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Virginia and Its Regions
As a native Virginian growing up in the Valley region, I can still remember learning about the other geographic regions of the Commonwealth. While much of the emphasis on the differences among the regions was geographic and natural, the differences I have come to know are much broader and deeper than grade school students could grasp.
Human Rights Everywhere Every Day
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Last Sunday was Human Rights Day and the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights advancing the promise to all of freedom, equality and justice.
Speaker of the House
Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States provides that the House of Representatives is to choose a presiding officer to be known as the Speaker of the House. Such a position became necessary as the Founding Fathers looked for a way to have checks and balances among the branches of government since they had rejected a parliamentary form of government that would have had a prime minister serving as leader in both the executive and legislative branches at the same time.
Shots Heard Around the World
Newtown, Conn., joined a list topped by Blacksburg, Va., of the scenes of the most tragic mass murders in our history. This list contributes to the United States having 80 percent of all firearm deaths among the 23 populous, high-income countries in the world. Over a million people have been killed with guns in the United States since 1968 when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. In one year, 31,593 people died from gun violence and 66,769 people survived gun injuries. These statistics are from the Brady Campaign that has even more shocking numbers with documentation at its website, www.bradycampaign.org.
Election Outcomes Do Matter
The outcomes of the many party primaries from yesterday are not known as I write this column. Without any vote counts known to me, I can state with certainty that the Virginia General Assembly will not be the same. With retirements of many of the most senior members including myself and with challengers taking on many more incumbents than I can ever remember before, there will be a new cast of citizens running in the general election this November to become our citizen legislators.
A Place at the Table for Everyone Born
Some catchy phrases that led to success at the ballot box resulted in some terrible public policies.
Hail to the Queen
Hail to the Queen
A Threat to Our Democracy
A Threat to Our Democracy
Keeping a Republic
History records that at the end of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 Benjamin Franklin who was the senior member of the Convention was asked what kind of government the delegates who had sweltered through months of heat and compromises had produced. His oft-quoted response was “a republic if we can keep it.”
Statesmanship Prevailed
During legislative sessions in Virginia there is far too much partisan bickering, currying to special interests and, in recent years, doing the things that appear on late-night comedy shows.
Column: Keeping Up to Date
My experience is that the annual summit of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) provides the best continuing education I can get as a legislator.
Commentary: Past Time for Reform
Commentary by Kenneth R. “Ken” Plum: State Delegate (D-36)
Commentary: General Assembly Session Underway
The 2013 General Assembly session convenes at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 9. Tracing its beginnings to the colonists meeting in the church at Jamestown to conduct their common business, the General Assembly is the oldest continuous legislative body in the western hemisphere.
At the Half 2017
Commentary
The 2017 session of the General Assembly that got underway on Jan. 11 is barreling ahead towards its midpoint of Feb. 7. At that midpoint, referred to as “crossover.”
Commentary
Science Goes on Trial in Virginia
Not since the Scopes trial in Tennessee in 1925 has science been on trial as it has been in Virginia over the last few years. The Scopes trial was of course about Darwin’s theory of evolution. That trial concluded more than 85 years ago, but the debate goes on with fundamentalists who prefer the teaching of creationism over evolution in public schools. No amount of scientific evidence will convince those who read the Bible literally as to how humankind came to be on this earth. Likewise, in Virginia today there are those who deny that human behavior is jeopardizing God’s creation through climate change.
Accepting the Outcome
Commentary
Even though I literally wore holes in the soles of my shoes campaigning door to door, covering the equivalent of five districts in a person-to-person campaign was impossible. I congratulated the winners and kept on working.
Column: Virginia’s Crooked Road
Jane and I are about to embark on an extended weekend visiting one major venue on Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, The Crooked Road (www.thecrookedroad.org).
Commentary: Moral Consequences of Our Votes
Columnist E.J. Dionne, Jr. wrote in The Washington Post this past week that we should not be afraid to remind voters that elections and budgets have moral consequences.