Virginia Senator Jim Webb started a firestorm when his op-ed, “Diversity and the Myth of White Privilege,” appeared in the Wall Street Journal. What Webb said is nothing new. His is a nuanced argument: that affirmative action, under the umbrella of diversity, has benefitted groups of people that it never was intended to benefit, and … Continue reading Webb’s curious op-ed
Author: Vivian J. Paige
A former candidate, I've learned a lot about politics, both good and bad. I'd prefer more of the former and a lot less of the latter and I'm trying to do my part!
Friday fun: the ocean test
You Are Alive and Energetic You are most comfortable when you are mixing things up a little bit. You like novelty in small doses. You are drawn to passion and emotion. You see the world as a colorful place. You have no trouble finding contentment wherever you are in life. You are happy in the … Continue reading Friday fun: the ocean test
Congress: the millionaires club
Brian Kirwin has an interesting article up about the effect of campaign finance laws. He argues that they have created a millionaires club in Congress. Currently, 44% of all of Congress and specifically 48% of the Senate are millionaires. That compares with the general public, of whom millionaires are only a whopping 1%. There are … Continue reading Congress: the millionaires club
Finalists for Portsmouth mayor named
According to The Virginian-Pilot, the Portsmouth City Council will interview four candidates for the vacant position of mayor. The interviews will be conducted in council chambers Monday at 7pm and the session will be televised on the city's channel 48. The four candidates are current Vice Mayor Charles Whitehurst, current council member Elizabeth Psimas, former … Continue reading Finalists for Portsmouth mayor named
A sad state of affairs
Gotcha politics took center stage over the past couple of days in the case of Shirley Sherrod. A good run down of events can be found here. After that post was written, the full video of Sherrod's statement was made available by the NAACP, who retracted their earlier condemnation of her. This morning, there are … Continue reading A sad state of affairs
For Gov. McDonnell’s reform commission
My latest op-ed piece appeared in The Virginian-Pilot Tuesday. This week's topic: constitutional offices. I think it is an issue that is ripe for the governor's reform commission - just as it has been for prior reform commissions. That nothing has been done to seriously address them is a testament to the strength of the … Continue reading For Gov. McDonnell’s reform commission
Free to fight
The above is the title of an eight-part series that The Virginian-Pilot is running in the newspaper. Part 3 appeared today and you can read a part of it here. I grew up in Phoebus, just outside of Fort Monroe. Heck, I even worked there two summers, when I was 16 and 17. Nevertheless, I … Continue reading Free to fight
The demise of BlogNetNews
By now, many of you have no doubt noticed that BlogNetNews is no longer accessible. Driving the decision is, of course, money. Dave Mastio, who operated BNN, told me via email last week that the site has been losing enough money of late that it is for sale. In the meantime, it has shut down. … Continue reading The demise of BlogNetNews
Democrat v. Democratic redux
A reprint of a post of mine from November 2006. Seems some folks need reminding. Posting a comment here is a privilege, not a right. And refusing to be respectful to others is one sure way to get banned. dem·o·crat (dĕm'ə-krăt') n. An advocate of democracy. One who believes in social equality or discounts distinctions … Continue reading Democrat v. Democratic redux
Upsides and downsides
When I started this blog more than four years ago, it was because I had something to say and felt like my opinion was not one of those being voiced elsewhere. Whether anyone read it or not wasn't an issue; it was just me putting it out there. As time has passed, I've learned an … Continue reading Upsides and downsides
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 