2008.10.30
Religious bigotry and politics don't mix well
Janice Lee Allen is making a quixotic third-party bid for Virginia's 6th District seat in Congress that is notable for one thing: religious bigotry. We'll write about it Friday.
Discuss Thursday's editorials
Signed, witnessed, mailed -- and counted
Overseas voters followed the instructions they were given. Their votes should count.
Phew. At least one potential election debacle has been avoided. Questionable absentee ballots by Virginians living or serving overseas will be counted. That wasn't a sure thing just a few days ago when a technicality arose. Rational thinking by top Republicans and Democrats prevented the ballot problem from blossoming into a hyper-partisan embarrassment -- not that Virginia party leaders aren't capable of bloodying each other. So it is a relief that they demonstrated -- at least for now -- that they can play fair on an electoral-votes battleground.
Read more.
Changing the game
The state school league plans to reclassify schools without inducing a championship migraine.
If there were a championship award handed out for sheer guts, the Virginia High School League would be in a class by itself. The VHSL has proposed a new alignment of scholastic competitive divisions that is sure to be analyzed, scrutinized and criticized -- and that's just from those who understand and agree change is needed.
Read more.
Discuss Thursday's commentary and letters
Eyes wide open to terror threat
Try as I might, I can't ignore the fact that across the globe, there are untold numbers of violent men who would kill me and my family if they could. Not us in particular -- but us as an abstraction. Had we been on certain planes one Tuesday a few Septembers ago; were we by chance in a London subway one afternoon in 2006; if we someday happen to be somewhere else that opportunity affords a chance for indiscriminate mass casualties -- my family could be a target for radical Islamic terrorists. So could yours.
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Next, Iraq needs a civilian surge
Arthur B. Keys Jr.
Keys is president and CEO of International Relief and Development, based in Arlington.
The military surge in Iraq has been successful in reducing violence and establishing order. But as Gen. David Petraeus and others have repeatedly said, such an outcome is only the beginning of success. Increased security and stability can lay the groundwork for a strong state and prosperous society. Only economic and social development will ensure it.
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A duty to protect religious freedom
H. Morgan Griffith
Griffith is majority leader of the Virginia House of Delegates. He represents the 8th District, which includes the city of Salem and part of Roanoke County.
In a column appearing in The Roanoke Times, the Rev. Nelson Harris, Roanoke's former mayor, asserted that I had launched "personal attacks on Gov. Tim Kaine" (Don't play politics with prayer," Oct. 10). Contrary to Harris' claims, there was nothing personal about my criticism of a misguided directive by the Kaine administration that brought about the resignation of more than one-third of the Virginia State Police troopers serving voluntarily as chaplains for the force.
Read more.
Read Thursday's letters here.
Thursday open thread
What's on your mind today?
2008.10.29
The line at the trough gets longer
Yesterday we noted that General Motors and Chrysler want a financial bailout. Today, it's state and local governments in Washington seeking a federal handout. They just call it a "post-election economic stimulus package."
Most states and localities may not operate with a deficit like the federal government. Heavens forbid they raise their own taxes to pay for services and infrastructure.
Hooray, we're Number, er, 30?
Sometimes even the comics get serious. Over at Wellington Grey's Miscellanea, an online comic with a tech/science bent, his most recent piece rounds up a bunch of world rankings by country. The United States could and should do much better. Life expectancy? 30th. Scientific literacy? 33rd. Quality of health care? 37th. And so on. Check out all of the pathetic rankings below. If you can't read it very well, click on the graphic to go to the original.
Discuss Wednesday's editorials
Palin wows 'em with the party line
No one can deny that Alaska's governor has stage presence. But in Salem she dished up GOP orthodoxy, delivered very well.
Sarah Palin energized the party faithful Monday with a rousing speech in Salem. The GOP vice presidential candidate can connect with an audience, and the estimated 16,000 who packed into the stadium cheered her on. Her well-worn tale of Joe the Plumber vs. "Barack the wealth spreader" was a particular crowd-pleaser. But Palin and the man she so easily overshadows when they share a stage -- the man at the top of the Republican ticket, remember, presidential candidate John McCain -- still hope to capture undecided voters, the moderate middle that in Virginia has backed Republicans for president lo these many decades.
Read more.
Delays at the polls have already begun
A lack of communication Saturday left the statewide voter registry overtaxed.
Virginia experienced an election hiccup Saturday when statewide voter registration computers stalled. That left some early voters waiting up to an hour to cast their ballots. With the commonwealth in play in a heated presidential election, let's hope better communication in Richmond prevents the same thing from happening Tuesday.
Read more.
Discuss Wednesday's commentary and letters
America must pay off its debts
Cabell Brand
Brand, of Salem, is a retired business executive, a founder of the community services agency Total Action Against Poverty in Roanoke and author of the new book, "If Not Me, Then Who?"
We're all deeply concerned with the current economic crisis, and most everything else has taken a back seat to other topics in our political discussions. That includes the two wars this nation is fighting and their related human, economic and political consequences. What the American people need to hear, discuss and understand, not only in political debates but throughout our society as Election Day nears, are clear, direct, "real world" expectations of what we want the government to do and how we can pay for it.
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Corporations have a larger responsibility
Chad Braby
Braby is a regional manager for a general contractor and lives in Roanoke.
When historians set out to write the tale of Western civilization of the last 60 years, the executive summary might read, "Times were good, resources were abundant and business prospered. Corporations and government worked in cooperation, ensuring that the bounty flowed. Jobs were created, and the quality of life improved." But this story, like all others throughout history, is told by the victors. There is a darker, seedier truth that is more evident as each day of these troubled economic times unfolds.
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Read Wednesday's letters here.
Wednesday open thread
What's on your mind today?
Joe the Plumber
Here's the entire exchange between Barack Obama and Joe the Plumber. If you'd like to talk about it or our editorial on Sarah Palin's visit to Salem, click here.
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