public service. There is no way his PAC provides community services when its real goal is to aid him in his political career.

As a defense, Jones tried claiming National Review was "Trump media." This assertion would be news to everyone from National Review to the Oval Office. Trump has left little doubt about his criticisms of National Review. For its part, the magazine wrote an entire issue, "Against Trump," in 2016.

In the end, Jones sent these texts to other Republicans, defended his ideas, and didn't issue an apology of any kind until his second "apology." Everyone rolled their eyes at his assertion that the reporting of his texts was somehow biased news media.

Only now, after Jones defended his texts to other Republicans and then made statements that flopped, do we receive written contrition. He's not saying anything new about performing community service for his PAC.

This is the man who wants to be Attorney General of Virginia. What possible faith can anyone have in the judicial system that a Jones-led prosecutor's office will administer justice fairly? Virginia Democrats' demand that everyone move on and support a fight to "defend democracy" rings hollow.

Thus far, Jones has done a lot to defend himself and his personal interests, but little to help Americans in any way. He is defined by wishing death on his opponents, while comparing them to the worst dictators in history. And claiming his personal PAC is a community service.

Jay Jones is a servant to himself, not the people. His actions suggest that he'd use the Virginia judicial system to better himself and his allies, rather than advancing justice.

He can scream about Donald Trump being bad all he wants. However, what Jay Jones accuses Trump of being and doing, he actually is. And to prove it, all we have to do is look at his phone. Here's the second problem: we only know about these texts because he was foolish enough to send them to another Republican lawmaker.

What else has Jay Jones said that he wasn't dumb enough to broadcast to people outside his political circle? We can't trust what he says about it, that's for sure. Nor can we trust the people Jones intended to send these messages to; he picked the original audience for a reason.

Jay Jones should resign the race. Virginia Democrats should demand the same. But we all know neither will happen, and Jones is counting on that. Fortunately for him, Democrats will oblige his remarks.

That makes his likely election a travesty for justice in Virginia. No one can trust anything he does in law.