Bacon's Rebellion

  • Taxes and Trans Are the Winning Ticket for GOP, Reid Says

    Posted on

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    James A. Bacon

    John Reid. Image credit: John Reid campaign

    by James A. Bacon

    Taxes and transgender rights are the two big issues that John Reid, Republican nominee for lieutenant general, thinks will bring him victory in a year where the conventional wisdom favors a Democratic sweep in statewide elections.

    Most Virginians hate the car tax, and an increasing number are stressed by the steady increase in property taxes. Even families that have paid off their mortgages are getting squeezed out of their homes by surging housing assessments and real estate taxes, said Reid in an interview today with Bacon’s Rebellion.

    The other big issue he consistently hears about is the “insanity” of permitting biological boys compete in girls’ sports. That national issue has hit home in places like Loudoun and Hanover Counties here in Virginia, Reid said.

    In the money race, Reid is running far behind his opponent, Ghazala Hashmi, a Democratic state senator from Chesterfield County who has outraised him by $1.3 million to $311,000 and, even after fighting a tough Democratic primary, has more than four times as much cash on hand.

    While Hashmi has racked up huge contributions such as $475,000 from Charlottesville mega-donor Sonja Smith, compared to Reid’s biggest donation of $12,000, he’s running closer in the total number of donations — 1,875 to 1,142. And now that the Republican statewide slate has settled its internal differences and is presenting a unified front, he thinks fundraising will pick up.

    (more…)

  • Dedicating a Statue to George Washington — in London

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    James A. Bacon

    When Governor Glenn Youngkin visited France and the UK last week on an economic development trip, he rededicated the London statue of George Washington at Trafalgar Square gifted by the United States. Imagine that: the Brits honoring a statue of a traitor to the crown!

    One wonders what the reaction would have been if Youngkin had tried rededicating in Virginia a statue to Washington, who was a slaveholder and speculator in lands once belonging to indigenous peoples. (Hat tip to Freedom Rider.) — JAB

  • Standards and Expectations

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    James A. Bacon

    Along with other Virginia Senate hallucinations

    by Gordon Morse

    May a committee of the Virginia Senate act on behalf of the entire body? That appears to be question raised by a group of Senate Democrats and, if the answer is yes, it would contradict legislative norms presently held most everywhere.

    Maybe there’s an exception in Albania, I don’t know.

    Generally speaking, a committee is a functional part of the larger whole and, while it may be authorized to advise the body, it may not act on behalf of the entire legislative body except in very limited, specific circumstances or when expressly granted such authority.

    Do most committee actions prove determinative? Yeah. Sure. But only within in the context of the legislative process and the operations of the entire Senate. A committee may be discharged from the consideration by the body.

    In short, the dog rules, not the tail of the dog.

    In this lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the Fairfax County Circuit Court, nine members of the Senate, all Democrats, insist that a single legislative committee — in this case, the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee – may act alone to reject a group of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s college and university board appointments.

    (more…)

  • Skating on the Edge of Judicial Ethics

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Thanks to the reporting of the Fredericksburg Free Press, more detail is available on the case of the Spotsylvania County judge indicted on bribery charges.

    As noted in an earlier article in Bacon’s Rebellion, Richard T. McGrath, chief district court judge of the 15th Judicial District, which includes Spotsylvania County, was indicted on a charge of bribery of a public official, a Class 4 felony.  

    One normally thinks of bribery as the giving of money or something else of value to a public official to gain some advantage. This is not the case with McGrath.  Allegedly, he was seeking pay raises for the local district court staff and, in a meeting with county officials, including the chair of the Board of Supervisors, he allegedly threatened to begin dismissing traffic tickets if the staff did not get raises.

    (more…)

  • Wahoo Know-Nothings

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    There is a new player in the struggle for the soul of the University of Virginia: Wahoos4UVA, which describes itself as a group of “proud alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff, and friends” of the University. Its stated mission is to defend UVA from an “orchestrated campaign of misinformation and political pressure.”

    Who is conducting this alleged misinformation campaign? The signature-raising letter published by Wahoos4UVA refers to a “small, unrepresentative group of alumni,” which you can be certain is none other than the Jefferson Council (on whose executive committee I serve). The name of our organization, like that of Lord Voldemort, presumably is too heinous for Wahoos4UVA to actually utter.

    These self-professed defenders of UVA President Jim Ryan regard the Jefferson Council as thoroughly reprehensible. Our tactics, states the letter, consist of “lies, personal attacks, and public disrespect” and “stand in direct opposition to the Honor Code and the values that define UVA.” Furthermore, asserts the letter, we circulate “false claims and distortions.”

    Wahoos4UVA offers zero evidence to back up its claims. Not one lie. Not one personal attack. Not one false claim. Not one distortion. This is the kind of bilious rhetoric normally found in letters to the editor penned by cranky old men. But I feel compelled to respond, for the group does appear to be backed by significant resources — enough to set up a well-designed website, file incorporation papers in Delaware, and publish full-page ads in newspapers across Virginia — and has won instant credibility with local media. Inevitably, people will hear what they have to say.

    The “overwhelming majority of alumni” are proud of the progress UVA has made under President Jim Ryan’s leadership, asserts the letter without providing the slightest documentation of what alumni think. It might be more accurate to say that an overwhelming majority of Wahoos4UVA letter signatories are proud of UVA’s progress under Jim Ryan. That the authors of the Wahoos4UVA screed assume they represent a majority tells us more how rarely they encounter divergent views in their cosseted social milieus than anything about the opinions of UVA alumni as a whole.

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  • Kings, Colonialists and Naked Bike Riders

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    I’ve just come back from vacation in England and found it to be a nation of vivid contradictions offering parallels to what we’re experiencing in Virginia. The United Kingdom is torn by the same battle between wokery and tradition as the Old Dominion. Statues have fallen — most notably of Cecil Rhodes, the quintessential colonialist and imperialist, as well as assorted philanthropists who derived their wealth from slavery. But many Brits still revere their past and their memorials.

    Statue of Robert Cornelis Napier

    There is such a super-abundance of statuary in England that the loss of a few bronze works is scarcely noticed. One cannot walk a few blocks through London without bumping into a statue. The photo at left, which I encountered during my wanderings, honors Robert Napier, a British military engineer and commander, who fought in the Sikh wars in India, the opium wars in China, and the Abyssinian expedition of 1867-68. In the latter campaign, which he led, Napier rescued European hostages from the mad Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia. Mission accomplished, his army returned to India and left the Abyssinians to proceed with their nation-building on their own.

    For all of Napier’s purported sins against non-Western peoples, his statue still stands in London free from graffiti and protesters. Contrast the fate of his memorial to that of George Rogers Clark, conqueror of the Northwest Territory, which the University of Virginia took down for shame for his role in subduing the indigenous peoples there. And let us not forget the City of Charlottesville’s dismantling of the statue of his younger brother William Clark, Meriwether Lewis, and their guide Sacagawea. Lewis and Clark warred against no one and despoiled no one of their land. The alleged offense of the statue commemorating the explorers was said be to how the artist had displayed Sacagawea in a submissive posture. Any excuse will do for tearing down the past.

    A reverence for tradition and tolerance for libertine madness exist side by side in England. As it happened, two notable events took place in London one day that we were there: the Trooping the Colour in honor of King Charles’ birthday and the World Naked Bike Ride.

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  • UVA’s Administration Is Stonewalling on Viewpoint Diversity

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    James A. Bacon

    UVA Board of Visitors meeting, June 2025

    by Scott Gerber

    The University of Virginia (UVA) is currently under investigation by the federal government because its administration is attempting to maintain its illegal “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) regime in secret after the Board of Visitors voted in March to dismantle it. The administration is also stonewalling the Board’s April resolution, which called for more viewpoint diversity at UVA.

    To his credit, President Jim Ryan introduced a presentation at June’s Board meeting by Interim Provost Brie Gertler by saying the right things: “Viewpoint diversity is near and dear to my heart;” “John Stuart Mill was right when he wrote in ‘On Liberty’: ‘He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that;’” “the clash of ideas is key to a great education and part of the path towards following the truth wherever it might lead;” “free speech and viewpoint diversity … are the foundation for both academic freedom and effective teaching and learning, and so they are the cornerstones of any flourishing university.”

    Unfortunately, what happened before and after Ryan’s encouraging words should alarm anyone committed to the true purpose of higher education: intellectual freedom, the pursuit of truth, and the promotion of virtuous citizenship.

    (more…)

  • VMI Board Makes Own Calls Without Direction From the Governor, says Gottwald

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    James A. Bacon

    On June 10 Teddy Gottwald, president of the Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors, wrote a letter to House Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, in response to Surovell’s statement justifying the Privileges & Elections Committee vote to block four of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s nominees to the VMI Board. The letter is somewhat old news at this point, but it didn’t get the attention it warranted, so I publish it here to keep readers apprised of developments at VMI. — JAB

    Dear Senator Surovell,

    Thomas E. Gottwald

    Thank you for your email and letter dated June 9th. I appreciate your input regarding the governance and oversight of Virginia’s colleges and universities. It is helpful to know the concerns you expressed in your letter, and I can assure you that the VMI Board of Visitors shares your desire for good and proper governance.

    The General Assembly in January chose to reject two highly qualified and capable alumni appointees to our BOV with little explanation, leaving us to wonder about the reasoning. Quintin Elliott served for more than twenty years in the Virginia Air National Guard and was later named Deputy Secretary of Transportation by Governor Northam. Clifford Foster is a highly respected financial professional who has given back to VMI extensively. Both were expected to strengthen our Board Finance Committee. The three alumni nominees in question today are all equally qualified. José Suárez is a U.S. Navy veteran, an accomplished businessman and expert on green energy. Steve Reardon is a respected lawyer who served in the US Army and Army Reserve. Jon Hartsock is a twenty-year veteran of the US Army — a combat veteran who later served with distinction in leadership positions at VMI. I respectfully take exception to any suggestion that these five individuals somehow do not possess the judgment, character, or willingness to follow good governance practices per your letter. 

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  • Car Tax Redux

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    James A. Bacon

    The Fifth Dimension Beckons Once More

    by Gordon C. Morse

    There’s a “sign post up ahead.” Planet car tax looms before us. Once again, we’re on a journey to a wonderous land whose boundaries are only that of imagination.

    Jim Gilmore -– a cosmonaut of the first order — launched this trip in 1997, when he successfully sought Virginia’s highest elected office on the promise of kiboshing a principal revenue source for local government.

    “No Car Tax,” read Gilmore’s bumper stickers. “Elect me and that goes away,” he roughly vowed.

    It doesn’t get more direct than that.

    Then, as now, the car tax gets vilified as the one tax that Virginians hate the very most. Where that leaves the state income tax, I’m not sure. Probably offended.

    Republican Winsome Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger, candidates for governor, have now promised to finish what Gilmore presumably started nearly three decades ago.

    You just wish both of them had read up on this a bit. They still could. It’s not too late.

    (more…)

  • Here’s an Idea: Let’s Stop Hating Each Other

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    James A. Bacon

    by Chap Petersen

    Image credit: Chat GPT

    This Sunday, I had drafted my usual glib newsletter, on the heels of a joyful 35th reunion at Williams College (Mass).

    Then came the chilling news from Minnesota of the assassination of a Democratic House member and her husband, along with the wounding of a State Senator. The motives are still unclear but the bottom line was unavoidable:  it’s open season on political opponents in today’s America.

    Whether it’s actual violence or approved vandalism, the expression of “outrage” is the #1 means of political ascent. The ensuing antics run the gamut from tedious to terrifying — but where does this constant negativity lead us?  

    There are other ways …

    When I first joined the House of Delegates in 2001, there were plenty of political fault lines: Rural vs. Urban, Democratic vs. Republican, Black vs.  White. In the aftermath of 9/11, tempers were short and debates were always tense.  

    But we also created mechanisms to survive, not just politically but socially.  Through those gatherings, we forged friendships and eventually partnerships which crossed boundaries and got things done.

    (more…)

  • Pathetic Gloating Over Stoney’s Loss

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    James A. Bacon

    Levar Stoney

    by Paul Goldman

    This trashing of Levar Stoney’s over his loss should be a cautionary tale to Democrats and commentators. Is everyone becoming infected with the Trump gloating and belittling disease? One of the most damaging aspects of the MAGA crowd is the joy they take kicking people when they’re down. Indeed, they take so much joy in it, they can’t wait to kick people down, so then they can stomp them again.

    There was a time when real Democrats, indeed Americans, knew we were better than that. Gloating is a sign of weakness, not character. There was a time when we didn’t see politics as a zero-sum game: when the only way to feel happy was when someone else felt miserable. Is this where we’re heading? Maybe it’s where we already are. 

    No one in RVA publicly fought Mayor Stoney on key issues more than yours truly. I led the three voter referendums fights he lost: in 2017 on education, in 2021 on the Casino and in 2023 on the Casino again. On Stoney’s I’ll-fated Navy Hill project, the key proponent sent his top paid people to see me and basically promised me whatever I wanted if I would stop trying to defeat it. I said, no way, Stoney is wrong on this one.

    Indeed, in the second Casino referendum, the key proponent came to me and offered me several million dollars in stock options if I would just give Stoney a break and not try to defeat him on it. That’s true — a lot of people know it. I even asked my son what I should do. It’s ultimately your money I said. He told me to follow my conscience and hell with the money. Stoney got crushed on that one too. 

    But I didn’t gloat. As people in Richmond know, eventually the pro-casino forces played the antisemitic card against me. Called me a Judas Jew. The pro-Casino side lost 62 to 38. I didn’t go out gloating on their loss either. But I was surprised no members of the Jewish community came to my defense. People don’t think I’m the proper kind of Jew I guess. 

    All of which gets me to ask what the hell is happening to our country? This identity politics simply isn’t working. One would think the election of Donald Trump not once but twice would prove it. 

    (more…)

  • Bacon Meme of the Week

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    by

    James A. Bacon

  • NC Assembly Repeals a Key Carbon Emissions Goal

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    NC Governor Josh Stein

    By Steve Haner

    The North Carolina legislature has retreated from its aggressive targets to reduced hydrocarbon-fueled electricity in the state, eliminating the goal of being 70% carbon free by 2030.  Strong Republican majorities in both chambers supported Senate Bill 266 last week, but so did some Democratic legislators.

    That smattering of Democratic support could weigh on Democratic Governor Josh Stein as he considers a veto.  The final version of the bill leaves in place the ultimate target of the full elimination of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, and there are other important regulatory changes in the bill, touted by supporters as the Power Bill Reduction Act.

    This follows a decision in Maryland, approved by its Democratic governor, to authorize additional use of natural gas for generation in that state.  There are glimmers of energy sanity in both Virginia’s northern and southern neighbors.  Virginia retains its laws mandating expensive wind and solar energy buildouts and prohibiting new natural gas.   The weather in the next two weeks is going to prove again that reliable hydrocarbon plants keep the air conditioning running, not solar.

    North Carolina’s legislature passed the emissions reduction targets in 2021, one year after the Virginia General Assembly placed similar mandates in the Virginia Code.  The North Carolina target for 2030 of 70% is far more aggressive than those for that year in the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA). 

    (more…)

  • More Primary Day Observations

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Dwayne Yancey, editor of the Cardinal News, also has a newsletter, West of the Capital. In his latest edition of the newsletter he reports that there were a significant number of precincts in Southwest Virginia in which no one voted in the Democratic primary. No early votes; no voters showing up on Election Day. In others, there were just a handful of voters. According to results posted by the Virginia Dept. of Elections, in Scott County, for example, there were only 122 votes cast for Lieutenant Governor in the entire county. The Gate City precinct had the most voters–28. That must have been a really long day for the officers of election in those precincts!

    If he were running the campaigns of either party (which he assures readers he is not doing) Yancey says his advice would be–visit some of those areas. For the Democratic candidates, such a visit would be to encourage the few remaining Democratic voters in the area to turn out in November so as to cut into the Republicans’ margins in the Southwest. For the Republican candidates, such a visit could serve to thank Southwest Virginia voters for their support and encourage them to turn out in November to help offset Democrats’ advantage in urban areas.

    He renewed his standing offer: “My previous offer still stands: If any statewide candidate visits Lee County and sends a photo, I’ll run it here. Last week, we had a photo of Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares, who had a law enforcement roundtable in Pennington Gap in Lee County.”

  • Thoughts on the Primary Election

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    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor Photo credit: AP

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    The biggest story from the Democratic Primary contest for Lieutenant Governor was that the folks that know Levar Stoney the best, the citizens of Richmond where he was mayor for eight years, are the ones who kept him from winning the nomination for Lieutenant Governor.

    State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (Chesterfield) won the nomination in a six-candidate race with 27.39 percent of the vote.  Stoney was close behind with 26.64 per cent.  (The source of all election data is the website of the Virginia Dept. of Elections.)  Looking at the actual votes, Hashmi beat Stoney by 3,600 votes statewide.  Her margin in Richmond over Stoney was 10,509 votes.  Without that margin in Richmond, Hashmi would have lost.  

    There is anecdotal evidence that Richmond voters blamed Stoney for the water problems that occurred shortly after he left the mayoral office and left the city without water for a week and made national news.  There were other controversies, as well.

    Taken together, the list of statewide office candidates is remarkable, strong proof of how far Virginia has come in 50 years.  Consider:

    • Both gubernatorial candidates are women (Spanberger; Earle-Sears)
    • Half of the combined tickets are women (Spanberger; Earle-Sears; Hashmi)
    • Two came to America as children (Earle-Sears (Jamaica); Hashmi (India))
    • One is the son of immigrants (Miyares (Cuba))
    • Only two are non-Hispanic whites (Spanberger; Reid)
    • Two are Black (Earle-Sears, Jones)
    • One is Hispanic (Miyares)
    • One is Asian (Hashmi)
    • One is openly gay (Reid)
    • One Muslim (Hashmi)
    • Only two lawyers (Jones; Miyares)
    • None from Northern Virginia

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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