There’s been slow posting lately as the website’s switched to a new server; a Virginia server. More content will be added as the site comes online.

Years ago at a farm picnic, I stood in a receiving line to meet Governor Allen; waiting to thank him for his sentencing reform. As I reached the head of the line, the Governor shook my hand, thanked me for the compliment, and urged me to support other improvements to honesty in government.

Then he deftly reached across with his left hand and flicked the cigarette pack from my shirt pocket. Catching the box as it came out, he glanced at it, remarked “These aren’t made in Virginia” and dropped them back in the pocket. He promptly turned to the child next to me, warning her to ‘never touch those nasty things.’

It was casual, friendly teasing, and the comments might have stung someone with a thin skin. But the Governor’s points are valid:

In everything we do, what are you doing for your state and county neighbors? Can you do better? For most people, the answer is we can do —and should do— far more.

At almost every Board meeting, folks attending want to preserve Shenandoah County’s rural and agricultural character. While I fully support ordinances that (more…)

On this day we are reminded that
in the most horrific circumstances
when some people have shown
the worst of human hatred
that ordinary, everyday people
instinctively demonstrate the best of humanity

We should not forget either.

 If you’re trying to contact me via email, it may be delayed —or even worse, may be lost— because my primary email server is malfunctioning. (more…)

The first hints of autumn; cool nights and the summer sun trying to heat the ground. And to think that most of us have to drive this route every morning.

Click for a large desktop

“Shenandoah County is a beautiful place, a gorgeous place to live. Everyday we are treated to more of the Creator’s splendors than many people see in a lifetime.” Everyday. Every single day.

With the internment of Pfc. Thomas Wilson, I was again reminded of some core values in this Valley of Virginia. Originating in the mists of our distant past, certain manners have endured to this day —the practice of caring for our neighbors.

---

A long, long time ago I attended the funeral of a gentleman, retired after a lifetime of service uplifting the economies of other countries. Most of the guests were ‘movers and shakers’; ambassadors, dignitaries and representatives from foreign nations, a group from the UN, etc. You get the picture; important people. As one of only a few local people there, I wondered what these metropolitan visitors thought of our rural area.

The funeral home was in a town of 300, and the cemetery ten miles farther west. As the procession drove toward the mountains, my wondering turned to pride. At house after house, people turned to stand. Men removed their hats. Cars in the other lane stopped, some got out. A man mowing his lawn stopped and saluted. Every mile of the way was a mile of respect.

---

And so it was this day, as we wound over the gentle hills and ridges toward the foot of Great North Mountain, escorting the body of Thomas to its last home.

Each ridge topped took us closer, each hill revealed a new panorama, and each crest brought us past people —Shenandoah County people standing in their yards or driveways out of respect for the family.

There is no protocol: some stood, some waved, a couple of them saluted the miles-long line. Most had flags, because most people in this County own one and this was an occasion to use them. Some held signs, and some prayed.  There is no protocol except respect.

It is what we do; it is who we are. It is valuable and should not be lost.

Just over a year ago I listened in amazement as a party extremist berated Virginia’s Lt. Governor for using the term ‘Democrat Party’ instead of ‘Democratic Party’ in a speech. Though I later verified this is technically correct, I couldn’t understand his fanaticism over a minor grammar error.

Back then, I didn’t understand. Now I do.

---

The young man trying to scold our Lt. Governor was one of three Party loyalists sitting together. Hypocritically, the person sitting next to the shouter —also a Democrat— sometimes uses the term ‘Democrat Party’ themselves.

But it’s the third person sitting with him who just pulled a sleazy political stunt that made me understand. The word wasn’t ‘Democratic’; what he meant was ‘Democrat Ick’.

Paradoxically, before he was attacked Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling was urging us —the political left, right, and center— to cooperate and accomplish what was best for Virginia. It’s the same theme I’ve heard from Governor Kaine, Attorney General MacDonnell, former Governor Warner, and others.

They’re understandably concerned about extremists who put party loyalty above Virginia’s real issues; crawling out of the woodwork to attack candidates, especially in destructive stealth attacks.

An example is the California attorney who bought a fake Fred Thompson domain and redirected it to a KKK website. People looking for Thompson on the web would be automatically forwarded to the racist website. The stunt was simply malicious, and justifiably condemned by reasonable people on both the right and the left.

That third person in Virginia went farther than the west-coast lawyer; buying a fake domain for the Old Dominion Blog Alliance —a loose affiliation of conservative web writers— and redirecting it so viewers ended on a website promoting child sexual abuse, perversion and pornography.

This individual is (or should be) mainstream: he’s the Franklin County party chairman, volunteers for state Senator Wm. Roscoe Reynolds and is a paid campaign staffer to House candidate Eric Ferguson.

The act was hateful, and should be condemned by reasonable people on both the right and the left. Those on the right of Virginia’s political spectrum have already condemned it. We’re still waiting for the first peep from his employers, political partners, or Party officials.

Virginia politicians used to be able to discuss without becoming disgusting and disagree without being disagreeable. Combined with another discouraging ‘initiative’ from the Democrats, perhaps this is their new method of operation and the days of putting the good of Virginia above party partisanship are over.

If so, then the word may sound like ‘Democratic’, but is actually ‘Democrat? Ick!’ Because extremist members ready, willing, and able to sling feces will take over the Party is they aren’t stopped.

All candidates must file finance reports, allowing voters to see where a campaign gets its money and where that money goes. This is a Good Thing®, but until last week, only state reports were available. Now Shenandoah County campaigns are online.

For state candidates, the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP)puts these reports into a searchable form so citizens can lookup candidates, PACs, lobbyists and donors in all sorts of ways. Contributors can be found by name, industry, zip code, and occupation. Candidate spending can be easily found by categories, cash, gifts, etc.

VPAP has been providing this service 10 years, and should be applauded. It was VPAP that pushed Virginia to be the first state in the nation to have e-filing, where candidates filed their reports online.

Until recently, local candidates’ filings could only be viewed in person at the registrars’ in the County Administration building. Although we aren’t e-filing in Shenandoah County, local campaign finances are now online.

With the push for citizen accessibility, the county administration bought a scanner and software to convert scans to PDF format. You can get a free PDF viewer by clicking here.  Citizens can view the local campaign reports by clicking here.

Kudo’s to registrar Lisa MacDonald for pushing this, and thanks to Chris Sherman for getting all the forms scanned in.