Category Archives: Culture wars

Antifa Failed to Make Conservative Conference a Ngo Go

Posted on September 24, 2023 by | 62 comments

Andy Ngo

by James A. Bacon

A conservative media summit featuring journalist Andy Ngo was disrupted by threats of violence by left-wing militants, but the show did go on Saturday. The conference of roughly 50 attendees was scheduled originally to be held at the Commonwealth Club in downtown Richmond. Organizers lined up an alternate venue, but that was scuttled too. Fortunately, organizers found a third venue at the last minute, kept the location secret and got out the word to the roughly 50 attendees. At least one person traveling from out of town headed to the second venue only to find it had been canceled. (He managed to make it to the revised location.)

The main feature, of course, was Ngo, who has carved out a niche reporting about the activities, tactics and social composition of the decentralized, left-wing anarchist movement often labeled Antifa.

Ngo has angered the so-called anti-fascists by highlighting their proclivity for violence. Ironically, local militants proved his point by intimidating the club and hotel where the event was to be held. Fox News has part of the story here.

I was privileged to participate in the event as a panelist discussing the evolution of Bacon’s Rebellion and the economics of the blogosphere in Virginia. My understanding of what transpired comes from the organizers: the Virginia Council and the Common Sense Society. People objecting to Ngo’s appearance made phone calls to the club and hotel proprietors, implying that violence would occur. The most vivid quote I recall is that “there will be dead people” if the event went on. Continue reading →

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No Republican Says “Pregnant Persons”, WaPo

Posted on September 24, 2023 by | 7 comments

By Steve Haner

There is no way House Republican spokesman Garren Shipley used the term “pregnant person” in discussing the ongoing campaign debate over the abortion issue with a Washington Post reporter. The reporter or an editor intentionally broke up his quote to insert the now politically correct term in a recent story.

Here is the paragraph, with a highlight to show the direct and indirect portions of the quote:

“Voters have a very distinct choice,” said Garren Shipley, spokesman for the House Republican Caucus, which paid for what he called a “six-figure” ad campaign. “Republicans have been absolutely clear from the get-go” that they favor a 15-week limit with exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the pregnant person, he said. “But Democrats can’t give you a straight answer about what they want to do.”

Shipley would have referred to the life of the mother or the life of the woman. But, no, the Washington Post could not even use those terms in a direct quote in today’s environment. In woke Post land, people who are not women, who are not born with wombs, can carry unborn children.

The story focused on a new GOP-sponsored 30-second broadcast ad also tied to a website, and having the Post cover the development at all was a boost to Shipley’s team. The story concedes Democrats are less clear about their intentions. That one issue is already dominating the airwaves, with both sides accusing the other of blatantly lying about their plans if given control of the legislature. Continue reading →

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Posted in Abortion, Culture wars, Elections

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In New Mexico, Union Troops Have Been Cancelled

Posted on September 22, 2023 by | 43 comments

By Steve Haner

In Santa Fe, New Mexico, when the wave of historical monuments destruction hit three years ago, it was a memorial to Civil War Union soldiers that was toppled by a mob.

There were Union soldiers out in what was then a sparsely populated territory? Yes, the Civil War reached that far. Santa Fe was briefly occupied by Confederate troops from Texas in 1862, for about a month. A couple of battles (skirmishes by eastern standards) were fought on its territory, the final one just 25 miles from town at Glorietta Pass.

The forces loyal to the Union, including the famous Christopher “Kit” Carson as a leading officer, were commemorated with the standard obelisk in Santa Fe’s beautiful Plaza, near the restored Spanish colonial-era Palace of the Governors. The obelisk was broken and what remains is the ugly box covering the pedestal you see above, an empty stand missing a plaque and a sign providing “context” put up by the city’s Culture, History, Art, Reconciliation and Truth (CHART) Commission.

Why was a Union monument vandalized? Because the soldiers were also praised for participating in battles against “savage” local indigenous populations. At the same time, memorials in town to the aforementioned Carson were also removed, along with a statue of the Spanish colonial governor who reconquered the territory after a successful 1680 Indian revolt. That statue was removed from the grounds of the Cathedral of St. Francis. Continue reading →

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Woke Bloat at Virginia Universities

Posted on September 21, 2023 by | 15 comments


by James A. Bacon

Step aside California! Public universities in Virginia have built larger diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) bureaucracies than taxpayer-funded universities in any other state, concludes a new backgrounder by The Heritage Foundation. The DEI bureaucracy at the University of Virginia includes 94 employees listed on its website, says the report. Virginia Tech has 83 DEI personnel, while George Mason University has 69.

Expressed as a ratio of DEI bureaucrats to tenure-track faculty members, GMU earned the top spot as DEI top-heavy, with a ratio 0f 7.4 to 100. UVa was close behind with 6.5, while Tech was 5.6. In comparison, uber-woke Cal Berkeley has a 6.1 per 100 ratio.

(I’ll have to stop making quips about UVa being the Berkeley of the East Coast. From now on I’ll describe Berkeley as the UVa of the West Coast.) Continue reading →

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Posted in Culture wars, DEI, Education (higher ed)

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Navy Ditches Drag Queen Recruiting Videos

Posted on September 21, 2023 by | 55 comments

Norfolk naval base

by Kerry Dougherty

Whoa. Stop the presses. Big news out of Washington.

Navy brass has confirmed that it’s scrapped its ingenuous recruiting tool. You know, the one we wrote about last spring: drag queens.

Yep, Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, a non-binary sailor who likes to dress up like a woman and prance around on stage as drag queen Harpy Daniels, will no longer be featured in Navy recruiting videos.

We wrote about this sailor last May.

This is a stunning about-face. Who could have predicted that fishnet stockings and lipstick wouldn’t be an irresistible lure to bring in the sort of sailors we need in the modern American Navy? Who knew that drag queens would rather be reading to pre-schoolers than twerking to serve their country? Continue reading →

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Posted in Culture wars, Defense

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By the Way, What Is Virginia Tech’s View on Parental Rights?

Posted on September 21, 2023 by | 42 comments

Catherine Cotrupi

Virginia Tech’s interim dean of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion has been accused of violating Tech’s email policy by forwarding a message that slammed local conservative school board candidates as “hateful,” according to The Daily Signal. In responding to an email sent to her Tech account blasting the local candidates for their “anti-trans” and “anti-woke” outlook, Catherine Cotrupi forwarded the email with the notation, “Sharing in case you’re interested.” One of the school board candidates is contemplating a lawsuit.

Undoubtedly, Cotrupi deserves a hand slapping, but it’s not as if she originated the email chain. One can interpret her action as careless, not a commandeering of state resources to advance a political agenda. Of far greater concern is her implicit endorsement of the representations in the email, which is indicative of a mindset that informs her DEI work at Tech.

The local school board candidates, it appears from the Daily Signal article, are guilty of the cardinal sin of supporting Governor Glenn Youngkin’s “Model Policies on Ensuring Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students,” upholding parental rights in transgender issues at public K-12 schools. One wonders if Cotrupi believes Virginia Tech parents have any right to be informed of, or involved in, life-altering decisions — hormone therapy, surgery, etc. — made by their children with the university’s knowledge and consent. Continue reading →

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Posted in Culture wars, Education (higher ed)

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Thunder in the Pulpits

Posted on September 19, 2023 by | 62 comments

by Michael Giere

“But this was not always so. In fact, for much of our history, it has been just the opposite. Godly men and women who were fearless, bold, strong, and savvy have been central to the American experience.”

There has never been anything in history like the US Constitution, signed on September 17, 1787. It is the crown jewel of human advancement and bids freedom not for some but for all. It stands alone, enshrining and paying homage to the core reality of man’s existence – that the dignity and rights of every person and their personal freedom don’t come from the word or works of an impermanent ruler, a mob, or government but from the permanent promise of the Creator.

The Constitution began with a convention and 55 delegates from the newly-free Colonies called to modify the Articles of Confederation. It became a convention that would reshape history. Influential members such as James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington, among others, were convicted that the Confederation needed a stronger national government, and the Convention settled on Mr. Madison’s Virginia Plan as a starting document to replace the Articles of Confederation. Continue reading →

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Posted in Culture wars, Democracy and Western Civilization, Ethics, Excellence and grace, Freedom, Individual liberties, Virginia history

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Will Dove Get the Bud Light Treatment?

Posted on September 19, 2023 by | 48 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

Does the name Morgan Bettinger sound familiar?

Perhaps not.

She’s just another victim of fake hate at the University of Virginia. A girl who was wrongly labeled a racist and who suffered as a result of a relentless, mean-spirited campaign to drive her out of school.

Meanwhile, the person who accused her of racism, Zyahna Bryant, went from BLM activist to the spokeswoman for the Fat Liberation Movement who just landed a partnership with Dove. Continue reading →

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Posted in Business and Economy, Culture wars, Education (higher ed)

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Voyeurism Isn’t Good for the Soul (or Politics)

Posted on September 18, 2023 by | 28 comments

Susanna Gibson, Democratic nominee for the 57th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.

by Shaun Kenney

The scandal of the week involving Susanna Gibson is an indictment of our politics. Shame on us all for participating in it.

HAMLET Get thee ⟨to⟩ a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be
a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest,
but yet I could accuse me of such things that it
were better my mother had not borne me: I am
very proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offenses
at my beck than I have thoughts to put them
in, imagination to give them shape, or time to act
them in. What should such fellows as I do crawling
between earth and heaven? We are arrant knaves
⟨all;⟩ believe none of us. Go thy ways to a nunnery.

— William Shakespeare, “Hamlet” Act 3, Scene 1 (1601)

Ophelia has given herself to Hamlet. Yet having placed her trust totally in men — her father, her brother, her lover — she is told by her beloved to remove herself to a nunnery. Or in the context of the Elizabethan age? A brothel — thus exchanging the ideas of nobility and love for pure utility and momentary pleasure.

Realizing the world for what it is — or at least, the world of Hamlet, Laertes, and Polonius — drives Ophelia insane. Having relied upon a branch made of willow, she drowns in a shallow pool, able yet unwilling to save herself and face such a world. Continue reading →

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Posted in Abortion, Culture wars, Democracy and Western Civilization, Elections, Ethics, Excellence and grace, General Assembly, Leadership, Money in politics, Politics, Public corruption

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A Race to the Bottom Everywhere

Posted on September 18, 2023 by | 37 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

Great news!

Beginning today, members of the U.S. Senate will be indistinguishable from bums.

Axios reports that Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is “relaxing” the dress code for members, allowing them to be on the floor of the Senate dressed like they’re headed to Walmart. Or rather, like John Fetterman of Pennsylvania who has the sartorial taste of a hobo and finds putting on a suit and zipping his fly too much trouble.

Instead of censuring the jerk from the Keystone State and barring him from floor votes until he puts on business attire, Schumer is scrapping hundreds of years of tradition and decorum to allow this fool to continue to disrespect the people who elected him, and his colleagues. Continue reading →

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Posted in Culture wars, Democracy and Western Civilization, Elections, Ethics, General Assembly, Politics

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Want to Save the World? Teach a Kid to Read.

Posted on September 18, 2023 by | 4 comments

(Image credit: Salon.) Who does more to promote social justice — these guys? Or…

Reading skills among Virginia’s public-school children as measured by Standards of Learning (SOL) test scores are dropping through the floor. Among the remedies that Governor Glenn Youngkin proposes to address the threat of mass illiteracy is requiring under-performing students to receive three to five hours of tutoring per week.

…this guy? (Image credit:ETFO Voice)

Good luck finding the tutors, warns The Washington Post. The teacher shortage is getting worse — about 4.8% of teaching positions were vacant at the start of the school year, up from 3.9% the previous year. And half of schools responding to an Institute of Education Sciences survey reported that their tutoring programs were constricted by lack of funds or inability to find staff.

Here’s an idea: recruit the social justice warriors to teach kids to read. Continue reading →

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Posted in Culture wars, Education (K-12)

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In Loco Parentis, Part II

Posted on September 12, 2023 by | 95 comments


by A.L. Schuhart

My last essay here engendered a bunch of predictable comment, as I hoped it would. The fact is, however, that my argument is sound, and my purpose is to reacquaint the public with the principle of in loco parentis as it informs the grand discussion of Education in Virginia and America.

Those readers who responded that parents do not get to decide curriculum are just wrong. If you look at the examples I gave of things that parents can and should object to, you would see that they are all in what educators term the “affective domain,” as opposed to the “cognitive domain.”

What’s the difference in Education theory and practice?

The cognitive domain describes concrete skills and cognitive development: math, reading, writing, history, etc. The affective domain is essentially the personal “world view” of the student: politics, religion, social attitude, emotions, etc.

Schools have a mandate to teach the cognitive domain, and traditionally the affective domain is not the business of the teacher or school to intrude upon. It belongs to the parent. Continue reading →

95 Comments

Posted in Civil Rights, Culture wars, Education (K-12)

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Revisiting the Intellectual Foundations of Conservatism — One Book at a Time

Posted on September 8, 2023 by | 17 comments

by Suzanne Munson

From time to time, members of every great movement such as American Conservatism need to stop, take a breath, and see where the movement is going. Great movements, founded by great individuals, can sometimes be hijacked by lesser minds.

Many of the founders of modern conservatism were intellectuals. William F. Buckley was able to criticize liberalism articulately from the foundation of a fine education, intellectual curiosity, and deep reading.

While there are knowledgeable thought-leaders in today’s conservative movement, there are others who call themselves conservatives who may be giving the movement an unfortunate image.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines conservatism as “a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, stressing established institutions, and preferring gradual development to abrupt change.” Much more can be added to this definition, such as limited government, fiscal responsibility, and a belief in traditional, wholesome values.

It is interesting to examine a recent incident in Florida to see where some who term themselves “conservatives” have created an embarrassing situation. Members of a book club, reported to consist of conservative members, rescinded an invitation to a respected author to speak to their group.

The program was a book and author event at $100 a plate, so one would assume some level of education and sophistication. Rachel Beanland, a well-regarded Richmond, Virginia author and teacher, was invited to speak about her new novel, The House Is on Fire.

She had spent hundreds of hours researching the tragic theater fire of 1811 in which some of Virginia’s most prominent citizens perished. The book features individuals, real and imagined, who resided in Richmond at that time–tradesmen, theater workers, politicians, slaves, doctors, widows.

Yes, there are slaves in the book and yes, their lives were difficult, and yes, some white characters in the book treated them poorly. What else is new? There were white characters in the story who also had poor treatment at the hands of other whites. There is always plenty of trouble to go around in an interesting novel. Continue reading →

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Posted in Culture wars, Democracy and Western Civilization, Freedom, Media, Race and race relations, Virginia history

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When Did the RTD Become TMZ?

Posted on September 7, 2023 by | 35 comments

by Shaun Kenney

The Richmond Times-Dispatch was given a clip of David Owen — Republican candidate for House of Delegates — where he tells an audience of like-minded souls that he is, indeed, pro-life.

Charlotte Rene Woods over at the RTD decides to do the work of Democratic campaign operatives in what could only be viewed as an in-kind donation.

… and did we mention that this video was taken five months ago, in March?

So, for the sin of stating that he values life and is willing to protect the basic human right to exist, what does this earn Owen? A blistering TMZ-style article where such an admission is caged as if Owen had gone on a drunken tirade motivated by the Dead Milkmen rather than any sort of gravitas. Continue reading →

35 Comments

Posted in Abortion, Civil Rights, Culture wars, Elections, Ethics, Media

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How to Save Loudoun County Public Schools from the Injustice of DEI

Posted on September 6, 2023 by | 16 comments

by A.L. Schuhart

To Loudon Parents:

Here is the legal strategy to stop Diversity, Equity and Inclusion regimes in your schools.

DEI violates the principle of in loco parentis, which is the legal foundation of public education in Virginia and America. It is by this principle that schools and educators receive their mandates from the citizens of Virginia to teach children. The Supreme Court has consistently affirmed this legal principle since the beginning of public education. Continue reading →

16 Comments

Posted in Culture wars, Education (K-12)

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