Ted Kennedy

Yesterday Senator Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignent brain tumor. While I disagree with everything this man has stood for during his more than forty years in the Senate, my prayers and best wishes go out to him and his family.

With the sad news out of Boston yesterday it occurred to me that the passing of Kennedy wasn't the only impending loss the country was about to suffer. The Kennedy news reminded me of Senator Warner's retirement, of the days when gentlemen joined the "most exclusive club" in the world and referred to each other as the Honorable Gentleman from Such and Such (and meant it).

With the passing of Kennedy we lose another key to a bygone era, when deals could be made with handshakes and a slap on the back. We lose part of our connection to an America where one colleague can make a heartfelt tribute to another <http://youtube.com/watch?v=CCwwCCQozPM> and make a Nation feel the power of his words.

Again, from the issue of life to healthcare to taxes and the role of government in the lives of ordinary Americans, I disagree with the ol' Liberal Lion, but he is from the era where that makes him my opponent, not my enemy. I think that's a subtle. but important point that's missing in American politics today.

May God watch over you, Edward Moore Kennedy.

Death of the Golden Age

He was the original one, the one lifting the car on the cover of the most famous comic book in history, the one who made you believe a man could fly, the one who first made you want to put on a cape, the one who leaped tall buildings at a single bound and ran faster than a speeding bullet.

It was three years ago that DC comics brought the original Superman back from a twenty hiatus, to co-star in their celebration of the groundbreaking mini-series Crisis on Infinite Earths...and it was seven months later that they mercilessly killed him off for a quick buck.

Like their counterpart, Marvel, and its equally disturbing move to kill Captain America, DC comics chose the almighty dollar and sensationalism over the preservation of an icon.

I have to say that in an age of comics premised on anti-heroes, gritty noire dramas, and zombies...there is nothing wrong with a little Truth, Justice, and the American Way.

SWAC Happens, Part II

IL-14, LA-06, MS-01….VA-06?

First we lost the seat of former Speaker Denny Hastert, then we lost the seat of long serving Representative Richard Baker down in Louisiana, last week it was the seat of former Congressman and now Senator Roger Wicker, whose district went for President Bush in 2004 by 25 points over John Kerry….could the sixth district of Virginia be next?

Congressman Goodlatte hasn’t had serious opposition since he became our Representative in 1993 and no one can dispute the excellent job he’s done for us in Washington, but with the intraparty squabbling in the district (Bob “only” scored a 92 with the American Conservative Union for 2007 so I’m surprised he isn’t facing a primary opponent) and a well-financed opponent this year (it’s nice to have a source of out of state money!), we can’t be complacent.

SWAC Happens

Is the ongoing political drama in the SWAC area affecting the overall mood of the polity?

The biggest newspapers in the area, the Staunton News Leader and the News Virginian, have had a great deal of fun chronicling the odyssey of the “dueling chairmen” in Augusta County. The local GOP unit chairs turned themselves into laughingstocks by mounting an unsuccessful effort to unseat the sitting state senator. The most Republican district in the Commonwealth seems to be tearing itself apart all front of a statewide audience…from Staunton to Harrisonburg to Lexington to Richmond our family feud is on everyone’s lips.

The feud has divided the local party committees and may even account for results of a relatively recent statewide survey conducted by Christopher Newport University this past January . The survey states that while Richmonders and those who live who Northern Virginia believe the state is headed in the right direction, those in the Valley are pessimistic about the state’s direction.