Monumental News From Virginia

 

It’s just possible that you’ve heard the big news about the Virginia election. If not, I refer you to several excellent posts here, scads of Internet “newsprint,” and hours and hours of coverage yet to come on cable. This isn’t about that. It’s about three small counties in Virginia, not really deep south Virginia, but not exactly the northern part either. In each of these counties, the removal/relocation of Confederate monuments was on the ballot. People were allowed to vote about whether these monuments should be consigned to the proverbial dustbin, and those monuments were not subject to the decisions of a few people politically in charge of the areas.

I’m not the greatest at interspersing media with the printed word on this site, so bear with me while I do my best.

This picturesque scene is Middlesex County, Virginia, near the waters in the East (the Middle Peninsula) and about the same latitude as Richmond. The monument was erected in 1910 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Removal (as opposed to “relocation”) was on the ballot. Seventy-five percent of the voters said “No.”

This is Mathews County, Virginia, relatively close to the above-mentioned Middlesex County. The monument was erected in 1912 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in honor of the county’s fallen soldiers and sailors. Here, the ballot initiative was to “relocate” the monument. Eighty percent of the voters said, “Let’s not do that.”

Nottoway County is southwest of Richmond and is notable for the presence of Fort Pickett. I’d assume that we all know for whom that was named, but the National Guard installation is undergoing a name change following a congressional directive to erase history. The monument itself was erected in 1893 by the Ladies’ Memorial Association of Nottoway in front of the courthouse and bears the names of local Confederate dead. The initiative to “relocate” it was defeated, with 68% opposed.

There’s a lot going on in elections. Some things we hear much about, some we don’t. Hopefully, this highlights some of the latter and underscores the fact that very local issues should be decided by very local people.

Published in Elections
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  1. James Salerno Inactive
    James Salerno
    @JamesSalerno

    Good.

    • #1
  2. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    The problem is that a few thugs with ropes can overturn the will of the electorate.

    • #2
  3. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    The problem is that a few thugs with ropes can overturn the will of the electorate.

    I’m guessing “robes.”

    • #3
  4. JoelB Member
    JoelB
    @JoelB

    I wonder what the greatest motivator is behind the Virginia Republican victory – The erasure of history, the bigoted black studies being forced on the schools, the job losses caused by the vaccine mandates, the humiliating foreign policy, inflation, supply chain breakdowns… So much to choose from. Are we better off than we were four years ago? Why not? I wonder…

    • #4
  5. Nohaaj Coolidge
    Nohaaj
    @Nohaaj

    Hoyacon (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    The problem is that a few thugs with ropes can overturn the will of the electorate.

    I’m guessing “robes.”

    or hoods, tiki torches, and kmart khakis. 

     

    • #5
  6. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    JoelB (View Comment):

    I wonder what the greatest motivator is behind the Virginia Republican victory – The erasure of history, the bigoted black studies being forced on the schools, the job losses caused by the vaccine mandates, the humiliating foreign policy, inflation, supply chain breakdowns… So much to choose from. Are we better off than we were four years ago? Why not? I wonder…

    Hell, we’re much worse off than we were just ten months ago.

    • #6
  7. Nohaaj Coolidge
    Nohaaj
    @Nohaaj

    This was a monumental vote result! 

    • #7
  8. LibertyDefender Member
    LibertyDefender
    @LibertyDefender

    Hoyacon (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    The problem is that a few thugs with ropes can overturn the will of the electorate.

    I’m guessing “robes.”

    The (Klan) robed ones are elected Governor, by the enlightened elite northern Virginians.

    • #8
  9. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    It’s a good result, but the Left never quits. The issue will keep appearing on the ballot until the voters “get it right” or some judge decides differently. We have to go on offense so the Left is too distracted defending their own turf for a change.

    • #9
  10. Fritz Coolidge
    Fritz
    @Fritz

    JoelB (View Comment):

    I wonder what the greatest motivator is behind the Virginia Republican victory – The erasure of history, the bigoted black studies being forced on the schools, the job losses caused by the vaccine mandates, the humiliating foreign policy, inflation, supply chain breakdowns… So much to choose from. Are we better off than we were four years ago? Why not? I wonder…

    One explanation:

    ‘Maybe “your kids belong to us and also f*** you” was not the greatest education slogan for Democrats to run on.’  -Robby Soave

    • #10
  11. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Good for the voters! Sanity seems to be seeping out and infecting some of them. Thank goodness!

    • #11
  12. OldPhil Coolidge
    OldPhil
    @OldPhil

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Good for the voters! Sanity seems to be seeping out and infecting some of them. Thank goodness!

    I know there was quite an active Republican effort in our NW Virginia community. It’s already a reliable conservative area, but many such areas in Virginia had much larger turnouts than normal for a non-Presidential election. That helped overcome the usual  Fairfax/Arlington/Charlottesville/Richmond Democratic numbers.

    And the Virginia GOP finally wised up after the disaster in 2019, when they failed to run candidates in nearly 25% of House of Delegate races, giving the Dems a 55-45 margin the last two years. Counting is still going on, but right now it looks like a 52-48 GOP margin.

    • #12
  13. KentForrester Coolidge
    KentForrester
    @KentForrester

    Sanity erupts in the most unlikely of places!

    • #13
  14. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Too bad Redskins and Indians fans can’t vote whether or not to keep the names of their teams . . .

    • #14
  15. Henry Racette Member
    Henry Racette
    @HenryRacette

    I think a large majority of America consists of people who don’t want the world to go crazy, but who either don’t know what’s going on or who don’t feel they have a voice. But crazy is coming for them — and for their children — so they’re going to hear about it. And they’ll find a voice. Some of them did on Tuesday.

    • #15
  16. Old Bathos Member
    Old Bathos
    @OldBathos

    Elections only count if the people choose to endorse the right positions.  The malignant clown circus will keep at it, I’m sure.

    • #16
  17. LibertyDefender Member
    LibertyDefender
    @LibertyDefender

    Stad (View Comment):

    Too bad Redskins and Indians fans can’t vote whether or not to keep the names of their teams . . .

    In 2014, I drove across a large portion of the American West, mostly on two lane highways.  I drove through several American Indian reservations.  On two different such reservations, I saw a high school proudly announcing its support for its teams, the Redskins.

    One of the high schools even used the same logo that used to adorn the helmets of the Washington Football Team.  Had those high schools not been on American Indian reservations, they surely would have heard from the NFL Redskins’ owner Danny Snyder.

    What I’m getting at is that the insanity of wokeness – like so many leftist policies – is harmful to those whom the woke leftists claim to help.

    • #17
  18. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    LibertyDefender (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Too bad Redskins and Indians fans can’t vote whether or not to keep the names of their teams . . .

    In 2014, I drove across a large portion of the American West, mostly on two lane highways. I drove through several American Indian reservations. On two different such reservations, I saw a high school proudly announcing its support for its teams, the Redskins.

    One of the high schools even used the same logo that used to adorn the helmets of the Washington Football Team. Had those high schools not been on American Indian reservations, they surely would have heard from the NFL Redskins’ owner Danny Snyder.

    What I’m getting at is that the insanity of wokeness – like so many leftist policies – is harmful to those whom the woke leftists claim to help.

    I’m half Norwegian, so I think it’s kinda cool we have the Minnesota Vikings . . .

    • #18
  19. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Stad (View Comment):
    I’m half Norwegian, so I think it’s kinda cool we have the Minnesota Vikings . . .

    If they really wanted to terrorize their opponents they would call themselves the Minnesota Frankens.

    • #19
  20. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):
    I’m half Norwegian, so I think it’s kinda cool we have the Minnesota Vikings . . .

    If they really wanted to terrorize their opponents they would call themselves the Minnesota Frankens.

    The cheerleaders could be dressed in fatigues and sleep on the sidelines while a coach walks up to them and pretends to fondle their breasts . . .

    • #20
  21. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Elections?  What a novel idea!

    • #21
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