Jim Bishop: Who has disabilities? We all do!

Jim Bishop

“Don’t tell me about your doubts, I’ve got enough doubts of my own. Tell me something you BELIEVE in,” goes a line in a sketch from the late standup comedian Dave Gardner (1926-1983). “Brother Dave” served up a strange mix of offbeat, socially-aware humor delivered in a stream-of-consciousness Southern storyteller style. I was introduced to…

In Focus: The Staunton Senior Center

Contributors

The new Staunton Senior Center still has that new-car feel. The Senior Center moved into its new home in Gypsy Hill Place on Churchville Avenue in October, but there are still some finishing touches to be made to get the location fully operational. The “last piece of the puzzle,” director Lynn Harris said, is the…

Palin: The road back to nowhere

Contributors

Rampant speculation continues over what Sarah Palin’s plans regarding 2012 might be. The conventional wisdom: She’s running, no question about it, yep, she is, damn the torpedoes, or she’s not, because she’d rather be a conservative celebrity, because being a conservative celebrity pays more than being a presidential candidate. I’d like to throw in a…

Tom Perriello: Permanent Medicare reimbursement fix

Contributors

Last week, Congress took an important step to make sure that our senior citizens can continue to see their doctors for care by protecting the reimbursement rates for doctors who participate in the Medicare system. The House passed bipartisan legislation that blocks the 25 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors that could have gone…

Kidd: The fundamentals in Virginia politics haven’t changed

Chris Graham

At first glance, Virginia has flipped, big time. The Old Dominion was blue in 2008, and has been bright red since, with Republicans sweeping the 2009 state races and taking three of the six seats held by incumbent Democrats in the 2010 congressional midterms. Not so fast, says Quentin Kidd, a political-science professor at Christopher…

Alan Ramsey: Questions about the 2010 elections

Contributors

I was a Reagan Democrat and Republican activist from ’80-’06. My views have changed as this new-age, anti-Reagan Republican Party has devolved away from the Constitution into a party of extreme hatred and racial, religious and ethnic bigotry, claiming they’re the only “true” patriots and “real” Americans: everyone else is somehow un-American and “liberal” (as…

Sarah van Gelder: Families can’t afford to stay home on Election Day

Contributors

If you’re like me, this election doesn’t feel anything like 2008. The excitement and hope of that historic election have been replaced by worry and disappointment. The 2008 campaigns at least occasionally addressed our country’s serious problems. This year it’s all noise, attacks, and accusations. Little actual policy makes it through. Meanwhile, billionaires, big oil,…