ChangeServant

• Controlling the Headline (or not)

  So, prompted by the recent active inclusion of state employees in political ads during the recent campaign cycle, I set out to write a piece that would provoke debate on a simple question -- should Virginia have a state level Hatch Act that would protect state employees from pressure to [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 11, 2009, 12:04pm EST
  

• Gay Republicans Praise McDonnell, Dis Cooch

  David Lampo and other members of the Log Cabin Republican Club of Virginia have been active the last couple of days ... first complimenting gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell for his recent statements affirming his view that government should not discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and, then, blasting Cooch [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 28, 2009, 6:17pm EDT
  

• Choosing the People’s Lawyer: Questions to Ask Candidates for Virginia Attorney General

  This is an update of a blog entry I wrote before the 2005 elections regarding the role of the Attorney General and the scope of the power we afford the person we elect to this too little discussed, "down ballot" race. I hope that you will find it helpful.Choosing the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 05, 2009, 12:05pm EDT
  

• Save Lives Save Money

  100,000 Lives Lost Each Year; $45 Billion WastedA critical issue that must be a part of any health care reform initiative is patient safety. Reducing hospital acquired infections and preventing in-facility accidents and medical mistakes will save lives and money.Consumers Union reports that hospital acquired infections and other preventable medical [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: July 16, 2009, 11:51am EDT
  

• I saw this moving quote from a ...

  I saw this moving quote from a Walt Whitman poem , The Wound Dresser, on the wall of the north entrance to the Dupont Circle Metro Station in DC today:Thus in silence in dreams' projections,Returning, resuming, I thread my way through the hospitals, The hurt and wounded I pacify with' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: June 17, 2009, 11:24pm EDT
  

• Death of a Retired General Officer

  This message went out from General George General W. Casey, Jr., Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, today:DEATH OF A RETIRED GENERAL OFFICER 17 JUN 09. "It is with deep regret that the Secretary of the Army and I inform you of the death of General John R. Guthrie," [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: June 17, 2009, 10:31pm EDT
  

• Senator John Ensign

  I am more than tired of sanctimonious holier than thou politicians who undermine "traditional marriage" by their own actions while denying full marriage equality to those who only want the chance to make the deep and lasting commitment that these folks seem unable to keep. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: June 17, 2009, 9:32am EDT
  

• General John R. Guthrie (USA Ret.) -- 39 Years in the Nation's Service

  General John Reiley Guthrie (USA Ret.), died peacefully at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Memorial Day, May 25, 2009, with his loving family at his bedside. He was 87. Born in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, Gen. Guthrie graduated with honors in History from Princeton University in 1942, receiving his commission [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: May 31, 2009, 1:43pm EDT
  

• National Day of Silence ... Help Stop Bullying

  Today is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network's (GLSEN) national day of silence which focuses attention on anti-GLBT bullying in our schools.Words can kill.'nuff said.' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: April 17, 2009, 3:56pm EDT
  

• 20 OUTstanding Virginians

  Last Saturday night, Equality Virginia honored 20 OUTstanding Virginians ... GLBT people, living and dead, who have excelled in their fields and forged new paths for others to walk.Get to know these people, learn about their accomplishments, honor their achievements, and understand why each of us is diminished when any [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: April 10, 2009, 2:31pm EDT
  

• Inquiring Minds Want to Know

  Why is it that Delegate Mark Cole didn't want to answer questions about why he pulled a resolution honoring Equality Virginia on its 20th anniversary from the uncontested block? This isn't the first time he's taken steps to be sure that no one could accuse him of saying anything nice [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 26, 2009, 10:13pm EST
  

• Unintended Consequences

  As reported in today's Washington Post, in Catholic France, there's increasing recognition that it is a social "good" to provide a legal structure in addition to traditional marriage that helps stabilize relationships and provide financial security. Offered grudgingly as a "less than marriage" alternative for GLBT people, civil unions are [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 14, 2009, 10:02am EST
  

• HRC State of the Workplace Report

  State Of The Workplace 2007-2008View more presentations from hrcworkplace. (tags: benefits discrimination) [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 13, 2009, 1:16pm EST
  

• Sarah Palin in her own words ... lest we forget

  Put some rhythm in your step and a add a melody to your memory as you think about what might have been and vow not to allow it ever to be. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 10, 2008, 8:39am EST
  

• In politics, as in life ...

  Love conquers.But, love didn't conquer all today.My heart goes out to my friends in the GLBT community who learned again today that too many Americans continue to practice the politics of exclusion denying them full equality and writing their second class citizenship into state constitutions.Tears of sadness commingled freely with' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 05, 2008, 1:26am EST
  

• Will "Love" Triumph?

  I have a theory about "love" and "hate" on the campaign trail that will be tested today.Four years ago, Democrats grudgingly chose John Kerry, a candidate that they "thought" could win, to vie against George W. Bush, a "hated" rival, who was then, and to some extent remains even now, [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 04, 2008, 7:55am EST
  

• The Manchurian Candidate 2008 Remake

  There is mounting evidence that John Sidney McCain is a real life "Manchurian Candidate" brainwashed by the Chinese controlled North Vietnamese during his captivity in Viet Nam and carefully prepared to turn over the United States to China after his election as President of the United States. Let's start with' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 06, 2008, 11:03pm EDT
  

• Governor Sarah Palin ... to reform means to "re-form"

  For short time Governor Sarah Palin being a "reformer" simply means that she's a "re-former." Someone who "re-forms" or remakes her political positions to fit the politics of the moment and audience.First, Palin was for the so-called "bridge to nowhere" when she was running for governor, and, then, she was' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 01, 2008, 10:34am EDT
  

• The Governor of Alaska ... 'nuff said

  "I know Hillary Clinton, and Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said in a phone interview with NBC. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 29, 2008, 2:54pm EDT
  

• perhaps there is hope for the Virginia legislature

  Perhaps the parties to the legislative impasse should try to be more like the cat the rat and the dog .... [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: July 01, 2008, 2:50pm EDT
  

• On Guns --- Welcome to the Land Of Common Sense

  Yesterday's gun ruling by the United States Supreme Court may be the first to interpret the Second Amendment but calling it historic may be histrionic.The First Amendment and the Second Amendment are part of the bill of rights and define the limits of government relative to the citizens. Neither confers' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: June 27, 2008, 8:30am EDT
  

• Too Funny -- Great Spoof

  You could be a candidate, too. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: June 23, 2008, 6:10pm EDT
  

• The Year in Hate -- New Report from the Southern Poverty Law Center

  Not surprisingly, the Southern Poverty Law Center's annual report on hate in America documents that anti-immigrant rhetoric is fueling an increase in reported hate crimes and a resurgence in hate groups.Also not surprising is that a leading immigration reduction advocacy organization has made the list of "hate groups" for the' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: March 10, 2008, 8:08am EDT
  

• The RTD to Unilingualist Fulminators ... Get Over It

  Today's Richmond Times Dispatch editorial defends Governor Tim Kaine's use of Spanish in greeting the pro-America president of El Salvador, complimenting his "hospitality" and "graciousness" to a foreign visitor and calling the fulminators on the internet and in the blogosphere who are bloviating about the Governor's bilingual greeting and the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 08, 2008, 9:53am EST
  

• Governor Kaine Addresses Illegal Immigration; Offers Facts; Urges "Balance"

  Governor Kaine addressed the issue of illegal immigration in his State of the Commonwealth address. He put some important facts on the table and urged balance in the discussion of the issue during the 2008 legislative session. Here's what he said: “Securing the Commonwealth’s future also means that we must' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: January 09, 2008, 9:58pm EST
  

• Was Mike Henry right after all?

  Much was made last spring of a memo written by former Kaine campaign manager, now Clinton campaign official, Mike Henry, advocating that Clinton skip the Iowa caucuses. Mike's key point was that "playing" in Iowa was not strategic -- that Iowa traditionally was Clinton's "weakest state," that winning would require [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: January 04, 2008, 10:50am EST
  

• What is it about the right and bathrooms?

  The former child actor who played Zelda on the Dobie Gillis Show, now all grown up and a state senator in California, got a 1999 California nondiscrimination law amended last year (and signed by Governor "I'll Be Back") to include gender as well as sex. The purpose was to afford' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 24, 2007, 12:55am EST
  

• The Authors of the Abusive Driving Fees Are At It Again

  Updated: 12/27/08Updated again: 12/28/07-Having failed to learn their lesson about unintended consequences and the dangers of crafting bills that are just a little too "creative" in trying to get to an objective in a roundabout way, two of the primary authors of the abusive driver fees (crafted to fund highways [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 19, 2007, 3:00pm EST
  

• 2007 General Election: Impact of Immigration

  In the 2007 election cycle in Virginia, the results show unequivocally that the issue of illegal immigration did not move voters and that immigrant bashing is not an effective campaign tactic in Virginia, regardless of party.All across the state, party loyalty, and local issues other than immigration, most often determined [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 08, 2007, 6:27pm EST
  

• Developing (as NLS would say): Intimidation of Latino Voters in Prince William

  When you can't win based on your platform, try intimidation. There were reports out of Prince William late yesterday that people associated with the "anti-illegal immigrant" movement were videotaping Latino-looking voters on their way into the polls and telling the subjects of their harassment that they were taking pictures to' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 07, 2007, 8:58am EST
  

• You Don't Need a Crystal Ball to See the Future of Prince William County and the City of Manassas

  This ad shows clearly what the citizens in Prince William and the City of Manassas should expect ... loss of businesses, revenues and jobs, empty houses and tax increases to continue to provide basic services.Companies and families don't want to locate in communities torn by ethnic strife -- regardless of' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 03, 2007, 3:25pm EDT
  

• Homophobia Doesn't Work? Try Xenophobia

  Having apparently learned from Brad Marrs’ defeat in 2005 that gay bashing won’t get him elected in the 68th House District, Manoli Loupassi (R Richmond) has, instead, sought to make immigrants the pawns in his 2007 bid for election to the Virginia House of Delegates. In a recent campaign commercial [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 01, 2007, 11:12am EDT
  

• Evening Edition -- Time to Stop Playing to People's Worst Fears and Darkest Beliefs

  Evening Edition last Tuesday night on WVTF focused on immigration in Virginia. Bob Gibson, the Charlottesville Daily Progress political reporter, hosted a conversation with guests Henrico County Republican Delegate Bill Janis,who wants to crack down harder of illegal immigration, and me, a former Chief Deputy Attorney General of Virginia who [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 25, 2007, 1:21pm EDT
  

• Can't Deliver on Promise to Control Growth? Shift Focus to "Illegal Immigration"

  Interesting to note in watching this video dialogue with Corey Stewart, chair of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors ... he virtually acknowledges that his failure to deliver on his promise to control growth is the driver in his shift of focus to the scapegoats he's chosen to blame [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 13, 2007, 12:29am EDT
  

• Another Kopy Kat

  Here's my Myers-Briggs profile ... as if anyone who knew me would need me to draw them a picture:' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 28, 2007, 11:03pm EDT
  by CG2

• A Critique of the Prince William Democratic Candidate 10 Point Plan on Immigration

  Cross posted on Raising Kaine ...A critical analysis of each of the points in the 10 Point Plan on immigration recently proposed by Democratic candidates running in Prince William for the House of Delegates demonstrates that, like the Republican leadership plan that preceded it, it is largely poll driven and [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 21, 2007, 12:18pm EDT
  by CG2

• How many laws does Virginia already have on the books dealing with "illegal aliens"?

  The answer is at least these thirty plus, some of which have been on the books for more than 40 years:1950 -- Mental health department required to determine the nationality of any person admitted to a state facility and to report to immigration anyone determined to be an alien, §37.2-827 [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 31, 2007, 1:35pm EDT
  by CG2

• Marriage Amendment Opponents are Very Much in the Mainstream of Virginia Voters

  Number of comments: 2
  I am getting more than a little tired of folks who continue to try to claim that people and politicians who opposed the marriage amendment represent some fringe group of Virginians out of the mainstream, and, having won one election, can't resist playing the poor winners by continuing to try' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 31, 2007, 11:08am EDT
  by CG2

• This Blog is Rated G

  Number of comments: 2
  Too funny. A G rating despite the use of "breast" twice and "gay" once. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: July 04, 2007, 6:43pm EDT
  by CG2

• Webb and Warner Collaborate on Court Nominees but ...

  Number of comments: 5
  Howling Latina has a good post up on the five guys who Senators Warner and Webb have jointly nominated for appointment to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The list has some men on it for whom I have great respect. But, I have to ask ... at a time [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: June 19, 2007, 4:41pm EDT
  by CG2

• Who said this and why?

  Number of comments: 2
  See if you can identify who said this, when and why. The salutary purpose of the statute is clear. The Legislature had seen the baneful effects of permitting foreigners, who had taken residence in this country, to rear and educate their children in the language of their native land. The result [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: June 19, 2007, 9:26am EDT
  by CG2

• Why Progressives (and Others) Should Oppose Webb's Amendment to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation

  The amendment Senator Jim Webb (D Virginia) is offering to the comprehensive immigration bill that will be debated in the Senate next week is not a positive one unless you favor the status quo that encourages scofflaws and worse. Senator Webb's amendment (#1313) cuts the heart out of one of the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: June 18, 2007, 7:26pm EDT
  by CG2

• Watch and Learn -- High School and Middle School Students Have Something to Teach Us

  Number of comments: 1
  Take a look at the winning videos in the annual CPAN video documentary contest for middle and high school students. Topics range from gay marriage to global warming to intelligent design to a woman president and immigration. The winning video documentary, "Jupiter or Bust," was done by high school students in [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: June 15, 2007, 11:17pm EDT
  by CG2

• Hoos Support for Hokies Makes this Alum Proud

  The letter copied below from student leaders at Virginia Tech (sent to me by my brother Mike, another 'Hoo) makes me proud to be a graduate of the University of Virginia. Again, the younger generation teaches us that competition need not preclude compassion, that rivalries can be spirted and inspirational, [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: April 19, 2007, 8:42pm EDT
  by CG2

• The Edwards Story

  I'm always amazed at the ability of some people to see themselves as knowing what's "right" for everyone else. Today, there's been a lot of that judgmental pap threading its way through (mostly Republican) blogs. The same sort of people who write letters to the editor telling women (not men) they [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: March 22, 2007, 11:34pm EDT
  by CG2

• Nebraska 1923 Revisited

  Just to prove that history does repeat itself, check out this 1923 Supreme Court decision invalidating a Nebraska law that forbid the teaching of German. Here's what the lower court had said was the reason for the law: The salutary purpose of the statute is clear. The Legislature had seen the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 06, 2007, 10:31pm EST
  by CG2

• Undocumented Students and In-State Tuition

  Number of comments: 1
  In his new role as blogger turned press flak for the Republican Party of Virginia, Sean Kenney is "posting" press releases up daily that attack various Democrats for their votes, particularly on immigration related issues. So, let's examine one of the votes that he flogged the media with this week ... [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 03, 2007, 9:26pm EST
  by CG2

• The Book Quiz -- A Little Too Close to Home

  Number of comments: 2
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: January 08, 2007, 10:59pm EST
  by CG2

• Political Ill Wind?

  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: January 08, 2007, 2:36pm EST
  by CG2

• Gathering Change... New Music

  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: January 02, 2007, 3:25pm EST
  by CG2