Author: James A. Bacon
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How VCU and Richmond Blew It Again
by James A. Bacon Six years ago William H. Goodwin Jr. and his wife Alice championed the idea of building an independent children’s hospital in Richmond that would conduct research and provide state-of-the-art healthcare to the region’s children. The couple was prepared to contribute $150 million of the estimated $600 million cost in order to…
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Critical Race Theory in Virginia Beach Schools
by Victoria Manning Critical Race Theorists reject colorblindness and equality and they center their goals on equal outcomes (equity) rather than equal opportunity. Merit-based individualism is replaced with group-think collectivism and the dominant white culture is a privileged oppressor. What the public doesn’t understand is that CRT is already here in Virginia Beach. Teachers won’t…
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Free Bus Fares for Everyone Because… Equity
by James A. Bacon Once upon a time, Virginia built roads and bridges according to the quaint old principle of “pay as you go,” meaning that the state didn’t spend money it didn’t have. That idea went hand in glove with another quaint concept that the people who used public transportation infrastructure should be the…
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Who Does UVa’s Alumni Association Serve?
by James A. Bacon As the anti-Vietnam War protests were peaking in May 1970, board members of the University of Virginia Alumni Association were alarmed by student unrest at their alma mater. They took the unprecedented step of sending a telegram to the parents of every undergraduate student and urged them to speak to their…
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Rude and Deluded
by James A. Bacon The jokers at Zippia.com, the self-described career experts, are at it again. Following the ranking they published last week that declared Virginia to be the “grossest” state in the union, they have devised a ranking of the “rudest” states. I have news for those of you who thought of Virginians as…
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Yeah, That Apology Was Called For
by James A. Bacon I have zero respect for people who grovel with apologies to perpetually offended snowflakes. But every once in a while, a statement of regret for words poorly chosen is fully warranted. During a recent debate of Democratic Party candidates for lieutenant governor, anchor Dave Lucas with Washington-area TV station ABC7-WJLA addressed…
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Citizen Oversight of Police Off to Poor Start
by James A. Bacon Setting up a citizen review board to provide oversight of the police is one of those ideas that sounds better in theory than it works in practice. Police officers are human. Like anyone else they can make mistakes. Also, being human, they look out for one another. When a policeman kills…
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John Warner’s Verse of Manner and Deed
by Chris Saxman It’s not so much what you do, but the manner in which you do it. John Warner has shown us, once again, that we really are better than we let on. The praise of Warner’s tenure as our United States Senator has been universal and consistent – John Warner was a great…
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Drive-By Shooter Needs a Long Spell in a Cell
by Kerry Dougherty Call me an idealist if you will, but I believe a mother and her daughter ought to be able to go to Lynnhaven Mall on a Monday afternoon in September and drive away without taking a bullet to the neck. And if someone is convicted of the September 14th shooing of a…
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John Warner, Virginian
by Kerry Dougherty John Warner, who died Tuesday at the age of 94, was an accidental senator. Had it not been for the plane crash that killed Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Richard Obenshain in August of 1978, Warner would have simply been a former Secretary of the Navy who came in second in…
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No Vaccination Mandates for Community Colleges
by James A. Bacon In stark contrast to the University of Virginia, James Madison University, and the College of William & Mary, the Virginia Community College System board has decided not to require students to be vaccinated in order to attend classes in the fall. “I believe it is in the best interests of our…
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Educate Leaders, Not Snowflakes
by Donald Smith “My generation just had thicker skin. These young kids today are getting caught in the moment. They take it more personally,” Those are the comments of Ron Carter, the first Black battalion commander at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). Carter was a star basketball player for the Keydets. He was drafted by…
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Great Moments in Virginia Jurisprudence
by Hans Bader Shouldn’t a judge at least know what’s in the Constitution, before getting a promotion? Left-wing trial judge Arenda Wright Allen confused the Declaration of Independence with the Constitution in her ruling striking down Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban, noted ABC News. Yet now she is being recommended for a promotion to the Fourth…
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Mayor Stoney and His Left-Wing Critics
by James A. Bacon Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney published an op-ed in the New York Times a few days ago defending his actions last summer during the tumultuous protests and riots following the George Floyd killing. I was thinking of writing a post this morning critiquing the piece from a conservative perspective. But then I…