‘Wake up, damn it!’

Chris Graham

For the uninitiated, Ralph Waldo “Petey” Greene told it like it was in his world on the Washington, D.C., airwaves on WOL during the late 1960s and early 1970s before succumbing to cancer. The ex-con, who described himself in his boss’s word – a miscreant, because it sounded more sophisticated – would no doubt be…

White House: Obama will turn Virginia blue

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] He started his general-election campaign here in June after sewing up the Democratic Party nomination, and he’s going to end it here late Monday night. Still want to quibble over how seriously Barack Obama is taking Virginia? “What better way is there to showcase the importance of this state as…

U.S. Senate: The radical centrist will shake things up in D.C.

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] I was working for an ultraconservative newspaper based in Charlottesville – not exactly the best place for somebody who would later become the chair of a Democratic Party committee to be, but it paid the bills. It also gave me a different perspective on Mark Warner, at first a skeptical…

Sixth District: Goodlatte mailer claims support in err

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] The Bob Goodlatte campaign contacted Rockingham County Democrat Mike Breeden asking Breeden’s permission to use his name on a campaign mailer as a supporter. Breeden didn’t return the phone call, but his name ended up in the mailer anyway, at the top of a list of eight Democrats and eight…

Valley Blue Dog: Republican Tricks, Democratic Treats!

Steven Sisson

Column by Steven Sisson Halloween is a time for dressing up in a costume and wearing a mask and having fun. But grownups wear masks, too, especially politicians, and more than ever Republicans are masking the truth behind their agenda. According to nationwide polls, 70 percent of leaders can’t be trusted. The Blue Dog says…

David Reynolds: The Pendulum

David Reynolds

Column by David Reynolds As usual Thomas Jefferson got it right. He wrote, “The most effectual means of preventing the perversion of power into tyranny is to illuminate the minds of the people.” TJ would not have been pleased with the lack of illumination during the 2008 presidential campaign – much heat, little light. Jefferson…

Harrisonburg: Obama rallies Valley Dems

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] One news organization estimated that there were 28,000 people all told in and around the Convocation Center on the campus of James Madison University for the Tuesday campaign rally featuring Democratic Party presidential nominee Barack Obama. I don’t know that I could dispute the figure, based on the queue, or…

Bruce Kesler: The Fannie-ization of Health Care

Contributors

Column by Bruce Kesler Health care could be the next Fannie Mae-type disaster. Similar forces are at work. Anxieties over the financial meltdown may increase Democrats’ power to further their statist agenda via appeals that exaggerate need and rights among the poor and feed greed by many of the rest of us. The forces worked…

The Valley Blue Dog: Sarah Palin is a Closet Socialist

Steven Sisson

Column by Steven Sisson Yes, Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin is a Closet Socialist. The governor’s state of Alaska receives more federal dollars, in subsidies and earmarks and government assistance, than any state in the USA. The Blue Dog says Palin is a tried and true socialist. Like I wrote in the Blue Dog column…