Editors’ Note: Originally published March 28, 2021, we have now reposted this article in light of the continuing revelations from the investigation of the January 6th insurrection and big lie plot to corrupt the electoral processes… Read More ›
political parties
Banana Republic USA
William Sydney Porter, better known as O. Henry, had moved to New York City in 1902. A year earlier in a short story, Porter coined the phrase “banana republic” to describe a fictional Central American nation called Costaragua. In 1904,… Read More ›
Voting Nullification
Except for the continued inanity of conspiracy theorists and theories about the theft of the 2020 presidential election, we may be grateful in this post-Thanksgiving moment that our ballots in that contest mattered and prevailed. Virginia turnout was 75% of… Read More ›
ICYMI……….November 15, 1919
One hundred two years ago today, the US Senate for the first time invoked the cloture rule to limit debate on pending legislation, i.e., to end a filibuster. Filibuster derives from a Dutch word for “freebooter,” related to piracy and… Read More ›
Aborting Democratic Elections
There is a corollary to the adage about power and corruption. Election victories cause visions of power to infect reason. Virginia’s newly elected attorney general, Jason Miyares, announced that he would seek legislation from the General Assembly authorizing his office… Read More ›
My Words, Not Yours
2 November 5, breaking news, the head of the University of Florida reversed the earlier decisions barring the professors from testifying. Watch this space. If you hadn’t noticed, there is a well-organized… Read More ›
What, Me Worry?
Alfred E. Neuman, the iconic cover boy of Mad magazine, was popularized beginning in 1954. However, the likeness appeared much earlier, including in the early 1930s on a campaign poster for Franklin D. Roosevelt along with the caption, “Sure, I’m… Read More ›
Handicapping Virginia
Handicapping the outcomes of political races has not yet become deadly but pundits who offer conclusions are far too often incorrect, leading to post-election explanations. There exist, however, some data sources that offer insight into the direction and dynamics of… Read More ›
Revolting RINOs
There are some who can recall The Life of Riley, a radio and TV series from 1944 into the 1950s, which originally starred Jackie Gleason and later William Bendix as the inept, bumbling protagonist Chester A. Riley, making molehills into… Read More ›