"Steven Sisson's pieces offer
a perspective on political goings-on that
you're not likely to see anywhere else in the news
media … Steve's
column is consistently the best-read op-ed column
in the AFP - and that's saying something, given
that we have a lineup of 27 columnists who write
for us on a weekly, monthly or bimonthly
basis."
"I
would say that he is fair and balanced, to employ
a slogan currently in vogue in the newsgathering
world today, when it comes to dishing out the
criticism."
~ Chris Graham, Editor and publisher
The Augusta Free Press
"Since
Steven began writing for us, he has become our
most popular columnist. The columns are
better written, researched and presented than any
others I read … His columns have been the most politically
insightful of any columns I have read from locals
through Virginia."
"I
appreciate the subject content and writing skills
Steven brings to our publication."
~ Morris Rowe, Publisher
The Virginia News Source
"Quite
interesting!
I
think I can hear your name being used in vain ...
all the way from Richmond to my home in Lexington!
You
missed your true calling in life. Keep
writing."
"Amen,
dude, amen."
~ Anonymous
About
Steven Sisson
"Blue
Dog Tales" columnist Steven Sisson, a
conservative "Blue Dog" Democrat,
attended the prestigious U.S. Naval School of
Photography and Photojournalism. In the past, he
wrote a monthly column for the Common Ground
organization's newspaper about issues addressing
peace, justice and the environment.
However,
Steve's fiscal views and thoughts are slightly
"right of center" within his own party
philosophy.
In the past, Steven Sisson has been involved with
numerous political organizations, campaigns and
committees. He was the 2003 Democratic candidate
for the Virginia State Senate in the 24th
District. Much to the disdain of the
current Democratic governor, Mark Warner, and
statewide Democratic Party membership, then
candidate Sisson became the first Democrat in the
Old Dominion to sign the Republican-
oriented
"Taxpayer Protection Pledge" sponsored
by Grover Norquist and the Americans for Tax
Reform.
As
a "progressive" Democrat, Steven
Sisson became the first in the Old Dominion to
receive the endorsement of the fiscally
conservative, Virginia Club for Growth.
Sisson
is the former Rockingham County Planning
Commission chairman and also served as the
Planning Commissioner of District V.
He
is also an alumnus of the Sorensen Institute for
Political Leadership at the University of
Virginia.
Politically,
Steven is a strong-minded, persevering
Mountain-Valley Democrat, however …
As
a genealogist and family historian, Steven
relaxes, enjoying his days off in the valley
researching his Sisson family histories and
folklore in the Commonwealth.
The
Virginia Sissons go back to the beginnings of the
nation.
Thomas
Sisson, who emigrated from England in 1621,
settled in Jamestown settlement in Virginia. But
the earliest recorded Sisson male in Steven's
direct line is his eleventh generation
grandfather, and grandmother, Robert and Amy
Sisson, in 1650.
Robert
Sisson served as the Clerk of Court in Lancaster
County VA, 1667-1674.
In
the late 1600s, Daniel Sisson, of Westmoreland
County, was known as an Indian interrupter and
served in the earliest colonial militias with
Generals John A. Washington and Isaac Allerton
during Bacon's Rebellion.
As
an attorney, Daniel Sisson represented Washington
and Allerton in the subsequent Indian
murder-massacre trial in the aftermath of Bacon's
Rebellion.
Steven's
sixth generation grandfather, Robert Sisson,
served in the American Revolutionary War
1775-1782. Robert Sisson fought at the battles of
Brandywine, Mud Bank Fort, Monmouth Court House,
Somerset, Stony Point and Charleston.
While
Robert Sisson is listed as a 'Revolutionary War
Patriot' with the Daughters of the American
Revolution, his proud modern descendant, Steven
Sisson, is a member of the central Shenandoah
Valley's Fort Harrison Chapter of the Sons of the
American Revolution.
In
Northern Virginia, a Sisson descendant owned and
resided in the building that currently houses the
Fairfax City Hall annex, the 'Sisson House' -- c.
1825.
During
the Civil War, Steven's fourth generation
grandfather, John A. Sisson, served as a Union
Army Scout, and is rumored to have meet with
Abolitionist John Brown in his Arlington, Virginia
home the night before the raid on the Harper's
Ferry Federal Armory.
Steven
has participated in the Sisson DNA testing
project, and certified his ancestral lineage.
There
is no doubt that Virginia politics and history are
in Sisson's bloodline.
The
Augusta Free Press publishes Steven Sisson's
"Blue Dog Tales" columns bi-weekly
--appearing Wednesday and Friday. He resides on
the corner of his in-law's farm, along the
Shenandoah River outside the Town of Elkton, with
his wife Anne and their children.
Columns
Read
all of Steven's back columns -- not just
those published in Bacon's Rebellion, in the Augusta
Free Press archives.
April
3: Warner
Watchdog. To
most Virginians, Mark
Warner may be out of sight and out of mind. But
the Blue Dog faithfully keeps tabs on the former
governor's national ambitions.
March
20: Culture
Wars in the Valley.
Perturbed
by pornography, abortion, out-of-wedlock births
and other signs of moral decay, the Blue Dog has
begun attending the Family Forum’s Capstone
program.
by
Steven Sisson
March
20: Porn
in Libraries? Whatever.
Under
the guise of defending free speech, Virginia's
Senate sided with smut peddlers and sexual
predators to block applying common- sense filters
to computers in public libraries.
February
27: Goldman
Silenced? I Doubt It.
Paul
Goldman hasn't revealed his plans since resigning
as Doug Wilder's senior policy advisor. But you
can count on one thing from the master political
tactician: He'll be back!
February
13: Mollycoddle
Mania.
Hither
Mark Warner? Another run for governor... or a run for
president? Southern pro-business conservative...
or tax-hiking, soft-on-crime liberal?
January
30: The
Big, Bad Warner.
Mark
Warner is touring the country telling fables about
his fiscal conservatism, i.e. ramming through a
tax hike in a red state. Why, Governor, what big
lies you have.
January
17: Hereby
Let It Be Resolved...
The
Blue Dog dispenses advice and wisdom.
January
3: Open
Letter to Tim Kaine.
As
governor-elect, you get a fresh start. Don't follow the
path of tax hikers Jerry Baliles and Mark Warner. And
champion rail over the hideous Star Solutions for
Interstate 81.
January
3: Year-End
Reflections.
The
Blue Dog reviews 2005, a year of tsunamis, blogs and the
election campaign that never ended.
-
2005 -
December
12: Here's
Timmaayyy! Gov.-Elect Tim Kaine has taken
his transportation show on the road. The Blue Dog
dishes the dirt on who said what in the Staunton
hearing.
December
12: The
Mollycoddle Mystique. Mark
Warner is "the man" after helping Tim
Kaine win the gubernatorial race. He's got a PAC
and he's making national appearances. The
"Draft Warner" movement is gaining
momentum.
November
28: Mollycoddle
Manque. Mark
Warner is positioning himself to run for president in
2008, but a certain U.S. Senator from New York stands in
his way.
November
14: All
Hail the Choir Boy.
Tim
Kaine won the gubernatorial election by hiding his
liberal agenda. The next four years are going to
be ugly as the truth emerges.
October
31: Hot
Button Politics.
Some
say Jerry Kilgore's death penalty ads backfired.
The Blue Dog says they did the job: highlighting
Tim Kaine's liberal leanings for a conservative
electorate.
October
31: Death
Penalty Dodge? Tim
Kaine says he would enforce Virginia's laws regarding
the death penalty. Here, then, is the follow-up
question: If elected, would he work to enact a legal
moratorium on executions?
October
17: Rumors
and Speculations.
The
Blue Dog barks and growls about Russ Potts'
campaign aide, Larry Sabato's Center for Politics,
Gov. Warner's latest campaign ad, and the future
of Ben Affleck in Virginia politics.
October
3: Banging
the Potts. Russ
Potts is one tough blogger. The Blue Dog and his friends
pulled no punches in their blog conference, but Potts
gave as good as he got.
September
19: A
Walk in the Park.
The Blue Dog
schmoozes his way through the Buena Vista Labor
Day parade.
September
19: A
Walk in the Park II. Jerry
Kilgore and Russ Potts will blog with the Blue Dog
-- why won't Tim Kaine?
September
5: Blue
Moon Over Venezuela.
Pat
Robertson was wrong to advocate the assassination of
Huge Chavez, but he was right to label the Venezuelan
strongman as a threat to the United States -- and his
own people.
August
23: Blue
Dog Muzzled. Tim
Kaine is the only statewide candidate who won't
give the Blue Dog an interview -- all because of a
little satire. Chill out, guys, the Blue Dog barks
at everyone.
by
Steven Sisson
August
23: Illegals
and the Nanny State. The
Cheap Labor lobby accuses Virginians of racism for
opposing the influx of illegal immigrants into the
state. We're not racist - we just oppose subsidies
for lawbreakers.
August
8: Cultural
Lightning Rods.
The
Supreme Court selection process will spill into
Virginia's gubernatorial contest by highlighting
the controversies over abortion, gay marriage and
stem cell research.
August
8: PG-13
Library Cards.
Libraries
are for the edification of the masses, not their
entertainment. Can we please sweep them clean
of CDs, DVDs and Internet pornography?
July
25: Faith
of Our Fathers.
The
"Separation of Church and State"
doctrine originated as a reaction to the Anglican
Church's close ties to the colonial government,
not a rejection of all religion in the government
sphere.
July
25: Ten
Commandments Purgatory. A
recent Supreme Court ruling has put the Ten
Commandments issue back in the public eye. Here's
how the candidates parse the ruling.
June
11: Byrned
Out? If
Leslie Byrne isn't the most liberal candidate to
run for statewide office in Virginia, you can be
darn sure the Bolling campaign will paint her that
way.
June
11: The
Blue Dog Muzzled. What
happened to freedom of religion? Even in the
conservative Shenandoah Valley, the public-prayer police
are ever vigilant against the public expression of
religious sentiment.
June
20: A
Chicken in Every Pot.
Farming
and food processing are big business in the
Shenandoah Valley. If you're not from here, you
probably missed the biggest issue of the month:
The Pilgrim's Pride Buyout.
June
6: Valley
Yin and Yang.
Democrat
Bruce Elder will have a tough time running against
the GOP's Chris Saxman in the 20th House district.
Saxman has a strong legislative record -- plus he
serves great food.
June
6: Elder
vs. Saxman. The
race is on. The Blue Dog sniffs around the
Elder campaign.
May
23: Begun,
the Tax War Has.
Darth
Sidious the Governor Mollycoddle has taken over
the senate. The forces of the Dark Side are
extending their reach. The defenders of the
Republic are in disarray…
May
9: Farmer
vs. Farmer.
The
Central Shenandoah Valley is blessed with two
exceptionally fine candidates for the House of Delegates
this year: Matt Lohr and Lowell Fulk.
May
9: Getting
to Know You. The
Blue Dog quizzes Lowell Fulk and Matt Lohr, candidates
for the 26th House of Delegates seat.
April
25: Subsidizing
Illegal Immigration.
Virginia
Demos want to spend multi-millions to provide illegal
immigrants with educational, healthcare and other social
services. What is it about "illegal" that they
don't understand?
April
11: Adventures
in Cyberspace.
Dodging
viruses and e-mail invective, the
Blue Dog chronicles his growing addiction to
political blogs.
April
11: Mollycoddle
Metamorphistics. The
Governor did not endear himself to the Blue Dog at
a recent Harrisonburg press conference. Raising
taxes and subsidizing illegal immigrants is not a
winning formula in the Shenandoah Valley.
April
11: Canine
Chromatography. The
Blue dog dissects the political spectrum.
March
28: Looking
for a Few Good Blogs.
Blogs are
transforming Virginia politics. On the one hand,
they allow anyone to comment on the political
process. On the other, they invite dirty tricks.
Election regulators are still catching up.
March
14: Hot
Potts.
Russ
Potts may be a long-shot candidate for governor,
but he has set the pundits' tongues to wagging.
The Blue Dog rounds up the
reactions.
by
Steven Sisson
March
14: The
Weicker Connection. Did
Mark Warner and the GOP's pro-tax cabal cook up
the Russ Potts candidacy to divide the Republicans and get Tim Kaine elected?
February
28: Four
Mo' LG Candidates. The
Blue Dog continues his environmental scan of the
candidates for Lieutenant Governor.
February
28: Contributions,
Sexual Politics and Sprawl. The
Blue Dog completes his survey of the men and women
vying for the Lieutenant Governorship.
February
14: Kaine
on Death and Taxes. Choir
boy Tim Kaine is a political moderate informed by his Catholic beliefs. But look for the
Kilgore team to paint him as a liberal for his record on tax hikes and the death penalty.
January
31: Memo
to Republicans. Stop
whining. If Tim Kaine is raising big bucks from
out-of-state contributors, go out and find your
own money. Or fix the campaign finance law.
January
31: Inside
the Democrats' LG Race. The
Blue Dog walks Chap Petersen and Leslie Byrne
through the burning issues of the day, from
transportation funding to state budge surpluses.
January
17: Join
the Club. Just
get parental consent first... And then get over it. The
flap in Harrisonburg over the Gay-Straight Alliance
serves no one but the two extremes.
January
4: Travelin'
Man. Mark
Warner has been touring the country, bragging how
he conned the General Assembly into enacting a tax
hike. He's not boasting about that $1 billion
revenue surplus, though.
January
4: Green,
Schmeen. Mark
Warner has shown so little interest in
environmental issues that he makes the Republicans
looks like Earth Firsters by comparison.
-
2004 -
November
19: Dead
End. Philip
Shucet and Trip Pollard approach transportation
policy from different viewpoints. But they agree
on this: Virginia will never address traffic
congestion until it also reforms land use.
November
19: Our
Valley, Our Road. The
special interests want to run a concrete
monstrosity the length of the Shenandoah Valley to
expedite truck traffic -- and stick us locals with
much of the bill. Thanks but no thanks.
November
15: The
Roadman's Hammer, Part I. The
Blue Dog has a bone to pick with VDOT efforts to
engage the press and the public in its public
hearings. But he will credit Commissioner Philip
Shucet with being open to criticism.
November
15: The
Roadman's Hammer, Part II. VDOT's
"citizen meetings" amount to little more
than showcases for road construction projects.
Citizens are mostly powerless to derail projects
they don't like.
November
1: That's
"Jeffrey" -- With an "J".
The
Valley Democratic Party apparatus didn't see fit
to nominate a candidate to run against Bob
Goodlatte. But that's not stopping Martin Jeffrey
from running as a write-in candidate.
November
1: Adventures
in Warnerland. Have
all the rules of common sense been suspended? The
Blue Dog reels from the illogic surrounding Demos'
positions on getting out the vote, state
accounting tricks and SOLs.
October
18: Baseball Been
Very
Good to Me. But
not to Gov. Mollycoddle, who
just struck out in his bid to bring a major league stadium in Northern
Virginia.
October
18: Sucker
Punch. The
Kerry campaign has bailed out of Virginia, leaving
only a token presence. So much for Gov.
Mollycoddle's vow to make Virginia competitive in
the presidential race.
October
4: Richmond
Road Warrior.
When
talking to environmentalists last month, Tim Kaine
came across as an advocate of smart growth. But in
2002, he backed regional tax increases for
building more roads.
October
4: Dirt Road to Hell.
It's
tough pinning down Jerry Kilgore on where he
stands on transportation and taxes, and for good
reason: The Republican Party is split, and he
needs a unified party to win in '05.
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