Bacon's Rebellion

  • Jefferson and the Cheap Bait of White Nationalism

    Posted on

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    James A. Bacon

    Peter Onuf and Francis Cogliano’s latest book slander defenders of Thomas Jefferson in the worst possible manner. Was it really necessary?

    by Shaun Kenney

    I was looking forward to reading Peter Onuf and Francis Cogliano’s Thomas Jefferson Survives right up until page 12 of the Introduction.

    Once upon a time, I had the pleasure of reading Jeffersonian Legacies in my younger days as a consumer of all things Virginia history, which was the result of a conference on Jefferson headed up by Onuf.

    The late Daniel P. Jordan — whose long tenure with the Thomas Jefferson Foundation helped shape the Jeffersonian renaissance — capstoned the conference celebrating Mr. Jefferson’s 250th birthday with the following tribute:

    While the conference and essays allow fresh voices to be heard on aspects of the Jefferson legacy, good and bad, at times they merely echo partisan arguments about Jefferson’s life and politics going back to his own era; in other ways they provide a 1990s standard of judgment. The centrality and complexity of Jefferson’s ideas and career, his extraordinary versatility, his gift of felicitous prose, and the exceptional corpus of letters he left behind will assure that Jefferson will remain a fascinating and compelling subject to examine and ponder for edification and inspiration, for admiration and admonishment, for generations to come.

    For those interested in how profound the shift has been on Jefferson from paragon to parasite, Ken Burns is your answer. His 1997 Thomas Jefferson documentary treats Jefferson as a Founding Father, yet his 2026 documentary on The American Revolution only begrudgingly admits George Washington as the indispensable man. In fact, all of the accomplishments of the Founding Fathers are footnotes rather than pivotal moments in history — and if pivotal, then most certainly imperfect. From this treatment, Jefferson has provided a deep mine from which countless historians have delved and picked apart to exhibit and even invent the very worst of imperfections in an industry rewarding grievance. God forbid to see what a Ken Burns documentary on Jefferson would look like today.

    What should fascinate and compel us presently at the 200th anniversary of Jefferson’s death and the 250th birthday of these States United is that Jordan’s commitment to pluralism and the collision of ideas has been eclipsed by a 2020-ish standard of judgment seeking to recapture Jefferson for the 21st century political left — or worse still, abandon Jefferson to a caricature and label it as “far right”, a tactic which has proven to be very useful to organizations such as the SPLC.

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  • To Be Continued…

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    James A. Bacon

    The three little words that should terrify every Virginian

    Gov. Abigail Spanberger signs a package of gun control legislation on June 16, 2026, in Richmond, Virginia. (Allyse Pulliam/ Times-Dispatch)

    by Jonathan Arnott

    What do John Tyler, James Monroe, and Thomas Jefferson have in common? They are the three Virginia governors who have gone on to become president. Just a couple of years from now, the United States could sleepwalk into adding a fourth name to the list: Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

    Spanberger is a choice beloved by the Left—a moderate in front of the cameras but effectively a democratic socialist—often more liberal than Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, when voting in Congress.

    Leading up to last November’s election, Spanberger presented herself as a mother and former law enforcement officer who cared deeply about affordability, the economy, and public education.

    The question on every Virginian’s lips after November’s election was: How would Spanberger actually govern in practice? Would she govern for all Virginians, or would she remain a radical wrapped in moderate’s clothing?

    That’s a question the Virginia Institute for Public Policy has been working to answer. Partnering with a dozen conservative organizations across the Commonwealth, we presented “Power of the Pen,” a wide-ranging book of recommendations to the governor for the veto session.

    In “Power of the Pen,” we offer recommendations on which bills should be signed, which vetoed, and which amended. We try to be collegiate, asking her to take mainly actions which a moderate could reasonably take. In 2025, we gave the Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin the same test, perhaps even a little tougher. Youngkin scored 86.2%.

    When Spanberger scored 32.5% this year, it was bad. It’s not the kind of result you’d expect of a moderate, with the governor scoring 0% on energy and 0% on the Second Amendment.

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  • Bacon Meme of the Week

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    James A. Bacon

  • Do CNBC ‘Best States for Business’ Rankings Mean Anything at All?

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    James A. Bacon

    Last year, CNBC ranked Virginia as the 4th best state for business. However. as Dwayne Yancey observes at Cardinal News…

    Over the past year, Virginia has lost more jobs than [almost] any other state.

    Only two other states have lost jobs at a faster rate. Federal job cuts are a big driver, but not the only one. Virginia is also losing manufacturing jobs at a faster rate than any other state.

    Politically, there’s plenty of blame to spread around. Read the whole thing.

  • And Standards Just Keep Eroding…

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    James A. Bacon

  • Proud Moments in Virginia Governance

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    James A. Bacon

  • Virginians Question Power-Hungry Data Centers’ Expansion

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    James A. Bacon

    Image credit: Grok

    by Rich Tucker

    Newton’s third law indicates that every action produces an equal and opposite reaction. In Virginia politics, that is showing up in the push-and-pull over data centers.

    The state is already peppered with data centers, and developers are rolling out plans to build more. In almost every location, local residents quickly rally to oppose their expansion.

    “Virginia hosts the largest data center market in the world and is home to 35% of all known hyperscale data centers worldwide,” according to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. “Virginia offers an exemption from retail sales and use tax for qualifying computer equipment purchased by data centers that meet statutory investment and employment requirements.”

    A debate over whether to keep that tax break, which is in place through 2032, held up approval of the state budget for months. In the end, lawmakers and the governor agreed to maintain the break, but they will increase taxes on the energy that data centers consume to raise revenues.

    A recent report from the Virginia State Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities in the state, provides a preview of the scope of the problem. Electric utility Dominion Energy has approved 111 new data center projects that it said will be connected to the grid by the end of 2031. It also has 200 more projects in the approval process. If all these data centers were connected, they could draw 70 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 60 million homes.

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  • Dominion Sale is Warning Siren for Virginia’s Weak Ethics Laws

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    Steve Haner

    by Steve Haner

    Let me get this straight. A main argument against letting Florida-based NextEra Energy buy Virginia-based Dominion Energy is that the giant and rich new company might be so politically powerful that it will corrupt Virginia’s governance processes. That was the big argument from this fellow on the Richmond Times-Dispatch website.

    Shall I tell him or would you like to? What he writes about Florida Power and Light’s behavior pretty much parallels my 20 years of close observations, interactions and occasional outright conflicts with Dominion right here in Richmond. FPL and Dominion are peas in a pod.

    I remain skeptical that the size of the pod will matter to the average residential or business consumer. The new corporate holding company executives will likely be little different from the ones we have now, who are going to get very, very rich off this transaction and scoot to their retirement. But the wild west, anything goes environment has to disappear, and fast.

    The proper and intelligent reaction to what is coming is to make it far more difficult for either Dominion, or NextEra after swallowing Dominion, to keep getting away with it. Virginia must fight the corruption across the board. There must be:

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  • Virginians Wonder About Dominion-NextEra Merger

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    James A. Bacon

    by Rich Tucker

    Early July brought 100-plus-degree temperatures to large swaths of Virginia, forcing most of the commonwealth’s air conditioners to whir all day and night. Temperatures may hit 100 degrees again this week.

    But staying comfortable costs more this summer: Dominion Energy announced that, starting this month, it will add an $8-per-month charge to every domestic customer’s bill for the next year to cover higher fuel costs. Another increase, $1.80 per month, is coming this fall.

    “The cost of living is so high already that a higher electricity bill is not something we need right now,” Dominion customer Margaret Murphy told WTVR. “I don’t like to see my bill go up in any way, shape, or form,” added customer Mike Uzel.

    The rising bills may complicate the proposed $67-billion merger of Dominion and NextEra Energy. The deal, which amounts to NextEra purchasing Dominion, was announced on May 18 and aims to create the world’s largest regulated electric utility by market capitalization.

    But it is a long process. The merger still needs to be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Virginia State Corporation Commission, the North Carolina Utilities Commission, and the Public Service Commission of South Carolina before it can go forward. That could take more than a year.

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  • UVA’s Latest Compliance Report Raises Questions

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    James A. Bacon

    In describing how the University of Virginia is dismantling its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, the most recent UVA compliance report to the Department of Justice shows just how extensive those programs were, writes Scott Douglas Gerber in a Richmond Times-Dispatch op-ed.

    The report’s specifics are telling. The School of Education and Human Development “eliminated” its Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and removed hiring requirements demanding “explicit evidence of skills and experiences related to diversity.” The School of Engineering and Applied Science “no longer tracks data related to hiring metrics that are based on protected traits” and has eliminated diversity goals for its applicant pool. The McIntire School of Commerce revised its faculty hiring rubric to remove DEI-related research requirements and instructed reviewers that protected characteristics may not be considered. Even the Division of Student Affairs is conducting annual reviews to ensure mentoring programs comply with federal anti-discrimination law.

    These are not cosmetic edits; they are structural reversals. They confirm that UVa’s DEI regime was not merely ideological — it was operational. It shaped hiring, admissions, programming, evaluation and resource allocation. It was woven into the fabric of the institution.

    Gerber explores numerous questions that arise. Read the whole thing.

  • “I See Dead People”

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    James A. Bacon

    An implied threat against school board candidates prompts concern among Virginia Beach Republicans.

    by Victoria Manning

    A Virginia Beach Democratic Committee member’s Facebook comment has prompted police reports from multiple school board candidates and forced local party leaders to publicly address the growing concern over political violence against conservatives.

    On July 14, the Republican Party of Virginia Beach announced its six endorsements for school board elections in the city. Then a commenter, Geri Wilson, made a vile response that caused safety concerns for the candidates. Under the endorsement post she wrote, “I see dead people.” Further digging revealed Wilson is a member of the local Virginia Beach Democrat Party.

    Wilson fills her Facebook page with far-left extremist rhetoric, including her profile picture that says 86 47—a reference widely recognized as a call to kill President Trump. She posts obsessively on Facebook, dozens of times a week. One recent one said, “Don’t piss off old people . . . the older we get the less life in prison is a deterrent.”

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  • The Merit Gap: How Eliminating Tests Harmed Students and Schools

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    James A. Bacon

    by Stephanie Lundquist-Arora
    As published in iWFeatures

    Several universities have recently reversed policies put into place during the pandemic to make standardized tests optional for applicants. At the end of May, Yale joined all the other Ivy League universities, in addition to Stanford and Caltech, in announcing its reinstated SAT or ACT test requirement for future admissions cycles.

    In the spring of 2020, when testing centers nationwide closed at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of universities understandably adopted test-optional policies so that students unable to take standardized exams would not be disadvantaged in the admissions process. However, many institutions extended these policies for multiple years as a way to increase diversity in admissions.

    The University of California (UC) system went further, adopting a “test-blind” policy under which standardized test scores are not considered, even when applicants choose to submit them. 

    Spoiler alert: It’s not working out so well for them.   

    A letter signed by thousands of UC faculty to bring back standardized testing states, “[I]n the last five years, the number of students whose mathematics skills fall below high school level increased nearly thirtyfold; moreover, 70% of those students fall below middle school levels, reaching roughly one in twelve members of the entering cohort.”

    Perhaps this helps explain why, according to an admissions officer last month, Purdue University—home to one of the nation’s premier engineering programs and a school that requires applicants to submit standardized test scores—consistently attracts a large number of out-of-state applicants from California. 

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  • Elaine Luria’s Flip-Flop on Insider Trading

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    Elaine Luria doing the backflip. Image credit: Grok

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Nice try, Elaine. Unfortunately for you, voters in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional district aren’t stupid.

    We all know that your sudden about-face on insider trading by members of Congress isn’t because of Trump. Or because you suddenly developed a moral compass.

    Clearly, you’ve seen polls that show Americans are disgusted with corrupt politicians who use their elected offices to get rich.

    Fraud is going to be a campaign issue this fall and Luria is vulnerable.

    Who knows. She still has to get through the August 4th Democrat primary. Luria’s affection for insider trading might have hurt her in the August 4th Democrat primary. Unlikely, though. Luria’s ability to raise campaign bucks is second only to her ability to trade stocks.

    In a Washington Post story headlined “In Reversal, Luria Backs Congressional Stock-Trading Ban In House Comeback Bid; Luria’s support for the stock-trading ban marks the starkest policy shift that the former Navy commander released in a platform Wednesday” the former mermaid maker was exposed for the transactional politician she is: Continue reading.

  • Lots of Smoke Here. Is There a Fire?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Virginians deserve answers on Louise Lucas’ taxpayer funded business empire.

    by Victoria Manning

    On April 27, 2026, Carl Randall Upton, Jr., business partner of Virginia Senator Louise Lucas, was arrested in Atlanta after being indicted in federal district court for three counts of wire fraud. Days later, the FBI raided businesses owned by Sen. Lucas, including the cannabis shop she co-owns with Upton. This has caused increased scrutiny of Lucas’ broader business empire and her political influence over the very agencies who fill her wallet with taxpayer funds.

    Shady partnerships

    The indictment against Upton centers around allegations of fraud in obtaining pandemic relief loans from the federal government. The federal indictment alleges that Upton applied for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan through multiple businesses—including one named Virginia Freedom Life. He submitted a pandemic loan application for that business in April 2020 and received $11,800. On July 13, 2020, Upton applied for another loan with the same business but got denied.

    According to the indictment, Upton “devised and intended to scheme and artifice to defraud, and to obtain money by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises and omissions.” More specifically, he “sought to fraudulently obtain disaster-related benefits in the form of SBA-sponsored Economic Injury Disaster (EIDL) loans.” In total, Upton received $104,200 in disaster loans through multiple businesses.

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  • What You’re Paying for at UVA

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    James A. Bacon

    A SWAT team of adolescent psychiatrists to help your kid through his mental health crisis

    Author, entrepreneur and public speaker Scott Galloway is a man of the left, but he’s not doctrinaire. He has a lot of contrarian things to say. To me, the most interesting comments from this stream-of-consciousness clip of Galloway at the University of Virginia was the following:

    The entire orientation for the parents here is to convince you that your kid is already in the midst of a mental health crisis, but not to worry. If he so much as blinks funny, there is going to be a SWAT team of adolescent psychiatrists descending from a helicopter to help him. And there’s about eight hundred 800 numbers to help your kid through the crisis.

    (more…)

Now Available

Book cover of 'Dust Mites: A Second American Revolution' by James A. Bacon, featuring astronauts planting a flag with a blue and white emblem on a lunar landscape, with Earth visible in the background.
For sale on Amazon.com

The year: 2075. The American colonies on the Moon are getting restless under Washington’s tyrannical rule….

This second edition of “Dust Mites” has a snazzy new cover, includes helpful lunar maps, and is 5,000 words tighter than the original. The sequel, “Trogs,” is scheduled for publication this summer.

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Bacon’s Rebellion is Virginia’s leading politically non-aligned portal for news, opinions and analysis about state, regional and local public policy. Read more about us here.

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