Category: Culture wars
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Rasoul’s Anti-Zionism Roils Roanoke
by Scott Dreyer Roanoke is seldom a vortex in state politics, but controversial comments this summer from Del. Salam Rasoul (D-Roanoke), who goes by the anglicized nickname Sam, have gone statewide. Rasoul was born in 1981 in Ohio, the son of Palestinian immigrants; he has served in the Virginia House of Delegates since 2014. Some…
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Judge Affirms Senate Dems’ Power Grab
A Fairfax County circuit county judge has sided with state Senate Democrats who filed a lawsuit to prevent eight public university board members appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin from continuing to serve. The Democrats claimed that an 8-to-4 vote June 9 by a Senate subcommittee during a special session required no other action. Youngkin and…
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Virginia Democrats Get Win in Fight Over Appointments
As reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Fairfax circuit court has sided with the Virginia Democratic Senate in its fight with Gov. Youngkin over some of his appointments to boards of visitors of institutions of higher education. The judge issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting recent appointees to the Board of Visitors at the University of…
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Restore the Battle Streamers
by Donald Smith Summertime in Washington, D.C., is NDAA Time. NDAA, as in the National Defense Authorization Act. The federal government dispensed with proper budget procedures a long time ago. Everything it does is now funded by continuing resolutions, omnibus bills, or other confounding mechanisms. The NDAA, though, always passes because it funds the Defense Department. Hence, crafty…
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Constitutional Law 101
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The lawyers in the federal Dept. of Education and the Youngkin administration either don’t understand a court decision or are choosing to ignore it. The department has notified the school districts of Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William that their policies allowing transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms that…
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A Power Play Remarkable for Its Audacity
by James A. Bacon The lead of this Virginian-Pilot article might be a tad inaccurate, but it hits close to the mark: Virginia Democratic legislators said Thursday that they would not confirm a permanent replacement for former University of Virginia president Jim Ryan, who was ousted last month under pressure from the Trump administration. I…
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Reid Sides with Parents in K-12 Reform
by James A. Bacon It’s conventional wisdom that voters don’t read the position papers of political candidates. If so, John Reid’s foray into K-12 school reform may not do much to energize his campaign for lieutenant governor. That would be a shame because, love him or hate him, Reid speaks common sense with clarity on…
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Bacon’s Rebellion Proud to Be Part of Shadowy Clique of Puppet Masters
by James A. Bacon I didn’t know it but, apparently, I’m part of the vast right-wing conspiracy. I’m so clued in to the machinations of the conservative claque seeking to rid higher-ed of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion that I predicted that George Mason University President Gregory Washington might be forced to step down over DEI…
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Which Laws Do We Want to Enforce?
by Dick Hall-Sizemore In a recent post on Bacon’s Rebellion, I cited what I felt was the disproportionate treatment of some undocumented immigrants by the criminal justice system. There was a lot of push back. Most of the negative commentary centered around the fact that the immigrants were in the United States in violation of federal…
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A Cry of Inchoate Fear
by James A. Bacon Mark Edmundson, an English professor at the University of Virginia, ran a column Saturday in the Wall Street Journal about threats to academic freedom. He leads with an anecdote about teaching John Milton’s epic poem “Paradise Lost” with his students. “Milton can help you think about almost any consequential human subject.…
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Wailing, Ashes, and Gnashing of Teeth
by James A. Bacon The University of Virginia Faculty Senate today passed a resolution expressing “no confidence” in the Board of Visitors for failing to “protect the university and its president from outside interference” and for “not consulting with the faculty Senate in a time of crisis.” The faculty called for a full accounting of…
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Reinventing UVA: Intellectual Diversity
by James A. Bacon Two days ago, I made the case that the University of Virginia has a shot at becoming the most desirable university in the country to learn, teach and pursue knowledge. To do that, the Board of Visitors must recruit a president and a provost committed to building a faculty nationally renowned…
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Higher Ed Now a Potent Election Issue
by James A. Bacon For time immemorial, higher-ed policy in Virginia was the subject of broad bipartisan agreement. No longer. Virginia Democrats are fired up about University of Virginia President Jim Ryan’s resignation, and they are using it to make Virginia statewide elections a referendum on President Trump. We’ve already reported on how Senate Democrats…
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Righteousness Repeated
Virginia leads the way. by Gordon C. Morse George Kennan, one of the titans of 20th century American diplomacy, appeared in April, 1951 at the University of Chicago to present a series of lectures. He was there to explain, more or less, the first half of the 20th century. “In the fabric of human events,” Kennan said,…
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What Next?
The potential now exists to make UVA the most exciting university in the country to learn, teach and pursue knowledge. by James A. Bacon The departure of President Jim Ryan and Provost Ian Baucom suddenly leaves reformers in the driver’s seat at the University of Virginia. Now what? We know what we didn’t like —…