This ‘n that

I keep hoping that I will find the time – and the mental space – to do some serious writing again. In the meantime, a few random thoughts:

• Confederate flags should be removed from public property. I made the argument years ago that the “heritage not hate” camp needed to choose a flag other than the one that has been co-opted by racists. I have a neighbor that flies a version of the first flag of the Confederacy. (I’ve not stopped to count the stars.) He used to rotate it with the Virginia flag, but since the controversy, has had this one up. I’m cool with it – after all, it is his private property on which the flag is displayed. I have to say, though, that if he had chosen to display the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern VA, I’d be a whole lot less cool with him, but not with his right to display it on his private property.
• Confederate statues should remain. We do need reminders of our history. The statues serve that purpose. On the other hand, it’s time to rename all the other public stuff – schools, roads, bridges – and, of course, holidays.
• KY clerk should resign. This isn’t about religious freedom, it’s about the Constitution. And Mike Huckabee should be ashamed of himself.
• Some VA clerks should resign, too. Holy cow! What a FOIA mess the Daily Press has found. If you’ve not kept up with the saga, the quick and dirty is that they have been trying to get court records to determine if there is bias in sentencing. That the paper can’t get what it needs says there is something seriously wrong with the FOIA law – and its lack of teeth for failure to comply.
• #BlackLivesMatter
• All of Virginia’s Congressional Districts should be redrawn. I do hope the Special Master goes beyond just tinkering with the 3rd Congressional district and redraws all 11. That would affect the lines of the state Senate and House districts. Wouldn’t it be great? 🙂
• Enough Trump already. The media is driving me absolutely nuts with its coverage of Trump. It is a tail-wagging-the-dog thing: the more the media talks about him, the higher he climbs in the polls – and the more the media talks about him. I much prefer 2011, when there was a different media darling nearly every week. Not only was it more fun, it was more informative. There is nothing objective about only reporting on one candidate. Somebody please find the next Herman “999” Cain.
• Biden isn’t running – and neither is Al Gore or anyone else. A corollary to “all Trump, all the time” is the “anyone but Hillary” drum of the media. Please. Give is a rest already. If you really want to report on somebody other than HRC, how about some coverage of Bernie Sanders?
• HRC is getting bad advice – again. I can’t believe this is happening. The inmates are running the asylum in the Clinton campaign – and some of those folks need to go. This email thing could have – and should have – been resolved months ago. Keeping Hillary away from the media was just frikkin’ dumb. Trying to make her who she isn’t is doubly frikkin’ dumb. Let me be very clear: Hillary Clinton is the best candidate for president in the field, bar none. I thought so the first time she ran and nothing has changed my mind in the interim. Hillary isn’t Bill, who simply oozes charisma. She is always, though, the smartest person in the room. That makes her not the most likable person – because people hate to be with someone who is smarter than them – and she doesn’t suffer fools. So maybe she’s a little sharp-tongued – I get that, being of the same ilk – but I think it is a confidence thing. Let me relate a little story.I spent my birthday in 2008 at a Women’s for Hillary event. My friend Susan Swecker (currently the chair of the DPVA) arranged for me to have a little one-on-one time with Hillary. She was very warm, more than cordial, in wishing me a happy birthday. But when I mentioned that I was going to be on a local TV show advocating for her over Barack Obama (and debating Obama’s advocate, Congressman Bobby Scott),  her entire demeanor changed. She got serious and quickly started directing her staff to get my contact info and to send me her surrogate talking points material. Sources tell me I did pretty well in that debate :)That’s the Hillary that the public needs to see: the one who is genuine, the one who is decisive. Not some fake, made-up, shallow version of her authentic self. The Hillary who gave this speech to her delegates – me, included – at the Denver convention in 2008.

OK so more than a “few.” But definitely random 😉