The 2008 Arnold Classic Starts Today…

Today marks the start of arguably the second most important bodybuilding event in the world-The Arnold Classic.

While the exercise has grown into a multi-discipline athletic festival highlighting everything from aerobic fitness to martial arts, and the name has changed to The Arnold Sports Festival, the thing that got it going still puts The Arnold on the map-bodybuilding.

The Arnold provides a counterpoint to the Mr. Olympia contest, which has grown to focus on definition within mass. The Arnold seems to focus more on pure form, regardless of how big the contestant is.

This year’s field is:

Melvin Anthony
Gustavo Badell
Adorthus Cherry
Toney Freeman
Kai Greene
Deshaun Grimez
Phil Heath
David Henry
Dexter Jackson
Johnnie Jackson
Desmond Miller
Ronny Rockel
Silvio Samuel
Branch Warren

In looking at this field, I am curious about three things:

1. Why did Dennis Wolf not participate? Is he so fired up for the 2008 Olympia after his “fan favorite” Fifth Place in 2007 that he is completely focused on running the table in Las Vegas?

2. How will Phil Heath do? Heath stunned the world with twin victories upon coming a professional bodybuilder, but had to put on more bulk to compete with the big boys. He is fresh off a win at the IFBB Ironman Pro, and many pick him as the favorite.

3. Branch Warren-what’s the story? Will his hyper developed granularity be able to carry the day? His 2006 Olympia finish (12th) was a disappointment, and he pulled from the 2007 event. While he was second at the 2006 Arnold, he fell to 7th in 2007. Is 2008 the year of atonement and resurgence? We shall see!

Good Luck to all!

Barack Obama-Blatant Opportunist or Man of Principle?

Last year US Senator Barack Obama took a bold step to set himself aside from his opponents for the Democratic nomination.  Poorly funded in comparison to his opponents, Obama said he would acccept public funding of his presidential campaign if he got the nomination.  Also in money trouble due to early missteps, John McCain also said he would accept public funding.

How things change!  Many months later Obama is on the cusp of getting the Democratic nod and is awash in cash.  Now he is actively trying to figure out how to go back on his promise.

This back and fill shouldn’t surprise anyone.  This is the same man who on CNN talked of how superdelegate votes should absolutely reflect their state delegations.  But when pointed out that would mean Ted Kennedy would be voting for Hillary Clinton for the nomination, Obama started to hem and haw and talk of the need for “discussion and change.”

So now we get to see how much of Barack Obama is based in principle and how much in opportunism. Will he keep his word, or let his word get washed away in a flow of cash?

So now we get to see if the man who claims he will move us to a higher moral level of political discourse will go back on his word.

I don’t think he should.  He made the choice, and told the public what he would do.  There is nothing illegal with his now refusing public funding, nor is it immoral…I think it is more than a little unethical, I think it is wrong, and I think it reeks of the political subterfuge and opportunism in the political environment that Obama claims he will move to eliminate and “change”.

Perhaps I am simply cynical, but what makes this more interesting is the possibility that the Obama never really thought it would come to this. I can just imagine the following conversation among his advisors …

Advisor 1-”We are stagnant…we need to do something bold”
Advisor 2-” I got it! Have the Senator announce that if nominated he will accept public funding of his campaign and challenge the other candidates to do the same!”
Advisor 3-”Great idea! If they do accept, we are no worse off. If they don’t, we become the campaign of principle!”
Advisor 2-”Absolutely! Let’s take this to the Senator and see if he will sign off?”
Advisor 1-”Hold on…what if we actually get the nomination? Then we will be stuck with public financing…”
Advisor 3-”Oh,come on! This is for a tactical advantage…the only GOP guy who can use this against us is John McCain, and there is no way he will be the nominee!” Nope, no one is going to remember this next Spring!”

And they would probably have been right…except John McCain will be the GOP nominee.

Now Barack is stuck…either he sticks to his guns and does as he proposed, OR he ends up getting to answer the question, “Do, were you being an opportunist now or back then?”

The folks I feel sorry for are those who have consumed the Obama Kool-Aid.  They are touting their guy as the last honest man in American politics, and if he says I am going to refuse public funding they will find some way to rationalize the decision.  They may say it is necessary to get out of Iraq, it is OK because otherwise the GOP will find some “Rovian” tactic to win the election, that Obama is the better man so it is OK “just this once” to go back on his word.

You know they will, and that is where the real tragedy lies.  This matter goes beyond the the character of Barack Obama, and the question is he an opportunist or is he principled.  We know from his take on the Super-delegates that he has a flexible morality…we just don’t know how flexible.  But if he now refuses public funding after saying he would accept it if nominated, then he will also be climbing the greasy pole on the backs and shoulders of thousands of supporters who will be willing to subvert their innate sense of what is right just so Obama fulfill his ambition.

Senator O, what’s it going to be?

William “Bill” Buckley is Dead

William F. Buckley, the intellectual godfather of American conservative political thought, is dead at the age of 82.

From his book God and Man at Yale to his television show Firing Line to his magazine The National Review, Buckley stood for conservative thought unvarnished with sentimentality and with a keen eye on the reality of threats and challenges this nation has faced since World War II.

He was also oh so modest…he once wrote to the editor of the NY Times Book Review:

“I am, I fully grant, a phenomenon, but not because of any speed in composition. I asked myself the other day, ‘Who else, on so many issues, has been so right so much of the time?’ I couldn’t think of anyone.”

While we all have to go, the passing of such a bright light is always sorrowful. I tried to think up the right words, but I think William Kristol hit it on the head:

“For people of my generation, Bill Buckley was pretty much the first intelligent, witty, well-educated conservative one saw on television. He legitimized conservatism as an intellectual movement and therefore as a political movement.”

That about says it all. Perhaps his death will in some small way remind the GOP of what it once was and what it can become again…a focus on individual liberty and limited government…as opposed to the great non-aligned, stand for nothing beyond political power thing it has become.

Huckabee Kicks off his New Campaign on SNL

Any doubt I may have had about Mike Huckabee and his current political plans were ended last Saturday night when Huckabee appeared on the “Weekend Update” portion of Saturday Night Live.

I have long suspected that Huckabee knows he is done for 2008, and stays in the game and on the stump as a way to continue building his organization and his name ID in preparation for a potential 2012 or 2016 campaign. Going on SNL and making fun of yourself is not something you do while you are in the think of a campaign. It is something done early in the process, before becoming an official candidate as part of an effort to make the candidate look more human and approachable.  John McCain did the same thing on SNL circa 2003 or so, and Obama made a quick stop on the last SNL episode prior to the writer’s strike kicking in (ironically, the skit was of a costume party hosted by Hillary Clinton).

Huckabee’s appearance is further proof that he knows he is toast this year, and is staying in the race as part of a future campaign.  He knows that his name ID and positives went up after his boffo appearance on Jay Leno the night prior to the Iowa caucus, and hopes this will do the same.

So click the link above, enjoy yourself, and remember you have just seen the first media appearance of the 2012/2016 campaign.

Parliamentary Immaturity In Richmond

Senate Democrats are having a religious experience.  Some might call it Karma, others would simply quote Galatians 6:7 and say “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”  Their days of hiding behind John Chichester are coming back to haunt them, and all they can do is stomp their feet and complain of partisan actions.

How can I say such a thing?  Because of what has transpired in the Senate Finance Committee, and how it reflects on The Gov and the Senate leadership.

The Senate Dems have proposed a state budget with all variety of add ons at a time when Governor Kaine is talking about layoffs and raiding the state “rainy day” fund.  There are a wide variety of things that have been talked about but not done (a new legislative building, for instance) and a collection of Governor Kaine fiscal favorites (expanding state paid pre-K coverage is one).  The budget came up and for a vote in the Senate Finance Committee, and it passed in a straight party line 9-7 vote.

Committee Chairman Chuck Colgan (D-Manassas) was outraged, accusing the GOP members of making it a partisan budget.  SenKen, a committee member, reports that Colgan claimed “the Budget is above politics!…Get politics out of this arena, it doesn’t belong here!”

I guess Colgan believes that no candidates ran for office last fall based on how they thought state money should be spent!   Colgan knows that not a single GOP member of the House was targeted in the 2005 primaries and general election because they voted the (later proven to not be needed) Mark Warner Tax Increase.  Shoot, I bet there was not a single person who talked about being able to get funding for this or that or how to stop money from going to an unfavored system or region.  One can easily see how politics and budgeting do not go hand in hand.

Right…

Then, Ed Houck attacked the GOP over their vote, saying “It takes a lot of guts to start kicking around — politically — poor, 4-year-old children. Man, that’s leadership,”. Houck’s sarcasm was applauded by NLS-when in fact it was inappropriate, unstatesmanlike, self-defeating, and quite inaccurate.

Governor Kaine has chastised the House GOP, claiming they will take their ball and go home” by saying it was wrong of them to say “my way or the highway.” Better I suppose to engage in Kainesian Economics and simply accept without questioning what is put before them.

Gosh, where to start?

The fundamental fact is that even in the face of a slowing economy, the Democrats in Richmond and the GOP differ on how much money will come in during the next budget period. They assume that despite the very flat income tax structure in Virginia, that taxes received will raise at a faster from personal income growth. I don’t see how under the current Virginia structure tax income can do much more than increase at the same rate as personal income grows-or declines. To say it will outstrip the income growth rate seems to be unfounded.

First, the Democrats are obviously not enjoying life without John Chichester. First they failed to win his seat in the general election last fall. Now, they no longer have him to hide behind in the Senate Finance Committee. You see, regardless of what you think of him Chichester had the smarts, the charisma, the gall, and the cajones to make his will stand. He also had a permanent majority. Depending on the issue he and his minions could vote GOP and pick up a majority on the right, or bolt and go left and get the Democratic votes. Since he could always get a majority, there was little point in opposing him.

It should be noted that although retired from the Senate Chichester cannot help but heave cheap shots.  He was quoted in the WaPo as opining:

“What you have now is gridlock,” Chichester said from his home in Fredericksburg. “Before, the common goal was, ‘What is best for Virginia?’ Now that’s deteriorated to, ‘What is best for the party?’ “

The Senate vote on the budget was disappointing, said Chichester, who said he never saw such dissent in his 30 years in the legislature.

This is, of course, silly speak. No matter now much the RK guys think this is statesmanlike chatter. The reason Chichester never saw anything like it is because for over half his time in the Senate either the Democrats held a massive majority-so there was no need to work together-or there was a tie-in which case there was every reason to work together.

Some may say the rancor began when the GOP took the majority. It appears to me the rancor began when Chichester became the sole chair of the Finance Committee.

In an aside, I should note how Lowell has changed his tune on what constitutes “partisan rancor”. When the Senate Democrats (in the minority) were voting as a bloc against the GOP budget, it was a good and patriotic thing. Now when the Senate GOP (in the minority) votes as a bloc against the Democratic budget is causes “partisan rancor”.

Horsefeathers…the rancor was already in place, created by an unwillingness on both sides to work together, but fostered on the democratic side of the Senate by their willingness to hide behind John Chichester’s Chairman’s chair.

Moving on…

Chuck Colgan, a good man, has never been accused of having political gravitas. His election in 1975 delayed the widening of Va-234 for years. He is not a leader, nor does he inspire loyalty or fear as Chichester did. He is not going to be able to intimidate, agitate, or otherwise shmooze the GOP minority to do something just because he wants it that way.

Colgan also carries the burden that both sides have come to see that committee and floor votes have consequences now that they might not have had twenty years ago. Twenty years ago a legislator could go along on a bill he was not 100% behind knowing that it would take real digging to get that information before the public in a context that would hurt him. Not now…votes are out and announced an in the public domain immediately thanks to all types of new media.  Votes that went unnoticed twenty years ago now must be defended.

Of course, the differences in how much revenue is coming in might not matter if either party set a needs baseline. Most business’s, people, families, etc., set a budget. The determine what goods and services they need, how much it takes to pay for them, and how much dinero is coming in. If the expenses exceed the revenue, they either cut the expenses or take steps to increase the revenue.

Not in Richmond, not for a long time. For the last ten years it does not matter who holds the legislature or the governor’s mansion, neither party has made a case for what the state needs to spend money on. In hard times, they start talking cuts and layoffs and attriting job openings, but that is all after the fact. No one has been willing to say “here is what we think the state needs-and here is why”. Instead, they assume they should start from where we were in the last budget.

Needless to say, this causes problems…especially when The Gov wants to start new programs in non-growth years.

Part and parcel of this practice is the argument that “this new thing costs so little, we should do it!” This is out of the same logic as the person from the cash strapped family who buys a bunch of stuff the family does not need, but points out that because of the sale they saved money. If the state doesn’t need the program NOW, now is NOT the time to subject the state budget to the Kainesian economics and torture it with the fiscal death by a thousand cuts by pushing through a multitude of small programs that individually may not be huge expenditures (given the overall budget) but taken in the aggregate is a huge sum.

Next comes the lust for power.  Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have a real platform they operate from.  I have chastised the GOP for it, but noted the Democrats are no better.  The General Assembly Democrats believe that Governor Kaine’s bankroll won several races for them, so they had better push his program.  This means raiding the rainy day fund, implementing new programs at the expense of existing ones, and doing all this without a framework for explaining where they want to go. 

The stubbornness of the new Democratic leadership is of the same brand as that of the recent GOP Senate Majority. But it is disingenuous for them to carry on in so many forums about how partisan the GOP is being. While in the minority the Democrats wrote the book on “principled obstruction”, part of which was not fighting for legislation-because that created a record that could be fought against in the next election.

Well, now they are in the majority, and they get to learn their own lesson about “principled obstruction”. And now that the Senate Democrats can no longer hide behind John Chichester, now that they have to produce a record, now that they have to show what their own principles are…that adds a whole new aspect to how campaigns will be fought and policy produced here in the Commonwealth.

Most of all, it will cry out for a new parliamentary maturity in Richmond…because to date the new boss is about as petulant as the old boss.

Burke Wal-Mart…Worth-it?

I had planned to write this screed about Wal Marts in general, but instead I have come to the conclusion that I live within a few football fields length (as the crow flies) of the Worst Wal-Mart In The World.

I have long been fascinated by the Wal-Mart story and Sam Walton, and when Wal-Mart first showed up in Manassas fifteen years or so ago I was a regular customer.  I also found over time that all the pricing practices AIAW recites are true. They sugar foot the competition, draw in traffic with lower prices, then jack it up bit by bit when they have cleared the field.

I, however, was not daunted by said tactics. I carry the hunter gatherer gene right down to my nanites. I know, for instance, that if I want a bottle of my favorite lime flavored water, I can get a 33.8 oz bottle cheaper at Wal Mart ($0.5 than at Safeway or at Giant ($.85, or on sale at 4/$3=$.75). BUT, if I want the little 20oz bottles, they are cheaper at Giant on sale (2×4 packs for $3.00) than at Wal Mart ($1.88 per 4 pack). So for some items, Wal-Mart does sell them for less…then they use the convenience of having a bazillion other things nearby to keep you there and shopping…and I bet in these days of high gas prices that convenience facet will work big things for them.

I have no doubt that their HR policies are not the most magnanimous in the world, but AIAW does a far better job pushing that button than I could ever do so I leave that in her capable hands.

I even learned to handle the lacking customer service. You see a Wal Mart myth that AIAW does not get into is the great customer service, that willingness to go the extra mile for you because we are all “just folks”, in this together. That is just malarkey. For every smiling retiree you see pushing a cart at you when you enter a Wal-Mart, there seem to be a mutltude of folks shuffing around, who don’t know where things are, and who “can’t find” a manager when you want to speak to one.

So, beyond all the economic ripple effects that AIAW recounts, there is the on site question about whether prices are really the lowest, and there is the bad service. But here in Burke, they have taken things to a new depth of annoying. The store here is dirty, and the parking is problematic.

I had this spelled out to me last weekend, when circumstance had me in four different Wal Marts on the same day (Fair Lakes, Manassas/I-66, Manassas/Liberia, and Burke). The Burke parking was bad, but part of that comes with the territory. Instead of building a facility to meet their design, Wal-Mart took over a building that had been a K-Mart, and the parking lot really isn’t equal to the traffic. However, while they saw it coming, I guess their need to build in new areas took over their planning sense.

Burke also carried the day on being dirty. Rather than put in some type of tiling that disguises the dirt tracked into a retail establishment, they have this white stuff that gets dirty, stays dirty, and does not seem to get cleaned that often. I had neither the parking nor sense of filth problem at the other stores.

Now at all stores I quickly found what I was looking for…my favorite bottled water, some things for my father, MRP bars, etc. At three stores I checked out quickly…let me tell you what happened in Burke when I tried to check out with a cart of seven items, just heavy enough to take us out of basket range.

I will spare you all the details, but the highlights included:

* Having to go to four different counters between registers suddenly not working or breaks occuring.
* Every checker had some terrible time putting sales items through, even though the customers in each case had circulars or coupons with them that were within the proper date range.
* I went to the self-serve checkout and had, among my seven items, a box of MET-RX meal bars (Apple Crisp). The box clearly says it has a dozen bars, and had not been opened. When I attempted to scan the box bar code, the check out machinery went into cardiac arrest. The staffer overseeing the four registers comes over and tells me that the box barcode is not in the sytem, I will have to separately ring each of the twelve bars. HOWEVER, since that would put me over the ten item limit, I had to go to another aisle.

This process took me twenty minutes for what should have been no more than five.  Then, on the way out I ask to speak to a store manager…and no one can find him.  I ask to speak to any manager, and they cannot find one.  Finally I speak to a “customer service” rep named Dupuy, who seemed sympathetic but made no effort to find a manager and acted like what he really wanted was for me to leave.

What I found amazing was that none of this happened at the other stores.  What I also found amazing was that none of the folks at Wal-Mart had any sense or concern that they could lose a customer.  I mean, how can one walk away from our low, low prices?

Well, there comes a time when low, low prices don’t but the mustard, especially when the discerning eye can tell when they aren’t as low as they want us to think.

I don’t know if the Burke Wal-Mart is worth it.  Maybe they can change.  But if they are going to survive the heightened surveillance of their pricing and HR systems, not to mention the effect they have on their communities, they best begin by at least cleaning up their stores and hiring staff that at least acts like they want to help you.

I don’t think I am going to hold my breath on that one.

Super Delegate Whining

The last few weeks have revealed a variety of Democrats in print, on tv, and in blogs go on about the terrible possibility that the Automatic Delegates (a/k/a Super Delegates) to the Democratic Convention might decide who the nominee is.

I find this whining to be anywhere from mildly annoying to extremely funny. Let’s face it…all these folks are upset and whining because the Super Delegates may do exactly what they were created to do. They exist because historically the party professionals on both sides of the aisle fear the spontaneous will of the non-professional class.

This is not a new condition. In fact, if you go back to 1884 you will find Speaker of the House Thomas Reed grousing because the GOP convention nominated James G. Blaine as their standard bearer.  Reed was convinced that the somewhat loose morality Blaine had applied to his public career would be poison in a national election regardless of how much people liked him.  When challenged to be more enthusiastic about the nominee, Reed replied, “We elected officials don’t worry about personality…we only care about little things like actually winning the election.”

The current class of Democratic Super Delegates has its origins in the 1972 Democratic convention, where delegation after delegation tossed out elected officials and instead chose “cause advocates”.  The whole exercise is capably described by Hunter Thompson in his marvelous book Fear and Loathing: on the Campaign Trail 1972, especially when the convention-in a full fledged attempt to find political purity-seated the delegation led by young Jesse Jackson and tossed out the one led by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

In the wake of the Nixon-McGovern debacle, the Democrats instituted new rules to create the “Super Delegate” class so that the elected tier of the office would not be disenfranchised in selecting the party nominee.  The assumption was that the Super Delegates could be counted on to put the brakes on some runaway effort for a popular candidate who through some mass hysteria or popularity would sweep the elected delegates but lose in the general election.

That is why they were created…and given carte blanche as to who to vote for.  That is why the Super Delegates are not under the Democratic Party by-laws not required to reflect the elected delegate result in their state, either individually or proportionally.  And that is how they were empowered this year.

But now the institutional candidate is running behind in the elected delegate totals, and with all the backbone of a chocolate eclair no one is defending their right to vote as they were created to vote.  Speaker Nancy Pelosi does the sidestep when asked her take on the Super Delegates:

These superdelegates are all part of their state delegation, so that state will speak,” Pelosi said. The superdelegates “work out their preference, working with the people of their state.”

Her assertion is silly. The Super Delegates have always been designed to vote as they see fit. They have no restrictions, but no one is willing to say so. Instead they engage in moralizing about what the SD should do, and how failing to vote with their states will jeopardize the party.

Amazing…the Super Delegate rules have been in place for over a generation, and only now is there suddenly concern about their independence.

Of course, part of the problem is the front end loading of the primaries…there has never been so much pressure for the Super Delegates to commit this early in the past because the primaries did not happen so early. It seems like every time the Democrats go and change their rules, there are unintended consequences…and never in a way that makes people happy.

I suggest that if the Democrats think so highly of the men and women who qualify as Super Delegates to elect them to high office, then these same people should be trusted to vote their will at the convention. That is the way the rules are written. If you want to change the rules, fine. But don’t go whining about the Super Delegates doing exactly what they were created to do.

You see, in the end these folks are going to vote in the way that best ensures their own electoral survival…so please stop the whining and turn your attention to the whole matter of Florida and Michigan, which is going to be a credentials fight for the ages.

Spamming Enlightenment

I began bloggin sporadically in June 2005, more actively four months later, and moved from the accursed blogger platform to WordPress in a process that was completed on February 6, 2007.

[Cue massive chorus singing "The Hallelujah Chorus"]

In that time, the spam filter on this blog has picked off over 31,000 spam notices masquerading as comments.  I can only imagine the quantity of stuff that hits the high traffic sites.

What I find amazing is the broad variety of services offered via this spam.  I guess I was raised in a sheltered world, because these products are more amazing than what you find at the closest “As Seen on TV” store!

31,000 spams in a little over a year.  Looking over them, and noting the sheer quantity, I cannot help but feel somewhat enlightened…and a little bit dirty.

Thank goodness for spam filters.

Corey Stewart: Do as I Say, Not as I Do

Less than a week after trumpeting his willingness to save the GOP, His Preeminence Corey Stewart shows his idea of governance may not play well in Richmond at the same time Democrats use his antics to puff up and support Governor Kaine’s budgetary fandango’s.

At the same time that GOP legislators in Richmond are fighting off The Gov’s attempt to raid the state “Rainy Day Fund” to fund his own favored policies, His Preeminence not only wants to do the same thing but has eaten up the fund in doing so. At a time when Prince William County is facing a significant budget shortfall and will likely raise taxes, His Preeminence and his board have decided they have to deplete the rainy day fund to come up with scratch necessary to fulfill his anti-illegal immigration program…and by deplete I mean leave $3K in the fund for emergencies until the end of the fiscal year.

Remember, this is the guy who criticized the Virginia Senate and the new majority for trying to push through The Gov’s plans along with his funding ideas. In fact, His Preeminence said “[The Democratic Senate] need someone down there who is going to beat up on them,” he said. “They need me down there to break the bottleneck.”

Sounds to me like he is doing the same thing as County COB at home as he is criticizing The Gov for doing in Richmond. Both pushed certain programs, in victory both are certain they have to be implemented immediately, and both are willing to slash and burn emergency reserves to make it happen.

They are both wrong-raiding the rainy day fund for pet personal projects is wrong as can be. What is more disturbing is that His Preeminence doesn’t see what he is doing as being in any way, shape, or form to being the same thing as he wants to stop in Richmond!

His actions prove there is a danger to sending the well packaged candidate who is callow and untested to higher levels of governance.  I suggested the other day that Mr. Stewart has only shown himself to be a One Trick Pony…and this move shows how much he is willing to do to keep that One Trick in play.

His Preeminence has adopted either “Sauce for the Goose, Sauce for the Gander” as his political credo, or “Do as I Say, Not as I Do”

Either way, he clearly is not ready for Prime Time, and should work on making his actions consistent with his statements.

Bizarro World at William and Mary

I have watched over the past year or so as the Gene Nichol saga has played out at William and Mary.  I won’t go through the many details and controversies, but a few comments of late cry out to be commented on.

At the heart of this situation are matters of academic freedom and the university relationship with its alums, the town, and its national reputation.  In my estimation what is also at the heart of the matter is that Professor Nichols clearly does not have the political skills to serve as the president of a major university.

Consider:

1. Moving the Wren Cross so as to encourage diversity.  Nice idea, wrong technique.  First, to do it without laying the ground work?  Bad move.  Had he sounded out community and alumna elements about moving this item that is both a Christian symbol and also a historic artifact of the college…maybe he could have pulled it of.  But he didn’t.

A preferred course is that rather than keep it stowed away and brought out when requested, you do the reverse and allow groups using the facility in question to ask that the cross be stowed during their usage of the room.  Same effect, different language, fewer problems and ill will.

1a.  The school loses a multi-million dollar pledge/contribution over the matter, and Nichols tried to stonewall the matter and not cleanly admit the loss…that is not good leadership

2. The whole “Sex workers” exhibition thing.  Did he really think folks would hear him say “diversity” and roll over?  It doesn’t matter that it was student funded, use of university facilities has to be approved.  For Nichols to say he allowed it because he did not want to hinder “free speech” is ridiculous.  Freedom of speech protects us from government restrictions, and does not compel an educational institution to allow in any group possible.

3. Professor reaction…one professor suggests the next thing on the agenda is some type of restricting of classroom topics, saying “next they will come for our classes.”  Very clever use of nazi resistance type language, but it still doesn’t cut the mustard.  It is sheer muckraking hyperbole.  There is nothing that has happened at William and Mary that even vaguely hints of restricting what professors want to teach.

4. When Nichol is told his contract will not be extended, he puts his maturity to the test and quits in mid year, claiming the Board of Visitors tried to buy him off and silence him into saying the removal was not about ideology.  From what I can tell, it wasn’t…it was about competence, and Mr. Nichol has been found wanting.  No matter who much he tries to denigrate those who removed him from his position, Mr. Nichol did not have what it takes…and it seems that it was not just about political and communication skills.  No, given Mr. Nichol’s classless abandonment of his position, it seems there is a question of maturity, also.

Time for Mr. Nichol to go back to the classroom where he can rant and rave to his heart’s content, and leave the operation and administration of the grown-ups.

UPDATE: For an excellent and on the mark discussion of how and why the Nichol’s termination reached far beyond the high publicity events see this at Bacon’s Rebellion