The Commonwealth of Virginia's Ultimate Blog

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Revelations

And now that I've given a rationale for our anonymity, I'll reveal a bit about myself. I've recently become a member of the JAG Corps in one of our esteemed branches of the armed services, and I'm heading to Officer Training Camp on Tuesday for six weeks and will not have any internet access. So after this weekend, there will be no more posts from Lighthorse Harry for a while. I'll miss the blogosphere, but I'll miss other things a lot more.

Why We Are Anonymous

You wonder why we are anonymous? Here is your answer...not that we post things so provocative as this guy, but still.

Monday, June 20, 2005

Crazy Cranwell

Del. C. Richard Cranwell, former majority leader of the House of Delegates when the Democrats were in power in the 90s, was named the state Democratic Party chairman yesterday and promptly began to spew forth incomprehensible babble. The Richmond Times Dispatch reported that he asserted that the Republicans are saddling the next generation with $43 trillion worth of debt "that's 43 with 12 zeroes behind it." Where did he get that ridiculous number? Do you think he made it up on the spot? Can somebody help me here?

Friday, June 17, 2005

None Dare Call It Bigotry

Dr. Francis Beckwith is an excellent writer and thinker on the Christian right who very capably reveals the true intentions of the left and rebuffs the cries of intolerance against the right. His ability to point the intellectual inconsistencies and dishonesty of some of those on the left is extremely effective. Here is one of his essays concerning the leftwing rants against Christian right in the aftermath of the presidential election last fall when the left decided that the only reason they lost the election was because they were dealing with irrational Christian jihadists.

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Rasmussen Has Kilgore Ahead by 6

Rasmussen released a poll this morning with Kilgore up by 6 points. It's a good sign...it's to be expected. Honestly, I'm feeling a sweep in the making, despite Potts and his charade.

What's disappointing is that Mark Warner has a 63% favorability rating after....oh yeah, the biggest tax increase in state history.

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

The Christian Right in the Lead on Humanitarian Issues

USA Today has an excellent article about the Christian right and its successes in working toward humanitarian goals, often in alliance with many organizations that it butts heads with on abortion and gay marriage. It's a fascinating article about the cooperation that occurs between many ideologically opposite organizations where they find common ground. Surprisingly, it's very positive about the Christian right's motives and intentions. Susan Page of USA Today writes:

Evangelicals' engagement on a wider range of issues and their willingness to forge surprising coalitions reflect the growing maturity and sophistication of the most powerful emerging force in American politics today. And while the alliances formed on, say, the Sudan aren't likely to change anyone's mind when the topic turns to abortion or same-sex marriage, they could help moderate the bitter tone of the nation's politics.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

FSU QB Claims He's God and Is Hospitalized

The FSU starting QB Wyatt Sexton clearly has some issues. Check out the report released by ESPN about his antics yesterday. Sexton is going to catch some serious flack for this story this fall when he plays. But then we already know that FSU players think they are deities.

Phil Jackson Reunited with Kobe

That should be a precious moment. The Lakers are reporting that they have rehired the one and only Phil Jackson. Don't expect any championships any time soon from the suddenly hapless Lakers.

NYT on Heritage Interns

Great article on the Heritage Foundation's excellent class of 64 interns this summer. Be afraid . . . very afraid.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

RTD Breaks Down the Numbers

McDonnell headlines the article with the lead in fundraising in the downticket races. That's no surprise considering how well he's been running and the momentum he's been able to maintain for quite some time now.

Fralin v. Payne for Vice Rector

Bob Gibson has an excellent article in the Daily Progress about the Friday election in private session of the next vice rector of the University of Virginia. This is so important because the next vice rector will probably be elected Rector in two years time. Both former Congressman L.F. Payne and Fralin seem to be excellent guys. I only know one of them personally, and my experiences with him were very positive. I think either would make an excellent rector.

Monday, June 06, 2005

Solzhenitsyn Bashes Russia, U.S. Policies

Solzhenitsyn thinks the idea that Russia is a democracy is laughable. He also criticizes what he sees as America's imposition of democracy top down on countries. He's at least worth listening to, although not necessarily correct about American policy being an "absurd project."

Gitmo Should Be Shut Down

I know it's surprising to hear from a hard-nosed conservative who was an avid supporter of the war since the beginning and still defends its purposes and its results, regardless of many of the questionable intelligence practices that propelled our nation to war, but Gitmo is a public relations disaster of epic proportions. To be absolutely fair, Amnesty International calling Gitmo the new Gulag is ridiculous if anyone has any understanding of the dimensions and degrees of the Soviet Gulag Archipelago. As someone who read Alexander Solzhenitsyn's spectacular chronicling of the gulag when I was twelve years old, the torture practices and size of the Soviet empire's gulag are indelibly imprinted in my memory. The fact is, millions of people died in the Soviet gulag, perhaps several tens of millions . . . . no one will ever know for sure. Only 540 people are currently held at Gitmo, and although others have passed through it or several similar institutions around the world, it is not even comparable to the gulag in size or horror.

Likewise, the Alberto Gonzalez was wrong when he wrote that 2002 memo justifying the use of hoods, pressure points, and sleep deprivation. Perhaps in a perfect world, if we knew that we held prisoner a person who had knowledge of an imminent nuclear attack, then perhaps . . . probably . . . torture to save the lives of millions would be justifiable, for self-defense reasons. Unfortunately, intelligence gathered through means of torture or practices tending toward torture is notoriously unreliable, and has proven to be so ever since the French practices during the Battle of Algiers in 1956 and 1957. The hardcore zealots will resist the torture or will provide false information. It is in their nature to take it to the limit.

And when we first begin to justify limited use of force such as pressure points and hoods, the line is blurred, and we slowly become that which we hate most. We become what we set out to put an end to in the beginning. No matter what official policy is, the result is Abu Ghraib and a collection of secret detention centers that leftwing critics around the world are calling the American gulag. Fallible human beings cannot draw the line at what is torture and what is acceptable when once we begin to sink into that moral gray area.

The ends do not justify the means. It is our calling and duty as that city on a hill that Ronald Reagan spoke about that we, as much as is possible, remain above reproach when it comes to human rights most importantly when it is in relation to our treatment of prisoners. Because so many people hate us and because we have raised the bar for ourselves internationally by our willingness to attack regimes that violate human rights (i.e. Iraq), our enemies look for every opportunity to point to apparent hypocrisy and various other chinks in our moral armor. I am not advocating merely giving into every criticism that emanates from people who do not have the stomach to stand up and fight for justice and human rights. Many of them have never seen a war that looked justifed to them. I am saying that we need to intelligently realize that when we remain above reproach when it comes to human rights, we speak with greater authority and the world respects us more. That is a consideration we must make.

Dean, Democratic Leadership in Shambles

The Washington Post may be leading the attack on questionable practices by Republican House leadership (practices that almost all members of Congress engage in...not to trivialize it), but the Democratic Party leadership continues to stick its foot in its mouth and raise far less money than the RNC.

Are We in Pre-Republican Revolution Type Throes?

The Washington Post continues to stir up rumors that Republican House leaders are facing many of the same problems that the Democratic House leadership was facing in the pre-1994 days before the Republican Revolution. Admittedly, favorability ratings for Republican representatives are pretty low.

Friday, June 03, 2005

MLB Home Run Numbers Down Dramatically

This ESPN article about the decline of the home run in baseball in the last few years and most dramatically this year is shocking. The statistics are amazing and very telling. The only thing more appalling than the remarkable decline in home runs is the reason for that decline, which I do not think I have to explain to you.

Jayson Stark writes:
If everything continues along at its current pace, about 600 fewer home runs will be hit this year than last year – the third-biggest drop in the expansion era (behind only 1987-88 and 1977-78).

Wow.

What Do You Call Soda?

Check out this mapping of the nationwide use of generic names for soft drinks by county. It's not surprising to see that Virginia is so confused.

Thursday, June 02, 2005

The Dutch Back up the French

Here is the AP wire story on the overwhelming defeat of the EU Constitution referendum in the Netherlands. The vote was 62 to 38, a resounding death knell to the EU Constitution in its present form.

Now, rumblings are emanating from England that the referendum vote there may not even be held since it would be almost irrelevant at this point.

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

The Hapless 57th

As we all know, Tom McCrystal declared his candidacy in the 57th over this past weekend. His opponents have been running for some time. McCrystal seems to be going over board in trying to convince people that he is "not planning on going to Richmond to fight the culture wars" and that he is very moderate. Quite frankly, McCrystal is not a conservative, nor does he claim to be one. Of course, I would prefer to have any sort of Republican in a district like the 57th that has been controlled by the Democrats so long. McCrystal is definitely accurate about certain constituencies within Charlottesville being taken for granted by the Democratic city machine. Republican City Councilman Rob Schilling, the only Republican to sit on the Charlottesville City Council in the last 19 years, has been intelligently trying to target parts of the African-American community who want to be able to directly elect the mayor of Charlottesville.

RFK Stadium

I was present at the Braves-Nationals game last night. Watched the Braves bullpen blow a 3-0 lead as usual (I'm a huge Braves fan by the way). Not sure why they pulled Hampton after four innings of shutout ball. Apparently some tightness in his arm. They were jumping all over some of his pitches but good defense was keeping the Braves ahead. The Nationals have done a great job of turning RFK into a great baseball venue considering what they had to work with. The crowd was really into the game when the Nats started to roll late.