Bacon's Rebellion

  • Too Early to Construct Narratives

    Posted on

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    James A. Bacon

    A grid view of a virtual meeting showing multiple participants on video call, with a mix of professional backgrounds.
    Watch video. Image credit: The Jefferson Council

    by James A. Bacon

    In a statement to the University of Virginia faculty senate, Acting President J.J. Davis confirmed yesterday that the university had obtained outside counsel to assist in negotiations with the Department of Justice regarding “many areas of the inquiry” relating to the dismantling of racial preferences and DEI.

    “Through counsel, UVA is working collaboratively with the U.S. Department of Justice on a voluntary resolution agreement,” Davis said. “Coordination between counsel for UVA and DOJ is ongoing. UVA officials cannot discuss any related issues to DOJ at this time while they are in the midst of the negotiations. However, when a final resolution agreement is reached, the final resolution agreement will be public.”

    After reading the prepared statement, Davis added, “There has been engagement of UVA with external counsel since April of this year with various leaders … including current and former board members.” Those board leaders likely included Robert Hardie, who was rector until June 30, and his successor Rachel Sheridan.

    The statement does little to confirm or contradict the emerging Democratic narrative that the Department of Justice was overreaching its authority by pressing for the removal of President Jim Ryan. That might prove to be the case, but there is insufficient evidence at this point to draw a hard conclusion. Partisans would be well advised to wait for more information before committing themselves to theories that might be revealed to be untenable. In other words, everyone, take a chill pill.

    (more…)

  • Youngkin Regulatory Reforms Saved $1.2 Billion a Year

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    James A. Bacon

    A cartoonish character excitedly uses a blowtorch to ignite a stack of red ribbons, surrounded by colorful confetti on a bright blue background.
    Image credit: Bing Image Creator

    by Hans Bader

    “With just 4 employees” in his regulatory office, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has “saved residents $1.2 billion per year” and “reduced cost of building a new house by $24,000,” by eliminating more than a quarter of Virginia’s regulations, says Dominic Pino of the National Review. Under Youngkin, “occupational license approval times declined from 33 days to 5 days. Stormwater permitting reforms saved $124 million.” And “Department of Environmental Quality permit processing times declined by 70%.”

    Pino adds that

    Like similarly successful efforts in Iowa and Idaho, Virginia’s reforms have been boring, methodical, and based on economic analysis rather than political noteworthiness.

    Since 2022, Virginia has reduced the number of requirements in its regulatory code by 26.8 percent, exceeding Youngkin’s goal of 25 percent. He says his administration is on pace to reach a 33 percent reduction by the end of his term early next year. The reduction in regulatory word count is even greater: 11.5 million words were struck, nearly half of the total found in state guidance documents…Deregulation in housing construction is estimated to reduce the cost of building a new house by $24,000 on average….

    (more…)

  • Who is the Threat?

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    The Richmond Times-Dispatch recently reported on three men caught up in Virginia’s criminal justice system. 

    The first is Jordan Shelton, a 28-year-old Richmond man. He was on trial in Greene County on a charge of involuntary manslaughter, for which he could have gotten a sentence of ten years. Two years ago, Shelton was driving a truck on a winding road in Ruckersville. As he rounded a curve, he struck a car being driven by 89-year-old Melvin Bond. Bond was killed. A Virginia State Trooper reported that Shelton said that he often drove over the centerline “on roads like that.”

    This was not an isolated incident for Shelton. Two months after that fatal crash, he was arrested in Henrico for driving 96 mph in 65 mph zone. He was found guilty of reckless driving and served two days of a three-month jail sentence. Over the last six years, he has accumulated six driving convictions.

    The Greene County Commonwealth’s attorney allowed Shelton to enter a plea of guilty to a reckless driving charge, rather than involuntary manslaughter, on the condition that the involuntary manslaughter charge would be dismissed if he maintains a clear driving record for a year. The judge made it clear that Shelton was fortunate when he told him, “The court would find you guilty with sufficient evidence of involuntary manslaughter if you had your trial today.”

    (more…)

  • Higher Ed Now a Potent Election Issue

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    James A. Bacon

    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 have threatened, in the name of depoliticizing appointments to the governing boards of public state universities, to take the unprecedented act of rejecting every single nominee advanced by Governor Glenn Youngkin. Now Democrats are ginning up a narrative of an assault on academic freedom and vowing to “fight back hard.”

    Senator Adam Ebbin

    Other than from John Reid, candidate for lieutenant governor and former talk-radio host who remains as feisty as ever, I have seen little pushback from Republicans.

    Read the following statement by Senator Adam P. Ebbin, D-Alexandria, which I quote in full because it reveals the new Democratic Party narrative in the making.

    (more…)

  • Virginians Oppose Sanctuary Cities, Back Deportations

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    James A. Bacon

    Virginians are fed up with the Left’s open borders policies—a good sign for Republican incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares.

    Jay Jones. Image created by Restoration News

    by Hayden Ludwig

    A new poll by Restoration of America shows 61% of Virginians back President Trump’s deportation policies, while 68% support Attorney General Jason Miyares’ plan to abolish sanctuary counties across the commonwealth.

    Illegal immigration is emerging as a major issue in the critical November race, when Virginians will elect a new governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general. Incumbent Miyares, who is running for a second term, has come out strongly in favor of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in contrast to Democrat Jay Jones, who refuses to say whether he supports ICE enforcing immigration law in Virginia while blasting Miyares’ “partisan political agenda.”

    Democrats killed Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) effort to ban sanctuary cities during budget negotiations in February, which would’ve required counties and cities cooperate with ICE detainers. In response, Youngkin — assisted by Miyares — ordered state law enforcement to work with ICE under the 287(g) program, which allows local authorities to apprehend illegal aliens until they’re transferred into federal custody. Restoration News has covered the 287(g) program and the radical Left’s resistance to it here.

    (more…)

  • Righteousness Repeated

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    James A. Bacon

    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, “one thing leads to another.”

    Last week, in the after aftermath of Jim Ryan’s resignation as president of the University of Virginia, The Cavalier Daily reported the comments of 2024 alumna Taylor Vest, who said that Ryan’s resignation was not only an attack on the University, but on academic freedom and institutional independence. She fingered the Board of Visitors as one culprit.

    “Rather than defend our University’s leadership and autonomy, they have stood by while a respected president is pushed out for staying true to his convictions which benefit the greater university community,” Vest said. “This is not how decisions should be made at U.Va. This is not how leaders are treated in a healthy democracy. This is not the Virginia way.”

    She’s right. This is not the Virginia Way.

    President Donald Trump has no slot in the chain of command. An institutional process determines and controls the leadership of Virginia’s schools. Wedging the president in there, via his righteous Justice Department, is neither constructive nor sensible.

    But, as Kennan said (hard to argue with it), one thing does tend to lead to another and it often seems as if humanity suffers for lack of imagination. Where might matters take us next?

    Just two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled race-conscious admissions policies in higher education violated the U.S. Constitution. While the ruling itself was limited to college admissions, its reasoning has rapidly become a basis for legal and political challenges to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in other settings.

    In effect, the Supreme Court affirmed the Equal Protection Clause as a “foundational principle,” excluded race-based decision-making and that, for the time being, is that.

    This has implications, not just for the University of Virginia, but for every state-owned college and university in the commonwealth. That fact may now be sinking in.

    (more…)

  • What Next?

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    James A. Bacon

    The potential now exists to make UVA the most exciting university in the country to learn, teach and pursue knowledge.

    Image credit: Bing Image Creator

    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 — we didn’t like the reign of social-justice orthodoxy that stifled intellectual diversity and free expression, and we didn’t like the bureaucratic DEI apparatus that enforced the rules with dual standards. But what do we want? What is our vision going forward? Shared expectations of the future are essential as the Board of Visitors searches for a new president and provost.

    Perhaps the newly constituted Board under the direction of newly appointed Rector Rachel Sheridan will have that discussion. Previous Boards did not. Most critical meetings were held in closed session. Open meetings were carefully scripted and allowed negligible opportunity for blue-sky thinking. With this column and several to follow, I hope to spark that conversation.

    For all of its deficiencies, UVA has a remarkable opportunity — a chance to position itself as the most exciting university in the United States, and thus the world, to study and teach.

    That seems an audacious ambition. But consider: We start our journey, if we give credence to the U.S. News & World-Report best universities ranking, as the 24th top university in the country. Our academic programs are held in fairly high esteem. We have rich history and traditions. The Rotunda and Lawn are an unparalleled architectural treasure. We have a $14 billion endowment. We have a AAA bond rating. Those are not bad attributes to start with.

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  • Mercy Chefs: On the Ground in Texas

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    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Twelve years ago, I wrote a column for The Virginian-Pilot on a little-known charity called Mercy Chefs based in Portsmouth that was preparing delicious meals for those left homeless by a killer tornado in Oklahoma.

    Mercy Chefs was founded by Chef Gary LeBlanc and his wife, Ann in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that devastated Gary’s hometown of New Orleans in 2005.

    Well, the non-profit Mercy Chefs continued to grow and feed meals to those in sudden need. According to the Mercy Chefs website, the non-profit has served 27 million chef-prepared, restaurant-quality meals to those in need around the globe.

    What a wonderful organization. 

    Naturally, they’re already on the ground in Hunt, Texas, preparing delectable meals for hungry first responders, victims and volunteers who are tirelessly working and praying for miracles after the flash flood that wiped out a Christian girls camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River.

    Feeling helpless about the tragedy unfolding in Texas? Me too. So I went to Mercy Chef’s DONATION site to join with others who want to do SOMETHING to ease the heartbreak of the parents who lost their little girls this weekend.

    Please join me in supporting this fabulous local charity that does such unique and amazing work. Continue reading.

  • Turning Point?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Federal overreach, state silence, and the resignation of Jim Ryan

    by David J. Toscano

    “…Or we will bleed you white.” It sounds like a mob threat from a B-movie. But it captures the essence of what Trump’s Department of Justice told University of Virginia officials: remove President Jim Ryan — or face financial ruin.

    Jim Ryan’s departure marks a significant moment — not only for UVA and higher education, but for public institutions across the country. It is exceedingly rare for the federal government to exert such direct influence on the leadership of a state university. Public colleges and universities, along with the officials who oversee them, should take note.

    Under the Trump administration, the Department of Justice has increasingly used pressure tactics to influence the direction of higher education. Some private universities, including Columbia and Penn, quickly yielded. Harvard has fought back, but no one is sure whether their resistance will succeed, and at what cost. Virginia became the next institution to feel the heat. The implications are serious—and extend well beyond Virginia. And many important questions remain about how this unfolded.

    (more…)

  • Trapped in an Ideological Bubble

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    James A. Bacon

    Trapped in a bubble. Image credit: Bing Image Creator

    by James A. Bacon

    Michael Paul Williams, the Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist who won a Pulitzer Prize for his post-George Floyd commentary, is trapped in an ideological bubble and can’t break out. When opining on the departure of Jim Ryan from the University of Virginia presidency in his most recent column, he displays a bare-bones familiarity with the events leading up to Ryan’s resignation but zero understanding — and by zero understanding, I mean none whatsoever — about what motivates those seeking to bring about change at UVA.

    Briefly stated, William’s argument is that “MAGA Inc.” wants to “roll back the clock.” He writes: “Whether the intent is to turn UVa into the secular Hillsdale College of the South or to launch the sort of right-wing makeover administered to New College of Florida remains an open question.”

    No, it’s not an open question. Let me settle that right now. The Jefferson Council, the alumni organization which played a prominent role in Ryan’s ouster, does not want to remake UVA as a Southern Hillsdale or a secular Liberty University. Nor do we, nor anyone else on our side of the controversy, want to turn Mr. Jefferson’s University into bastion of right-wing thinking. We want to create the most exhilarating university in America to learn, teach and pursue knowledge, and to do that, we do believe UVA needs a sufficient number of conservatives, moderates, classical liberals and free thinkers to contest the orthodoxy maintained by campus leftists.

    I see not one iota of evidence that Williams has made any effort to acquaint himself with our thinking or with the reasons that the Department of Justice, Governor Glenn Youngkin, Attorney General Jason Miyares, or the Board of Visitors have done the things they have done. Williams interprets everything through a rigidly ideological lens that attributes incomprehensively malign motives to the people he dislikes.

    (more…)

  • Jeanine’s Memes

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    James A. Bacon

    Compiled by The Bull Elephant

    Compiled by The Bull Elephant

  • Bacon Meme of the Week

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

  • And in Other Higher-Ed News….

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    The Richmond Times-Dispatch contrasts how Virginia Commonwealth University dismantled Diversity, Equity & Inclusion with relatively modest controversy — and provides a sharp contrast with the University of Virginia.

    Michael Rao

    Here’s how Eric Kolenich summarizes VCU’s response:

    When state and federal officials told Virginia Commonwealth University to scrub DEI from every corner of campus, the university’s administrators went straight to work. They dissolved the university’s central office for diversity, equity and inclusion and started reviewing the work of DEI employees. They even hired a consultant to check their work.

    After the university previously eliminated 13 DEI positions, ended diversity statements, and revised some scholarship requirements, the VCU board voted after contentious discussion to eliminate the office of Inclusive Excellence altogether.

    Why is UVA in turmoil while VCU is not? A contributing factor is that VCU President Michael Rao acted proactively to comply with federal directives. VCU gave the Department of Justice no grounds to intervene, and the resulting polarization inherent with any Trump administration action was avoided.

    Meanwhile, GMU is begging for trouble. Ian Kingsbury with the Educational Freedom Institute chronicles the track record of GMU President Gregory Washington in City Journal.

    (more…)

  • Avoiding Transparency

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    James A. Bacon

    by Jon Baliles

    Foggy lens. Image credit: Bing Image Creator

    Richmond Mayor Danny Avula ran on a platform to clean up City Hall and be a transparent mayor, but so far he has done little to differentiate his administration from that of his predecessor, who wrote the book on how to master obfuscation and ignoring the public’s right to know. Avula could easily have announced demonstrated a new attitude and instituted a new policy towards transparency that would have matched his lofty rhetoric from the campaign trail that would bring a new day and let the sun shine down on City Hall.

    He had the perfect chance to take a huge first step and demonstrate the need for sunscreen by settling and ending an ongoing lawsuit filed last year by the city’s former Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) officer who was fired by Mayor Stoney in January 2024 after about six months on the job. That drama occurred just as the meals tax fiasco was heating up and the media was making numerous inquiries about the mess that is the city’s Finance Department. Leading up to that drama, other local reporters and government watchdogs have also had their FOIA requests ignored and had to take legal action against the city just to even get a reply. Then, Connie Clay was fired as the city’s FOIA officer and claims she was canned by the higher ups over information the city was providing (or not providing) under FOIA law. After her firing, she filed a $250,000 wrongful termination lawsuit.

    The city has stood firm in denying wrongdoing and say Clay’s allegations are without merit. The city delayed answering its own motion for dismissal for months and has dragged out the process. Two months ago, the judge overseeing the case had to order a play date meeting in May to work out the disagreements between the two sides to resolve document issues about what is confidential and what is not.

    (more…)

  • Celebrate the 4th!

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    James A. Bacon

    George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette at the Battle of Yorktown. Image credit: Chat GPT

    While we’re celebrating the 4th of July, acknowledging the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, Pa., let us not forget Virginia’s role in the war for independence.

    Self-loathing Americans — and there are plenty of them; the percentage of Americans who are “proud” to be American” has hit a new low — criticize the United States for having failed to transform itself instantaneously from a world mired in feudalism, monarchy and coerced servitude into a polity, unknown previously in all of human history, that embodied 21st-century American values and institutions (which they don’t think are so great either).

    But count me among those who are proud of our history. For all of our mistakes, we have changed the world for the better. And I take pride in the contributions that early Virginians — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Patrick Henry, George Mason, and many more — made toward the formation of the country. They articulated ideals that served as the lodestar for social and political change over 250 years and, in the process, inspired millions across the globe.

    God knows, America isn’t perfect. The challenge to create a more perfect union is a never-ending work in progress. Occasionally, I despair that we’ll lose what previous generations sacrificed to bequeath to us. But there’s nowhere I’d rather live. — JAB

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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