Successful author Jim Webb is 60. His books get made into movies. He's got it made. So, why a run for political office now? In this Alexandria Times piece, “Webb seeks return to Democrat roots,” the reasons behind his late-blooming campaign to best rival Harris Miller in the June Democratic primary are explored.
“...Webb speaks with the seriousness and precision of a man who has spent his life in and around the military. Apart from his active duty service, the Naval Academy graduate has advised the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and served as assistant secretary of Defense and secretary of the Navy under President Reagan, having apprenticed for the latter under now Sen. John Warner (R) in the 1970s.
“‘This doctrine of pre-emptive war is not American,’ he said, returning to Iraq. In their view of how to export ideology, ‘the people who are doing this have more in common with the Soviet Union than they do with the United States.’”
From another angle, here's South of the James' Conaway Haskins on Webb, “When Democrats Attack: Jim Webb, Affirmative Action, and Virginia's 2006 Senate Race”
Since 1985, in various formats, SLANT -- an independent voice based in the heart of Richmond, Virginia -- has offered its readers original commentary on politics and popular culture. Warning: Occasionally, that means wiseass cartoons and satirical content. Naturally, all rights are reserved.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Immigration Issue Roils
As demonstrations took place in cities coast-to-coast much of America remains baffled over the immigration issue's many facets. How did we get to this point? What in the world is the right thing to do for those illegal immigrants already here, and to get control of our borders?
This Reuters story sums up news about the rallies today:
“Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in U.S. cities from Boston to Phoenix on Monday, waving American flags and calling for dignity and rights for millions of illegal immigrants. The national day of protest, the biggest in a wave of rallies that some have compared to the 1960s civil rights movement, was provoked by legislation in Congress that would turn millions of illegal immigrants into felons and fence off sections of the U.S. border with Mexico.
"Houston television reported that flyers had been distributed in the industrial suburb of Pasadena urging people to burn down the homes of illegal immigrants.”
This Reuters story sums up news about the rallies today:
“Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in U.S. cities from Boston to Phoenix on Monday, waving American flags and calling for dignity and rights for millions of illegal immigrants. The national day of protest, the biggest in a wave of rallies that some have compared to the 1960s civil rights movement, was provoked by legislation in Congress that would turn millions of illegal immigrants into felons and fence off sections of the U.S. border with Mexico.
"Houston television reported that flyers had been distributed in the industrial suburb of Pasadena urging people to burn down the homes of illegal immigrants.”
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Specter Calls for 'Specific Explanation'
With disapproval ratings soaring during an election year what has been a GOP monolith for five years is crumbling fast. This morning on the Fox television network Sen. Arlen Specter, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to Reuters, spoke about the snowballing White House leak story: "...There's been enough of a showing here with what's been filed of record in court that the president of the United States owes a specific explanation to the American people."
In the interview Specter went on to say, "I think that it is necessary for the president and the vice president to tell the American people exactly what happened. There has to be a detailed explanation precisely as to what Vice President Cheney did, what the president said to him, and an explanation from the president as to what he said so that it can be evaluated."
That from a senator who is not even running for office this year, but who does remember when the Bush administration held his feet to the fire, not so long ago, over whether he was loyal enough to remain chairman of the Judiciary committee.
In the interview Specter went on to say, "I think that it is necessary for the president and the vice president to tell the American people exactly what happened. There has to be a detailed explanation precisely as to what Vice President Cheney did, what the president said to him, and an explanation from the president as to what he said so that it can be evaluated."
That from a senator who is not even running for office this year, but who does remember when the Bush administration held his feet to the fire, not so long ago, over whether he was loyal enough to remain chairman of the Judiciary committee.
Friday, April 07, 2006
Armageddonville, Texas
By F. T. Rea
Part One: Setting the Stage
Amageddonville, Texas is the story of the proud Blusterbush clan. G. Phineas T. Blusterbush, the patriarch, owned miles and miles of all he surveyed. The scion of a wealthy Connecticut family, young Gee-Phinnie Blusterbush settled in Texas for a reason that was never quite clear.
With his utter determination to succeed, and a carpetbag full of Wall Street bread, Blusterbush eventually became a cattle rancher of mammoth proportions. A tall and flinty man, Gee-Phinnie believed he owned the Armageddon River that flowed across his land. To make his belief a reality, over the years, he steadily bought up any property along the river he could. He had a special way of convincing the small ranchers and sod-busters to sell off their land and leave the area.
Note: This character’s costume is patterned after Phineas T. Bluster, a puppet villain on the Howdy Doody Show television show of the 1950s. He carries a derringer, hidden in his coat pocket.
Gee-Phinnie’s oldest son, G. W. “Dubya” Blusterbush, a ne’er-do-well in his youth, swore off booze and subsequently found religion (or maybe it was the other way around.) Always on the trail of two nasty villains, Dubya was out to prove he was worthy of walking in his father’s boot-prints.
Dubya was convinced that the two villains were allies - O’ Sammy Benlion and Sa’ad Hellsbells - because it came to him in a dream in which a dead horse rose up and spoke to him in the voice of Jesus.
Note: That's the dream that makes Dubya get off the sauce. Since Dubya had always been afraid of horses, anyway - he rides around in a blue designer stagecoach to keep from having to mount a horse - this dream rocks his world. Dubya’s signature outfit is an all-leather affair. For protection Dubya always carries his matched pair of .44 caliber Colts - blue, of course.
Gee-Phinnie also owned Amageddonville’s sheriff, a defrocked preacher named Johnny Asskleft. Asskleft had to leave his final post as a pastor in great haste. Blusterbush, the elder, was the only man who knew the reason, thus, he had a firm grip on Asskleft.
Note: Asskleft bares a strong resemblance to Paul Lynde, of Hollywood Squares fame. He wears the stock Western Movie sheriff wardrobe.
Gee-Phinnie also secretly owned half of the town’s saloon, The Tumbleweed, operated by his partner, who fronted the business - the lovely and semi-talented Miss Candi.
Note: The sloe-eyed, sepia-toned Miss Candi is cute as a button, but she has no originality whatsoever - her wardrobe is a total ripoff of Miss Kitty’s (Gunsmoke). Still, Miss Candi was loyal to Gee-Phinnie to a fault. Whoa, Nellie! Is something going on there?
Dickie Chains was the foreman of the Blusterbush family’s ranch, the “Flying W.” As a teenager Chains was at the Battle of the Alamo. He survived because he proved to be quite an actor - Chains convinced Santa Anna that he was the shy female servant of an officer. He and a handful of others were released to tell the bloody story of what happened
Note: The swaggering Chains dresses as a cowhand and rides a huge red horse. The horse swaggers, too.
Don Rumdummy was part-owner of an expanding railroad company that wanted to put tracks through the town. He had a secret alliance with Gee-Phinnie to acquire the land. Even more secretly, Rumsdummy and Chains were partners in slime - they sold whiskey and guns to renegade Indians, highwaymen and anyone with the cash to pay.
Note: Rumdummy dresses in the all-black garb of a Pinkerton agent, which he had once been. He carries guns of various sizes, wherever he can.
Collard Kungpowell was the figurehead mayor of Armageddonville. He had no real power and he was eaten up with guilt. He was addicted to laudanum.
Note: Once a soldier, Kungpowell had hung up his guns. He dresses like a banker.
O’ Sammy Benlion, a half-breed, was the adopted son of an Indian chief, who was assassinated by Chains’ henchmen. The kindly old chief had been unwilling to sign the bad treaty the federal government was offering. Before the tribe moved to the reservation O’ Sammy took several young warriors with him. The group became marauding renegades. O’ Sammy and his band of snake-handling, whiskey-drinking followers were determined to wreak havoc. They blew up barns and poisoned water holes, just for fun.
Note: O’ Sammy dresses in a skintight outfit with an “O” on his chest and a cape! He thinks Hellsbells is yesterday’s heavy, riding for a fall.
Sadistic Sa’ad Hellsbells was a mustachioed Mexican bandito chief with a mean-as-dirt gang. They rustled cattle and robbed the stagecoaches that passed through the region with impunity. They shot up the town when they felt like it, too. Sa’ad also had a prize stock of Arabian horses, in his secret mountainous hideout.
Dubya spent most of his waking hours searching, in vain, for those nasty hidden horses.
Note: Hellsbells wears the obligatory bandito outfit - big sombrero - “we don’t need no steenking badges!” - and ammunition belts across his chest.
This swashbuckling story, set in Texas - the land of hot air and bum steers - will continue.
Part One: Setting the Stage
Amageddonville, Texas is the story of the proud Blusterbush clan. G. Phineas T. Blusterbush, the patriarch, owned miles and miles of all he surveyed. The scion of a wealthy Connecticut family, young Gee-Phinnie Blusterbush settled in Texas for a reason that was never quite clear.With his utter determination to succeed, and a carpetbag full of Wall Street bread, Blusterbush eventually became a cattle rancher of mammoth proportions. A tall and flinty man, Gee-Phinnie believed he owned the Armageddon River that flowed across his land. To make his belief a reality, over the years, he steadily bought up any property along the river he could. He had a special way of convincing the small ranchers and sod-busters to sell off their land and leave the area.
Note: This character’s costume is patterned after Phineas T. Bluster, a puppet villain on the Howdy Doody Show television show of the 1950s. He carries a derringer, hidden in his coat pocket.
Gee-Phinnie’s oldest son, G. W. “Dubya” Blusterbush, a ne’er-do-well in his youth, swore off booze and subsequently found religion (or maybe it was the other way around.) Always on the trail of two nasty villains, Dubya was out to prove he was worthy of walking in his father’s boot-prints.
Dubya was convinced that the two villains were allies - O’ Sammy Benlion and Sa’ad Hellsbells - because it came to him in a dream in which a dead horse rose up and spoke to him in the voice of Jesus.
Note: That's the dream that makes Dubya get off the sauce. Since Dubya had always been afraid of horses, anyway - he rides around in a blue designer stagecoach to keep from having to mount a horse - this dream rocks his world. Dubya’s signature outfit is an all-leather affair. For protection Dubya always carries his matched pair of .44 caliber Colts - blue, of course.
Gee-Phinnie also owned Amageddonville’s sheriff, a defrocked preacher named Johnny Asskleft. Asskleft had to leave his final post as a pastor in great haste. Blusterbush, the elder, was the only man who knew the reason, thus, he had a firm grip on Asskleft.
Note: Asskleft bares a strong resemblance to Paul Lynde, of Hollywood Squares fame. He wears the stock Western Movie sheriff wardrobe.
Gee-Phinnie also secretly owned half of the town’s saloon, The Tumbleweed, operated by his partner, who fronted the business - the lovely and semi-talented Miss Candi.
Note: The sloe-eyed, sepia-toned Miss Candi is cute as a button, but she has no originality whatsoever - her wardrobe is a total ripoff of Miss Kitty’s (Gunsmoke). Still, Miss Candi was loyal to Gee-Phinnie to a fault. Whoa, Nellie! Is something going on there?
Dickie Chains was the foreman of the Blusterbush family’s ranch, the “Flying W.” As a teenager Chains was at the Battle of the Alamo. He survived because he proved to be quite an actor - Chains convinced Santa Anna that he was the shy female servant of an officer. He and a handful of others were released to tell the bloody story of what happened
Note: The swaggering Chains dresses as a cowhand and rides a huge red horse. The horse swaggers, too.
Don Rumdummy was part-owner of an expanding railroad company that wanted to put tracks through the town. He had a secret alliance with Gee-Phinnie to acquire the land. Even more secretly, Rumsdummy and Chains were partners in slime - they sold whiskey and guns to renegade Indians, highwaymen and anyone with the cash to pay.
Note: Rumdummy dresses in the all-black garb of a Pinkerton agent, which he had once been. He carries guns of various sizes, wherever he can.
Collard Kungpowell was the figurehead mayor of Armageddonville. He had no real power and he was eaten up with guilt. He was addicted to laudanum.
Note: Once a soldier, Kungpowell had hung up his guns. He dresses like a banker.
O’ Sammy Benlion, a half-breed, was the adopted son of an Indian chief, who was assassinated by Chains’ henchmen. The kindly old chief had been unwilling to sign the bad treaty the federal government was offering. Before the tribe moved to the reservation O’ Sammy took several young warriors with him. The group became marauding renegades. O’ Sammy and his band of snake-handling, whiskey-drinking followers were determined to wreak havoc. They blew up barns and poisoned water holes, just for fun.
Note: O’ Sammy dresses in a skintight outfit with an “O” on his chest and a cape! He thinks Hellsbells is yesterday’s heavy, riding for a fall.
Sadistic Sa’ad Hellsbells was a mustachioed Mexican bandito chief with a mean-as-dirt gang. They rustled cattle and robbed the stagecoaches that passed through the region with impunity. They shot up the town when they felt like it, too. Sa’ad also had a prize stock of Arabian horses, in his secret mountainous hideout.
Dubya spent most of his waking hours searching, in vain, for those nasty hidden horses.
Note: Hellsbells wears the obligatory bandito outfit - big sombrero - “we don’t need no steenking badges!” - and ammunition belts across his chest.
This swashbuckling story, set in Texas - the land of hot air and bum steers - will continue.
Note: This piece appeared in the Summer 2003 issue of SLANT. Illustration by F.T. Rea
Bush disapproval at 62%
According to this AP story on MSNBC:"President Bush’s approval ratings hit a series of new lows in an AP-Ipsos poll that also shows Republicans surrendering their advantage on national security -- grim election-year news for a party struggling to stay in power. Democratic leaders predicted they will seize control of one or both chambers of Congress in November. Republicans said they feared the worst unless the political landscape quickly changes."
Illustration from MSNBC
Bryan Harvey's Music Remembered
To learn about a new and soon to be available collection of Bryan Harvey's (1956-2006) music -- "Bryan Harvey; Remember Me Well" -- produced to document his work and to raise money for the Bryan and Kathryn Harvey Memorial Endowment, click here to go to Plan 9’s site, or here for a Richmond.com story:“In collaboration with Bryan’s longtime friend Stephen McCarthy and other area musicians, Gary Stewart, who signed the House of Freaks to Rhino Records, complied this loving tribute. The recordings trace Bryan’s career from the Boys From Skateland, to The Dads, to the House of Freaks...”
Image from Plan 9 web's site
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Richmond Braves win opener
Opening Day: On a splendid sunny afternoon at The Diamond the Richmond Braves came from behind to defeat the visiting Buffalo Bisons and start the 2006 season on a good note: Richmond 5, Buffalo 4.In the photo above this Bill McCarthy swing of the bat made the difference in the bottom of the eighth inning with the bases loaded. McCarthy, who also got the season's first hit for the R-Braves in the bottom of the second, picked up two runs-batted-in with this timely single to right firld.
And, yes, in the International League it is possible to have "bisons."
Wouldn't it help with what to do about a baseball stadium, if the Braves organization would see that this year's Richmond team is a quality outfit?
Photo: SLANT
Play Ball!
The Richmond Times-Dispatch asks 'What do the Braves mean to Richmond?' Good question. I'd write more but I'm going to the opening day game. Play ball!
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Larranaga to Stay
Update: According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch Jim Larranaga has declined even talking to Seton Hall.
After the dust settled on the Big Dance, oh yeah, you knew the calls were coming: Jim Larranaga is being courted by Seton Hall, as tells this AP story. There will probably be others.
“Seton Hall was granted permission Wednesday to talk to George Mason coach Jim Larranaga, who led the Patriots to an improbable berth in last weekend's Final Four. Seton Hall contacted Mason athletic director Tom O'Connor, who gave the Pirates the go-ahead to speak to Larranaga as they seek a replacement for Louis Orr.”
After the dust settled on the Big Dance, oh yeah, you knew the calls were coming: Jim Larranaga is being courted by Seton Hall, as tells this AP story. There will probably be others.
“Seton Hall was granted permission Wednesday to talk to George Mason coach Jim Larranaga, who led the Patriots to an improbable berth in last weekend's Final Four. Seton Hall contacted Mason athletic director Tom O'Connor, who gave the Pirates the go-ahead to speak to Larranaga as they seek a replacement for Louis Orr.”
Fool for Love
The following notice came in today from a friend who is among other things a radio personality, standup comic, and hail-fellow-well-met -- John Porter:
I would like to bring you up to speed on my latest project, appearing in a production of Sam Shepard's "Fool For Love" at Theatre VCU. The last time I appeared live on a VCU stage was way back in 1979 of 80 in a production of "Dainty Shapes and Hairy Apes" by Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz. I did do one more show there before graduation, "Becket" by Jean Anouilh, but that was performed in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. And for you completists who are keeping score, I was the voice of Abraham Lincoln in last year's production of "The Civil War" and was immediately ostracized by the more southern members of my family.
"Fool For Love" is a great play and you will have a great time. I guarantee it, or I'll gladly refund your ticket price. Did I mention that it's FREE? That's right amigo, you won't even spend one thin dime for this show!
Showtime is at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (we are on the bill with two other short plays. Fool For Love will start about 9:00 p.m. and run about an hour.) The plays are being presented in the Richard Newdick Theatre (Shafer Street Playhouse if you went to VCU prior to the 1990's). If you want to have a good evening and watch some fun short plays, come early. If you just want to come and see our efforts, come at nine. Either way you're in for a great time.
***Theatre Professionals Keep Reading*** The director of the show, David Patton, is a rising talent. If you have been lucky enough to see his previous work, Sarah Laughed, then you will be pleasantly surprised at his approach to Shepard's world. It's been my pleasure to watch David as a teacher and director, and encourage you to check out his work with an eye to how he can help your theatre in the future.
***Everybody, Come Back Together Now*** I hope to see you all there. No need for reservations, just show up and be ready to watch the show. Oh yeah, if you're expecting me to play the lead's fat funny best friend – it ain't happening. But you'll have a great time anyway. If you need more information or directions, or just want to chat, give me a call at 319-6335.
I would like to bring you up to speed on my latest project, appearing in a production of Sam Shepard's "Fool For Love" at Theatre VCU. The last time I appeared live on a VCU stage was way back in 1979 of 80 in a production of "Dainty Shapes and Hairy Apes" by Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz. I did do one more show there before graduation, "Becket" by Jean Anouilh, but that was performed in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. And for you completists who are keeping score, I was the voice of Abraham Lincoln in last year's production of "The Civil War" and was immediately ostracized by the more southern members of my family.
"Fool For Love" is a great play and you will have a great time. I guarantee it, or I'll gladly refund your ticket price. Did I mention that it's FREE? That's right amigo, you won't even spend one thin dime for this show!
Showtime is at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (we are on the bill with two other short plays. Fool For Love will start about 9:00 p.m. and run about an hour.) The plays are being presented in the Richard Newdick Theatre (Shafer Street Playhouse if you went to VCU prior to the 1990's). If you want to have a good evening and watch some fun short plays, come early. If you just want to come and see our efforts, come at nine. Either way you're in for a great time.
***Theatre Professionals Keep Reading*** The director of the show, David Patton, is a rising talent. If you have been lucky enough to see his previous work, Sarah Laughed, then you will be pleasantly surprised at his approach to Shepard's world. It's been my pleasure to watch David as a teacher and director, and encourage you to check out his work with an eye to how he can help your theatre in the future.
***Everybody, Come Back Together Now*** I hope to see you all there. No need for reservations, just show up and be ready to watch the show. Oh yeah, if you're expecting me to play the lead's fat funny best friend – it ain't happening. But you'll have a great time anyway. If you need more information or directions, or just want to chat, give me a call at 319-6335.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
DeLay Is Kaput
The Washington Nationals baseball season is underway and Reuters is reporting that Republican bigwig Tom “The Hammer” DeLay, 58, is going to quit the political game in DeeCee, ASAP. The relentlessly snide DeLay is apparently ready to resign from his seat in the House of Representatives and go home to Texas to fight his court battles.
“...DeLay has told House Republican leaders that he intends to leave Congress as early as next month. It was not immediately clear if there would be a special election to replace DeLay or if his replacement would be selected in the November contest. DeLay, former owner of a pest control company, came to the House in 1985 and rose quickly through the ranks, earning a reputation as a master vote-counter and prolific fund-raiser.”
What’s not to like? Play ball!
“...DeLay has told House Republican leaders that he intends to leave Congress as early as next month. It was not immediately clear if there would be a special election to replace DeLay or if his replacement would be selected in the November contest. DeLay, former owner of a pest control company, came to the House in 1985 and rose quickly through the ranks, earning a reputation as a master vote-counter and prolific fund-raiser.”
What’s not to like? Play ball!
Marsh against Webb; Yawn
Senator Henry Marsh is a man with a long distinguished career in politics. In the upcoming Virginia Democratic senatorial primary he opposes James Webb. Marsh favors Harris Miller. I’m not at all surprised.
In my book it hardly matters.
Let me be the first to say that Virginians owe former Richmond mayor Henry Marsh much in the way of gratitude. While he is a courageous man, he is also a man whose ideas were formed during the Civil Rights struggles of the 1950s and 60s. Unfortunately, Marsh's style proves that old liberals can sometimes be just as inflexible as old conservatives. At times he acts as if nothing has changed and that he’s still fighting the battles of 40 years ago.
For example: Marsh strongly opposed the movement in Richmond to change the City Charter to allow for the direct citywide election of the mayor. He managed to find all sorts of hidden racist demons in that proposed change, in spite of the fact that many local black leaders were on the bandwagon for reform. Marsh insisted it would water down the black vote and transfer power back to the rich white people who used to run Richmond.
Determined to maintain the status quo, Marsh played the race card.
By the way, SLANT first called for this same change back in 1992. After that initial piece I wrote several more OpEds for various publishers which endorsed the at-large mayor concept as a way to improve the City of Richmond‘s government. Each time I can remember being told by plenty of “experts” that as long as Marsh opposed the idea, it was dead-on-arrival. They were convinced Marsh controlled the black vote in Richmond.
Their notion was outdated. The self-appointed experts were wrong.
Another local black politician, Doug Wilder, was leading the push for the change. When Marsh opposed Wilder, his old friend from college days, Marsh rolled the dice and lost.
By losing that political fight so badly Marsh exposed the fact that he no longer enjoys anywhere near the sway over black voters in Central Virginia, or the Democratic Party, he once did. The Wilder/Bliley proposal passed by a whopping four-to-one margin in a citywide referendum. It carried all nine districts.
So, James Webb’s disappointed supporters should calm down. The days of a Henry Marsh endorsement, or rebuke, mattering very much are long gone. That hardly means Marsh is a lowdown party-splitter. It just means he’s somewhat out of touch with the times, again.
Furthermore, I don’t see any good in calling Harris Miller names. Miller is trying to win. He still thinks he can. That doesn't make him, or Marsh, into a traitor. Perhaps Webb’s blogging team should take a deep breath and swear off the hyperbole for a couple of days.
If Webb is going to be the golden boy who can beat George Allen, if he's the world-beater his blogging supporters have been saying he is, the man simply needs to handle this. If Marsh can knock candidate Webb off this easily, then he never stood a chance against Allen.
Webb will surely have to explain his stand on Affirmative Action. Not everyone will be pleased with it, especially those who are wallowing in nostalgia with Marsh. But please get this straight -- everyone who criticizes that 1960s program, designed to help make up for past discrimination, is not a racist.
Many good Democrats are surely ready to see a timetable for Affirmative Action, as it is, to be phased out and replaced by a newer program more targeted to specific problems.
Let’s give Webb his chance to deal with this problem. He had to know it would come up, so he shouldn’t be surprised by it. Besides, I don’t think most endorsements mean anywhere nearly as much as they used to.
Bottom line: If Webb’s supporters go bonkers every time a Virginia Democrat doesn’t do exactly what they want this spring, I can’t imagine how that will help Webb win the nomination.
In my book it hardly matters.
Let me be the first to say that Virginians owe former Richmond mayor Henry Marsh much in the way of gratitude. While he is a courageous man, he is also a man whose ideas were formed during the Civil Rights struggles of the 1950s and 60s. Unfortunately, Marsh's style proves that old liberals can sometimes be just as inflexible as old conservatives. At times he acts as if nothing has changed and that he’s still fighting the battles of 40 years ago.
For example: Marsh strongly opposed the movement in Richmond to change the City Charter to allow for the direct citywide election of the mayor. He managed to find all sorts of hidden racist demons in that proposed change, in spite of the fact that many local black leaders were on the bandwagon for reform. Marsh insisted it would water down the black vote and transfer power back to the rich white people who used to run Richmond.
Determined to maintain the status quo, Marsh played the race card.
By the way, SLANT first called for this same change back in 1992. After that initial piece I wrote several more OpEds for various publishers which endorsed the at-large mayor concept as a way to improve the City of Richmond‘s government. Each time I can remember being told by plenty of “experts” that as long as Marsh opposed the idea, it was dead-on-arrival. They were convinced Marsh controlled the black vote in Richmond.
Their notion was outdated. The self-appointed experts were wrong.
Another local black politician, Doug Wilder, was leading the push for the change. When Marsh opposed Wilder, his old friend from college days, Marsh rolled the dice and lost.
By losing that political fight so badly Marsh exposed the fact that he no longer enjoys anywhere near the sway over black voters in Central Virginia, or the Democratic Party, he once did. The Wilder/Bliley proposal passed by a whopping four-to-one margin in a citywide referendum. It carried all nine districts.
So, James Webb’s disappointed supporters should calm down. The days of a Henry Marsh endorsement, or rebuke, mattering very much are long gone. That hardly means Marsh is a lowdown party-splitter. It just means he’s somewhat out of touch with the times, again.
Furthermore, I don’t see any good in calling Harris Miller names. Miller is trying to win. He still thinks he can. That doesn't make him, or Marsh, into a traitor. Perhaps Webb’s blogging team should take a deep breath and swear off the hyperbole for a couple of days.
If Webb is going to be the golden boy who can beat George Allen, if he's the world-beater his blogging supporters have been saying he is, the man simply needs to handle this. If Marsh can knock candidate Webb off this easily, then he never stood a chance against Allen.
Webb will surely have to explain his stand on Affirmative Action. Not everyone will be pleased with it, especially those who are wallowing in nostalgia with Marsh. But please get this straight -- everyone who criticizes that 1960s program, designed to help make up for past discrimination, is not a racist.
Many good Democrats are surely ready to see a timetable for Affirmative Action, as it is, to be phased out and replaced by a newer program more targeted to specific problems.
Let’s give Webb his chance to deal with this problem. He had to know it would come up, so he shouldn’t be surprised by it. Besides, I don’t think most endorsements mean anywhere nearly as much as they used to.
Bottom line: If Webb’s supporters go bonkers every time a Virginia Democrat doesn’t do exactly what they want this spring, I can’t imagine how that will help Webb win the nomination.
Monday, April 03, 2006
What Hans Blix says about Iran
Daily Kos has a brief story (with links) on the war drums that are sounding over Iran’s bomb program.
Remember Hans Blix, the guy who told us before the invasion of Iraq that he had looked hard and couldn’t find the Weapons of Mass Destruction that George Bush said had to be there? Remember how his warnings were blown off by Bush's war mongers? With war drums sounding again, on WMDs in another country from Bush's Evil Axis list, what does Mr. Blix say about the nature of Iran’s current nuclear threat?
"'We have time on our side in this case. Iran can't have a bomb ready in the next five years,' Blix was quoted as saying. Blix, also a former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, urged the United States to take its time, as it is doing in a similar nuclear standoff with North Korea. 'The U.S. has given itself time and is negotiating with North Korea, while Iran got a very short deadline.'"
Remember Hans Blix, the guy who told us before the invasion of Iraq that he had looked hard and couldn’t find the Weapons of Mass Destruction that George Bush said had to be there? Remember how his warnings were blown off by Bush's war mongers? With war drums sounding again, on WMDs in another country from Bush's Evil Axis list, what does Mr. Blix say about the nature of Iran’s current nuclear threat?
"'We have time on our side in this case. Iran can't have a bomb ready in the next five years,' Blix was quoted as saying. Blix, also a former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, urged the United States to take its time, as it is doing in a similar nuclear standoff with North Korea. 'The U.S. has given itself time and is negotiating with North Korea, while Iran got a very short deadline.'"
What's really good about George Allen?
As with folks in Iowa, in New Hampshire people are getting to know Senator George Allen. He's a traveling man. In reading about his exploratory stumping for the presidency, I wonder if Allen worries about how his far-flung campaigning this year is going to play with Virginia voters in the little matter of his 2006 run to keep his seat in the Senate. He probably should.
In introducing the happy campaigner, who just happened to be in beautiful Milford, New Hampshire on March 25, U.S. Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.) dug deep and said, "You know what's really good about Sen. George Allen? Sen. George Allen is not one of those flip-flopping, double-talking, union-loving, illegal-immigrant-worshipping, tax-loving Democrats who are deserting New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary status."
There you go, leave it to a guy in a place like Milford to give us a perfect description of George Allen’s philosophy -- sloganeering will do.
In his career in politics Allen has consistently stood tall in his designer cowboy boots for opportunism and little else. Besides, we know he's getting bored with being in the Senate, anyway, so it’s all good.
My guess is that newly minted Democrat, author and former Sec. of the Navy James Webb, will win the upcoming Democratic primary, which will force Allen to spend far more time in Virginia this year than the born-again protector of New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary status would like.
Maybe Webb will take care of Allen's boredom problem, too, which will free him up to visit Iowa and New Hampshire more often.
Illustration: F.T. ReaIn introducing the happy campaigner, who just happened to be in beautiful Milford, New Hampshire on March 25, U.S. Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.) dug deep and said, "You know what's really good about Sen. George Allen? Sen. George Allen is not one of those flip-flopping, double-talking, union-loving, illegal-immigrant-worshipping, tax-loving Democrats who are deserting New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary status."
There you go, leave it to a guy in a place like Milford to give us a perfect description of George Allen’s philosophy -- sloganeering will do.
In his career in politics Allen has consistently stood tall in his designer cowboy boots for opportunism and little else. Besides, we know he's getting bored with being in the Senate, anyway, so it’s all good.
My guess is that newly minted Democrat, author and former Sec. of the Navy James Webb, will win the upcoming Democratic primary, which will force Allen to spend far more time in Virginia this year than the born-again protector of New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary status would like.
Maybe Webb will take care of Allen's boredom problem, too, which will free him up to visit Iowa and New Hampshire more often.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
The Stretch
by F. T. Rea
If the Richmond Braves do abandon their current baseball stadium on Richmond’s North Boulevard to play home games in another part of town, or perhaps another city, no doubt, some local fans will grumble. Others will shrug it off and be content to reminisce about favorite memories set at Parker Field (which was demolished in 1984), then The Diamond, which replaced the former in 1985.
Parker Field, which opened in 1954 to serve as home for a new minor league club -- the Richmond Virginians -- once seemed to be no less than a baseball temple to this scribe. At seven I began going to games there with my grandfather. Eagerly, I breathed in the magic in the air, especially stories told about legendary players and discussions on the strategy of the game. When my grandfather and I cheered the clutch hits and acrobatic plays we witnessed, and we rose for the seventh inning stretch, and we always stayed until the final out, I took comfort in being enveloped in the game’s lore and traditions. Naturally, we pulled for the home team, the pinstripe clad Virginians, or V’s, for short.
As I got older I went to Parker Field with my friends. We usually took our baseball gloves with us to the games. I still have my glove from that time -- a Nakona (Don Mossi model), which was purchased at Harris-Flippen (then at 6th and Main).
As the V’s were the New York Yankees’ International League (AAA) farm club, in those days the Bronx Bombers paid Richmond an annual visit in April. Just before Major League Baseball’s opening day Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and the other great Yankees of that era played an exhibition game -- a dress rehearsal -- at Parker Field vs. the V’s. It was always a standing-room-only affair.
After the 1964 season the V’s left to become Mud Hens (of all things!) in Toledo. Then in 1966 the Richmond Braves arrived. A few seasons before Parker Field’s wooden stands were removed, to allow for the current setup, I attended an evening ballgame with my daughter, Katey. We went as guests of neighbors who had comps from a radio station (WGOE-AM).
To Katey, at seven-years-old, the bright lights were dazzling. The roar of the crowd was exhilarating. Nonetheless, by the middle of the game she was getting tired of sitting still and baseball’s charm was wearing thin. During the sixth inning I tried to entertain her by telling her more about baseball, about seeing the one and only Satchel (“Don’t look back, something might be gaining on you”) Paige pitch from that same mound when I was a kid, not much older than her, and so forth.
It didn’t help. Soon rambunctious Katey was climbing across seats, again, and this time she knocked an unlucky fan’s tub of beer into his lap.
As the visitors began their turn at bat, in the top of the seventh inning, I felt obliged to rein Katey in, so, I got a sudden inspiration and subsequently asked whether she’d like to be in on a magic trick which would move everybody in the stadium.
Of course she did. I pulled her in close to whisper my instructions: The gist of it was that she and I -- using our combined powers of parapsychology -- were going to telepathically will everyone to stand up at the same time.
Katey was thrilled at the mere prospect of such a feat. Next, I told her to face the on-going game, close her eyes, and begin concentrating. After the visiting team made its third out, I cupped my hand to her ear to remind her that we both had to think, over and over, "stand up, stand up…"
As baseball fans know, when the home team comes to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning of every game, the spectators get up from their seats, ostensibly to stretch their legs. It’s a longtime tradition known as "the seventh inning stretch." There’s a mention of the practice in an 1869 report about a game played by baseball’s first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings.
When Katey turned around, and opened her blue eyes to see thousands of people getting on their feet, it was pure magic in her book. Maybe baseball was boring but magic wasn't! No one in the group gave me away when Katey breathlessly recounted what we had just done. She wanted to recreate the stunt in the eighth inning, but I somehow distracted her from that notion. As I remember it, though, she stayed true to her word and was quite well behaved the rest of the game.
Years would go by before Katey came to understand what made for the magic that night. And, today, I still have a pair of those old wooden general admission seats from Parker Field (third base side). Those artifacts were gathered firsthand, 21 years ago, after the last baseball game played at Parker Field.
The first International League game was played in Richmond in 1884 (supposedly, at a ballfield somewhere near Stuart Circle). And, now the 41st season for the R-Braves playing baseball on the Boulevard is about to begin.
Who knows? After all the runs, hits and errors, since 1954 maybe there’s a trace of magic still in the air over that baseball park. If history is any help, should the R-Braves pack up and leave they will be replaced. And, I suspect it would happen quickly. The game will go on, one way or another, and each one will surely have a seventh inning stretch.
If the Richmond Braves do abandon their current baseball stadium on Richmond’s North Boulevard to play home games in another part of town, or perhaps another city, no doubt, some local fans will grumble. Others will shrug it off and be content to reminisce about favorite memories set at Parker Field (which was demolished in 1984), then The Diamond, which replaced the former in 1985.Parker Field, which opened in 1954 to serve as home for a new minor league club -- the Richmond Virginians -- once seemed to be no less than a baseball temple to this scribe. At seven I began going to games there with my grandfather. Eagerly, I breathed in the magic in the air, especially stories told about legendary players and discussions on the strategy of the game. When my grandfather and I cheered the clutch hits and acrobatic plays we witnessed, and we rose for the seventh inning stretch, and we always stayed until the final out, I took comfort in being enveloped in the game’s lore and traditions. Naturally, we pulled for the home team, the pinstripe clad Virginians, or V’s, for short.
As I got older I went to Parker Field with my friends. We usually took our baseball gloves with us to the games. I still have my glove from that time -- a Nakona (Don Mossi model), which was purchased at Harris-Flippen (then at 6th and Main).
As the V’s were the New York Yankees’ International League (AAA) farm club, in those days the Bronx Bombers paid Richmond an annual visit in April. Just before Major League Baseball’s opening day Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and the other great Yankees of that era played an exhibition game -- a dress rehearsal -- at Parker Field vs. the V’s. It was always a standing-room-only affair.
After the 1964 season the V’s left to become Mud Hens (of all things!) in Toledo. Then in 1966 the Richmond Braves arrived. A few seasons before Parker Field’s wooden stands were removed, to allow for the current setup, I attended an evening ballgame with my daughter, Katey. We went as guests of neighbors who had comps from a radio station (WGOE-AM).
To Katey, at seven-years-old, the bright lights were dazzling. The roar of the crowd was exhilarating. Nonetheless, by the middle of the game she was getting tired of sitting still and baseball’s charm was wearing thin. During the sixth inning I tried to entertain her by telling her more about baseball, about seeing the one and only Satchel (“Don’t look back, something might be gaining on you”) Paige pitch from that same mound when I was a kid, not much older than her, and so forth.
It didn’t help. Soon rambunctious Katey was climbing across seats, again, and this time she knocked an unlucky fan’s tub of beer into his lap.
As the visitors began their turn at bat, in the top of the seventh inning, I felt obliged to rein Katey in, so, I got a sudden inspiration and subsequently asked whether she’d like to be in on a magic trick which would move everybody in the stadium.
Of course she did. I pulled her in close to whisper my instructions: The gist of it was that she and I -- using our combined powers of parapsychology -- were going to telepathically will everyone to stand up at the same time.
Katey was thrilled at the mere prospect of such a feat. Next, I told her to face the on-going game, close her eyes, and begin concentrating. After the visiting team made its third out, I cupped my hand to her ear to remind her that we both had to think, over and over, "stand up, stand up…"
As baseball fans know, when the home team comes to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning of every game, the spectators get up from their seats, ostensibly to stretch their legs. It’s a longtime tradition known as "the seventh inning stretch." There’s a mention of the practice in an 1869 report about a game played by baseball’s first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings.
When Katey turned around, and opened her blue eyes to see thousands of people getting on their feet, it was pure magic in her book. Maybe baseball was boring but magic wasn't! No one in the group gave me away when Katey breathlessly recounted what we had just done. She wanted to recreate the stunt in the eighth inning, but I somehow distracted her from that notion. As I remember it, though, she stayed true to her word and was quite well behaved the rest of the game.
Years would go by before Katey came to understand what made for the magic that night. And, today, I still have a pair of those old wooden general admission seats from Parker Field (third base side). Those artifacts were gathered firsthand, 21 years ago, after the last baseball game played at Parker Field.
The first International League game was played in Richmond in 1884 (supposedly, at a ballfield somewhere near Stuart Circle). And, now the 41st season for the R-Braves playing baseball on the Boulevard is about to begin.
Who knows? After all the runs, hits and errors, since 1954 maybe there’s a trace of magic still in the air over that baseball park. If history is any help, should the R-Braves pack up and leave they will be replaced. And, I suspect it would happen quickly. The game will go on, one way or another, and each one will surely have a seventh inning stretch.
-- 30 --
Photo: SLANT
Photo: SLANT
Mondo City Shocker
The Richmond Times-Dispatch longtime TV writer, Douglas Durden, reported today that RICH-TV (formerly Blab-TV) ceased broadcasting on Comcast Channel 79 yesterday.
"'...Last summer Comcast moved our channel position from 7 and 8 to 79, which resulted in a dramatic loss of our viewing audience, and we never recovered. Most of our advertisers' programs were highly dependent on local call-ins and viewer participation,' [RICH-TV president, and local attorney Michael] Morchower said. 'We provided a service to the community which will be sorely missed.'"
In keeping with SLANTblog's April Fool’s Day theme, below the reader will find part of a piece penned by Durden sixteen years ago about a program on Blab-TV that caused somewhat of a local stir. It happened when two members of the GWAR troop, Oderous Urungus and Beefcake the Mighty, appeared on Mondo City’s premiere episode. Mondo City was produced and hosted by yours truly.
‘Mondo City’ Shocker
Terry Rea [appearing in character as Mutt DeVille], host of Blab-TV’s new “Mondo City,” got much more than he bargained for Tuesday night with the appearance of two members of the shock rock band GWAR. After taking their sexual references too far on the live cable TV show, the two men were taken off the air following orders from Blab-TV management.
“Part of what is attractive about live TV is that anything can happen,” Rea said yesterday. “That edge is something that Blab-TV and other live presentations have in common.” Rea [said] that GWAR led him to believe they knew the boundaries of the show. “In spite of that, they managed to go too far.”
“We want to assure viewers this behavior and conduct will never be tolerated on television again,” said Ann Smith, Blab-TV‘s general manager. “On the upside, we hope our viewing audience, especially parents, took notice and that this broadcast did expose GWAR for what they are.”
Well, Mike Morchower went ballistic on the telephone that night. He fired the show’s director -- perhaps for bad judgment, in particular, with a close-up of an aspect of a musician’s costume -- while the program still had a half-hour to go. Soon afterwards naughty Oderous and Beefcake, plus their entourage, fled the studio when they learned the Henrico County police were on the way.
Tapes of that bizarre show -- considered a minor “underground” classic in some circles -- in which columnist Mark Holmberg also appeared, have been circulating ever since. By the way, Holmberg and I finished the hour-long show without further incident.
"'...Last summer Comcast moved our channel position from 7 and 8 to 79, which resulted in a dramatic loss of our viewing audience, and we never recovered. Most of our advertisers' programs were highly dependent on local call-ins and viewer participation,' [RICH-TV president, and local attorney Michael] Morchower said. 'We provided a service to the community which will be sorely missed.'"
In keeping with SLANTblog's April Fool’s Day theme, below the reader will find part of a piece penned by Durden sixteen years ago about a program on Blab-TV that caused somewhat of a local stir. It happened when two members of the GWAR troop, Oderous Urungus and Beefcake the Mighty, appeared on Mondo City’s premiere episode. Mondo City was produced and hosted by yours truly.
‘Mondo City’ Shocker
Terry Rea [appearing in character as Mutt DeVille], host of Blab-TV’s new “Mondo City,” got much more than he bargained for Tuesday night with the appearance of two members of the shock rock band GWAR. After taking their sexual references too far on the live cable TV show, the two men were taken off the air following orders from Blab-TV management.
“Part of what is attractive about live TV is that anything can happen,” Rea said yesterday. “That edge is something that Blab-TV and other live presentations have in common.” Rea [said] that GWAR led him to believe they knew the boundaries of the show. “In spite of that, they managed to go too far.”
“We want to assure viewers this behavior and conduct will never be tolerated on television again,” said Ann Smith, Blab-TV‘s general manager. “On the upside, we hope our viewing audience, especially parents, took notice and that this broadcast did expose GWAR for what they are.”
Well, Mike Morchower went ballistic on the telephone that night. He fired the show’s director -- perhaps for bad judgment, in particular, with a close-up of an aspect of a musician’s costume -- while the program still had a half-hour to go. Soon afterwards naughty Oderous and Beefcake, plus their entourage, fled the studio when they learned the Henrico County police were on the way.
Tapes of that bizarre show -- considered a minor “underground” classic in some circles -- in which columnist Mark Holmberg also appeared, have been circulating ever since. By the way, Holmberg and I finished the hour-long show without further incident.
The Devil and/in Miss Jones Prank
It’s the biggest stunt I was ever in on. The Devil and/in Miss Jones Prank went over so well, sometimes it’s hard to believe it really happened in Richmond, Virginia. “...To Stop Worrying and Love Getting Bombed” is a section of a work-in-progress to document the times of the Biograph Theatre. For April Fools Day here’s my story of a one-of-a-kind hoax -- performance art? -- that made headlines coast-to-coast in 1974:“...The next day a press conference was staged in the Biograph lobby to make an announcement. Every news-gathering outfit in town bought the premise and sent a representative. They acted as if what was obviously a publicity stunt was actually 24-carat news because it served their purpose to play along. After Dave DeWitt -- who represented the theater as its ad agent -- introduced yours truly to the working press, a prepared statement was read for the cameras and microphones. The gist of it was that based on the demand, the crusading Biograph would fight the TRO in court and The Devil in Miss Jones was being held over for a second week. During the lively Q & A session that followed, when Dave scolded an eager scribe for going too far with a follow-up question, it was tough to hold back the laughing fit that would have surely broken the spell.”
Photo: SLANT
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