Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Friday News Roundup

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by

James A. Bacon
in

by Kerry Dougherty

There’s too much news today to limit ourselves to just one topic.

Former Gov. Linwood Holton died yesterday at the age of 98. He was elected in 1969 and became the first Republican governor of Virginia since 1869. He ran against the racist Democrat Byrd Machine and is remembered as a leader in Virginia’s civil rights movement.

My family has a special affection for Governor Holton. He appointed my mother-in-law, Joan Mahan, to be the first female secretary of Virginia’s Board of Elections. I met the former governor at her funeral. He was a remarkable man.

Governor Holton believed strongly in integration and public education. Notably, he enrolled his kids in Richmond City Public Schools, which were predominately African-American. He walked his children to class on his very first day in the Governor’s Mansion.

To live to be nearly 100 after a rich life of public service and to pass away at home surrounded by family was a well-deserved reward for this great Virginian.

Rest in peace, Governor.

At first I thought this was a joke. But it’s true. The Biden administration wants to throw $450,000 to every illegal who was separated from family at the Southern border in 2018.

As if WE did something wrong and need to compensate these lawbreakers.

Never mind that these people violated our immigration laws and had no right to even be on American soil, Biden wants to give them a massive cash reward, courtesy of U.S. taxpayers.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas was quick to point out that when a member of the U.S. military dies serving our country, his or her family gets $400,000 in death benefits.

The fact that a bonanza for border breakers is even under consideration is a sign of absolute madness in Washington.

How much more of this idiocy can America take?

Polling has rightfully taken a hit in recent years, and many of us cast a skeptical eye on results. But poll after poll has been cause for concern in the McAuliffe camp. Terry McAuliffe is a known quantity. He’s essentially running as an incumbent.

Yet he consistently failed to crack the 50% mark.

That alarmed his campaign staff and resulted in increasingly ugly and dishonest ads.

Meanwhile, Glenn Youngkin was a political unknown prior to 2021 and wasn’t expected by Democrats to mount a credible challenge. Yet the more the public sees of Youngkin, the more they like him. As the campaign moves into the final days, Youngkin appears to have the wind at his back. He’s climbed consistently in polls for months and yesterday surged to an 8-point lead with likely voters over McAuliffe in a Fox News poll.

Some will automatically discount any polling from that conservative news organization, but Fox Polls showed McAuliffe with a 5-point lead just two weeks ago. A swing of 13 points in a fortnight is shocking.

Maybe the newest poll is an outlier. We’ll know on Tuesday.

If Youngkin does win, it will be a victory for a candidate with fresh ideas, rather than a retread with nothing to offer but lies about his opponent’s positions.

This column has been republished with permission from Kerry: Unemployed & Unedited.

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12 responses to “Friday News Roundup”

  1. kls Avatar
    kls

    Is there a form where i can self identify as an illegal immigrant to get the money in order to buy a heavily subsidized EV and get a tax credit to put solar panels on my homeless encampment tent under the overpass?

    1. energyNOW_Fan Avatar
      energyNOW_Fan

      …and the free tuition and the forgiven student loans and the family leave and expanded Medicare and the expanded Social Security in 2034 to account for lower birth rates today, and mega dollars for Off shore Wind which needs to be paid, not by business, nor paid by lower incomes, nor paid my higher incomes, just selectively middle class chumps need to pat of all of this stuff, and of course Dominion gets to be a state-run monopoly and we pay whatever they ask. Actually I am not necessarily totally opposed to some of the social programs but geez. But we looking like a California-ized Europe, except more disdain for infinitesimal levels of “pollution” , thus, all “dirty” industry has to go to China and/or preferably outer space, according to Bill Shatner. How will we ever defend against China aggression? when we need China to cheaply make everything we need, and we need China accept high levels of pollution for cost reasons, but we Americans will not tolerate even 99.9% pollutant removal. US pollution must be absolute ZERO or liberals calculate millions of Americans are being killed unknowingly.

    2. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      Me too!

      😉

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        Stay fresh, Mate. I like to think that someday in a bar where two-lane blacktop meets the sea, I can buy you that drink you’re due.

  2. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    As usual, Kerry deals in hyperbole. Most of the migrants were indeed entitled to be on U.S. soil, seeking asylum. A federal court acknowledged as much when it ordered the administration to reunite the families.

    1. tmtfairfax Avatar
      tmtfairfax

      Dick – do you have a link to the court’s opinion finding that the families were entitled to asylum? Since the overwhelming majority of asylum seekers are not eligible for asylum under American law and the law requires asylum seekers to make a case before an asylum officer such that the trial court did not have jurisdiction to make any determination as to the individuals’ eligibility for asylum period. The denied applicant must then take the case to the Executive Office of Immigration Review, or EOIR, where an immigration judge makes a decision. The next step in an appeal is before the Board of Immigration Appeals. Then you have to go to the federal court of appeals to appeal on the record.

      You don’t get to go before a federal district court judge. My guess is this case involves a lawless federal district court judge acting outside the law.

      1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
        Dick Hall-Sizemore

        I’m sorry that I was not clearer in my comment. I did not mean to imply that the court had ruled that they were entitled to asylum. My point was that, by ordering the administration to reunite the families, the court was acknowledging that they had a right to enter the country for the purpose of seeking asylum. Even if that is a faulty interpretation of the court’s order, the fact remains that foreigners have the legal right to present themselves at our borders and request asylum.

        1. tmtfairfax Avatar
          tmtfairfax

          Dick, thanks for the clarification. The big issue, however, remains that most people seeking asylum have no grounds for relief. They are coming for economic reasons and know the drill to lie about government persecution.

          I support offering asylum to bona fide victims of government prosecution. But damn few of the people making these claims are even remotely telling the truth.

          My kids were adopted from Korea. So were one of my nieces and one of my nephews. We have many friends whose children were adopted from outside the U.S. I know many people who emigrated to the U.S. legally. This “let’s pretend-open borders” approach rubs our face in the dirt. It’s contemptible. If we can ignore the immigration laws and force the costs of low-skilled people with high needs on taxpayers, why can’t the rest of us pick and choose which laws we follow?

      2. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
        Dick Hall-Sizemore

        I’m sorry that I was not clearer in my comment. I did not mean to imply that the court had ruled that they were entitled to asylum. My point was that, by ordering the administration to reunite the families, the court was acknowledging that they had a right to enter the country for the purpose of seeking asylum. Even if that is a faulty interpretation of the court’s order, the fact remains that foreigners have the legal right to present themselves at our borders and request asylum.

  3. John Carr Avatar
    John Carr

    Well, Mr. Bacon, you disappoint me. You were in C’ville last night to tout Thomas Jefferson as a positive influence, forgiving his supposedly racist past to holistically consider the man, but hit the deceased Senator Byrd with the “cheap shot” racist comment this morning. At UVA last night, all talked about not knowing Jefferson personally, so we have to study his overall accomplishments to decide whether he deserved respect. (Of course he does!). In this case, I personally knew both Senator Byrds. You should investigate their contributions, both monetary and otherwise before joining the contemporary cancel culture which is attemping to destroy our nation’s history. You, of all people, should judge people in the context of history, like we do for Mr. Jefferson.

    1. James A. Bacon Avatar
      James A. Bacon

      John, just to be clear, calling the Democratic Byrd machine racist is Kerry’s doing in this post, not mine.

      I do think the historical record would support that characterization, though. Jim Crow was alive and well in Virginia, and Blacks left the state by the hundreds of thousands to escape it. The sole redeeming action in the matter of race by Governor Byrd was making Virginia the first state (or was it the first Southern state?) to outlaw lynching. But I’m no expert. Perhaps you have other examples that might alter our perception.

  4. tmtfairfax Avatar
    tmtfairfax

    Governor Holton was before my time. But when he still lived in McLean, he wrote a number of letters pushing Til Hazel’s plan to raise taxes to pay for the roads that would be needed to open thousands of acres of land owned by Hazel and his cohorts to development. Point by point.

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