Advertisement
July 30, 2008
Kaine as VP a win for Va.
Between gasps and breathless tittering over Barack Obama’s Middle Eastern and European forays and the exhilarating prospect of the junior senator’s election as president, television pundits and the Washington press corps are waving their tongues in Pavlovian fashion over speculation that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine might fill the No. 2 position on the Democratic ticket.July 29, 2008
Lucente’s EDA plan on target
The unfamiliar sound of harmony drifted from Waynesboro’s City Hall on Monday, when Vice Mayor Frank Lucente announced plans to push the Economic Development Authority from beneath the city umbrella into the bright light of independence and self-sufficiency.Another mandate won’t fix schools
Treading along a conceptual trail worn to a furrow by bureaucracy’s thundering hooves, Virginia educrats endeavor to gallop where others have stumbled. The state Department of Education wants to increase high school graduation rates by linking them to accreditation, adding teeth to mandate by employing a data management system that tracks students from prekindergarten to 12th grade, or from educational cradle to compulsory grave.July 19, 2008
Three up; Three down
THIS WEEK’S OPINION MARKETPLACEJuly 18, 2008
Hot air fuels energy plan
Mark Warner is either disturbingly facile, an easy mark for a group that can’t hit one, or he thinks you are.July 17, 2008
Economic woes grow with Fed
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made a startling observation Wednesday, startling because he seemed so freshly aware of something acutely known by those of us among the rabble who, paraphrasing George Bailey, do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this country.Politicians slip oil crisis blame
Like Shakespeare’s Leontes, Americans amid crisis are inclined to believe “all’s true that is mistrusted,” and so to the fore stride politicians with false villains in tow, this time, oil speculators.July 15, 2008
Another law to sap liberty
In a classic short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a man of science seeks to enhance his wife’s beauty by removing from her cheek a singular imperfection, an offending birthmark.July 14, 2008
Two reminders to live life to the fullest
None of us knows when our time is up, but the passing of two people in the past week offered me a chance to reflect.Wayne not city’s burden to carry
Bill Hausrath gazes upon a vacant structure on West Main Street and sees the Waynesboro of his youth and the one of succeeding generations, a hub of life in a place where most of life’s energy has migrated slightly west.July 12, 2008
Three Up; Three Down
THIS WEEK’S OPINION MARKETPLACEJuly 11, 2008
Let’s see real action
Councilman Frank Lucente’s reaction to word that an Outback Steakhouse will join the retail ranks in the bustling West End intrigued usFeds’ hands dip too far already
Its touch perceptible on all points of Americans’ person, the federal government seeks to extend its reach in literal fashion.July 10, 2008
Road bills drive political wedge
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, fancied by some as a running mate to Barack Obama, has met a qualification expressed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson via the hot mic.July 09, 2008
Talking to Iran: aggressive folly
In the lingering glow of test missile launches in Iran, presumptuous Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama proposes anew a change in American foreign policy which can hardly be believed.July 08, 2008
Council should focus on issues
Mayor Tim Williams announced that he had selected Councilwoman Lorie Smith to serve on the finance panel along with him and Vice Mayor Frank Lucente. Smith’s addition to the committee would complete a rudimentary mathematical sum, bringing to three the number of council members on the committee and thereby the committee itself into compliance with city code.July 07, 2008
Gilmore record difficult to spin
An ostensible mark of conservatism is resistance to change, and so the Shenandoah Valley resists, preserving perfectly its distinct political hue.July 05, 2008
Three up; Three down
THIS WEEK’S OPINION MARKETPLACEJuly 03, 2008
Patriotism’s true spirit still glows
Hubris nibbles at rituals and fervor, and misnomers arise in their place, producing a distortion.July 01, 2008
Reality may bite effort at restraint
Political ceremonies are choreographed events, meaning that attempting to cull substance from them can be like trying to pull pulp from a hollow oak.June 28, 2008
Three up, Three down
THIS WEEK’S OPINION MARKETPLACEJune 27, 2008
Kim still poses nuclear threat
Inclinations to invite Kim Jong Il for Fourth of July hot dogs and hamburgers should be considered with skepticism.June 26, 2008
Crescent quandary understandable
In an historic fit of cogency, government in 1951 produced a sound tonic for a spreading urban malady.June 25, 2008
Pentagon fumbles as war tide shifts
In the practice of ancient Rome, a triumphant general, apt to forget his mortality amid adulation, heard a reminder in cant, uttered by a slave standing over his shoulder: “Look behind. Remember that you are a man.”June 24, 2008
Politics, beliefs inseparable mix
At the height of fervor over an acronym, WWJD, evangelical leftist Tony Campolo asked a pointed question: “Is Jesus a Republican or a Democrat?”June 23, 2008
Cries of ‘crisis’ unconvincing
Children of wise parents soon learn the limited efficacy of stamping feet, wailing in store aisles or turning their faces from ruddy to ashen by holding their breath in an attempt to persuade.June 21, 2008
This week’s opinion marketplace
Three up, three downJune 20, 2008
Ruling grants aid to enemies
A country whose people increasingly dwell in virtual realities is perhaps bound to wonder with Pilate, “What is truth?” or to dismiss as anachronistic the question’s object. This might explain the celebration in some corners over the Supreme Court’s decision to ignore the realities of war.June 19, 2008
At long last, a call to drill
A thumbs-up, thumbs-down assessment of newsmakers here and beyond:June 18, 2008
