Bacon's Rebellion

  • Who Owns the Statues?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    And who controls their fates?

    A bronze statue of a seated man in a suit, partially covered in colorful paint, set against a gray stone background.
    The defaced statue of Matthew Fontaine Maury in Richmond before it was moved.

    by Patricia N. Saffran and Ann McLean

    LA’s Monuments Exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, which opens this month, is being funded to desecrate figures from American history. As a result, culture battles are heating up over whether or not to send magnificent Confederate Beaux Arts monuments to Los Angeles. It appears that some museum and city officials in a number of cities have deprived the public, who don’t want their local historic statues sent to the LA show, of having their say.

    The public opposes the exhibition’s controversial display of some graffiti-laden and damaged Confederate sculptures along with modern works satirizing the South. The concern is that negative renderings of some of the sculptures will only serve to stir up racial animus and animosity toward historical works still standing in urban centers. 

    The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation (SVBF), on behalf of concerned citizens, filed a request for an emergency injunction June 27 against the city of Richmond to prevent previously removed Monument Avenue Beaux Arts monuments and cannons from being sent the LA exhibition. A number of the monuments were vandalized after the Charleston shooting event of 2015 and more memorials were attacked and removed in the aftermath of the 2020 riots. The exhibition condemned Southerners in a press release as “white supremacists” for putting up funerary monuments well after the Civil War even though the North put up funerary monuments of their own. 

    The LA Monuments show ignores basic facts about the aftermath of the Civil War. Having a good death in 1800s was very important, meaning if possible, being surrounded family and friends when passing as Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson experienced. Since that was impossible on the battlefield, being given a decent burial became meaningful. This period saw new developments in embalming techniques that allowed the dead whenever possible to be transported back to their homes for burial, thus the need for numerous funerary monuments mostly organized by grieving widows. Since over 600,000 died in the war, the extreme grief was felt by both sides and given tribute by monuments and statues even later when grandparents and relatives died. 

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  • If Trump’s Foibles are Election Fodder, Why Not His Wins?

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    by

    Steve Haner

    By Derrick Max, 

    When I wrote recently that “Virginia’s elections should be about Virginia’s future, not a referendum on President Trump,” I meant it. For months, liberals have tried to nationalize Virginia election – forgoing discussions about schools, taxes, energy, the Youngkin record — focusing instead on endless attacks on Donald Trump. And as the president of a conservative think tank that has criticized the President on tariffs and other issues, it is not that I believe the President is not fair game. What I believe, however, is that the primary focus in a race for governor should be on state issues.     

    But politics has a funny way of cutting both ways. When national events affirm the conservative principles of strength, moral clarity, and results, those moments can reshape Virginia’s election. The recent release of Israeli hostages to their families and President Trump’s announced peace framework in the Middle East offer just such a moment.  

    This week, more than any other, reveals a global seriousness and moral leadership that contrasts sharply with the chaos and incoherent mental struggles of President Biden over the last four years. This week could reshape the way Virginia voters now view leadership nationally and here at home. 

    Trump’s diplomatic breakthrough isn’t just a foreign policy success; it’s a reminder that strength and clarity work. Voters who have grown weary of weakness abroad and moral confusion at home may see a different kind of leadership emerging, one that rewards courage and conviction – and stands against appeasement in both foreign wars and domestic cultural disputes. 

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  • Why Did Spanberger Undercut Jay Jones?

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    A cartoon depicting a woman in a business suit attempting to pull a man labeled 'ALLY' away from an oncoming bus labeled 'MEDIA' and 'SCANDAL'.

    by Paul Goldman

    I see where my good friend Doug Wilder is calling for more kindness in Virginia politics. A most appropriate wish for sure. But Doug didn’t make history running for Lieutenant Governor in 1985 by emulating Pope Leo. He won by playing the hardball required. I know because he usually needed me to throw the pitch. Dwayne Yancey wrote a book about how history got done titled When Hell Froze Over. But as Jack Nicholson might say, don’t read it if you can’t handle the truth. Particularly Democrats. They like to maintain their miss about 1985 and 1989. 

    So, let a hardball player give Democrats some tough love about racism, sexism, and elitism. Democratic Attorney General nominee Jay Jones had been a sure winner before Dem gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger unnecessarily pushed him to the back of the bus… then threw him under during her recent televised debate. 

    Back in 1985, as Doug’s campaign manager, I faced a situation with analogies to what confronts the Jones team. The leader of the Democratic Party — Governor Chuck Robb and his staff — held me, along with Doug, in maximum low regard as the saying goes in politics. His people were attacking Doug for keeping me on as campaign manager, saying they likely would not help him unless he made a change. They needed, of course, a scapegoat to justify letting him twist in the wind. Governor Robb himself publicly criticized our campaign. His campaign staff circulated letters about me they knew were not true. 

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  • You REALLY Don’t Hate The Media Enough

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    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Chapter 5,978 of “You Don’t Hate The Media Enough.”

    Today’s installment features The Virginian-Pilot, Time Magazine and CNN.

    Let’s start with the local offender first, shall we?

    On Saturday, the editorial board finally weighed in on the Jay Jones scandal by publishing a sniveling piece headlined: “Voters Will Render The Judgment On Jay Jones’ Fitness For Office.”

    Here’s how it opened:

    Virginians are rightly horrified by the despicable comments Democratic Attorney General candidate Jay Jones made in a handful of 2022 text messages recently released to the public.

    In an exchange first reported by the National Review, Jones joked to former Republican Del. Carrie Coyner about murdering then-Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert and, in a follow-up phone call with Coyner, theorized about Gilbert’s wife seeing their children die so Gilbert would reconsider his political views.

    There is no defense for Jones using such vile, hateful rhetoric, even in jest. The former delegate from Norfolk did not deny the exchanges and, after they were made public, took “full responsibility” for them and said he reached out directly to Gilbert to apologize to him, his wife Jennifer and their children….

    Jones JOKED? What part of the exchange suggested he was just having some fun or that the texts were send “in jest”?

    Notice how quickly the editor is to let the Norfolk son of a prominent family off the hook and accept his apology.

    After those semi-strong opening sentences came a slew of paragraphs attempting to “other side” the argument, comparing Donald Trump’s bombastic quotes to Jones’ murderous ones, blah, blah, blah. Continue reading.

  • What Democrats Will Pass First if Given Full Political Control

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    by

    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner,

    A 137 megawatt battery storage facility in California. The previous battery bill would mandate about 140 such plants in Virginia.

    Predicting how Democrats will transform Virginia should they gain full control of state government in November’s election is easy. Just look through the list of 400 plus bills vetoed by Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, most of them from 2024 and 2025.   

    The progressive bills which reached Youngkin’s desk with unanimous or near unanimous Democratic votes and then died will stand a much greater chance of survival under Democrat Abigail Spanberger, if she wins. Sadly, few of these issues have received much attention during the long campaign season and were ignored in the single, one-hour debate, held after weeks of early voting.   

    At a meeting last week of the legislative Commission on Electric Utility Regulation, several of the vetoed bills were reviewed with the open intent to push them though again in 2026. On top of the list were the companion bills that would amend the Virginia Clean Economy Act to include a huge amount of utility-owned long-term battery storage facilities, adding $18 to $29 billion dollars of capital costs upon utility ratepayers.  

    Youngkin also vetoed a bill requiring electric utilities to pay a federal prevailing wage for their own employees and contracted workers constructing or repairing electrical generation facilities. If the bill wasn’t likely to produce higher pay and thus higher project costs for ratepayers, unions wouldn’t be pushing it.   

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  • Parental Involvement an Afterthought in Fairfax County Public School Prayer Rooms

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Stephanie Lundquist-Arora
    Republished with permission from IWFeatures

    On September 8, during the Religious Liberty Commission’s hearing at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump announced upcoming guidance from the Department of Education regarding prayer in public schools. He said, “I am pleased to announce this morning that the Department of Education will soon issue new guidance protecting the right to prayer in our public schools and its total protection.” 

    Leftists have criticized Trump’s support of prayer in schools and further suggested that Republican states inappropriately favor Christian teachings. But in Fairfax County Public Schools, the largest district in Virginia, if local leaders were prioritizing any religion, it’s Islam.

    On September 15, parents of five minors attending a Fairfax County public high school met in private to discuss their children’s exposure, and in a few cases, conversions, to Islam. One of the parents shared with IW Features that the conversion journey began with designated prayer time in their public school. The district’s Regulation 1502 states: “Each school and office within the district shall provide at least one meditation and silent reflection space that is easily accessible and adequately accommodates the needs of students and staff… Supervision, as available, will be provided in the meditation and silent reflection space.”

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  • The Birds Are On the Move

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    James A. Bacon

    It’s mid-October, which means it’s the season for…. the leaves to turn, I’ll bet you were thinking. Yes, but just as fun, it’s peak bird migration time as our feathered friends wing it to southward to the Sunbelt and beyond. According to the people at the BirdCast research consortium, which uses weather radar and computer algorithms to compile its estimate, a record 1.25 billion birds were in flight across the nation on Sept. 23, and the number has been exceeding a billion daily since then.

    A live bird migration map showing the migration traffic across the United States, indicating high numbers of birds in flight with color-coded regions for varying migration densities.

    Luckily for Virginia bird watchers, the Old Dominion has been smack dab in the middle of the flight path the past few days.

    While I love the birds that frequent our back yard and compete with squirrels for seeds in our bird feeder, I’m not so wild about the geese. They frequently stop at the two drainage ponds in our neighborhood and leave a slimy mess all over the walking trail. Other than that, I wish our flying friends the best of luck in their southward journeys. — JAB

  • A Protege of Clarence Thomas at UVa. ?!

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Prof. Caleb E. Nelson, University of Virginia School of Law

    After reading incessantly on this blog that the faculty of the University of Virginia is hopelessly progressive and woke and that students studying there will be indoctrinated in progressive ideas that are bad for the country, imagine my surprise upon learning that one of the leading originalist interpreters of the Constitution teaches at the University of Virginia.

    Caleb E. Nelson is the Emerson G. Spies Distinguished Professor of Law of the University of Virginia Law School. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. As noted by the New York Times, he is regarded as “one of the most respected originalist scholars in the country.” His work has been cited in more than a dozen Supreme Court opinions, with each of the six members of the conservative majority citing him at least once. 

    Prof. Nelson says, directly, “I am an originalist, and if the original meaning of the Constitution compelled [an] outcome, I would be inclined to agree that the Supreme Court should respect it until the Constitution is amended through the proper processes.”

    It would seem that the UVa. faculty is not as monolithic as we had been led to believe.

  • We’ve Heard It Before

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    It’s not political violence, it’s political immaturity.

    by Joe Fitzgerald

    In “The Killing Joke,” the Joker has kidnapped one Batman ally and crippled another to prove the world is absurd, and wants to know why Batman isn’t laughing. Savagely grabbing the Joker, Batman replies, “Because I’ve heard it before and it wasn’t funny the first time.”

    The line often pops into my head when somebody in politics does something politically stupid or something they think is politically brilliant. No, the two aren’t the same, although the joke tells itself.

    We’ve heard Jay Jones’s joke before. “Shoot the lawyer twice,” was the original ending, although “shoot the political consultant twice” is one of my favorite variations. It’s not a joke about violence so much as expressing disdain for a person and then doubling down on it. No politicians were harmed in the making of this joke. Rather, it’s a joke about political opportunism and immaturity.

    Jones’s opportunism first became obvious to many when he played the race card on Mark Herring. Herring had used dark makeup in a Halloween portrayal of a rap musician when he was 19. Jones, running against Herring for the attorney general nomination, said Herring, 60 by then, wasn’t sufficiently apologetic. Jones at the time was running with the endorsement of Ralph Northam, who was older than 19 when he used a character in a Klan hood for his medical school yearbook photo. No hypocrites were harmed in the making of this paragraph?

    (more…)

  • Taxes and Teamwork, or Just More of the Same?

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Jon Baliles

    Property taxes in Richmond, Va., are rising without a commensurate improvement in government services.
    Image credit: Bing AI Creations

    Today Richmond’s Mayor and City Council will debate (and probably vote) on whether or not to maintain the real estate tax rate at $1.20 per $100 of assessed value or lower it four cents to offer some relief to property owners and renters. The Mayor and some on Council (probably a majority) say that the city has too many needs and cutting the rate four cents will create a $17 million shortfall in the budget that will have to be adjusted midyear; some services will have to be cut back or people laid off, etc.

    The city’s general fund budget grew by $50 million since last year and by $268 million since 2021. While needs have also increased (as they do every year), for a decade there has been no attempt to rein in spending or make sure the money that is spent is effective and accomplishing its mission. In that time, assessments and taxes have gone through the roof and are pricing people out of their homes, making homes and apartments more unaffordable for many. The city is not offering relief nor does it seem to be planning on offering any.

    In addition, a presentation given to City Council a year ago in October 2024 outlined a dire financial situation while the Stoney administration argued against a tax rate reduction. Council was told the FY2026 budget would face a $27 million deficit and by 2030, it would rise to $149 million. That presentation showed spending would increase by an average of almost 6% per year but revenue will grow by an average of about 3%. You don’t need to be a math genius to figure out there is a problem there, but nothing was mentioned about making sure spending did not exceed revenue.

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  • Support Anti-Fascism by Burning the Flag of the Country that Defeated Fascism!

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    A promotional flyer for an event titled 'ANTI FAscist TAILGATE' hosted by UVA Law's 'Friends Against Fascism' group, featuring a grill with flames and items like burgers and hot dogs, along with highlights including flag burning.

    by Tom Neale

    Many of you are no doubt unaware of a UVA Law student group called “Friends Against Fascism.” They are not an officially sponsored UVA CIO student organization. As you see in their flier, they sponsored a tailgate October 3rd ostensibly condemning fascism in America.

    The capital letters in the title spell out ANTIFA, leaving no doubt about this group’s philosophical beliefs. Although this October 3 event was not violent, it was no less abhorrent for those of us who are cognizant of the hatred ANTIFA has for our American core values. They promote discord, not civil discourse and polite debate among those with differing viewpoints, and on numerous occasions have resorted to violence during events across the nation. We don’t know if the group’s founder, Kirk Wolff, is truly an ANTIFA member or meant the reference as a facetious joke. If he did, let me tell him it’s not remotely funny.

    JAG, the US military’s Judge Advocate Generals Corps located at UVA, is dedicated to legally representing our military.  You’ll see in their flier that Friends Against Fascism extended a “special invitation” for them to attend the event.

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  • “All of the Above” Abigail? She Did Say It.

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    by

    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner,

    “All of the Above” Abigail Spanberger

    Democratic nominee for Governor Abigail Spanberger told the October 9 statewide debate audience that she favors an “all of the above strategy” in addressing Virginia’s massive demand for new electricity in coming years. If she has used that phrase before in this campaign, it hasn’t made the record.

    “All of the above” is a slogan more than an energy plan, and plenty of politicians in both parties are quick to use it. It is also a stock phrase used by the Republican candidate, Winsome Earle-Sears. But Earle-Sears was also clear during the debate that she embraces coal and natural gas as thermal generation fuels in “all of the above”, and Spanberger has never embraced either.

    The Virginia Clean Economy Act Spanberger supports calls for both fuels to be fully eliminated by utilities and created legal impediments to building new gas plants before the final deadlines for retirement. Spanberger has said in interviews that she understands the existing gas plants are not going away soon (a brave statement of the obvious) but indicated hostility to new ones in the meantime. Building new ones is the issue. 

    In responses to both Cardinal News and Inside Climate News, she said:

    “At this juncture, natural gas is going to be part of the energy mix into the future… However, I think when it comes to new natural gas infrastructure, that’s where we really need to be focused and sort of thinking carefully about the lifespan of those projects and whether indeed they are the most cost-effective solution.”

    (more…)

  • Abolish Red-Light Cameras

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Improve safety with longer yellow lights.

    by J. Kennerly Davis

    A close-up view of a traffic light equipped with a red light running camera, mounted on a pole against a clear blue sky.

    Traffic ticket revenue maximization and safety have been competing motivations for public officials since the dawn of the automobile age. This has certainly been the case with the enforcement of red-light laws.

    The first electrified traffic signal was activated in Cleveland, Ohio in 1914. For decades after that, traffic signal compliance depended on a somewhat fortuitous combination of observation and enforcement by uniformed policemen who happened to witness an individual violation.

    Things changed dramatically in 1992 when New York City began to automate enforcement by launching the first red light running camera program in the United States. Fairfax County became the first locality in Virginia to automate enforcement in 1995 when it installed red light running cameras under a temporary pilot program authorized by the General Assembly.

    The pilot program used by Fairfax County lapsed in 2005 but in 2007 the General Assembly passed legislation generally authorizing Virginia’s counties, cities, and towns to install and operate red light running camera systems to enforce compliance and support the ticketing of offenders. That legislation is codified in Section 15.2-968.1 of the Code of Virginia. 

    (more…)

  • Jay Jones: Democrat Nightmare That Won’t Go Away

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    It’s been one week since we learned that in 2022 Jay Jones wrote psychotic text messages that claimed he wanted to put two bullets in the head of GOP leader Todd Gilbert.

    One week since the Virginia elections were turned upside down after we learned that the Democrats had nominated a murderous psycho for attorney general.

    The worst part of Jones’ demented tirade? Jones claimed that Todd and his wife, Jennifer, were “breeding little fascists” and  he’d like their kids to be murdered and die in the arms of their mother.

    Sick beyond words.

    A week later these words still cause revulsion – among normal people, anyway. And one week into this scandal the Democrats look more and more craven as they feign disgust with their nominee but stop short of demanding Jones to get out of the race for attorney general and seek the psychiatric help he so desperately needs.

    At last night’s gubernatorial debate the moderators tried valiantly to get Abigail Spanberger to answer the most important question of the night: Will she continue to endorse Jay Jones for attorney general?

    In response, Spanberger babbled and spouted word salads, but refused to answer.

    “As governor you have to make hard choices,” Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears barked at Spanberger. “Why won’t you tell Jay Jones to get out of the race?”

    As the scandal unfolded, Attorney General Jason Miyares expressed, over and over, that he is most sickened by Jones’ cruel wishes for the Gilbert boys who were two and five when Jones was dreaming of their deaths.

    Continue reading.

  • Jeanine’s Memes

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    A cartoon depicting a man with a charming smile, holding a phone and texting, with speech bubbles including names and phrases related to murder and politics. The text reads 'Murder, He Wrote' and references individuals in a dark comedic context.

    Find more memes at The Bull Elephant.

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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