Kudos to Hinkle

In spite of how much cynical players and copycat wannabes in the world of politics would like you to believe otherwise, just because one has opinions doesn't mean he or she can't be fair. Moreover, to be a "partisan" doesn't mean one is inherently dishonest.

Truth be told, some of the most dishonest/unfair people I've ever known tried to appear to be without partisan interests or strong opinions ... when they could.

Bart Hinkle does a fine job of showing his ability to occasionally bite the conservative/Republican hand that feeds him in his Tuesday column in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. This one piece hardly means Hinkle has changed his conservative/Libertarian spots. However, it does mean he is capable of noticing and discussing inconsistencies and hypocrisies in politics without having to see them through a partisan prism.

...Under the November 1995 Dayton Accords, American forces sent to implement the peace agreement were slated to return home by Christmas 1996. Then their mission became one of "stabilization," and the withdrawal date was extended 18 months, and then American servicemen wound up stuck in the Balkans for years.

The right went ballistic.

"The thing I worry about is how we . . . get out. What is the strategy here for disengaging? What is going to happen a year from now that will allow our withdrawal without reigniting the civil war? What is going to take our place once we pull out? I do not yet have confidence that we have solved that problem."

Those words, spoken in May of 1996, came out of the mouth of Dick Cheney.

Click here to read Hinkle's "If Conservatives Aren't Embarrassed, They Should Be." Kudos to the writer for stylishly reminding us that most of the time playing team-ball is best avoided by legitimate professional columnists.

In writing about politics, team-ball is usually better left to the hired hand spin doctors, who are paid the big bucks to be blind to their team's faults and spit out slogans. And, of course, the bleating bloggers on whichever side of the proverbial aisle, who imagine themselves to be spin interns.

Film Noir in pastels

This piece, "Chinatown on Grace Street," is 10" by 8," and it will be among my recently-made art objects for sale at the Art/Music Happening at the Ha'Penny Stage behind the Carillon this Sunday afternoon (2:30 - 5 p.m.). Click here for more information about this impromptu art event.

Made of ink, color pencils and paint on paper, the scene above recalls the opening of Polanski's perfect detective flick, "Chinatown," -- Film Noir in pastels! -- at the Biograph.

Click on the art to enlarge it.

Art happening Sunday afternoon in the park

From 2:30 until 5 p.m. on Sun., Sept. 23, a rather unusual art happening will unfold in Byrd Park behind the Carillon around the Ha’Penny stage. Artists who trust their urge to take advantage of this opportunity are going to take some of their work out to the park to show it, and to offer it for sale.

Anyone who thinks this sounds like fun is welcome to join in. The stage (just behind the Carillon on the right, as you face it) offers plenty of display area. For would-be participating artists to note -- no one will take a percentage of what is sold; there is no charge to participate. Maybe you'll sell some work!

Folks are also going to be picnicking at the numerous tables in that same area. Some will be bringing musical instruments (no electricity). All are welcome to come to the park and have a good time playing/listening to music. Bring your sense of humor, your coolers, and whatever else you think you ought to have with you to have fun.

This experiment/project started with me pondering where to meet some friends to show them some of my recent art work, hoping to sell some of it. Then, last Sunday, it hit me while I was playing Frisbee-golf -- as I do every Sunday morning -- those same grounds would make a perfect setting for a little outdoor get-together. Since then the original idea has snowballed nicely.

Now nobody knows what will happen. How big will the crowd be for this short-notice, guerrilla version of arts in the park? Who knows? We'll see.

Stay tuned -- I’ll post more on the event later in the week. For more info email me (Terry Rea) at ftrea9@yahoo.com or call (804) 359-4864.

The piece shown above, "NRBQ at High on the Hog 11," will be on sale

Art object a day: Stuart monument

The third piece in the series of new art objects created each day is above. It is after the Fred Moynihan 1907 statue of J.E.B. Stuart, which is at the beginning of Monument Avenue. In pastels, ink and water color, it is 10" by 8."

Frizbeetarian's Favorites

Here is the second piece in my 30-day challenge to produce an art object every day for a month. This one, "The Frizbeetarian's Favorites" (10" by 8"), was done with colored pencils and ink.

To see the first art object in this series click here. To enlarge the art click on it.

Art object a day

Inspired by the concept of completing a painting a day, something I've seen from other artists, yesterday I took up the challenge: For a solid month I'm going to try to make a new piece of art every day and see what happens.

Each piece will be whatever strikes me to do that day, so there will be paintings, sketches, pen-and-inks, and so forth. Mostly there will be lots of mixed media, as I tend to grab whatever is around. (Click on the art to enlarge it.) Yes, all of the stuff will be for sale, so if you see something you like please do drop me a line. The email address is in my bio at the top of the column on the right.

The piece above, "Mercie's Lee," is an ink and pastels study (10" by 8.5") of the statue of Robert E. Lee in my neighborhood. Three years in the making, French sculptor Jean Antoine Mercie's strikingly dignified Lee Monument was unveiled in 1890.

Yes to Mark Warner in 2008

In reading various articles, commentaries and posts on the topic of whether the former governor of Virginia, Mark Warner, ought to run for the U.S. Senate, I’ve noticed those who like to think they’re in the know seem to lean toward believing/hoping that Warner will save himself for the gubernatorial race in 2009.

Some offer that Warner is probably better at being an executive, they suggest he is less suited to being one of 100 members of a deliberative body. Others may be licking their lips, as they imagine him facing the bumbling George Allen in 2009, and trouncing the old football coach’s son so thoroughly it will send him and his cowboy boots into permanent retirement in Southern California.

Well, my quick take on it is that Mark Warner ought to run for the retiring Sen. John Warner’s seat in the Senate next year. It says here he would handily defeat any Republican now on the political landscape; I also think he’d make a good senator.

Why not? Plus, I say the Democrats ought to run one race at a time, fielding the best candidate they can find each time.

After Gov. Tim Kaine’s term is done, judging by how it looks today, the Democrats will have a nice list of capable nominees to run against Allen, or anyone else the Republicans come up with. Now that Allen has been exposed as the counterfeit Southern gentleman he posed as during his years in office, he is damaged goods.

Right now, about all the Virginia GOP has going for it is its withering majority in the General Assembly. We’ll soon see how that holds up. Moreover, I don’t see a strong statewide candidate on their roster. Jim Gilmore? Virgil Goode? I doubt either could get 40 percent of the vote.

Sure, someone could emerge, but given its history over the last six years, it is more likely the Republican Party in Virginia will continue to dwell on fighting within its own ranks, and continue to unravel.

So, first things first: Mark Warner runs and wins in 2008, then we’ll see about 2009.

Photo of Mark Warner by F.T. Rea

No 9/11 exploitation here

Yes, today is the sixth anniversary of the shocking series of airliner hijackings and subsequent explosions that was 9/11. For Americans -- especially those on the East Coast between New York and Virginia -- September 11, 2001, was a sucker-punch from hell ... what more needs to be said?

Yet both the predictable mainstream media and the copycat blogosphere are brimming over with stories/posts which state the obvious and offer recollections/observations as commentary, as if we need more of it.

However, with all due respect for anyone who lost someone dear on that tragic day, is there really anything new to say after six solid years of saying way too much? It seems to me that since that dark day’s fires were put out and the smoke cleared, the subject has been milked for whatever it’s worth -- by so many agendas, dubious and otherwise -- the best thing most of us could do today is to observe a moment of silence and then go back to whatever we we were doing.

Meanwhile, the silliest thing on 9/11 I’ve seen so far today was the Brookings cartoon on the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s editorial page. The gist of it was that America has forgotten about 9/11.

Phooey!

The crass exploitation of the 9/11 disaster and its victims for political gain, for business profiteering, for whatever reasons, has been a shameful chapter of America’s history. So, I’ll have no part of today’s nostalgic outpouring of purple prose. And, for today, at SLANTblog, I’ll even skip wagging sarcastic fingers of blame at the worst of the exploiters.

You can own 'The Biograph'

When the Biograph Theatre was converted to a twin cinema in the late summer of 1974, I assembled a collage in the hallway from the lobby to the larger auditorium, No. 1. That collage -- made up mostly from publicity materials and memorabilia for feature films, photos from magazines, etc. -- was about 12 feet high, it was some 30 feet long. Taking on that large a space was fun.

In 1982, for what was the Biograph’s 10th anniversary it was completely reworked, this time with quite a bit of help of the staff.

Then, in 1985, a couple of years after leaving my theater-manager job, I used up several boxes of old movie memorabilia, photos of the staff, images from handbills, and such -- stuff I had saved for years -- to make the collage which is represented above. One last stab at the theme. Beyond the cut paper it relied upon, I used transparent inks and various opaque paints on it to tint it and give it a fractured look. At the time I meant it to be a scattered collection of freeze-frames, perhaps as seen by a dreamer.

Naturally, I named the then-new piece “The Biograph.”

It was one of four large collages on plywood panels I did that same year (one of them was displayed at the 3rd St. Diner for years), all of them having to do with time. By the way, the 16 mm reel can be switched on so it turns by a little electric motor behind the plywood panel on which the paper, paint, etc., were placed. The little mirror lights up, too. The entire piece was glued together and covered with Roplex, making it quite resistant to damage. Framed with black two-by-fours, it is an extremely sturdy package.

The collage inside the frame, what you see above, is five feet wide and stands four feet tall. It showed in couple of gallery settings in the late-‘80s and early-’90s. Now, in a time in which I need to put some money together and clear some space, it is up for sale.

No one else has seen it in about 15 years. Push has come to shove and sitting in storage this artifact isn’t doing anybody any good. To move it fast, just $500 will make you the owner of this unique piece -- the perfect souvenir of Richmond’s storied repertory cinema, the Biograph Theatre (1972-87). If your best friend is a film buff, why not buy them a one-of-a-kind present?

To see an enlargement of the art just click photo of it above. Inquires should be sent by email (ftrea9@yahoo.com), or call (804) 359-4864. If you want it, don't wait.

Fan District Hub newsletter

The following art and copy made up the first Fan District Hub newsletter, which hit the streets this week:

Hub, official spokescat for the Fan District Hub, hopes you will read on, and eventually smile.

Community blogs are what’s happening

What has the potential to become a powerful network of independently published community blogs continues to form in the Richmond area. Now there are nine such web sites in Richmond. The newsletter you are reading is the paper extension of the community blog published by me, the Fan District Hub.

While I'm watching this trend with great interest, as a longtime alternative media advocate -- Biograph Theatre, Color Radio, SLANT magazine, etc. -- I suspect publishers in the mainstream media are something less than happy about it. In fact, some seem to be in a near-panic. And, for good reason.

Since newspapers and broadcasters have been running less and less local news, as a national trend, they have left a gaping void that the community blogs seem prepared to rush into with fresh enthusiasm and new technology.

John Murden’s Church Hill People’s News was the first community blog in Richmond. Ross Catrow was next with his West of the Boulevard News. In addition to the Fan District Hub, the others now running include: All Things Shockoe, Carver & Jackson Ward News, Hills and Heights, Near West End News, North Richmond News and, the newest, simple called Oregon Hill.

This newsletter will come out on a monthly basis. It will grow -- four pages next month. In the meantime, please take the time to visit the Fan District Hub online. Send us your suggestions. Yes, this is the time for volunteers to step up.

By the way, both at the web site and with the newsletter, advertising is dirt cheap, for now. For information on that click here.

The Fan District Softball League: Chapter One

Referred to as the “hippie league” by softball players who played in the polyester-clad softball leagues governed by recreation and parks departments, the Fan District Softball League had its own style, which leaned toward cotton, silk-screened T-shirts. Its games were played on “open fields,” rather than in softball complexes with fences. Among other things that meant the Fan League featured a style that put more emphasis on defensive play, rather than simply a home-run derby, with big-bellied Bubbas and Junies trotting around the bases.

It also meant the league’s activities received less scrutiny by authorities outside of itself, which was viewed at the time as a good thing.

The rather unorthodox Fan League bubbled up out of the pop culture ooze of the summer of 1973, which was the heyday of WGOE, the daytime AM radio station that dominated the local hippie audience. Its sound could be heard in the shops and on the sidewalks of the bohemian commercial strip of West Grace Street, adjacent to Virginia Commonwealth University. WGOE, inadvertently set the whole thing in motion when its promotional softball team of deejays and a few ringers, the ‘Nads, played a few games against impromptu squads representing a few regular advertisers on the station, mostly bars.

By the next summer teams began to jell, but there was no formal schedule and fields were still being commandeered, rather than secured by arrangement with any proper authority. By 1975 the name Fan District Softball League had come into use and the organization had its first commissioner -- Van “Hook” Shepherd. Cassell’s Upholstery beat the Bamboo Cafe in a one-game playoff for the season’s

championship finale. The four other teams in the league that inaugural season were the Back Door, Sea Dream Leather, Uptop Sub Shop and WGOE.

In 1976, in addition to the regular season the league staged two tournaments, one of them an invitational. Teams representing the Biograph Theatre, deTreville, Hababas, J.W. Rayle, the Pinheads (the VCU sculpture department and friends) and the Rainbow Inn were formed in 1976.

During the first decade of the league’s existence, next to the music and nightlife scene, softball-related activities were at the heart of the Baby Boomer-driven culture in the Fan District. Unlike most softball leagues in those days, the FDSL usually had lots of fans at its games. Of course, the kegs of free beer that were around had something to do with that. In that time the freewheeling FDSL was the only organized-yet-independent softball league in the Richmond area.

Thus, the Fan League governed itself, made its own schedule, cut its own deal with the umpires, etc. It remained so through its last season in 1994. The Fan District Softball League had lasted 20 years, which was a wonder in itself.

Chapter Two will appear in the October newsletter.

SUV’s in the Fan

The first time I drove a sports/utility vehicle, it was a Toyota ForeRunner and I was surprised at how unstable/top-heavy it felt. That was 10 years ago. While some makes are worse than others, since then, as a class, SUVs have proven to be outrageously susceptible to rolling over.

A few weeks ago I saw a muscle-bound SUV flipped over by a low-slung compact like it was a cheap hamburger. The compact had been doing about 25 miles-per-hour before it struck the SUV on the rider’s side -- the SUV ran a red light -- causing it to tumble and spin around on its roof; the driver was bloody, trapped inside and lucky to be alive.

In that case the high-riding design of the driver’s SUV was dangerous only to her. Let the buyer beware. But what about danger posed to others? Some say SUVs generally threaten smaller cars on the road. Maybe they do. However, in the Fan District, there’s absolutely no doubt SUVs can be a danger when they are parked at the curb.

Decades ago a good many Fan residents rode streetcars, later buses, to work, or to shop; purchases from department stores, grocery stores, etc., were routinely delivered. Neighbors walked for short errands and saw one another in the doing. Lots of middle class families didn’t own a car. The neighborhood was originally designed for such a lifestyle.

Well, that era is long-gone, yet there aren’t any more parking spaces now than there were 75 years ago. So, with many times more motor vehicles, it’s crowded. And, get this -- the taller those vehicles are, the more difficult it can be to simply get around.

That’s because the height of large SUVs, vans and such, breaks the sight line of a motorist, or bicyclist, trying to see around them at an intersection. From a side street, entering an intersection, either you must creep part-way into the intersection and peer around, or you jet across, hoping for good luck...

Consequently, now we need a law which recognizes that in densely-populated neighborhoods, for safety concerns, vehicles that stand over a certain height shouldn’t park near the corner. Maybe tall vehicles shouldn’t park within 15 feet of the corner.

Some SUV- and van-lovers would no doubt object. Still, it says here -- get a garage! -- that no one has an intrinsic right to park anywhere they choose in the public way. After all, driving itself isn’t a right in Virginia, it’s a privilege.

By the way, the small sedan in the above mentioned accident had a crumpled front end; its driver appeared unhurt.

Hub’s blurbs and links

• For information about the Bryan and Kathryn Harvey Family Memorial Endowment click on the link or call The Community Foundation at (804) 330-7400.
• VCU’s student enrollment for this year is the largest in the university’s history, more than 31,300 students.
• Alas, it seems the retiring Sen. John Warner is one of the last of a dying breed of cat inside the beltway -- a courteous politician who does his own thinking.
• Richmond Free WiFi Blog
  

Richmond has 10 community blogs now underway

What has the potential to become a potent network of independently published community blogs continues to form in the Richmond area. Now there are 10 such web sites.

While I'm watching this trend with great interest -- as a longtime alternative media advocate -- I suspect some of the publishers in the mainstream media are less than happy about it. In fact, some seem to be in a near-panic. And, for good reason. Since newspapers and broadcasters have been running less and less local news, as a national trend, they have left a gaping void that the community blogs seem prepared to rush into with fresh enthusiasm and new technology.

The first community blog I noticed in the area was one up in Charlottesville, started by Waldo Jaquith a few years ago. It is cvillenews.com.

Later, in Richmond, John Murden got the ball rolling with his Church Hill People’s News. Ross Catrow was next with his West of the Boulevard News. The others now running include: All Things Shockoe, Carver & Jackson Ward News, Fan District Hub (published by your truly), Hills and Heights, Near West End News, North Richmond News, Oregon Hill and Petersburg People’s News.

No doubt others are on the drawing board.

So, while some bloggers continue to focus a great deal on the contrived little battles that routinely erupt within the fractious Virginia political blogosphere -- games which usually have little or no effect on anyone outside that peculiar realm -- others are now looking to interact with/serve the community in which they live in the real world, where the voters actually live, too.

John Warner: good natured, unflappable and unbeatable

Yesterday, Virginia’s Senator John Warner ended speculation over whether he plans to campaign in 2008 to hold onto his seat in the U.S. Senate. Standing before the Rotunda at the University of Virginia, Warner announced that he will not seek a sixth term, choosing instead to retire on Jan. 6, 2009.

At 80 years old, surely Warner deserves a less hectic schedule. Among his comments, the white-haired veteran of World War II (Navy) and the Korean War (Marines) said, “How fortunate, how blessed I have been.”

Well, he’s not the only one.

The citizens of Virginia have been fortunate to have had Sen. John Warner representing their interests since 1979. Although Warner has been a moderate-to-conservative Republican, both in his expressed views and with his voting record, he has not let GOP political hacks push him into violating his own standards to play team ball.

Thus, at times Warner moved decisively to scuttle the campaigns of Republicans he saw as unworthy of his fellow Virginians’ support. Following his leadership, the voters rejected an extremist, Mike Farris (1993), and an opportunist, Oliver North (1994). Thus, owing much to Warner's efforts, Virginians were spared from being represented in high office by a rather mean-spirited religious crackpot, on the one part, and a traitorous smirking wiseass, on the other.

Of course, since those days some on the GOP fringe have hammered Warner as a RINO (Republican in name only). Yes, that crowd has tried more than once to unseat him. That, while Warner has remained good natured, unflappable and unbeatable.

And, in spite of how many times I have disagreed with Warner’s positions on other matters -- including his past support of Bush’s policy in Iraq -- still, I must say thank you, Senator. Thanks for the thoughtful, measured way you have carried yourself over the last 28 years in office.

Alas, it seems Sen. Warner is one of the last of a dying breed doing the people’s business inside the beltway -- a courteous representative of the people who actually does his own thinking. The list of those who want his job brings to mind that Warner’s successor will be hard pressed to live up to the standard he has set.

-- Art by F.T. Rea

Macaca payback scheme fizzles

Commentary on the Virginia political blogosphere:

As the Old Dominion Blog Alliance plays out its hand in the game it called, as the dealer, we’ll see if it can actually sell the childish, dirty tricks shenanigans of Joe Stanley and Ben Tribbett as newsworthy to the mainstream press.

With the hook “Dem blogs refuse to condemn Stanley and Tribbett properly,” I wish them the luck they deserve. Hey, if newspaper editors are buying that pitch as happening news, well, I’ve got a bridge to nowhere I’d like to sell them.

It is worth noting that there is no lefty, Democratic equivalent to the junior high school frat party, echo chamber that is the ODBA. And, there has been nothing from any organized group of progressive bloggers at all like chest-pounding posts such as -- “We are the ODBA!”

Shiver me timbers!

Perhaps it is worth remembering that prominent Virginia Republicans have been busted for illegal eavesdropping, and worse in recent years. And, so forth .. and so on. Neither party has a clean record on this sort of thing.

Why pretend it is otherwise? Punish the guilty and move on.

Some of Virginia’s blogging Republicans, who are apparently obsessed with “macaca payback,” don’t seem to realize that merely saying someone was part of promoting/enjoying that humorous campaign story last year doesn’t strike the average voter as being a mortal sin.

It is also worth considering that if your good name is connected with a bunch of crackpots, because you continue to be a member of their trouble-making blogging team -- after it has gone too far -- then you are probably running a risk you should think about.

At this desk, it seems the ODBA's rather silly scheme has already fizzled. Without an ongoing hot-contest campaign to hitch this story to, no one outside of those who closely follow the copycat blatherings of the blogosphere gives a whit.

Best and worst local politicians?

Ross Catrow has created his own survey to discover what are the Bests and Worsts of Richmond at his blog, Haduken. Well, over the years at SLANT I've always liked the idea of running my own surveys, rather than taking the word of a Richmond Magazine, or a STYLE Weekly. So, I like what Ross is doing, but I wish he had asked at least a couple of questions about politics and politicians.

To help out, here are a couple from SLANTblog:

• During this year, who has been the most effective, and the least effective, local politician in the Richmond area (that would include the mayor, members of the city council and the counties' boards of supervisors, school board members, Commonwealth's Attorneys, etc.)?

• What is the issue/situation that you believe has been most mishandled over the eight months of 2007 that have passed?

If you want to play just put your answers in the comments section.

Then, to participate in the ongoing survey at Haduken, which seeks to reveal which restaurants serve the best hamburgers, what is the best neighborhood in which to live, what park you enjoy the most, and which blogs you like best, etc., click here.

Shenanigans, righteous indignation and a crock

It seems the publisher of Not Larry Sabato rather enjoys being in the middle of controversies that draw attention to his blog. So, he, who goes by the name Ben Tribbett, is only too happy to create them.

If I paid more attention to that gossip-driven blog I’d know more about some of the supposedly underhanded things other bloggers routinely accuse him of being in on. But, in truth, I already know all I need to know to decide to ignore Not Larry Sabato. Likewise, I know Democrats who have little or no respect for its publisher.

Currently, members of the Old Dominion Blog Alliance are expressing their outrage at Not Larry Sabato over its latest transgressions.

In this case, Tribbett is said to have been a party to some dirty tricks style shenanigans that sought to put the ODBA in a bad light. Yet, in their eruptions of righteous indignation some members weaken their own argument with their over-the-top language. Some seek to tar all Democrats with the dirty deeds of a few. Some can’t get over former Senator George Allen’s unraveling on last year’s campaign trail.

Sure, it may be galling that Tribbett loves to brag about his “role” in the Macaca Meltdown that did so much to deliver the victory to Senator Jim Webb. Some guys live to brag. But blaming/crediting those who helped to facilitate the widespread awareness of the incriminating video at YouTube for Allen’s own mistakes is looking at the matter with tunnel vision.

It’s over ... let it go.

On August 11, 2006, Tribbett wasn’t videotaped acting like a drunk bully and mouthing the strange word “macaca.” No, that was George Allen. And, then it was Allen’s own ridiculously bad damage control that kept the story at the top of the political news for weeks. Ben Tribbett and Joe Stanley didn’t have a hand in that series of flubs; it was Allen’s media expert Dick Wadhams who managed that folly.

To continue to blame bloggers and the liberal media for Allen’s terrible performance in the campaign is preaching to the choir at best; at worst, it’s the sort of denial of plain-to-see truth that a George Bush-led Republican Party is becoming too well known for.

Furthermore, when I read that unless I come out and condemn Ben Tribbett, or Joe Stanley, or whoever some members of the ODBA say I should condemn, that it is tantamount to my endorsement of their low-road tactics, well, that puts me off.

Here at SLANTblog, it is no secret that I’ve have pushed away from Not Larry Sabato’s doings before, more than once. However, it is not my duty to point an accusing finger at that blog, or any blog, every time I disagree with what goes on there. And, to be scolded by crackpot rightwingers who consistently write “Democrat(ick)” -- simply to be annoying -- is a crock.

Word to the wise: If you have the moral high ground, don’t lose it by tripping over your own feet by slinging careless words in every direction.

Vick story: the revenge of dead dogs

As has been widely reported the ever illusive Michael Vick has reversed his field, once again, this time to admit he had been lying when he denied his involvement with dogfighting. Click here to read “NFL’s Vick says guilty in dogfighting case” from Reuters.

No doubt, as part of the deal he has made with the feds, Vick will be required to roll on others involved in the “enterprise.” So the man who set the National Football League record for the most rushing yards ever gained in a season by a quarterback will emerge from this episode branded as a disgusting man who delighted in torturing dogs, a liar, as well as a snitch.

The bizarre story of the evil doings at Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels operation has been on the front pages of newspapers and at the top of broadcast news for weeks. Although many are sick of the story, it continues to fascinate many more. And, the sidebars continue to spin off the story of a celebrity pro athlete gone wrong.

Yet, just how wrong Vick’s crimes should be seen as seems to be in the eye of the beholder. How bad is dogfighting?

If boxing and “tough man” competitions are legal, why is dogfighting so wrong? Can dogfighting be seen as just another bloody sport, like hunting? And, if animals are shamefully abused all the time by the companies that raise them by the millions in torturous conditions, to eventually be food for us -- ever see how calves live on their way to becoming veal? -- then why should Vick go to jail for killing a few pit bulls?

Beyond concerns for the dogs, is there a racial component in how Vick has been treated by the federal authorities or the police department down in Surry County, where Vick’s kennel from hell was discovered? Should justice for Vick be viewed through a prism of what injustice has been done to others, down through history? And, why can’t the press move on to another story?

Maybe the discussions those questions raise will do some folks some good. For others, maybe not. As for me, rather than try to answer them all, in this space I’m going to deal with only the last one on that list: Although there’s no single reason this story has been so big, there is one reason that overshadows the others. While other sports celebrities have committed crimes that might properly be seen as worse than Vick’s, none of them were as bizarre, even unthinkable.

So, while I usually side with those who chastise the working press for its dwelling on certain frivolous/tacky stories -- the death of Anna Nicole Smith, Paris Hilton in jail, etc. -- this time, I have to admit the unfolding Vick dogfighting yarn has real legs, based on how unprecedented it truly is. This one is stranger than a man-bites-dog story, because it amounts to dead-dog-bites-back.

Then there are those who have been Vick fans, who are refusing to accept -- no matter what -- that one of their favorite football players from Virginia Tech, or the Atlanta Falcons, is a total scumbag. They want him back on the playing field because he’s been too much fun to watch as he escaped from would-be tacklers. All of which makes me feel sorry for the good people who have admired Michael Vick. They have been betrayed and they are hurting.

As for when, or if, Vick will be seen on the playing field again, it says here that the NFL is by far the most buttoned-down of all the professional sports overseeing bodies. It certainly doesn’t want PETA activists dressed up like tortured dogs demonstrating at every game. And, that’s exactly what will happen if Vick returns.

Furthermore, the image-conscious corporations that act as sponsors and partners are never going to want anything to do with tricky Michael Vick again.

Eventually, we’ll know how much time Vick will serve for the crime he has admitted he committed, and whatever crimes the Commonwealth of Virginia can make stick to him. Once he’s done his time, I will be surprised if we ever see the radioactive Mr. Vick play another down in a NFL game.

Blood Isn't Just Red

The piece that follows was published by the Richmond Times-Dispatch on its May 1, 1999 OpEd Page. The point it makes about the long-term effects of repeated violent images on television still seems apt to me.

Blood Isn’t Just Red
by F.T. Rea

Television has dominated the American cultural landscape for the past 50 years. A boon to modern life in many ways, television is nonetheless transmitting an endless stream of cruel and bloody images into everyone’s head.

However, if you’re still waiting for absolute proof that a steady diet of video violence can be harmful to the viewer, forget it. We’ll all be dead before such a thing can be proven. This is a common sense call that can and should be made without benefit of dueling experts. Short of blinding denial, any serious person can see that the influence television has on young minds is among the factors playing a role in the crime statistics.

How significant that role has been/is can be debated.

Please don’t get me wrong. I’m as dedicated to protecting freedom of speech as the next guy. So perish the thought that I’m calling for the government to regulate violence on television. It’s not a matter of preventing a particular scene, or act, from being aired. The problem is that the flow of virtual mayhem is constant.

Eventually splattered blood becomes ambient: just another option for the art director.

My angle here is that in the marketplace of ideas, the repeated image has a decided advantage. The significance of repetition in advertising was taught to me over 25 years ago by a man named Lee Jackoway. He was a master salesman, veteran broadcaster, and my boss at WRNL-AM. And, like many in the advertising business, he enjoyed holding court and telling
war stories.

He had found me struggling with the writing of some copy for a radio commercial. At the time he asked me a few questions and let it go. But later, in front of a group of salesmen and disc jockeys, Jackoway explained to his audience what I was doing was wrong. Basically, he said that instead of stretching to write good copy, the real effort should be focused on selling the client more time, so the ad spot would get additional exposure.

Essentially, Jackoway told us to forget about trying to be the next Stan Freeberg. Forget about cute copy and far-flung schemes. What matters is results. If you know the target audience and you have the right vehicle to reach it, then all you have to do is saturate that audience. If you hit that target often enough, the results are money in the bank.

Jackoway told us most of the large money spent on production went to satisfying the ego of the client, or to promoting the ad agency’s creativity. While he might have oversimplified the way ad biz works to make his point, my experience with media has brought me to the same bottom line: When all else fails, saturation works.

Take it from me, dear reader, it doesn’t matter how much you think you’re ignoring the commercials that are beamed your way; more often than not repetition bores the message into your head. Ask the average self-absorbed consumer why he chooses a particular motor oil or breakfast cereal, and chances are he’ll claim the thousands of commercials he paid no heed had nothing to do with his choices.

Meanwhile, good old Lee Jackoway knows that same chump is pouring Pennzoil on his Frosted Flakes because he has been influenced by aggressive advertising all day long, every day.

OK, if repetition works so well in television’s advertising, why would repetition fail to sell whatever messages stem from the rest of its fare? When you consider all the murders, all the rapes, all the malevolence that television dishes out 24 hours a day, it adds up. It has to.

What to do?

I have to believe that if the sponsors of the worst, most pointless violent programs felt the sting of a boycott from time to time, they would react. Check your history; boycotts work.

It’s not as though advertisers are intrinsically evil. No, they are merely trying to reach their target audience as cheaply as possible. The company that produces a commercial has no real interest in pickling your child’s brain with violence; it just wants to reach the kid with a promotional message.

If enough consumers eschew worthless programs and stop buying the products that sponsor them, the advertiser will change its strategy. It really is that simple.

As we all know: A day passes whether anything is accomplished or not. Well, parents, a childhood passes, too, whether anything of value is learned or not.

Maybe television is blocking your child off from a lesson that needs to be learned firsthand -- in the real world where blood isn’t just red, it’s wet.

* * *

Wilder means well ... because he's good at it

In 1994 Richmond’s voters said plainly in a citywide referendum that they wanted a change in the way school board members got their jobs. Rather than continue to be appointed by city council members, the voters -- about 80 percent of them -- said they wanted school board members to be elected by the people.

It was hailed as a step toward more democracy when the change was implemented.

Ten years later, about 80 percent of the votes cast in a citywide plebiscite selected Richmond’s first mayor by a direct vote of the people since the late-1940s. Mayor Doug Wilder had led the fight to change the city charter to allow for that direct vote ... later he surprised few observers when he decided to become a candidate for the job he had done more than anyone else to create.

Given the chance to register their sentiments, it seems that four out of five Richmonders prefer their democracy poured straight, rather than watered down by the appointment process.

Now, three years later, it seems the mercurial Mayor Wilder has lost his faith in the will of the people. Now, in 2007, we see the third prong of Wilder’s battle plan to punish and control a recalcitrant Richmond School Board -- in a recent letter some of his wealthiest and most influential allies from the business community called for school boards to go back to being appointed, rather than elected.

Now, given Wilder’s history of being obsessed with payback and changing his mind at the drop of a hat, we can see that even in his golden years his vindictiveness is trumping all else.

Wilder, probably the most talented Richmond politician of the last half-century, is good at identifying malfeasance and boondoggles. He came down on the ballpark in Shockoe Bottom bad idea like a tons of bricks. But then he turned around and wanted to put the thing in a worse location, to bolster a development on the river he favors. To date, the issues of building a better baseball stadium and keeping the Braves in Richmond remain up in the air.

Wilder also put the kibosh on the Virginia Performing Arts Center’s terrible execution of a terrible plan. Then, after a lot of bluster, he turned around and approved of a plan that looks a lot like a watered down version of the original one.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’m not defending the Richmond School Board’s record. However, not all of Richmond’s schools are underachieving. Some are and that needs fixing. But is evicting the School Board from City Hall a way to make those schools any better?

Or, big smiles aside, is it just more meanness from a guy who is damn good at being mean?

When will Mayor Wilder solve some problems, instead of merely pointing out blame? When will he use his considerable powers of persuasion to calm things down, foster cooperation and bring real progress to the City of Richmond?

Photo: SLANT