Learning from our Readers

Dear Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, YOU, as a newly elected Attorney General, with the approval of  Governor Youngkin, established the ELECTION INTEGRITY UNIT as a part of your office.  This appeared to have been high on your to do list, occurring after multiple investigations showed “NO SIGNIFICANT EVIDENCE OF FRAUD IN THAT ELECTION” the election that elected Youngkin as Governor and you, Miyares as Attorney General. The title "Election Integrity Unit" strongly SUGGESTS fraud in the election and it would be cleaned up by the newly elected officials. THE BIG POINT: IT WAS A FAIR AND FREE ELECTION,  and I repeat with "no evidence of significant fraud.” The election results WERE ACCEPTED by Republicans, Independents, and Democrats. There were no big lies, and there was no Jan. 6th type of behavior. I wrote a first letter to you on questioning the formation of The ELECTION INTEGRITY UNIT. My second letter is to support “The Virginia Chapter of NAACP request FO...

We seem to disagree on almost everything. But this is actually not the case; there is much on which we agree, and that agreement is key to electing representatives who actually serve  our  interests. We agree on the importance of preserving democracy, even as we disagree on the nature of the threats to democracy. We also agree on the essential elements of our democracy. Two of them are the rule of law and the separation of power. Our Congressional representative, Ben Cline, has shown his willingness to subvert both. Consider his Jan 5, 2020 statement objecting to Congressional acceptance of state certified election returns: “…rules and procedures established by the state Legislatures were deliberately changed by a number of individuals, including governors, secretaries of state, elections officials, judges, and private parties. These changes are in direct violation of Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution. That usurpation of the...

At the October 15th Building Bridges forum, Staunton City School Board candidates were in broad agreement on every issue except one: whether Staunton City Schools should fully comply with Governor Youngkin’s order that schools notify parents when students request a formal change in their gender identity. Two candidates, Lisa Hatter and John T. Wilson, advocated full compliance; one candidate, Kristin Siegel, said that notification should be at the student’s discretion; one candidate, Fontella Brown-Bundy called for more discussion (perhaps around specific cases?). After considering this issue, one thing is clear to me:  A parent’s best chance of becoming aware of and supporting a student who wishes to change their gender identity is to ensure that the schools, and especially their counselors, enjoy that student’s trust. In the age of the internet and youth culture, does any parent believe that they can shield their child from exposure to changing ...