Old Dominion Blog Alliance

This Time, It Will Actually Matter

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:26:31 -0500

It’s beginning to look like Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia made a wise choice when they scheduled their primaries for the week after Super Tuesday:

The Washington region’s history in presidential primary politics is found mainly in the footnotes.

It was 1988 before Virginia departed from its tradition of caucuses and mass meetings to hold primaries. Maryland might be best known as a state that Democrat George Wallace won in 1972 after he was shot at a Laurel shopping…

John McCain Endorses Perpetual War

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:07:09 -0500

John McCain Endorses Perpetual War:

Yea, this just makes me dislike this guy more:

The presidential candidate who sang “Bomb bomb Iran” is already looking towards the war after the war in Iraq.

Sen. John McCain told a crowd of supporters on Sunday, “It’s a tough war we’re in. It’s not going to be over right away. There’s going to be other wars.” Offering more of his increasingly bleak “straight talk,” he repeated the claim: “I’m sorry to tell you, there’s going to be other wars. We will never surrender but there will be…

Bill Clinton, Obama’s best help?

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:41:10 -0500

Bill Clinton, Obama’s best help?: It would appear that’s the general consensus… Democrats inside and outside the Clinton campaign on Sunday debated and in some cases bemoaned the degree to which former President Bill…

[…]

Friday Night Video Fights - Week 26 Results

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:42:32 -0500

Friday Night Video Fights - Week 26 Results:

The polls are now closed on Week 26 of Virginia Virtucon’s Friday Night Video Fights. With 67 percent of the vote, Genesis and the “Spitting Image” puppets have taken “Land of Confusion” to the top, cutting short Bryan Adams’ reign as champion after just one week.

Be sure to be here for Week 27 of FNVF when Genesis faces a new challenger!!!

Until next time, this is your Virginia Virtucon VJ, Jim Riley, signing off…

Just When I Started To Like The Guy

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:30:00 -0500

Just When I Started To Like The Guy: Ted Kennedy embraces Obama

This Is News?

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:28:00 -0500

This Is News?: McCain attracts the GOP establishment

The news media as well.

Budget Transparency

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:14:00 -0500

Budget Transparency:

From our friends at the Virginai Institute for Policy:
Here’s the link for the bill: HB1360

Friends,

I write today to discuss a legislative initiative in the current session of the General Assembly that we introduced at a January 8th news conference at the Virginia Capitol.

Senator Ken Cuccinelli (R-Fairfax) and Senator Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) have introduced SB 585, and Delegate Ben Cline (R-Rockbridge) and Delegate Johnny Joannou (D-Portsmouth) haveintroduced HB 1360 that will put the…

"Former blogger Jon Henke"

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 08:36:27 -0500

"Former blogger Jon Henke":

Sigh…

Now, however, bloggers are courted by political campaigns. Former blogger Jon Henke…

Former? Did I not get the memo?

Uh, Not Exactly

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 06:41:00 -0500

Uh, Not Exactly:

Breaking news out of Danville!

Danville ranks fourth in loss of population
Danville Register and Bee

The City of Danville ranks fourth in Virginia localities that lost population since 2000, according to a report released recently by the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia. (link)

The release date of that recently released report? Over a year ago.

The concept of time, it appears, is not an absolute.

Nice Try. No Cigar.

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 06:27:00 -0500

Nice Try. No Cigar.: Delegate Ward Armstrong (D-Henry County) says he proved to his colleagues that he’s not going to be pushed around by bullies

This occurred on a day when those “bullies” - the Republican leadership in the House - did just that.

I’m sure he means … next time.

Somebody Got Up On The Wrong Side Of The Bed

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 06:12:00 -0500

Somebody Got Up On The Wrong Side Of The Bed: Gosh. A Washington Post editorial that uses phrases like “immigrant-bashing,” and “closed-minded and foul-tempered,” and ” long regarded as among the more intolerant,” and “xenophobia,” and “overzealousness,” and “absurd,” and “blame-shifting,” and “perversely penalize,” and “grossly unfair,” and “immigrant-bashers,” and “a rich and ugly history,” and “a venomous new chapter,” and “lawmakers of Mr. Cuccinelli’s ilk.” All because we find it appropriate that the person taking our order…

Maybe Marylanders Aren't As Stupid ...

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 06:05:00 -0500

Maybe Marylanders Aren't As Stupid ...: From a Washington Times news article:

[Maryland] Gov. Martin O’Malley’s top staffers pitched the governor’s $1.4 billion tax plan passed during the recent special General Assembly session as a political effort akin to the one former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner passed in 2004, which elevated him to national political prominence.

Mr. Warner was hailed in national Democratic circles for doing the near-impossible: increasing taxes and improving his approval rating.

But after Maryland’s…

Florida Primary Predictions

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:55:45 -0500

Florida Primary Predictions:

One of these days, I’m gonna get this right, and I ~~think~~ hope today may be the day.

Here’s how I think things will pan out in Florida tomorrow.

Republicans

John McCain
Mitt Romney
Rudy Giuliani
Mike Huckabee
Ron Paul

Over the weekend, John McCain received endorsements from Senator Mel Martinez and Governor Charlie Crist, both of which are likely to be just enough to help him overcome a last minute surge from Mitt Romney. Depending on how big the margin of victory, this could be the…

The Sytem Has Nurtured This Kind Of Outrage

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:45:00 -0500

The Sytem Has Nurtured This Kind Of Outrage: A man who lives in Washington D.C. files suit because restaurants in other cities deprive him of his right to patronize their establishments, should he ever want to visit, because their owners allow people to smoke. And the courts (along with legislatures around the country) support this sort of vindictive malice to occur.

The story:

Virginia smoking suit cites ADA
By Jen Haberkorn, The Washington Times

The bars and restaurants of Virginia are a smoker’s last haven in the…

The Big Question

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:05:00 -0500

The Big Question: But will she bring with her that slug of a husband who’s destroying her chances of being president?

Clinton Brings Campaign To Florida

If she’s smart, she’d leave his butt in South Carolina.

But then, if she were indeed smart, she would have left his sorry butt long ago.

Tying Himself In Knots

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 04:57:00 -0500

Tying Himself In Knots: John McCain is now trying to have it both ways on the illegal immigration debate. But darned if I can figure out what those ways are. Tell me if this makes any sense to you:

McCain sees attrition as way to ease illegal entries
By Stephen Dinan, the Washington Times

Sen. John McCain now is embracing a version of the attrition strategy to fight illegal immigration, saying his version of a guest-worker plan would actually force many illegal aliens to leave the country over the next…

Where There's Smoke ...

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 04:47:00 -0500

Where There's Smoke ...: Regarding yesterday’s news that Advance Auto Parts (a Fortune 500 company) may be considering a move of its headquarters from Roanoke to Minneapolis, Ms. Elenaeous thinks there is a very good possibility that might just happen. And a big reason for it seems to center around the difference in airports, Minneapolis having a real one, of course.

I’ll say this: I live about the same distance (in terms of driving time) from Roanoke, Charleston, Greensboro, and Tri-Cities (and just a…

CA: Finally taking off Health Care rose colored glasses?

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:55:23 -0500

CA: Finally taking off Health Care rose colored glasses?:

Dan Walters takes us down California’s memory lane to a point 40 years ago, when buoyed by rosy predictions, the state committed itself to “MediCal” in an effort to “convert care for the “medically indigent” from charity to mainstream medicine.”

Medi-Cal was hastily approved with assurances from Brown that his administration could make it work well. But 40-plus years later, the state is still struggling to make Medi-Cal work properly without busting the budget. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s…

Yeah, good luck with that ...

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:17:57 -0500

Yeah, good luck with that ...:

Apparently the Clinton campaign is going to try to confront the reality of their loose cannon and hopefully get him under some semblance of control:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign team, seeking to readjust after her lopsided defeat in South Carolina and amid a sense among many Democrats that Mr. Clinton had injected himself clumsily into the race, will try to shift the former president back into the sunnier, supportive-spouse role that he played before Mrs. Clinton’s loss in the…

Music Industry Embraces Free Downloading of Music

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 22:55:05 -0500

Music Industry Embraces Free Downloading of Music:

Nearly 10 years after Napster burst onto the scene, the music industry appears to have embraced that concept and come up with a business model for the distribution of free music downloads.

Check out Qtrax, the world’s first free and legal music download service backed by EMI, Universal Music and Warner Music among other companies with over 25 million songs available. And here I only have another 10 GB free on my 30 GB Zune…