Deep Throat Revealed by Woodward

Finally....the truth comes out. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein have confirmed that FBI agent Mark Felt, at one point the #2 guy in the FBI, is indeed Deep Throat. Fascinating. One of the great questions of our political era finally answered.

Good Report Card From DC Voucher Program

Early results from the DC voucher program seem to be giving it favorable ratings. It's still too early to have any indication on the program's impact on the test scores for the children enrolled. However, we breath a sigh of relief at any positive signs from the first federally funded voucher program in the nation's history, and this is an encouragement.

UVA Baseball Again in the NCAA Tourney

Good to see that UVA's strong performance in the ACC tournament this past week paid off for them.

Three Cheers for Democracy...and France

I made a post a few weeks ago speculating wishfully that the French might reject the European Constitution in their national referendum, and I am now pleased to report that on Sunday they did indeed reject the European Union in all its vaunted glory and sent the aristocratic elites of Europe into a panic. Their dream for a continent united under one government has been put on hold. The people of France finally realized how much they would be giving up to a government based in Brussels.

This vote by the French will delay the ratification of the European Constitution for at least several years since the treaty requires that there be unanimous approval of the European Constitution by all 25 countries (which makes sense considering how much sovereignty they would be relinquishing), and the issue would probably come before the French people again in 2007 at the earliest.

The dollar is already gaining on the Euro.

The future of Europe is up for grabs. Read more about it here.

Allen's Presidential Aspirations Benefited

Here is a great article by Hugh Hewitt about the ramifications of the deal by the 14 Senators that seems to have accomplished little or nothing. In the meantime, Priscilla Owens has been approved and John Bolton has been filibustered despite promises by Reid that he would not be.

Hewitt considers the presidential aspirations of those parties involved from the Republican side:

On the presidential front, it wasn't only McCain who lost big with the deal. So did Senator Bill Frist, at least for the moment, as legitimate questions are being raised about his ability to run the country when he cannot even corral his own caucus. Nebraska's Chuck Hagel contributed to the collapse of the caucus with his reprise of Hamlet on every Sunday show that would have him. Winners include Virginia's George Allen and Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney.

UVA Lacrosse vs. Johns Hopkins

Just a heads up about the UVA Men's Lacrosse game tomorrow at 2 p.m. on ESPN. They are in the Final Four of the NCAA tourney and are playing Johns Hopkins.

It's been a great season for the men after a rough finish last year.

Way to Go, Commonwealth

So, we helped 50 sex offenders on the state registry get it up last year with state medicaid funded viagra. Nice.

Advertising and the Blogoshere

One of my favorite leftwing websites, namely Juan Cole's Informed Comment, has a great post here about the future of marketing and advertising among blogs, comparing them to your advertising on newspapers. It's a nonpartisan look at some of creative ideas that some members of the blogosphere are putting forth to make blogging a profitable profession (not that most of us make any money off of it or even expect or desire to).

Jeff Stafford's Kids Who Took Over Virginia Republican Politics

I thought it was an appropriate time to resurrect an article from Style Weekly in 1999. The article details how Jeff Stafford's 1984 campaign for the 9th Congressional District in Southwest Virginia against then one-term incumbent Rich Boucher created a group of Republican operatives and party leaders who now play a major role in Republican politics.

The article is divided up into a Part I and Part II that have to be read separately because the Style Weekly link from Part I to Part II is broken.

You will find the article fascinating...I guarantee it. The Stafford staffers who got started on his 1984 campaign now play major roles within Republican circles and are very influential players on several of the statewide campaigns this year. Betsy Beamer is Treasurer for the Kilgore campaign and held the position of Secretary for the Commonwealth in the Allen administration from 1994 to 1998. Her husband Jim Beamer started his own lobbying firm. Ray Allen became a partner of Boyd Marcus and now is one of the most powerful consultants in the state, consulting for Steve Baril right now. Tim Phillips, who is a partner with Century Strategies, Ralph Reed's consulting firm based out of Atlanta, is handling the Connaughton and McDonnell campaigns currently.

The article tells how Jeff Stafford infused his staffers with a love for Virginia politics through his passion for what he believed and his ability to laugh at himself as he barnstormed across Southwest Virginia. It's well worth reading.

Commencement Exercises on the Lawn

I was on the Lawn on Sunday morning to see several friends and relatives graduate from various programs of the University and it was a spectacular morning. The sky was perfectly blue, not a cloud in the sky, with the temperatures in the mid 70s with acceptable levels of humidity. You can't really ask for much more.

However, the valediction presented by Pulitzer Prize winner Ron Suskind on Saturday night was probably the stronger oratorical effort.

Evangelical Assault on the Ivy League

The New York Times had a fascinating frontpage article on Sunday about the Christian Union's attempt to create bastions of evangelical Christianity within the secular world that is the Ivy League. You will find very interesting their analysis of the rise of evangelical strength within upper classes of wealth, where once evangelical was code for lower to lower middle class and Episcopalian was code for upper class. All of those strictures have been turned upside down.

UPDATE
Fixed the link. Sorry.

Echoes of the Republican Revolution?

Here is a fascinating article comparing the current political situation to that of the pre-1994 political atmosphere that prepared the way for the Republican Revolution. Though I disagree with them in general and realize it's a politically motivated piece (i.e. wishful thinking on the part of the Left), the comparisons are interesting to look at. Steven Thomma writes:

Now, as then with the other party, Republicans' ethics are under assault. Their opposition denounces their vicelike control as "arrogant." Their ambitious agenda risks overreach and public backlash. Their popularity is sinking. A unified opposition party is holding off until closer to the next election before offering its own agenda - thus withholding any good target for counterattack.

The difference here is that the Republicans' so-called ethics questions have largely been manufactured by the DNC and the media aligned with it, whereas there were legitimate ethics scandals in the early 1990s that helped to bring the 40 year Democratic reign in the House of Representatives to an end. Additionally, the Republican seats in both the House and Senate are largely safe because of massive gerrymandering (whether or not right) and the fact that their Senate seats are mostly in red states.

The Race to Replace Chap Peterson in the 37th

The Republican primary race in the 37th to put up a candidate in Chap Peterson's old house district has become rather controversial as of late. Jim Kaplan, a recent addition to the race, has been endorsed by Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, whose Senate district engulfs most of the house district represented by Chap Peterson until he resigned to run for the Democratic LG nomination. Kaplan was recently informed by the campaign manager of John Mason, his primary opponent, that Mason had been endorsed by Rep. Tom Davis, the husband of Devolites. Word is that Davis and Devolites don't always endorse the same candidates and that they both have a friendship with Mason, but it was still surprising. After several phone calls were made, it was discovered that Davis has NOT endorsed Mason and that he needs to explain why he claimed Davis's endorsement.

What is perhaps even more questionable is that Mason apparently made a donation to the Tim Kaine for Governor campaign in 2003. It is outlined here by VPAP. Although it is admittedly a small donation, either Mason did not realize he was at a Democratic fundraiser which is obviously ridiculous and would invalidate his campaign in and of itself, or more likely he is trying to position himself to gain some Democratic support in the general campaign should he win the GOP primary.

Spotlight on Kentucky Basketball

Pat Forde's article on race and Kentucky basketball tradition is an excellent story of the progress and sometimes the lack thereof of racial views in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. As somone who's parents and grandfather went to the three schools in Kentucky known for their basketball tradition, UK, WKU, and U of L, this article is especially interesting. It's good to see a black coach at UK after not even allowing a black scholarship player on the basketball team until 1970. That doesn't mean I think Tubby Smith is actually a good coach though! The man cannot recruit!

Rumors of Our Demise

....are greatly exaggerated. This is a transition time for all three of us right now and we apologize for the absence of posts for the last few days. We will soon be back in the swing of things. Currently, however, we are scattered around on various trips, islands, lakes, and are distracted from the Virginia political scene that sometimes seems to consume our lives. Contrary to popular belief, we do have lives other than reading newspaper clippings and receiving anonymous email tips from campaigns who want to feed us with information.

There Are Some Good Frenchmen

Yes, I actually did say that on a conservative blog. Perhaps it has something to do with French heritage (only a fraction of my ancestry mind you) crying out for justice. The French people are finally putting up a fight (read a little about it at The American Thinker) against this monstrosity that is the European Constitution. Etienne Chouard, the simple blogger who has almost singlehandedly rallied a nation against something that would have subordinated their country and the rest of Europe into an irrevocable centralized government for the rest of recorded history, is an excellent reminder that there is still some rationality on the Continent. Let's hope against hope that the French people rise up and smite this referendum on the constitution back to kingdom come. At the least, we now know that the European Constitution is no foregone conclusion.

Laura Bush Transcript in Full

If you missed the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on Saturday night, here is the transcript of the evening. Laura Bush stole the show with a scripted but quite funny speech. When even Jon Stewart admits as he did last night on The Daily Show that a member of the Bush family was charming, it's a good sign.