I do not know what is sadder, that someone took it in their own hands to become judge, jury and executioner for Dr. George Tiller - while he worshipped in church, no less - or that many in the "pro-life" movement will either celebrate the death or attempt to justify it.
Update: I don't want to split the commentary on this issue, so I'll just note here that we will be writing an editorial for tomorrow on Tiller's murder.
Talk of health care reform could turn to talk of tax reform in Washington as policymakers consider how to pay for broadly expanded coverage from a budget already gushing red ink.
And, surprisingly, talk of tax reform could turn to talk of a valued-added tax -- surprisingly, because a VAT is a consumption tax, built into the price of goods and services. As such, it is regressive. It falls harder on the poor than the wealthy as a percentage of income.
That's a political taboo, and quite properly so.
We would bet that most people who stop near Troutville never even realize it is a town. The Troutville exit is a convenient place to pull off Interstate 81 for gas and not much else, unless you happen to live there. For more than 400 residents, Troutville is home.
Yet the town's boundary is rougher than most. It cuts through properties, even homes. Town officials therefore have proposed a boundary line adjustment. If they receive the blessing of Botetourt County and a circuit court judge, the town would have smooth edges.
Andy McCready knows a thing or two about property reassessments. He headed Pulaski County's Board of Equalization during the most recent round of appraisals. When he says the system is broken, the county should listen.
By Christian Trejbal
On June 9, Virginia Democrats will elect candidates to run for governor and lieutenant governor in November. Republicans, however, do not want their voters to have a say in those decisions.
One of Virginia's electoral oddities is that primaries are optional. The political parties decide whether to hold them, and often they choose not to.
By Dan Radmacher
I don't know yet what I think of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, not having had the time to digest the 380 opinions she authored as a judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals or assess much beyond the bullet points of what certainly appears to be an impressive résumé: summa cum laude graduate from Princeton University, editor of the Yale Law Review and graduate of that prestigious law school, a prosecutor in Manhattan, a Columbia Law School lecturer. It certainly doesn't appear to be the résumé of an intellectual lightweight.
By Luanne Traud
When I smoked, my favorite warning label on the side of the pack said: "Smoking by pregnant women may result in fetal injury, premature birth and low birth." Since I wasn't pregnant, no health worry there. Right? Anyway "may" is different than "will."
By Megan Rhyne
Rhyne is the executive director of Virginia Coalition for Open Government, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization based dedicated to keeping government records and meetings open to Virginia citizens.
Two juveniles held in a Newport News detention center claim they were raped by two other residents. The two boys sued the city, saying the city was at fault because the facility was too crowded and did not separate juveniles based on size or other factors.
A few years ago, George Wallace, the longtime Hampton city manager, sued the city for firing him.
What do these two cases have in common, besides both being on the Peninsula?
Both cases settled before going to trial. That's usually a good thing, as it saves everyone the time, stress and resources of a full-blown court proceeding.
By Michael L. Ramsey
Ramsey is president of the Roanoke Public Library Foundation
I have written and spoken often over the past decade-and-a-half about the public library being an expression of democracy and community. In times of economic hardship, the public library's important role in the community becomes more readily identifiable by a larger number of citizens.
Read today's letters to the editor.
Former councilman lived for Roanoke
David Lisk wasn't born in Roanoke, but he devoted much of his life to his adopted city. Lisk, who died Monday at the age of 80, moved to Roanoke in 1953. He served on city council from 1966 to 1976.
Read more.
She is not amused
The commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normady is next week. But one person will be missing from the ceremonies at Utah Beach, the American war cemetary and Colleville-sur-Mer and other locations, and she is not pleased about it.
Read more.
Let the machines run the campaign
"It's stupid and it's counterproductive and it was in completely bad form. Not to mention the fact that it didn't have a disclaimer, which makes it illegal," said a consultant to Sen. Ken Cuccinelli of Fairfax. "I detest such tactics in political campaigns," said Dave Foster, an Arlington lawyer. "It's unfair and destructive of the political process."
Read more.
For the sake of democratic self-governance, I was relieved when the California Supreme Court upheld the will of the voters to amend the state constitution to define marriage as they wished. Progressives have tried to use the courts to bypass the rough and tumble democratic process for social change, but such resort to judicial fiat erodes the culture of self-governance. It is particularly galling for the losers, to be sure, that in an election that went overwhelmingly Democratic, it was African-Americans who turned the tide in favor of the ban on same-sex marriage, rejecting the analogy between the civil rights struggle and gay liberation.
Read more.
Read Saturday's letters to the editor.
"I wonder how such a degenerated person ever reached a position of authority in the Army Medical Corps."
"He was drafted"
How did you get to the position you find yourself in today.
We've been warned for years to slather on the sunscreen any time we go outside, to protect our skin from the sun's UV rays. Now environmentalists are starting to worry that the planet might need protecting from the sunscreen.
The scientific verdict isn't in yet. But Nina Shen Rastogi writes in the Washington Post's Green column: "In the meantime, there are plenty of ways to protect your skin at the beach while going a little easier on the Coppertone. Wear a hat or a caftan and find yourself a beach umbrella. If you're feeling brave, you could always try one of those Darth Vader-style sunshades so popular with the women of Asia."
It's enough to make a body want to stay home. Almost.
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