Follow the river road north from Waynesboro a few minutes. At some point, the road turns sharply, the remnant of an old boundary line. There was a farm there once. Just out of sight in the bordering trees is an old family cemetery, fenced in wrought iron.

Among the other tombstones, shaded by trees and overlooking the river, an obelisk is inscribed

Patrick,William Maj. , b 6 Dec 1822 - d 2 Sep 1862
Major of the 17th Battalion of Va. Cavalry,
Killed at 2nd battle of Manassas.
A good citizen, brave soldier and true patriot,
a tender father, loving husband and fast friend.

On the east side another inscription reads

XXX He lived long enough to witness the
triumph of our arms and expired thus in
the arms of victory. The sacrifice was
noble, but the loss to us irreparable.

—— J.E.B. Stuart

and on the west side:

XXX He fell in the attack while setting
an example of gallantry to his men
well worthy of imitation.

—— Stonewall Jackson

The epitaph is correct. Major William was a good citizen, he was brave, and –yes— he was a patriot. His cause, the defense of Virginia, unquestionably wasn’t perfect; but patriots don’t pick and choose.

Long afterward, the militia that Major William and his ancestors belonged to was combined with units from Pennsylvania and Maryland as the National Guard’s 29th Infantry Division. Their Blue and Gray unit patch symbolizes of the unification of former foes.

This nation is again engaged in a war that many people disagree about. It’s perfectly acceptable to debate those issues; it’s deplorable to neglect those who –believing our system is worth defending and that we have a right to debate policy— have chosen to serve. Picking and choosing is opportunism, not patriotism.


But that’s not what I was writing about. There is another inscription on the stone:

Patrick, Hettie Caruthers Massie
Wife of Maj. Wm. Patrick, b 30 Aug 1823 - d 30 Apr 1910
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith!
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.

When her husband died she was 39 years old, with two children. Through that time she operated the farm herself, and probably the sawmill too. When Reconstruction started property confiscations after the war, she transfered it all to distant relatives, only keeping life estate for herself and the children.

The citizen-soldiers of Shenandoah Valley units have been deployed to every conflict since Bosnia. As Memorial Day passes, we must remember that for every service member there are tender parents, loving spouses, fast friends.

Those left at home must cope with loss, struggle with finances, patch up broken dreams, maintain remote relationships, or face uncertain futures As a nation –of individuals and neighbors, not just government—we can give a job reference, offer childcare, a sympathetic ear, the company of a meal together. That’s what patriots do.

The uproar that ensued over Will Vehrs, leading Governor Kaine to order his suspension, has deep rots. It’s not a misspelling.

Following a weekly ‘caption this’ contest on Friday afternoon in which he submitted dozens of quips, Vehrs came under attack for his poor taste (snarky, sardonic, irreverent) toward Martinsville and Henry County (MHC), the source of the contest’s photo.

By the time Vehrs learned of the criticisms – the following Wednesday— Governor Kaine was already being petitioned to fire Vehrs by both MHC citizens and legislators. Labeling Vehrs’ comments “…vicious, cruel and insensitive…” and “…these comments will almost certainly render Mr. Vehrs unable to be a productive [state] employee…” detractors accused Vehrs’ of the deliberate malice and spite they themselves exhibited.

Vehrs’ immediate sincere and profuse apologies had no apparent effect. In public debate, when the pretentious sensitivity of Vehrs’ critics was shown for the sham it was, critics switched to Vehrs’ supposed misuse of work time and resources. Inside the Governor’s office, the condemnation stayed on the subject matter.

Though Vehrs’ office and Governor Kaine were fully aware of – indeed were proud of— his blogging and there wasn’t any violation of state policy, in the end Vehrs was suspended without pay for ten days. [Even when an employee's right, there are good reasons not to sue.]

What really happened? A combination of old, outmoded cultural and political positions found Vehrs to be a convenient scapegoat.
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Congratulations to the Shenandoah County Sheriff’s Office for being accepted as an accredited agency. Shenandoah County citizens will be [and already have] benefited from the improvement in operations, the peer-review, and state guidance provided by becoming accredited.

Sheriff Carter, his command staff and accreditation team were accompanied by County Administrator Poling, Chairman Morris and myself to the Charlottesville VALEAC meeting where the accreditation was formally accepted.

As an old ex-officer in one of the first agencies to become accredited in Virginia, I know firsthand what the accreditation process is, and how much it improves the department and benefits the county.

By becoming accredited, Shenandoah County citizens are assured of high quality law enforcement services, assured that its procedures are assessed by third-parties, and assured that services are delivered fairly and equitably. The process reduces (as much as possible) complaints and lawsuits against the office, and deputies are assured of fair and equitable treatment.

We are proud of Sheriff Carter’s ambition on this.

We are especially grateful to Barbara Hunter and Cindy Revercomb for their cooperation, generous assistance, and continuing patience with us. Thank you.

After one of the stories I had read to the kids, 4 year-old Jacob asked for a horse –a real, live horse. The answer to this was a nicely worded but unequivocal “No”. The next day, probably after consultation with his older sister, he allowed that a horse was too big for him and that he had really meant to ask for a pony.

Now I’ve never met a pony that wasn’t just flat-out mean and vicious. I’m aware that there exist tolerable, possibly even nice ponies; but I’ve never met them and my experience includes ponies that bite, scrape you off on barbed wire, low-hanging branches and trees, and ponies that roll on you. I’d rather the child have a pet rattlesnake. OK, actually neither, but the answer was “No” again.

Not long after that, he asked for a donkey. He patiently explained how he would feed and rub the donkey every day. It was a good pitch, and I agreed on some conditions. The first was that he keep his word (and yes, I’m aware that this all involves work on my part) to care for a donkey. The next was that he earn the donkey by feeding our rough-and tumble, hard-to-manage border collie for three months.

Jacob agreed. The contract was a donkey picture divided into squares; a lot of squares. After each dog-feeding a square got colored in.

If there were two missed feedings the donkey became ‘sick’ and the picture, held by refrigerator magnets, was put upside-down on it’s back. If there were three missed feedings, the donkey ‘died’ and the agreement canceled.

When all the squares were filled in, the donkey would come to life.

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Senator George Allen’s being challenged this year, and two Democrats are vying for the spot. George can’t sleep through the campaign, but neither candidate has a chance to take Sen. Allen’s seat.

The two had a debate, televised by WVEC’s On The Record. Described as a ‘dustup’, loosing his cool, or an argument. In reality it was silly bickering over who was the most loyal Democrat stalwart (Miller) or who had the most endorsements (Webb). Watch it for yourself.

Jim Patrick’s advice: If you get upset (hot, bothered, angry) over this type of exchange, you’ve got no business running. Politics is no hobby for the thin-skinned.

It’s a shame. Virginia deserves good Senatorial representation, which they get from George Allen, But Virginians also deserve good and substantial opposition, and at this time the Democrats aren’t there.

On the one hand Harris Miller has a professional demeanor, the business, political and financial contacts that Jim Webb doesn’t. Fidgeting, hands over his face, indecisive speaking; Webb just isn’t projecting himself as senatorial material.

On the other hand, Miller carries immense baggage as president and chief lobbyist of the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA). Virginians aren’t blind-buyers of American-made, but Miller’s promotion of offshore outsourcing and increased visas for foreign workers won’t sit well. There are websites setup by displaced American IT workers that detest Miller –long before his run– because of his lobbying.

Webb is a moderately popular author, and I’m unaware of any groups that instinctively hate him. His pro-military, anti-war stance and (very real) patriotism will add to his appeal in a state with lots of service members and veterans.

So much for personalities; the real concern is the candidates positions on issues. Neither candidate has anything resembling a coherent platform.

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Jim Bacon highlights a UVa Top News Daily article.

Their shirts have various sayings written on them:

Casandra Bruce, “I’m graduating from the Comm School and I’m going to work in a kitchen;” Muslim student Alaa “Lulu” Buhisi, “I have Jewish friends;” Reem Ghoneim, “I am Egyptian and I don’t read hieroglyphics;” Nneoma Amadi-Obi, “I am Nigerian and I speak proper English.”

I don’t get it. The article’s title is “Don’t Stereotype:What You See is NOT What You Get” Does this mean that –now that they’ve written it on t-shirts — that what you see IS what you get? Or does it mean that the slogans are lies; that what you see and read is NOT what you get?

Every so often someone commissions a poll of some sort, supposedly to find out how folks feel about various issues. Sometimes they could save their money; the state of Virginia’s town and city elections give some fine data if anyone cares to look.

While the major media focused on who-had-said-what and who-had-marched-where about immigration; the Democrat-leaning town of Herndon, Virginia voted for their mayor and council.

Herndon was the center of controversy over funding a day laborer center intended for immigrants. The issue affected the governor’s race and the not-so-small town got caught up in the national debate over illegal immigration.

The Mayoral position and six (6) Council seats were open.  The results are in, and they look amazingly clear.

‘We prefer incumbents, but first choose based on opposition to the day-labor center’. Actually what the Mayor-elect said was “They didn’t like the way the debate went down, and there was the feeling that they were not heard.”

Maybe some of our state politicos who are running (George, are you listening) will take note of this and take a stand on illegal immigration.