The News out of Richmond- the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Although I usually provide commentary on national issues, to the exclusion of state and local issues, some news taking place in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia warrants some attention…
First the Good: On February 17th, the Virginia Senate rejected a bill endorsed by Democrat Governor Ralph Northam, that would have placed severe restrictions on so-called “assault” weapons and curtailed the rights of Virginians to keep and bear arms. This was the latest measure proposed by Democrats to strictly curtail Second Amendment rights in the Commonwealth, in a state where Democrats control both houses of the General Assembly as well as all three executive offices- governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. Largely the result of protests taking place in January, the bill ultimately failed, with the help of four Democrat legislators joining a united Republican caucus.
Next the Bad: On February 11th, both of the Democrat-led Houses of the Virginia General Assembly passed measures that would authorize cities and counties the autonomy to “remove, relocate, contextualize, cover or alter” Confederate monuments in their respective public spaces. Forget about the subtleties in the language, for it is nothing less than an assault on our history. In Richmond, the bill would allow local politicos to remove five monuments- those of Confederate Generals J.E.B. Stuart, Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, and Robert E. Lee, as well as Naval Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury and Confederate President Jefferson Davis- that are the very namesake of Monument Avenue. Once compared to the Champs Elysée in Paris (World Book Encyclopedia- 1959), Richmond’s Monument Avenue was, at one time, one of the most beautiful tree-lined boulevards in America, if not the entire world. Since the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, politicians in Richmond City have systematically and incrementally taken this recognition down, and now it appears they’ll have the authority to finish the job. Never mind the fact that, technically, the statues on Monument Avenue were gifts to the Commonwealth of Virginia (and not city-owned property), erected during the turn of the nineteenth into the twentieth century…and from monies raised by Confederate widows and other beneficiary organizations. None of that seems to matter in this era of revisionist history, academic indoctrination and political correctness.
Now, the Ugly: It never ceases to amaze me how freedoms so preciously won in terms of treasure and bloodshed can be taken away with the mere stroke of a pen, by short-sighted nincompoops who seek power and incumbency by signing away our constitutional rights and historical legacies. Although the motion to strictly curtail and, in some cases, eliminate our right to keep and bear arms here in the Old Dominion, ultimately failed this time around, the one-time medical student in blackface and now Governor Ralph Northam, has vowed to bring the legislation back in the Assembly’s next term.
Richmond, where Patrick Henry once delivered his “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech, where religious liberty in the new world was first codified into law, and where television was first broadcast in the South, has fallen on hard times in these last decades. The federally employed population overflowing the confines of the Capital Beltway, have brought their love of big government, with its trappings of largesse and governmental oversight, to Virginia’s capital and the once reliably red state has thus turned absolutely blue within the last decade. Once known as a conservative, pay-as-you-go state which detested both deficits and debt, Virginia has become swollen with federal dollars (primarily defense-related spending) to the extent of being the top spender of federal tax dollars on a per capita basis. Along with this spending has arrived the blue-nosed elite of wealthy opportunists who think they know better- far better than the “rubes” who have made Virginia home for generations. They have neither respect nor reverence to abide honors once afforded by locals to their heroes of the past- honors bestowed by those local Virginians who fought with, personally knew and later raised funds to erect the monuments to their fallen comrades in arms. These political opportunists took advantage of traditionally reticent Richmonders, far too genteel and far too reserved to put up an honest fight- until it was too late. Once a statue comes down, after all, it will never be put back up.
All in all, it is very sad that the Old Dominion- once known as the birthplace of self-governance in the new world and the “mother of states” has now become the “New Domain” of D.C. insiders who seek to eliminate the power of the several states to govern themselves in accordance with the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Remember that rights either surrendered or taken away can never be retrieved, but by blood…
…and God forbid, that may be where we are headed, yet again…
-Drew Nickell, 18 February 2020
© 2020 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.
author of “Bending Your Ear- a Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times”
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