Michael R. Shannon

Gov. McDonnell Demonstrates Resolve

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell provided state and national Republicans with a useful and timely lesson in leadership when he vetoed the redistricting bill last week. Complaints emanating from disgruntled Republican House of Delegates members regarding the veto only serve to highlight their failure to pay attention and exercise leadership on their own behalf.

Budget & Other Deals on Slow Boat to Nowhere

One would think a party that’s supposed to be a tool of greedy capitalists under the control of Daddy Warbucks would be capable of analyzing a budget. But evidently Republican leadership is no better at dealing with monetary matters than your average foreclosure participant.

Contracts Are Made to Be Broken

Conservatives and Tea party voters now know the discount rate on Boehner–led Republican promises is in the neighborhood of 62 percent. This means if Speaker Boehner promises to cut $100 billion from an Obama spending spree while running for office in November, you are going to get no more than $38 billion when he’s actually in power in April.

Virginia Tech’s Teflon President

Last week Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell missed a golden opportunity to re–establish accountability in higher education. The US Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid levied the maximum allowable fine for Virginia Tech’s failure to issue a timely warning to students before the Tech shooter took an additional 30 lives in Norris Hall.

Government Shutdowns Are as Risky as Nuclear Shutdowns

It’s poetic justice that Democrats, who are almost uniformly opposed to payday lenders, find themselves caught a bit short in Washington, DC. For those unfamiliar with the term, payday lenders are willing to loan short–term money so borrowers can get over a financial rough spot between now and the next payday.

Political Cartography for Dummies

One of the methods Egypt’s former strongman, Hosni Mubarak, employed to stay in power — aside from torture, summary executions and defriending on Facebook — was denying the opposition access to the ballot. If you were a threat to either win the election or allow voters to express dissatisfaction with the regime, your name was not listed.

Can You Hold It ‘til We Get Home?

It’s beginning to look like Governor Flomax — the man who closed the highway rest stops in Virginia — will enter the race for our open US Senate seat. Former governor Tim Kaine is much sought after as a candidate due to his most notable accomplishment, which came on November 8, 2005, when he won the election. And not because he was the scourge of car–trip families all along the Eastern seaboard.

The French Fry’s Revenge

I really don’t understand how DC commuters continue to resist the allure of mass transit. There’s the serene quiet found as you stand at the base of one of Metro’s frozen escalators and gaze in wonder at the glimpse of daylight far in the distance.

A Newton for Our Time

Last week a man who personally performed or supervised 75,000 abortions — including two on his own girlfriends — died. He helped found NARAL, the most largest abortion lobby in the US. And before a “progressive” Supreme Court legalized infanticide, he used loopholes and subterfuge to perform abortions that were marginally legal.

What Do You Do When the Government Revolts?

Fresh off his success destabilizing the government in Egypt, President Obama is now taking aim at domestic tyrants — beginning with Republican Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin.

Standing Up to Adversity, Both Foreign & Domestic

Recent events prove if your travel plans include countries where government is both unstable and hostile to the USA, your chances of escaping a long prison term are much better if you work for Google, than if you work for Obama.

You Can’t Be a Little Bit “Private”

Who would have thought lawbreakers would have an effective lobby and among Republicans at that! What’s more, it’s not the expected Wall Street miscreants; it’s mean street miscreants. Red–light runners now boast renewed influence in the Virginia General Assembly; starting with my own county’s Del. Scott Lingamfelter who just introduced a bill that halts the installation of new “photo red” traffic enforcement cameras.

Time for an Intervention

I’m concerned about Virginia’s Gov. Bob McDonnell. He seems to be embarking on a white–whale situation involving his obsession with privatizing the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC). This unnatural focus is a damaging, negative influence on his administration.

All the News That’s Good for You

One of the reasons newspaper circulation and TV news ratings are falling is because people no longer trust journalists. They are tired of being mislead as reporters select and distort news coverage to conform to the media’s ideology.

Guns Don’t Kill People, Rhetoric Kills People

I’m a very chastened conservative this week. In looking over last year’s columns I find I’ve used the words: jewelry, sneeze, impatient and grab. By my calculations — assisted by Chris Matthews and those helpful people at MSNBC — I’m responsible for one burglary, a swine flue scare, two fire–zone parking violations and a groping on the Metro.

No Wonder Henry Ford Said “History Is Bunk”

It’s surprising that so few parents are concerned that some of Virginia 4th grade history teachers don’t appear to know much more about the subject than their students.

Help ‘Public’ Broadcasting Kick the Habit

It’s time for tough love in Virginia. We’ve got a group of squatters living in the basement, enjoying a subsidized lifestyle paid for by hard–working adults. And at a time when even former DC Mayor Marion Barry has come to the conclusion there should be an absolute time limit on the collection of welfare benefits, there is no excuse to continue supporting the Culture Queens.

The Cathedral of Can’t We All Get Along?

This Christmas brings another “can’t we all just get along“ story that once again demonstrating how the media fails to understand committed Christians.

The First Rule of Holes

The first rule of holes is simple: when you’re in one, stop digging.

Ratchet Effect – How the Old Maximum Becomes the New Minimum

The Oxford Dictionary of Economics defines the Ratchet Effect as: “A tendency for a variable to be influenced by its own largest previous value…the ratchet effect implies that variables are more sticky in one direction than the other.” Think of it as one of those notoriously unreliable DC Metro escalators that only go in the direction conservatives don’t want to travel.