Sometimes a Song…

…reminds you of how it was, and of things that will never leave your mind or your heart.

God Bless You, Don Williams, for giving us this song.

Good Ole Boys Like Me
by Don Williams

When I was a kid Uncle Remus he put me to bed
With a picture of Stonewall Jackson above my head
Then daddy came in to kiss his little man
With gin on his breath and a Bible in his hand
He talked about honor and things I should know
Then he’d stagger a little as he went out the door

CHORUS:
I can still hear the soft Southern winds in the live oak trees
And those Williams boys they still mean a lot to me
Hank and Tennessee
I guess we’re all gonna be what we’re gonna be
So what do you do with good ole boys like me

Nothing makes a sound in the night like the wind does
But you ain’t afraid if you’re washed in the blood like I was
The smell of cape jasmine thru the window screen
John R. and the Wolfman kept me company
By the light of the radio by my bed
With Thomas Wolfe whispering in my head

When I was in school I ran with kid down the street
But I watched him burn himself up on bourbon and speed
But I was smarter than most and I could choose
Learned to talk like the man on the six o’clock news
When I was eighteen, Lord, I hit the road
But it really doesn’t matter how far I go

The WaPo Ombudsman and John Belushi

I love the movie Animal House. Even though I have it on DVD, it is one of few movies that if it happens to pop on television when I am channel surfing I am drawn to it like a bug to a zapper.

I especially love the scene where John Belushi (as future US Senator John Blutarski) comes down the steps during a fraternity toga party and forcibly shows his objection to a folk singer’s song choice by grabbing the singer’s guitar and wildly smashes it against the wall then hands the shattered pieces back to the singer with the comment, “sorry”, then proceeds to other bacchanalian entertainment.

I think the Washington Post Ombudsman likes that same scene, as this is the method Deborah Howell has chosen to respond to criticism of the WaPo coverage of the Allen Senatorial campaign.

While conceding that the massive coverage the paper gave was overkill, the ombudsman goes on to rationalize the need for and give overall approval to the massive numbers of individual stories.

In one paragraph, Howell writes “Did The Post overplay the incident? Not initially, but the coverage went on for too long after he apologized”, but finishes the paragraph by saying “No one piece was over the line. But when you put it all together, it looked [my emphasis added] like piling on”.

Translation-we weren’t really piling on.

Then, after noting that it only seemed like piling on, Mrs. Howell vacilates between using her report to editorialize and rationalize WaPo coverage (example: It was Allen’s “sputtering response” Peggy Fox’s coverage that served to justify coverage) and finding some way to tortuously show contrition (example: haltingly admiting the Post violated its own guidelines and standards in using anonymous sources to attack Senator Allen with unsubstantiated allegations).

Mrs. Howell also notes that: “Does all the coverage hurt Allen’s reelection prospects? The stories — six of them were on Page 1 — don’t help him, but there are five long weeks before Election Day.”

So we are to infer from this that if the stories had come out closer to the election day the WaPo wouldn’t have run them? Or is she really telling that it is OK for the WaPo to run inflammatory stories that violate the Post guidelines of fairness as long as we are not too close to election day?

The Washington Post does not like George Allen, and that is their right. But don’t try to seem fair and balanced by attacking the man day in and day out, then print a buried Ombudsman report noting that things should have been done differently.

There is little sincerity and no honor in that course of action.

And in that, I guess it may not be fair to compare the WaPo to John Blutarski.

At least Blutarski said, “sorry.”

Now for Something Really Bizarre…

As noted in an earlier post, the World Chess Championship is taking place even as I type in Elista, Russia.

However, due to some unusual protests it is only sort of taking place currently.

The match is between FIDE (the world governing body) World Champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Classical Champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia. This match is also much, much more.

Many years ago former world champion Gary Kasparov broke with FIDE and attempted to start his own organization. Since Kasparov was clearly the strongest player in the world, the world regarded him as the champion even though he had not won through a FIDE cycle. Kramnik beat Kasparov a few years back to claim his title. Topalov has not only dominated world chess this year but also won the FIDE title. This is the match to reunify the titles…you know, just like boxing!

Chess players can be more than a little finicky, and the World Championships have been know for their fair share of strange challenges and demands. Eating habits have been challenged, espionage and hypnotism charged, and outright cheating alleged.

The 12 game match has begun with 2 wins for Kramnik and 2 draws. At one point for a win and 1/2 point for a draw, he has a 3-1 lead.

But the Elista match offers us something really bizarre.

Each player has a private lavatory, complete with an LCD in the wall so players can see and reflect on the board position while they “attend to business”. Topalov claims, and has submitted videotape in support of his point, that Kramnik spends far more time in the bathroom than at the board. Topalov suggests this this is not only not consistent with the traditions of Over The Board play, but that Kramnik could be getting assistance during these frequent trips.

In order to keep the peace and continue the match, the sponsors have decided to create a single shared (but spacious and luxurious) bathroom that players will share.

This partially mollified Topalov, who through advisors asked that players also be accompanied by a FIDE arbiter to ensure the players do not receive aid.

Kramnik protested the decision, saying it was in violation of the match contract he signed.

So, we come to game Five. The single bathroon has been built, and the individual bathrooms locked. Kramnik refused to come out and play until his bathroom was unlocked. While he sat and stewed his lost the game on a time forfeit.

Now Kramnik demands that game five be replayed, or else he will walk.

They have wondered why chess has not taken off in the USA, and I have to agree. Behavior like this is infantile to end up on the front page of US Weekly and the National Inquirer, which makes it the perfect stuff to capture the attention of a public smitten with Paris Hilton and the like!

Big weekend for Non Visible Sports

I am a competition guy, and have been since I was a kid. I follow Div 1A college football and basketball (living and dieing with the ACC season), but I am a die hard Redskins fan, and have more than a passing interest in golf and tennis, and every season follow each pitch of the World Series.

However, my real thrill has always been in events I participate in, which tend to be the Non-Visible sports or competitions…and the world is are now fully loaded with them.

The World Chess Championship is taking now in Elista, Russia between Bulgarian GM Vladimir Topalov and Russian GM Vladimir Kramnik. Kramnik leads 3-1 in a 12 game match, but Topalov has essentially accused Kramnik of cheating and is threatening to bail.

In Las Vegas, the professional bodybuilding world is gathered for the Mr. Olympia competition, waiting to see if Ronnie Coleman can win an unprecedented ninth consecutive Mr. Olympia title.

On the small scale gridiron, my alma mater takes on the Bow Ties of Hampden Sydney College in a homecoming showdown at Jopson Field in Bridgewater, Virginia. BC is riding a 35 conference game winning streak within the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

Oh, and there is that small, ongoing matter of an election campaign…

Newest Silliness over Gas Prices

Of the many silly screeds making the rounds this election season, the one I find to be cheerfully ridiculous is that gas prices are falling as we head toward election day to help Republican candidates.

Of course, the only problem with this inane idea is that if you believe that the GOP has enough pull to lower gas prices, then logically you have to believe they used that same pull to drive up gas prices to over $3.00 and suffer political ills as a result.

This is a silly issue and a silly proposition. What isn’t silly is the fact that fuel flucuation like hurts us all. It makes it more difficult to manage our family budgets, and increased gas prices lead to increased transportation costs which are inevitably passed on to the consumer.

What we need, and neither the GOP or Democrats are willing to offer, is a reasonable energy plan that can make this country less dependent on other parts of the world…but that will likely happen about the same time that the Democratic conspiracy nuts stop attributing supernatural pricing power to the Republicans.

Where the Book Fair meets the Open Primary

Steven Rankin is the proprieter of the Southern Crown blog. A Mississippi man, he and I struck up a correspondence regarding the current open/closed primaries litigation in Virginia and Mississippi.

You may know that there is a case in the Virginia Courts that could eliminate the use of open primary for nominating candidates in Virginia. You may not know that there is a similar law suit working its say up the ladder in Mississippi. In fact, it is in part because of this mirrored situation that Steve submitted a title for the Book Fair.

As the Book Fair was intended as a place to exchange titles and reading ideas, I held back the bulk of his email. However, his analysis of the current situation, taken in concert with the title he submitted, convinced me his note were worthy of a post of their own:

“I’ve just purchased from Amazon (for an amazingly low price) the 2002 book, Voting at the Political Fault Line: California’s Experiment with the Blanket Primary. Its editors are Bruce Cain of UC-Berkeley and Elisabeth Gerber of the University of Michigan.

California used the blanket primary in 1998 and 2000, before the U. S. Supreme Court struck it down in California Democratic Party v. Jones. This case, of course, is the main precedent for the Virginia Republicans’ and the Mississippi Democrats’ federal lawsuits against their states’ open-primary laws.

After reading what this book says about open primaries, I’m even more convinced that mandatory open primaries will be declared unconstitutional. At this point, it looks as though the Virginia case has the best chance of reaching the U. S. Supreme Court first. If so, Miller v. Brown will precipitate a landmark ruling.

The book also mentions the “top two” system (”nonpartisan primary”), in which all candidates run in the same election, with the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advancing to the runoff. Louisiana is currently alone in using the “top two” to elect all of its state officials, although efforts are underway to install the “top two” in Washington state and Oregon.

The book agrees with me that the “top two” is constitutional, and it’s too bad that four judges in Washington state have apparently not read it, as two federal courts there have recently struck down Washington’s “top two” initiative.

Last week the state announced that it will appeal Washington State Republican Party v. State to the U. S. Supreme Court.

BTW: I think the “top two” is fine for judicial and local elections, but I personally despise it for state and congressional elections. I believe that political parties deserve to be able to officially nominate candidates for those offices.

– Steve Rankin
Jackson, Mississippi
http://southerncrown.blogspot.com/

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I urge you to take a gander at his blog…thoughtful analysis, excellent writing style, and marvelous taste in blog composition!

Fall 2006 Virginia Blogosphere Book Fair-Titles by Blogger Submitting

Hello, and welcome to Day Two of the Fall 2006 Virginia Blogosphere Book Fair!

Today I present books as submitted by members of the blogosphere. If links were submitted with the titles, I have edited the submission so the URL is linked to the title of the book. Comments are-for the most part-as submitted (corrections for spelling were made, etc.).

Contributors were asked to send in up to five titles. Where more than five titles were submitted, I had to edit to keep the playing field level. My rule of thumb: If a blog is primarily political, then I printed the title submissions that were non-political or atypical of the blog content. If a blog is not political, and there were more than five titles, then I listed the political books.

Logic? Let’s find out something new about the members of our blogosphere. No one is surprised if a GOP blogger or a democratic blogger submits a book bashing the other side, but might be interested in seeing what else said blogger is reading. However, if a non-political type submitted a political book, then it was used because-again-it offers up a different point of view on that blogger.

One blogger in a remarkable display of economcy sent me his Amazon Wish List (that did have more than five titles), so I have simply linked to that list while giveing a sampling of what awaits.

Also, if more folks submit titles, I will add them to the list…it is still not too late!

Books are grouped by blogger and their blog. Blogger comments on their submissions are typically are in italics, but sometimes I used italics for the title.

You will catch on…and away we go!

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NORM LEAHY-One Mans’Trash

George Mason, Forgotten Founder
by Jeff Broadwater

I haven’t read it yet (it should be arriving any day), but I can tell from the reviews I’ve read so far that this will become a must-read for anyone who wishes to have a better understanding of one of the most important and principled members of the founding generation.

The Road to Serfdom
by F.A. Hayek

The book that launched a thousand classical liberal boats

On Liberty
by John Stuart Mill

One of the most important works on individual freedom ever written. Its
relevance only grows greater with time.

Dubliners
by James Joyce

This collection of Joyce’s short stories is, quite simply, stunning. If you
read only one story, make sure it is “The Dead,” the most heart-breakingly
beautiful creation by any author in the 20th Century. And if you have the
chance, and aren’t shy, read the last paragraphs aloud — the words fall like
the snow: softly, quietly, completely.

The Brothers Karamozov
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

A difficult work, to be sure. But also a stunning artistic achievement that
takes us on a jopurney through the Russian soul. The dialogue with Satan is one of the most thought-provoking passages in any language.

STEVE RANKIN (southerncrown.blogspot.com)

I’ve just purchased from Amazon (for an amazingly low price) the 2002 book, Voting at the Political Fault Line: California’s Experiment with the Blanket Primary.

Its editors are Bruce Cain of UC-Berkeley and Elisabeth Gerber of the University of Michigan.

NOT BUCK TURGIDSON (vawarroom.blogpost.com)

Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethos
That crunching sound you hear is the last bit of your idealism dying. Kaplan’s book is the ultimate work of Realpolitik, proving to me at least that high ideals are the road to hell in foreign relations.

Deliver the Vote: A History of Electoral Fraud in America
Think Florida was the first time an election went south or was stolen? Think again. The first record of vote buying in this country predates the republic… and the purpetrator was George Washington.

Storm from the East
The single best primer on the history of Islamic-Christian conflict I’ve ever read. A small book that takes you from the revelation to Mohammed to the U.S. Invasion of Iraq. Conservatives be warned, it does smack the Bush Administration upside the head, but there’s much to be learned here.

Hunters of Dune
Just a plain old good book. I’m a huge Dune fan, and this penultimate novel doesn’t disappoint.

How the Republicans Stole Christmas
Should be required reading for every state/federal politician. Bill Press talks about the intersection of faith and politics, and where both parties have gone wrong. I’m not much of a liberal, but I found myself agreeing with him most of the time. A very good, eye opening book.

VIVIAN PAIGE(http://vivianpaige.wordpress.com/)
All Politics is Local by Tip O’Neill
Conservatives Without Conscienceby John Dean

JIM BACON (Bacon’s Rebellion)
Hi, Bwana, Here are a couple of submissions. These are books that I am reading right now:

Insurgents, Terrorists and Militias
by Richard H. Schultz and Andrea Dew

This book deepens the understanding of the foe the United States is facing in the War on Terror and military conflicts in the Middle East. Using insights from anthropology, Schultz and Dew explore the warrior ethos in “primitive” societies, with fascinating case studies like Somalia and Chechnya.

Street Smart: Competition, Entrepreneurship and the Future of Roads
Edited by Gabriel Roth

“Street Smart” consists of a series of essays that examine solutions to traffic congestion from a free-market perspective. The solution is not to raise taxes and add capacity to accommodate demand (which is limitless when someone else pays for it), the authors argue, it is to put into place pricing mechanisms that make people pay for access to roads when and where they want it.

THE VALLEY BLUE DOG

Why Americans Hate Politics by E.J. Dionne Jr
Third time I’ve read Dionne’s book — Excellent draft on politics in modern America

Theory of Constraints by Eliyahu M. Goldratt
Recommended by a friend

Critical Chain by Eliyahu M. Goldratt
Recommended by a friend

Unhinged - Exposing Liberals Gone Wild by Michelle Malkin
Why am I a Democrat? Who knows why after reading Michelle’s satirical expose

The Unshakeable Kingdom And The Unchanging Person by E. Stanley Jones
Pass the cornbread and say Amen

Finally, there is a book the Blue Dog simply loooves that is written by some guy named Steve Sisson can be found here
Bwana sez-”I wonder what that is all about?”

THE MASON CONSERVATIVE

Here are my book submissions. I’m trying to find some obscure ones that I have that might generate some interest.

The Shadow of Blooming Grove
by Francis Russell

An enormously entertaining of Warren G. Harding. It reads like a novel. Probably the best written, most engrossing biography I have EVER read. Its huge, but took me only three days too read because I never put it down. Its older, 1968, but holds up very well. Harding is from Blooming Grove, Ohio and the “shadow” is the rumor he had black blood in him. You get a top-notch political biography and large window into what was the crazy, crazy world of turn-of-the-century Ohio politics.

Rum, Romanism, & Rebellion: The Making of a President, 1884
by Mark Walhgren Summers

As it states, a history of the wildly exciting presidential election of 1884 between James G. Blaine of Maine (the first non-general the GOP had nominated since Lincoln) and Grover Cleveland, the popular, and rotund, reform Governor of New York (AND ex-mayor of Buffalo, my families home town). It will make any campaign today look like church. And Summers takes the perfect tone, mixing the seriousness of the issues
with the clownish nature of the way the newspapers covered it. Summers really gives color to an era, The Gilded Age, that is thought of in steel gray. I’ve read this four times, and its better every time.

Battle Cry of Freedom
by James McPherson

The absolute, number 1, KICKASS one volue history of the Civil War. In almost 1,000 pages McPherson nails almost every single possible angle of the Civil War and its just tremendous. If there is ONE book on the Civil War you could read, this is it.

Burr
by Gore Vidal

I am a big fan of historical fiction–thought not alternative history. Vidal does the unthinkable and tell a story with Aaron Burr, the black sheep of the Revolutionary family, as almost the hero, weaving the entire story of the Revolution and the Jacksonian era into Burr’s long, succesful, tragic, and controversial life. Sometimes fiction can tell a person’s tale better than fact. His other books in this series are good, especially Lincoln, but this one is the best.

Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union
by Robert V. Remini

This is the first history book I ever read cover-to-cover, and the first one I ever bought with my own money. If I had to pick oner American political figure in history that I would want to meet in life, it would be Henry Clay. Remini, as usual, is a master and the premier historian of the Jackson era. This is my sentimental pick, and one of my absolute
favore biographies of all time.

STEVE MINOR (SWVA LAW)

Steve submitted several titles, all of which can be found at the site hyperlinked to his name above. Some representative samples (dealing with Virgina) include:

Breaking Out: VMI and the Coming of Women (Vintage) by Laura Fairchild Brodie
Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. by John C., Jr. Jeffries
Soldier Of Southwestern Virginia: The Civil War Letters Of Captain John Preston Sheffey by John Preston Sheffey
A Murder in Virginia: Southern Justice on Trial by Suzanne Lebsock
J. Lindsay Almond: Virginia’s Reluctant Rebel by Ben Beagle

James Atticus Bowden
This is just a topical reading list, but not my all time favorites. These books (except the first, which is the absolute favorite), frame many issues I write about and show you what I am reading today.

The Holy Bible (NIV or KJV)
The owner’s manual for humans written by the Creator. Never gets old. Insights for individuals with every reading. Best read daily.

The Rise of the West by William H. McNeill
A multi-disciplinary approach to the whole of recorded human history 3000 BC to the present. Shows the way of the world on why things change and how.

The Culture Wars, The Struggle to Define America
by James Davison Hunter
A UVa scholar defines the issues based on insights from the late 1980s…a prescient work that still rings true.

One Nation, Two Cultures by Gertrude Himmelfarb
Another scholarly work showing the roots of the division and the intellectual history of the ideas that divide America.

Lee’s Lieutenants (D.S. Freeman) and Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
My current open books.

LOWELL FELD (Raising Kaine)

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L.
Friedman

Freakonomics Rev Ed: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything bySteven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas E. Ricks

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies New Edition by Jared
Diamond (Hardcover - Jul 11, 2005)

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond

BWANA (Renaissance Ruminations)

The Campaign of the Century: Upton Sinclair’s Race for Governor of California and the Birth of Media Politics
by Greg Mitchell

The first great media campaign

A Godly Hero : The Life of William Jennings Bryan
by Michael Kazin

The Great Populist, and author and deliverer of perhaps the greatest convention speech in American history. The chapter on the 1896 convention offers some not-so-common details about how the “Cross of Gold” speech was delivered.

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
by Robert A. Caro

Perhaps the greatest political biography of the 20th century, and one where Caro first tries to expose what drives men to want power, and what they will do to get it.

Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President
by Harold Holzer

There are some speeches we are so familiar with that brief phrases bring them to life…words like “I have a dream”, “ask not”, “moutaintop”, and “fear itself”, plus a whole raft of Churchill quotes, bring to mind speeches that captured public opinion and changed history. We remember Lincoln at Gettysburg and in his Second Inagural address, but few remember his Cooper Union speech…which is ironic, because it is this speech that put him on the road to the White House, and without which all those other speeches referenced above may never have happened!

Burying Caesar: The Churchill-Chamberlain Rivalry
by Graham Stewart

A fairly recent and significant addition to the Churchill literature that tracks the long standing political rivalry between the Churchill’s and the Chamberlain’s, which came to full fruition in the 1930’s as Churchill urged first the Baldwin government and then the Chamberlain government to rearm while Chamberlain chose the path of appeasement even as Nazi Germany prepared for war. Fascinating comparison of attitude, philosophy, and political style in a parliamentary democracy.

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Well, this is the list so far. If you have something to add, please email them to renaissanceruminations@hotmail.com, and please include amazon or B/N hyperlinks if you can!

Healthcare Hypocrisy

In the midst of the Allen-Weber madness, something happens in politics that make sme smile…and I must thank the Richmond War Room for pointing the way.

Judy Feder is running against GOP incumbent congressman Frank Wolf in the Va10 congressional district. As detailed at Richmond War Room, Ms. Feder has created an attack page off her website. And she really wants an issue to run on, but no matter which way she turns she gets no traction.

And although I live in the 11th district, watching her has been fun…and her site provides more giggles.

Ms. Feder has attacked Mr. Wolf for supporting big oil. She then tried to lump in donations from oil company employees and also a Manassas family business that sells heating fuel oil to make her argument. Not only did she not successfully make the connection, her gas station photo op fell apart as gas prices fell. Of course, it didn’t help that she has gotten more $$ in this cycle from liberal health care advocates than Mr. Wolf has gotten from so-called “big oil” in his entire career.

Then, in a speech available on YouTube, she criticized legislators who do nothing to stop traffic congestion by slowing development…ignoring the Hallowed Ground historic district that Frank Wolf co-sponsored that will aid historic preservation by slowing willy nilly development. Two birds for the price of one!

Of course, she gave that speech outside her district, so maybe she was refering to Someone else.

Now, on her new site, she attacks Mr. Wolf for being wrong on healthcare.

I imagine her charge would make more sense if one did not know that Mrs. Feder was lead staff member for Hillary Clinton in creating a new national health care plan that would let the government decide what doctor you could go to, that was exorbitantly expensive, and was so bad that the package was Dead b-4 arrival on capitol hill.

I appreciate that Mrs. Feder is desperate to find an issue that will allow her to get some traction. However, I seriously doubt that healthcare is going to be a winner for her…because every time she talks about Mr. Wolf’s track record on health care, Wolf will talk about hers.

…and I think we all know who is going to get the better of that discussion!

Fall 2006 Virginia Blogosphere Book Fair-Virginia Books

Welcome to the Fall 2006 Virginia Blogosphere Book Fair!

This serves as an effort to provide the denizens of the blogosphere to lay down their partisan cudgels and share intellectual sustenance by telling the world what books they have been reading recently or books they recommend others read.

Today we invite you to Part One of the Book Fair, a selection devoted solely to books about Virginia Politics. This is in great part a repeat of a post in the New-Domnion blog from November 2005. This post is still up, and the original included submission comments about why various books were must read books.

In addition to those entries, there are new biographies that have come out in the last year about Virginia politics, politicians, or history, and they are listed at the end of the post.

Since posting this list 30 minutes ago, I was asked to include hyperlinks for them. This is a lengthy list, and many of the books are no longer in print-which would necessitate an internet search anyway. So, I will take an intermediate step for now and hyperlink all the new books (plus the initial Frank Atkinson book, which has just been re-released). I will add links to the other titles as I get the opportunity.

Peruse, enjoy, and stay tuned for Part Two-Current Books grouped by subject-and part Three-Current books grouped by submitting bloggers

Classics:
Notes on the State of Virginia by Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson and his Time (biography in six volumes) by Dumas Malone

General Virginia History (including fiction)

Virginia: the New Dominion by Virginius Dabney

The Shad Treatment by Garrett Epps

Southern Politics in State and Nation (V. O. Key’s , 1949)

Changing Politics of the South, focus on Ralph Eisenberg chapter on Virginia

Conversations with Colgate (by Guy Fridell)

The Governors of Virginia, 1860–1978 Edward Younger and James T. Moore, eds.

The Transformation of Southern Politics: Social change and political consequence since 1945 by Jack Bass

Early Virginia and Revolutionary Era:

A Little Parliament: the Virginia General Assembly in the 17th Century by Warren Billings

Antebellum Period:

Pistols and Pointed Pens: The Dueling Editors of Old Virginia by Virginius Dabney (I hope the Allen and Webb bloggers do not get crazy ideas at ten paces!)

John Randolph of Roanoke: A Study in American Politics, With Selected Speeches and Letters by Russell Kirk

Senator James Murray Mason: Defender of the Old South by Robert W. Young

Roots of Secession: Slavery and Politics in Antebellum Virginia by William A. Link

Reconstruction through the Martin Organization:

Bourbonism to Byrd by Alan Moger

Westmoreland Davis: Planter-Politician by Jack Temple Kirby

Dry Messiah by Virginius Dabney

The Byrd Era:

Harry Byrd and the Changing Face of Virginia Politics: 1945-1966 by (none other than 4th Circuit Court Judge) J. Harvie Wilkinson, III

Harry Byrd of Virginia by Ronald L. Heinemann

Virginia and the New Deal (y Ronald L. Heinemann)

Bill Tuck, a political life in Harry Byrd’s Virginia by William Bryan Crawley

J. Lindsay Almond: Virginia’s Reluctant Rebel by Ben Beagle and Ozzie Osbourne

A Man from the Valley by Francis Pickens Miller

The Crisis of Conservative Virginia: The Byrd organization and the Politics of Massive Resistance (Twentieth-century America series) by James W Ely

The Rise of Massive Resistance: Race and Politics in the South During the 1950s by Numan V. Bartley

Modern Developments:

The Dynamic Dominion: Realignment and the Rise of Virginia’s Republican Party Since 1945 by Frank Atkinson

—–Books about Doug Wilder—–
When Hell Froze Over by Dwayne Yancey
Claiming the Dream Margaret Edds
Hold Fast to Dreams Donald Baker

Sarge Reynolds: In the Time of His Life by Andy McCutcheon and Michael P. Gleason

—–Works by Larry Sabato, including: —–
Virginia Votes (all volumes)
The Democratic Party Primary in Virginia: Tantamount to Election No Longer
and
Virginia Government and Politics: Readings and Comments (co-authored by Thomas Morris of Emory and Henry).

Campaign Dynamics by Thomas Carsey (due to section on 1993 Virginia Gubernatorial campaign)

Notes from the Sausage Factory by our friends at Bacon’s Rebellion

Recent Works and Additions to the above list:

Virginia in the Vanguard: Political Leadership in the 400-Year-Old Cradle of American Democracy, 1981-2006 by Frank Atkinson…a continuation of his earlier work on the Virginia Politics

John Tyler, the Accidental President by Edward Crapol. Heartily endorsed by The Mason Conservative, who offers a full review.

George Mason, Forgotten Founder by Jeff Broadwater, and submitted by Norm Leahy. His comment: “I haven’t finished reading it… but I can tell … that this will become a must-read for anyone who wishes to have a better understanding of one of the most important and principled members of the founding generation.”

Claude A. Swanson of Virginia: A Political Biography by Henry C., Jr. Ferrell. Biography of the man with the plan between the death of Tom Martin and the rise of Harry Byrd.

Carter Glass: A Biography by Rixey Smith and Norman Beasely. Account of the life of the man who was the Father of the Federal Reserve, congressman, and US Senator.

Feel free to add to this list by submitting additional titles via the comments!

The Election is over, and other thoughts…

As I kill time waiting to head off to the dentist for round #2 of a quasi-botched crown job, the beneficial coincidence of quiet time in my asylum (all the WMD are still asleep) and a large jolt of COSTCO java has led me to some new views on the current mud bath that is the US Senate election in Virginia 2006.

1. The election is over

I don’t know who is going to win. The Webb campaign has been able to use macaca to avoid an issues campaign. Between questions about Allen’s reactions to revelations about his jewish heritage and hints and allegations of questionable to unusual behavior (which the Webb campaign still uses its bloggers to keep up, while Webb refuses to comment) means that voters have likely either decided that Allen is a racist OR Allen is a man unjustly accused by a desperate opponent. I think the latest allegations of the use of the “N” word by unnamed teammates will a polarizing effect, driving folks to one end of the Allen spectrum or the other. When the campaign is over, this announcement will be seen as the final turning point of the campaign.

2. Allen will not be withdrawing

Our friends over at NLS are speculating that Allen will withdraw from this race. Such speculation is silly.

Elected officials are human, all doubts to the contrary notwithstanding. Losing an election allows one to claim the electorate was duped by a calculating opponent using deceit and lies. Withdrawing effectively admits the charges are true. No withdrawal.

Also, with whom who would the GOP replace Allen? Move in Tom Davis and the Democrats likely pick up the 11th district. I think you could pull off a late move to Eric Cantor, given how strongly GOP the 7th is, but would Cantor give up a ranking position in the House for a frosh spot in the Senate? Doubtful. Moving past them, who do you take?

Gilmore? Feh
Kilgore? double Feh
Bolling or McDonnell? After what happened to Dick Davis in 1982, doubtful.
Harry Byrd, Jr? Too late for a comeback
John Chichester? Oy

Besides, with only 40 days left it is near impossible to get someone out there and competitive with a major party candidate who has been in the field for almost a year.
No replacement.

3. Allen loss will help GOP House candidates

I may be way off base here, but hear me out.

There is a reason why Congress as a whole keeps getting low marks in public polling but the membership doesn’t turn over. While there are the benefits of incumbency and partisan redistricting, I bet there are a lot of folks who like their congressman while being unhappy with the instution. I also suspect that there are folks out there who want a way to register their disapproval of the Bush administration while supporting their congressman (who they like, respect, etc.) A split ticket-vote Democrat in the Senate election, GOP in the House election-would allow them to do that…and the bad press for Allen will continue to make that option very palatable to a lot of folks.

We shall see!