Our friend LI at Too Conservative has a great discussion going about George W. Bush’s legacy. Here is my take:
Toppling Saddam was the right thing to do, in my view, but handling the occupation with military-lite was a really bad idea. We started “rebuilding” before our soldiers had put the hammer down on all the [...]

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A few weeks ago the AFP had this. The points being thrown back and forth could all be moot. Hanger told the AFP this afternoon that he has talked with senior RPV officials, and it is his understanding that the state party is only concerned with the fact that the mass meeting ended without the local party having named delegates to the Sixth District and state GOP conventions. “The election

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I love living out in the country. I really do - no matter how much I moan and complain about living in a “culinary wasteland…” However, thanks to my niece, it may not be such a wasteland after all: today we went down into Danville to run errands (buy…

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This is a test blog entry.

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WTKR, probably because they were the subject of serious eyerolls and more than a few laughs, has dropped their battle to defend the Constitution and 1st amendment rights. I lambasted them here, but there’s more….

News Director Shane Moreland - Monday “We are clearly fighting for the rights of a free, independent and vigorous press.” [...]

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…one second it will all go down When the time is right for the world to know and the lights of the city don’t shine one ray of hope. When the moon turns red like the sun going down will you be ready when every knee shall bow. One day, one hour, one second it will all go down Will you be ready for a thief in the night or will you be ashamed of the judgement light. One day when it all

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Just when the comedy movie Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay comes out, a real-life event transpires to remind us that the Gitmo detention facility still serves a needed purpose, and it still saves lives. A story in yesterday’s Washington Post began

A Kuwaiti man who complained about maltreatment during a three-year stay in the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was involved in a deadly suicide bombing in northern Iraq last month…

Abdallah Salih al-Ajmi was only one of 500 or so former Guantanamo detainees released or transferred elsewhere, and ma

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Well, the claws finally came out. No, not Hillary’s, Michelle’s.It seems the would-be first lady wants to gash former President Bill Clinton’s eyes out for some perceived slight.When asked by a reporter how she felt about Clinton’s characterization of …

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Added a new poll and a Flickr photo-album link to your right.  Three new pics will show up every-time you refresh.  Email us at CRFVBlog@gmail.com to add your photos. 
 I will throw up a post soon about the Leadership Institute’s Campaign Manager and Internet Activist School (both are excellent btw). 

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On Sunday, instead of wasting your time reading this in the Washington Post …
The president has acted as Israel’s exclusive corner man when he should have been refereeing the fight.
… read this instead in The New Republic:
Given that AIPAC and other similar groups already speak for most American Jews, and given that J Street’s founders [...]

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Yet, lo these many years ago, the alarm bell went off, and BelovedHubby and I decided to take the plunge, and this is what God blessed us with: She is our joy and our treasure… And, as I said to another friend, This is what it’s all about… They tea…

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The Jam - A Town Called Malice

Wet Wet Wet - Wishing I Was Lucky

The Housemartins - Caravan of Love

Continue reading " Friday Notes: Just Music Edition "

Peggy Noonan wonders of Hillary Clinton staying in the race to the Democrats’ detriment:
The question “Who will tell her, who can make her go?”
Of course, 34 years ago Barry Goldwater went to Richard Nixon telling him to vacate the White House (Goldwater: “Nixon should get his ass out of the White House—today!”)
Precedent for Hillary?  Consider [...]

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Via Feministing we hear the American Life League is promoting the “Pill Kills” campaign protesting contraception in general and the birth control pill in particular. The group is planning protests on June 7th – the 43rd anniversary of the Griswold d…

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The utter nutball that is Judy Feder isn’t the only candidate running for the Democratic nomination for the 10th District, there’s another guy by the name of Mike Turner.  A friend of mine is at a debate between Turner and Feder over in Frederick County right now and shot me a fascinating email from his [...]

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This was in today’s El Paso Times–I think it’s a great example of how short-sighted many of our policies are:
Stealing fence
When they started building the fence along the border, my dad told me that they were doing the ironworkers in Juárez a favor. He told me that the cuts along the fence were not [...]

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I blogged about this on Bacon’s Rebellion in my installments on the new Information Era economy - using Robert Reich’s book, Supercapitalism, as the vehicle for discussion.

Here is one way to deal with the huge sums of money spent to win elections and buy influence.

The issue is money and influence. Power to move power. It’s as old as governments are in ancient civilizations and as American as apple pie. The difference in the transforming Information Era economy is how much money there is to influence politics and who has access to vast sums of money.

(I didn’t think that big money could matter that much in the very short election season following Rep. Jo Ann Davis’s untimely death last year. Old party horse that I am, still I was shocked to find out how much money could be spent in the 3 weeks I was a politician running for her seat – and how much huge money meant to key activists.)

Consider the problem of scale – big money. The money won’t go away. Prohibiting the sale of alcohol would be more effective (and we know how that worked) than every foolish attempt to ban money from politics. Money can’t be separated from power anymore than sex can be taken out of prostitution.

Virginia can’t fix the dysfunctional federal electoral legislation, like McCain-Feingold (or the extended Voting Rights Act for that matter). Yet, our Commonwealth can keep and improve the openness and easy access to information. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

Consider the problem of concentration of power – who has the money. It can be very wealthy persons, corporations, unions, or advocacy groups (ostensibly yet laughably ‘non-profit’). If it is impossible to prevent them from using their accumulated wealth, then perhaps the remedy is to redistribute the resources they are willing to spend to buy power. Tax every contribution, fund-raising events themselves, services and the assets of every registered lobbying organization. Tax like a Democrat with a grudge.

If you tax at a high rate you increase the opportunity cost to pay to play for power. The government can use those taxes for more audit capabilities to the point of diminishing returns. Perhaps, the rest of the taxes could be put into a pot for a vox populi - to pay for public access multi-media. The rules for access, obviously, will open and close doors for participation in the political process.

As long as humans remain human, buying influence will be part of politics. The real issue is how legislation and moral suasion shape “who gets what” - which is Lasswell’s classic definition of ‘politics.’

Begin with electing Virginians to Congress who will repeal the worst and most odious election laws. Then, push towards openness, freedom and accountability in the pursuit of paying for power.

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Sierra Club has joined with Green Works™, the new line of natural household cleaning products from the makers of Clorox products.

This month you will start seeing our name, logo and the statement that “Green Works is a proud supporter of Sierra Club’s efforts to preserve and protect the planet” on the labels and packaging. These products offer a way for tens of millions of Americans to get involved in doing something good for the planet - as well as directly support Sierra Club - all through their everyday actions as consumers. The financial support from the Green Works product line will help Sierra Club continue our conservation efforts, including the protection of America’s clean air, clean water, wildlife and special places.

The bottom line is that these products are environmentally conscious, affordable, work well, and will be available to millions of people. They can help alter consumer behavior overall and will support the good work of the Sierra Club. This was a chance to use the power of our name to help take natural cleaning mainstream. We believe that makes it a great opportunity for Sierra Club…and the planet.

More information: Sierra Club/Green Works

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Ken’s “so conservative” Safa Group donor Jamal Barzinji has donated to Barack Obama (above), Ralph Nader, Jim Webb and Jim Moran (later returned.) Barzinji’s candidates are so palpably conservative I feel that I can reach out and touch them.

Continue reading " Cuccinelli claims Safa Group funds him because “because they’re so conservative, and my goodness, they are.” Except when they also fund Barack Obama and Ralph Nader! "

Armageddon Originally uploaded by KellyK. From Ian Sample, science correspondent for The Guardian, earlier this week: Closer encounter: Nasa plans landing on 40m-wide asteroid travelling at 28,000mph.It was once considered the most dangerous o…

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