Glenn Beck's rally was the Waterworld of white self-pity.

White Fright

One crucial element of the American subconscious is about to become salient and explicit and highly volatile. It is the realization that white America is within thinkable distance of a moment when it will no longer be the majority. This awareness already exists in places like New York and Texas and California, and there have even been projections of the time(s) at which it will occur and when different nonwhite populations will collectively outnumber the former white majority. But it also exerts a strong subliminal effect in states like Alaska that have an overwhelming white preponderance.

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A Blow for Cuccinelli, a Win for VA Taxpayers

Judge quashes Cuccinelli subpoena of U-Va. records

An Albemarle County Circuit Court judge has set aside a subpoena issued by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to the University of Virginia seeking documents related to the work of climate scientist and former university professor Michael Mann.

Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. ruled that Cuccinelli can investigate whether fraud has occurred in university grants, as the attorney general had contended, but ruled that Cuccinelli's subpoena failed to state a "reason to believe" that Mann had committed fraud.

The ruling is a major blow for Cuccinelli, a global warming skeptic who had maintained that he was investigating whether Mann committed fraud in seeking government money for research that showed that the earth has experienced a rapid, recent warming. Mann, now at Penn State University, worked at U-Va. until 2005.

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"9/11 Christian" cult to Build a Church need Ground Zero

So, what if, in addition to the Park51 interfaith cultural center and basketball courts that are not at Ground Zero, we had a bigoted kook-church for people who believe Islam is a "religion of 'hate and death'" that's also not at Ground Zero? Then, everything would be even-Steven, right? Well, good news, then, from the Salon War Room:

A bigoted pastor who has assailed gays and Muslims is launching the "9-11 Christian Center at Ground Zero" a mere two blocks from the World Trade Center site this Sunday but so far the project hasn't drawn a peep of protest from those who are outraged by the "ground zero mosque."

Pastor Bill Keller of Florida said today he will begin preaching this Sunday at the Marriott at 85 West Street (see proximity to ground zero here). A weekly service is planned at the hotel until the $8 million 9/11 Christian Center finds a permanent space. (Fundraising is going well, Keller told Salon today.)

Ken Plum: Sizing down government in VA

Recently I received an automated “robo” survey call on my home telephone from Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling. After a brief explanation that Gov. Bob McDonnell was seeking to reduce the size of state government, the recording of Lt. Gov. Bolling posed the first question: Do you agree with Gov. McDonnell that the size of state government should be reduced?

My answer choices were either “yes” or “no.” I like the question; it is one I could debate either side at length. I replied “no.” That clearly was not the answer the surveyors wanted to hear, for after asking my gender – for whatever reason that mattered – the call ended. If I had responded yes, the follow-up questions would probably have picked at the agencies of state government to see where I would agree to reductions. Given the complexities of state government and its many functions, I wonder how informed the responses were to the questions.

Budget cutting with the economic recession has reduced the size of state government. Currently there are nearly 54,000 positions authorized for Virginia government to be paid for by tax revenue. The unit of government with the most tax-paid employees is public safety with just over 18,000 employees. That number includes the 14,421 prison guards and others who operate the adult and juvenile prisons and correctional facilities. That number also includes nearly 2,500 state police.

The next highest number of tax-paid state employees is in higher education with 17,597 employees who staff our colleges and universities. Public school teachers and administrators are local and not state employees. The third highest category of general fund state employees is in health and human services with nearly 9,000 employees who run the state mental health hospitals and mental retardation facilities. These three services constitute 80 percent of state government employees. The remaining units of government employ fewer than a thousand taxpayer-paid employees each.

There is a total of 61,000 additional state employees who work in programs that through fees or contracts pay for themselves including 35,000 in higher education alone. Eliminating these positions also eliminates the source of revenue that supports them with no net gain to the budget. In the instance of the Alcoholic Beverage Control system, eliminating the 1,078 positions in the agency would eliminate the nearly $150 million in annual revenue provided to local government from the profits of the ABC system.

For those who got the same robo telephone survey as I did and who voted in favor of reducing state government, please let me know where you would make the reductions beyond the belt-tightening done recently with the economic recession. Send your suggestions to me at kenplum@aol.com, and if feasible I will lead the effort to reduce government in those areas. I hope there is agreement that we need our prison guards, state police, college professors, and support personnel, as well as our mental health workers.

Ken Plum serves in the Virginia House of Delegates.

So Much for Being "Fair and Balanced."

Fox News Rejects Ad Highlighting Its $1 Million GOP Donation, Admits News Corp Opposes 'Democratic Candidates'

Mediate's Colby Hall has a new report today raising the question of whether progressive media watchdog group Media Matters was "serious" about putting up the funds to run an ad on Fox News about News Corp's $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association (RGA), pointing to the fact that Media Matters refused to edit its ad to meet Fox News' exact requests. But in an interview with the Huffington Post, Vice President of Research and Communications for Media Matters for America Ari Rabin-Havt disputed these accounts.

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John Boehner's Economic Plan Would Increase Deficit By $3.781 Trillion, Think Tank Finds

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) was short on specifics during his much-touted economic address in Cleveland this week,promising to offer a more detailed plan as the election approached.

But the Ohio Republican did outline some ideas about how President Obama could restructure both his White House staff and the economy. And in a subsequent report analyzing his suggestions -- which included the firing of top economic advisers -- the progressive think tank NDN estimates that the plans could exacerbate the deficit by roughly $3.7 trillion over the next ten years.

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Republican nominee Robert Hurt has a hole in his jobs platform on free trade.

“Robert Hurt is a typical politician who remains so out of touch with the experience of working families that he doesn’t even realize the devastating effects free-trade agreements have had on the Fifth District. Now he’s even pledging to continue supporting these bad trade deals and protecting corporations that ship good American jobs overseas,”said Jessica Barba, spokeswoman for the Tom Perriello campaign.

The jobs issue would seem to be a voting issue in the Fifth, where several local economies have unemployment rates beyond 10 percent.

The Perriello camp is pushing back at Hurt on jobs, criticizing the state senator on his ambiguity on extending NAFTA-style agreements to cover more foreign markets and his opposition to legislation that rewards corporations for shipping jobs overseas.

“If Sen. Hurt weren’t so busy standing up for companies that outsource jobs, maybe he’d realize free-trade agreements are bad for Southside Virginia,” Barba said.