Bacon's Rebellion

  • Fentanyl Overdose Deaths Down 44% in ’24

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    James A. Bacon

    And now for a piece of good news! Fentanyl-related deaths in Virginia declined 44% in 2024 compared to the year before, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and touted by the Youngkin administration.

    Better yet, that was the best year-to-year performance of any state in the country. Nationally, drug overdose deaths (that’s all deaths, not just fentanyl-related) declined only 26.5% between November 2023 and November 2024, according to CDC data. In Virginia, that amounts to more than 1,000 fewer deaths.

    Understandably, Governor Glenn Youngkin is crowing about this positive development — a ray of sunlight in an otherwise dark and dreary sky of social and moral turmoil.

    “Overdose deaths skyrocketed across America and in Virginia driven primarily by illicit fentanyl flowing across our southern border,” said Youngkin yesterday in a press release. “With an average of five dying Virginians each day, in 2022 we launched a comprehensive effort to stop the scourge of fentanyl, it’s working, and Virginia is leading.”

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  • Sorting Out What’s Right

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    James A. Bacon

    And what’s not. Not easy, but necessary.

    by Gordon C. Morse

    All the business about John Reid, the Republican candidate for Virginia lieutenant governor – who did what and why — has made for a strange week.

    There’s a sense (a little more than that, actually) that things said, asserted and claimed may suffer from rebuttal.

    These would be the same things said, asserted and claimed that a confused collection of commentators swallowed whole.

    What I mean is that they went full “hook, line and sinker” — and, wow, why do that?

    Does it matter who runs for lieutenant governor? In the long run, yes. You’re giving that person a platform to run for governor.

    But will it matter to the outcome this fall? Not likely.

    John Reid has long lived by his wits, never borne any public responsibility for anything and, for the sake of holding a part-time job presiding over the Virginia Senate, put his vocal cords to full use over the last seven days. If he’s now caught out for having been creative with the facts, he will end being a hard right-wing, gay candidate for lieutenant governor and that’s all.

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  • Choosing Between Reid and Youngkin, I Choose Youngkin

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    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner

    Governor Glenn Youngkin

    The only thing wrong with the interaction between John Reid and Governor Glenn Youngkin, addressing valid questions about his viability as a candidate for lieutenant governor, is when it happened. It should have happened last year, while Reid was just a potential candidate, before he had quit his day job to run, and before he was nominated by default when the other guy had to drop out.

    Whatever photos or text that appeared on social media attributed to Reid, correctly or incorrectly, have been posted for years. Nobody looked. Nobody asked until it was inevitably going to be perceived as a late hour “gotcha.” These are rookie mistakes on both sides, Reid’s and Youngkin’s.

    Add to that leaking the contents of the conversation, or allowing them to be leaked, as a sign of poor judgment. That was intentional on somebody’s part.

    The election is still six months away, but Reid’s rhetoric at a rally Wednesday night indicates he will continue to play the victim card and attack the “Richmond Swamp,” meaning his own governor. He is driving even deeper the wedge between himself and a governor who won an improbable victory in 2021, a lightning strike that needs to be repeated.

    Forcing voters to choose between himself and Youngkin is another terrible rookie mistake. “Four More Years!” is the only political tack I see working this year.

    (more…)

  • Reid Is on a Roll

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    James A. Bacon

    Image credit: Richmond Times-Dispatch

    by James A. Bacon

    Having Governor Glenn Youngkin tell him to drop out of the race for lieutenant governor might have been the best thing that happened to John Reid’s election campaign. The former Richmond talk-radio host is generating more headlines and bigger crowds than ever.

    People don’t normally get worked up over the race for lieutenant governor, a statewide position that has far less visibility and power than governor and attorney general. Most voters don’t even know who the candidates are.

    That’s no longer an issue for Reid who, though he was well known in the Richmond area, faced a major challenge with an underfunded campaign in introducing himself to voters across the state. In stark contrast to the leftist-perpetuated stereotype of Republicans as homophobes, it turns out that most GOP activists don’t care that Reid is gay. They may not be wild about the online expression of Reid’s gay lifestyle — attending drag shows, posting images of hunky nude male models on a five-year-old social media account (which he denies doing) — but they see him as a fighter for every other issue important to conservatives.

    Three weeks ago, Reid couldn’t beg, borrow or steal publicity from the legacy media. Now he’s getting more attention than he ever imagined. Surprisingly little of that attention is negative, and his larger message is getting through.

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  • DEI Statements and McCarthyite Loyalty Pledges

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    The George Mason University Board of Visitors gave economics professor Bryan Caplan the opportunity to speak at a recent board meeting. He delivered a six-minute takedown of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) that is well worth watching.

    Caplan assailed DEI for its effect on free expression. DEI doctrine, which many have likened to a religion for its unfalsifiable propositions about racism, turns universities into “seminaries” expounding upon a single moral and political philosophy.

    The most refreshing part of the speech was when Caplan critiqued DEI statements requiring job applicants and employees to explain how they would advance DEI goals in their teaching and community engagement.

    Caplan compared the ideological commitment toward a leftist version of social justice to the notorious loyalty pledges demanded of faculty during the 1950s McCarthy-era “witch hunt.”

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  • Standing Up for Criminals

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    James A. Bacon

    Last week two village radicals in Albemarle County masked up and tried to block Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from apprehending two illegal immigrants who had been charged with misdemeanors. This post isn’t about the illegals — they’re now being held in the Farmville Detention Center — it’s about the “legals” who interfered with the federal authorities in the conduct of their business.

    Watch the woman in the green skirt. “Do you have a warrant for his arrest?” she officiously queried the federal official. Repeatedly.

    The incident occurred in the Albemarle County courthouse, and local media were there at the scene. Both The Daily Progress and VPM News covered the story. Apparently, detaining individuals residing illegally in the U.S. who have been charged with crimes is a controversial act worthy of close media scrutiny.

    Reports VPM: “In an emailed statement earlier this week, Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Hingeley said that he was “greatly concerned that arrests carried out in this manner could escalate into a violent confrontation, because the person being arrested or bystanders might resist what appears on its face to be an unlawful assault and abduction.”

    Hingeley’s spin is noteworthy: he places the onus for the risk of “violent confrontation” not on the protesters laying hands on ICE officials, but the ICE officials themselves for what Hingeley deems to be “an unlawful assault and abduction.”

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  • Who Reid Faces in November Remains TBD

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    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner

    Sen. Ghazala Hashmi

    One silver lining for John Reid in this ongoing political tragicomedy is that his name identification must be through the roof. But the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor will never get a second chance to make a first impression for most voters. 

    On the other hand, the six Democrats who remain as active candidates for lieutenant governor remain relative unknowns, except (perhaps) former Richmond mayor and Terry McAuliffe apparatchik Levar Stoney. Their contest for the June 17 primary has remained deep below the radar screen of Virginia’s all-but-dead political media. Finally, some attention is being paid.

    There are also two Democrats seeking to be the party’s nominee for attorney general on that ballot.

    Sen. Aaron Rouse

    Election workers will have to be at their posts at 5 a.m. but it may be 7 or 8 a.m. before a few actual voters wander into mostly empty polls. Turnout will be anemic unless something gets interesting fast. Some, this author included, have been quick to discount Reid’s chances in November but the truth is that elections are choices. The Democratic choice for lieutenant governor is likely to be as far to the left on issues as Reid is to the right. 

    Based on the current financial reports on the Virginia Public Access Project, three of the six had raised more than $1 million by the last report.  Five of the six Democrats had raised more money than Reid at that point, another sign of trouble for the GOP choice. Here are the three million-dollar candidates, presumably the ones to watch.

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  • A Follow-up Rant on Opacity at UVA

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    So much to blog about today. Let’s start with transparency — which is so pathetic that we should start referring to opacity — at the University of Virginia. (For readers who are fatigued by my UVA reporting, get over it. The following observations are relevant to all of Virginia’s public universities.)

    Yesterday I lamented that the Board of Visitors met in closed session to discuss one of the most important and contentious issues facing UVA and higher education generally: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. This was a matter of intense interest to the public across the ideological spectrum.

    The excuse given for shutting out the public was that the Board needed to consult with legal counsel regarding “…compliance by the University with civil rights laws and regulations and presidential executive orders, and potential and actual litigation and investigations involving governmental agencies.…”

    Discussing litigation is a legitimate exemption from the public-meeting requirement if the purpose is to avoid revealing sensitive legal information that would compromise negotiations or litigation. But it is not a legitimate reason for closeting a wide-ranging discussion that goes way beyond the litigation. And the resolution adopted by the Board of Visitors was very wide-ranging. Indeed, that document, crafted in closed session, never addresses litigation, and brushes only briefly against legal issues at all.

    The resolution reaffirms the University’s commitment to being inclusive and welcoming; to creating a campus climate conducive to free inquiry, constructive discussion and diverse political views; and to setting up mechanisms to ensure that the Board’s mandates are carried out.

    Please tell me, what sensitive legal issues were involved with any of that?

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  • Trump Policies Hitting Southwest Va.

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Volvo Trucks New River Valley plant, Dublin, Va. Photo credit: WSET

    It is not only Northern Virginia that is beginning to feel the effects of Trump administration policies and actions. Southwest Virginia, Trump territory, is also being affected.

    Earlier this month, Volvo announced it would be laying off 250-350 employees at its Volvo Trucks New River Valley plant in Pulaski County. As reported by The Roanoke Times, the company cited “the negative impact on heavy truck orders because of market uncertainty about freight rates and demand, possible regulatory changes and the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.” The plant currently employs approximately 3,400 workers. These layoffs are in addition to 250-350 layoffs announced in February.

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  • UVA Board Rescinds Racial Quotas, Tightens Oversight on President Ryan

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    James A. Bacon

    Image credit: Bing Image Creator

    by James A. Bacon

    Meeting in a special session today, the University of Virginia Board of Visitors emerged from behind closed doors to rescind a measure adopted in 2000 implementing the recommendations of the Racial Equity Task Force and to organize a working group to promote open inquiry and “constructive conversation.”

    Under heavy pressure from the Trump administration, the Board resolution said that the University has “made progress” in eliminating “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion,” but much work needs to be done.

    The substance of the resolution makes it clear that the Board does not trust President Jim Ryan to undertake the job on his own but requires much tighter oversight.

    The vote comes a day after the federal Office of Civil Rights addressed a letter to Ryan and other University officials to turn over extensive documents and “certify” that “the dictates of the Board of Visitors’ Resolution [of March 7] had been “fully and completely satisfied and accomplished.”

    The Board voted on March 7 to dismantle UVA’s DEI bureaucracy and end racial preferences. Governor Glenn Youngkin declared on national TV that “DEI is done” at UVA. However, the wording of the March resolution did not define DEI and was otherwise ambiguous enough to allow for a range of interpretations. Preliminary indications were that UVA might undermine the intent by moving central DEI office employees to other departments and changing their titles.

    The resolution the Board of Visitors adopted today is far more specific about its goals and sets up mechanisms to ensure that they are implemented. It goes beyond DEI to address a campus climate that is antithetical to the free expression of a wide range of views. The resolution reads as follows:

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  • A Travesty of “Open Government”

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors convened at noon in a specially scheduled meeting to discuss one of the most contentious and potentially momentous issues it has ever been called upon to address — the dismantling of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and racial preferences.

    The meeting will not be live-streamed.

    Not that it would make much difference. The touchiest topic will be addressed in closed session.

    Transparency is an absolute joke at UVA, a $5 billion-a-year public agency subject to Virginia’s public meeting laws, which were designed in a fit of idealism of some past era lost in the mists of time to make government open to the public, but which have been eroded or ignored ever since.

    Consider the context: DEI is one of the most emotional and consequential debates occurring in the country today. In March the Board of Visitors voted under pressure from the Trump administration and acclaim of Governor Glenn Youngkin to dismantle DEI and end racial preferences. It gave President Jim Ryan 30 days to report back on his progress. He did, but he declined to make the report available to the public. From what I hear, it was brief, superficial, and unsatisfactory, but no one leaked it, so it’s impossible for the public to evaluate it.

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  • Why Does Youngkin Attack His Friends, Not His Foes?

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    This is a hard post to write because I think Governor Glenn Youngkin has been a pretty good governor overall. I like his rhetorical tone, and I can’t think of a single important policy stance he’s taken that I disagree with. While he has not accomplished as much as I would hope, I recognize that he has to deal with the reality of a General Assembly dominated by intransigent Democrats. His most important contribution may be the dozens (or is it hundreds?) of bills he has vetoed, briefly halting Virginia’s drift into failed blue-state status.

    While Youngkin has held back the tide, he has not reversed it. His tenure is shaping up as a brief interregnum in the inexorable New Jerseyfication of Virginia. Unlike, say, Ron DeSantis who converted Florida from a swing state to a solidly red state, Youngkin has made no lasting impression on the correlation of political forces in the Old Dominion. Why? One reason is that he has declined to take the battle to the opposition.

    Instead, Virginians have witnessed the spectacle of Youngkin training fire on his own supporters!

    First it was Bert Ellis, a Virginia-born, Atlanta-based entrepreneur who served on the University of Virginia Board of Visitors. When appointing him, Youngkin tasked him to recapture Virginia’s flagship university from an administration that had re-engineered the institution from top to bottom along “social justice” principles. When Ellis proved to be a trifle too demonstrative in his language, Youngkin kicked him to the curb.

    Now it’s John Reid, a popular Richmond talk-show host before he gave up his job to run for lieutenant governor. Reid’s sin? As a gay man posting three photos of himself at a drag show (horrors!) and allegedly posting photographs of nude male models on a tumblr account five years ago. Without seeking Reid’s response to charges originating from a yet-to-be revealed opposition research group with a yet-to-be-revealed agenda, the Governor demanded that Reid drop out of the race.

    Is this how you treat your friends and allies?

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  • Virginia’s GOP Better Get a Reid on the Situation

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    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Here’s some free advice for Virginia’s Republican Party: Get your act together before the Democrats sweep the November elections and Old Dominion turns into California East.

    Intra-party squabbling and charges of extortion are not a winning message.

    Cut it out.

    Four years after stunning the nation by taking the commonwealth’s top three elected offices back from Democrat control, the Republican party is in disarray and appears on the verge of a schism with the governor on one side and some GOP committees and a former governor on the other.

    In a close election, this will be fatal.

    When news broke a week ago the Fairfax County’s most prominent Republican, Pat Herrity, had withdrawn his primary bid to be the party’s nominee for lieutenant governor due to health problems, it looked like the party was going to avoid a bruising primary altogether and focus on November.

    Herrity’s withdrawal cleared the way for his opponent, John Reid, to be the nominee.

    Reid is the son of the late Jack Reid, an 18-year Republican veteran of the House of Delegates. John Reid’s conservative credentials are impeccable: he interned in the Reagan White House, served as then-Sen. George Allen’s communications director and hosted a popular conservative Richmond talk radio show for eight years.

    Reid has been a guest on The Kerry and Mike Show and he’s a smart, engaging guest. There’s no daylight between his issues and mine.

    I’ll vote for him without hesitation. Continue reading.

  • Reid Hangs Tough

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    View video here.

    by James A. Bacon

    Is there room for a gay man, no matter how conservative, in Virginia’s Republican Party? The signals are mixed, but it appears that there may be.

    Five years ago, a Virginia GOP committee passed a resolution censuring Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-Va., for betraying the party’s values when he officiated a same-sex wedding. He was challenged in a Republican primary, lost his seat, and has since dropped out of the Republican Party.

    History doesn’t repeat itself, as the saying goes, but it does rhyme. Today, John Reid, the lone contender for the GOP candidacy for lieutenant governor, is under pressure to drop out of the race. Indeed, he says, he has been the victim of a “coordinated assassination attempt” to force the first gay GOP candidate for statewide office off the ticket.

    Citing the existence of photos of nude men on what was purported to be Reid’s tumblr account, Governor Glenn Youngkin demanded last week that Reid drop out of the race. The former Richmond radio talk-show host refused. And it turns out that a lot of conservative Republicans are willing to look past his sexual orientation. This may not be a replay of Denver Riggleman after all.

    Reid was greeted warmly in Abingdon, in far Southwest Virginia, by local GOP activists including Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va. The suburban ladies of the Henrico County GOP have leaped to his defense online. And Matthew Hurtt, chair of the Arlington County Republican Party, sent out a tweet protesting the Governor’s call.

    Philip Kazmierczak, a member of the Virginia LGBQT+ Advisory Board, submitted his resignation. “One of the fundamental principles of the Republican Party, and a value I hold dearly, is that government should stay out of the personal lives of individuals — all of the time, not merely when it is political convenient,” he wrote. “This recent episode stands in stark contrast to that principle. We are meant to be the party of the big welcoming tent.”

    Kazmierczak wrote that he was “deeply moved” by the support that Reid was receiving from conservative circles.

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  • Matthew Carroll’s Kafkaesque Journey Through Woke Purgatory

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    James A. Bacon

    Image credit: ChatGPT

    by James A. Bacon

    Matthew Carroll, an event coordinator with the Office of Student Affairs, was in his office at the University of Virginia on April 12, 2023, when a professor in Garrett Hall called to say that someone outside the building was playing music so loudly that he couldn’t teach. Student Affairs needed to fix the problem. Pronto.

    Carroll and a colleague hustled over to Garrett Hall. Several students had set up a table to conduct a fundraiser and were blasting out loud music. Explaining that they had not obtained a permit to set up at that location, did not have an approved table, and were not authorized to use amplified sound, he told them to move.

    The students, who belonged to the Central Americans for Empowerment at UVA (CAFE), reacted defensively. They accused Carroll of being belligerent and disrespectful.

    After a brief standoff, the students packed up their gear and departed. Carroll returned to the office and recounted the incident to his boss. He didn’t think much about it until the next day when he discovered that the confrontation had blown up on social media. People were assailing him as a racist and calling for him to be fired.

    Six days later, UVA placed Carroll on administrative leave, made him turn in his work keys and laptop, and issued a No Trespass Order blocking him from setting foot on Grounds until an investigation could be completed. Despite their violation of University rules and disruption of other students’ classes, CAFE members received no sanction whatsoever.

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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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