You Need To Get a Life

First Law of Weblogging: When entering this arena, never take yourself too seriously.
--
I received an email the other day announcing the fact that, according to BlogNetNews, From On High is the seventh most influential weblog in the state of Virginia. I couldn't tell you why, nor how that opinion was derived. I made note of the fact that I was ranked just behind the kids-with-keyboards over at Raising Kaine and just ahead of Ben Tribbett at Not Larry Sabato.

I gave the news cursory thought, and I then deleted the email and went about my life.

But I got to thinking this morning that, as much as I don't care about such things, I know someone who does. I resolved to see what Ben has to say about this affront to his very being. From on High is more influential than that which he devotes his every waking moment, his very existence to? That can't be sitting well.

As I suspected, his undies are in a major bunch:

BlogNetNews has a new ranking for most influential Virginia blogs. Here's the top 10:
1) Virginia Virtucon
2) Black Velvet Bruce Li
3) Mason Conservative
4) Ward View
5) Bearing Drift
6) Raising Kaine
7) From On High
8) Not Larry Sabato
9) VB Dems
10) Below the Beltway
Lowell has some thoughts up- including the fact the guy doing this ranking used to be a Bush speech-writer. Unbelievable. Like Lowell, I'm mad- this is bordering on an outright lie-and I feel personally smeared.
By the way only four of the "Top 10" use Sitemeter, but here are the traffic levels in the last week:
Not Larry Sabato 15,979 (40,958 page views)
Raising Kaine 12,877 (36,057 page views)
Black Velvet Bruce Li 4,390 (10,063 page views)
Bearing Drift 2,517 (7,979 page views)
I don't appreciate this guy lying and misleading people. That's f***ed up.

Whew. This over a silly weblog ranking. I wonder how he'd react if I had stolen his bicycle.

Ben, three things:

1) You accuse "this guy" of misleading people and, at the same time, you mislead people by suggesting that I don't use Sitemeter. I do. I see your error as a simple oversight, however, not some plot against our democratic way of life, and certainly not an attack on my manhood.

2) The ranking is accurate. Deal with it.

3) Get your arms around the concept of influence: A power to affect persons or events, especially power based on prestige, etc.

You write gobs of stuff each day. And you have a sizeable teenage following. It can probably be said with confidence that you even influence them to want to vote some day when they are old enough. But when it comes to the power to affect adults and to affect events of consequence, well ...

... some got it and some don't, big guy.

Here's hoping you can move out of the "also ran" category when the next ranking comes out.

In the meantime, I'm seventh and you're not. Bummer.

Oh, and (4) Don't forget The First Law of Weblogging.

And I Get Paid To Do This

Had the opportunity yesterday to check out the war-readiness of our United States military. I was given a tour (albeit whirlwind) of both our Naval Air Station Oceana and the Navy Amphibious Base in Little Creek, both in and around Norfolk (which the locals pronounce Nah'fuck). I was hoping to get to Portsmouth as well but time didn't permit.

Actually I was conducting business with the Navy.

Still, I can officially report: All is in mighty good hands. Key word being mighty.

A Story

A seminary professor was vacationing with his wife in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. One morning, they were eating breakfast in a little restaurant, hoping to enjoy a quiet, family meal. While they were waiting for their food, they noticed a distinguished looking, white haired man moving from table to table, visiting with the guests.

The professor leaned over and whispered to his wife, "I hope he doesn't come over here." But sure enough, the man did come over to their table.

"Where are you folks from?" he asked in a friendly voice.

"Oklahoma," they answered.

"Great to have you here in Tennessee," the stranger said. "What do you do for a living?"

"I teach at a seminary," he replied.

"Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well,I've got a really good story for you."

And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with the couple.

The professor groaned and thought to himself, "Great, just what I need--another preacher story!"

The man started, "See that mountain over there?" (pointing out a restaurant window). "Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up, because every place he went, he was always asked the same question. "Hey boy, who's your daddy?"

Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store, people would ask the same question. "Who's your daddy?"

He would hide at recess and lunchtime from other students. He would avoid going into stores because that question hurt him so much.

When he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to his church. He would always go in late and slip out early to avoid hearing the question, "Who's your daddy?"

But one day, the new preacher said the benediction so fast, he got caught and had to walk out with the crowd. Just about the time he got to the back door, the new preacher, not knowing anything about him, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, "Son, who's your daddy?"

The whole church got deathly quiet. He could feel every eye in the church looking at him. Now everyone would finally know the answer to the question, "Who's your daddy?"

The new preacher, though, sensed the situation around him and using discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, said the following to the scared little boy. "Wait a minute!" he said. "I know who you are. I see the family resemblance now. You are a child of God."

With that, he patted the boy on his shoulder and said. "Boy, you've got a great inheritance. Go and claim it."

With that, the boy smiled for the first time in a long time and walked out the door a changed person. He was never the same again. Whenever anybody asked him, "Who's your Daddy?" he'd just tell them, I'm a child of God."

The distinguished gentleman got up from the table and said, "Isn't that a great story?" The professor responded that it really was a great story!

As the man turned to leave, he said, "You know, if that new preacher hadn't told me that I was one of God's children, I probably would never have amounted to anything!" And he walked away.

The seminary professor and his wife were stunned. He called the waitress over and asked her, "Do you know that man who just left that was sitting at our table?"

The waitress grinned and said, "Of course. Everybody here knows him. That's Ben Hooper. He's the former governor of Tennessee!"

* Authour unknown

Let Me Settle This

Leave it to our esteemed legislators in Congress to come up with a solution to a problem ... that won't solve the problem.

As the White House has now informed them:

White House Opposes D.C. Vote 

Constitutional Concerns Put Bill in Jeopardy
By Mary Beth Sheridan, Washington Post Staff Writer

The White House declared its opposition yesterday to a bill that would give the District its first full seat in the House of Representatives, saying it is unconstitutional, and a key Senate supporter said such concerns could kill the measure.

"The Constitution specifies that only 'the people of the several states' elect representatives to the House," said White House spokesman Alex Conant. "And D.C. is not a state."

He declined to say whether President Bush would veto the bill, but … 

Here, fellas. Let me help you out.

1) The people of Washington DC deserve the franchise.

2) The people of Washington DC are prohibited by the Constitution from voting because they don't fall into the category of "the people of the several states."

3) See map for solution.

Allow the citizens of Washington D.C. to vote as residents of the state of Maryland, with that state's proportional representation in Congress being adjusted to compensate for the influx of voters.

Problem solved.

On Business Ethics

I know a little bit about business. More than some, less than others, to be sure. And I've learned, over the years, quite a lot about the ethics that dictate the moral principles upon which business professionals operate in this our glorious system of capitalist free enterprise.

All modesty aside, I guarantee you this: I know more about the subject of business ethics than does most any professor of political science/public administration alive today. So when I read a column in the newspaper headlined "Business Unethics," written by one, he gets my attention.

And, as I suspected would be the case, the premise adopted by this particular professor of political science/public administration is completely lacking in perspective and exhibits a woeful misunderstanding of the business community, our motivations, and of the way we operate.

In today's Roanoke Times:

Business Unethics 

By Reginald Shareef, professor of political science/public administration at Radford University

The public should pay close attention to the frenzied debate in America's graduate business schools over the teaching -- or lack thereof -- of managerial ethics.

This topic has dominated writings in the leading administrative science journals for the past five years. Simply put, many business school professors now acknowledge that a cause-and-effect relationship exists between contemporary business school education (with its emphasis on profit maximization) and the recent spate of corporate scandals.

Proponents of the status quo argue that business schools should continue to teach the philosophy of pragmatism; that is, the belief there are no absolute ethical values and it is OK for the manager to engage in unethical behavior to maximize profit.

For instance, a recent study of graduates of the top 13 MBA programs found that students who believed that profit maximization was the manager's primary responsibility increased from 68 percent at the beginning of their graduate education to 82 percent by the end of their first year.

Conversely, reformers of the MBA curriculum advocate changes that teach students they are stewards for society's scarce resources and that more than money -- for instance, safe products, ecological sustainability, preventing human suffering -- are at risk when making administrative decisions. (link)

The author of this lecture goes on to what I think is his real point - the lack of armor on Humvees in operation in Iraq in George Bush's failed war, Katrina, etc. (I know it makes no sense.)

But to the points Professor Shareef makes, where to start?

Let's begin with his sources. Or lack thereof.

"Proponents of the status quo argue that business schools should continue to teach the philosophy of pragmatism; that is, the belief there are no absolute ethical values and it is OK for the manager to engage in unethical behavior to maximize profit." Really? Someone's out there teaching college students that it is okay to be unethical in your business dealings? Who?

We're not told.

Secondly, is it wise for a professor of political science to delve into subjects he knows nothing about, only to embarrass himself with this kind of jaw-dropping pronouncement?

For instance, a recent study of graduates of the top 13 MBA programs found that students who believed that profit maximization was the manager's primary responsibility increased from 68 percent at the beginning of their graduate education to 82 percent by the end of their first year.

Personally, sir, if I were a professor of a graduate level business course, and 18% of my students thought their primary responsibility as business managers was anything other than maximizing profits, I'd be alarmed. And if I found myself in the unfortunate position of supervising a numbskull - one holding an MBA for Christ's sake - who doesn't understand the primary purpose of business (preventing human suffering?!), I'd fire him. With a vengeance.

Do you honestly believe a manager's primary responsibility is not to maximize profitability (and, in turn, shareholder equity)?

Only in the cloistered halls of academia can "ecological sustainability" and "preventing human suffering" be considered more important to any businessperson. The landscape, Professor Shareef, is littered with the rotting carcasses of thousands of shattered corporations that lost sight of what should have been the primary responsibility of their managers - profit.

Those other pleasantries are fine, like "ecological sustainability," for companies that find themselves awash in cash and can afford to dabble in such things, at least temporarily, and those - like Ben & Jerry's - that use it skillfully as a marketing driver. Otherwise ...

Here's what I've picked up in the real world: Mitigating human suffering has its place. As does one's focus on recycling efforts. But maximizing profits must always reign supreme. Or you'll be doing your mitigation from the unemployment line.

Here's what I've learned also: Business ethics courses are generally worthless. What I learned in my one graduate level course amounted to little more than - bribery is a bad thing, and pulling shenanigans with the financial statements will bring on unfavorable and unintended consequences, and fraternizing with employees is now a no-no, and lying, cheating, falsifying, deceiving customers and stockholders is not good ...

... the same stuff one was taught in Sunday School.

There is no MBA course known to man that is going to prevent a scoundrel from being a scoundrel.

So. Stick to your academics. And write your letters admonishing us business managers for losing sight of what you perceive to be our "primary responsibility" if you must.

As for me, I have to get back to doing what the stakeholders in my company - shareholders, executives, board of directors, employees, families, even customers - require of me. I must earn them a profit.

Good For Them, Bad For Us

[The following article originally appeared in the Roanoke Times on December 17, 2006]

What’s Good For Them Is Bad for Us

By Jerry Fuhrman

I read with dismay in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Monday that Governor Kaine intends to propose another series of tax increases next year in order to fix the roads up north.

It’s dismaying for two reasons: (1) the state is already so awash in cash that it is incapable of spending it fast enough and (2) the transportation issue is, by and large, a Northern Virginia issue, one that, in its being solved through higher taxes, will have an adverse effect on this area. While Northern Virginia gains nice roads, Southwest Virginia loses more jobs.

Up north, the issues of the day revolve around businesses being stacked atop one another. Smart growth (sometimes called growth management or land management), and mass transit, along with alternative fuels, are the primary topics of discussion.

Here in Southwest Virginia, our most pressing issues relate to employers and how we might gain a few. And to hold on to the few we have. We talk here of improving the quality of a woefully inadequate public education system. And of improving the quality of the drinking water. In Southwest Virginia - in 2006 – we talk about putting sewer systems into communities that have never had them.

It’s not that we don’t have our own transportation wish list. There is certainly discussion in some circles about the necessary completion of the Coalfields Expressway and about much-needed improvements to U.S. 58. Then there’s the ongoing debate about I-81 from Roanoke to Wytheville and whether it needs to be upgraded, or converted into some kind of traffic-congesting toll road.

That's all, in the big scheme of things, probably important. But generally, transportation issues aren't uppermost in the thoughts and discussions of folks around here.

What’s uppermost? Paychecks. Food. Clothing. Shelter. The kinds of things taken for granted in the fabulously prosperous north. We think about our small communities like Chilhowie and Galax and the Narrows being decimated by the loss of thousands of jobs in recent years.

What we need in order to solve our job-loss problems are employers, pure and simple. What we don’t need are more taxes adding to an already heavy burden being carried by those who provide us with an ever-dwindling number of jobs.


A message for state Senators Phil Puckett and Roscoe Reynolds, both of whom can be called upon to loyally carry the Democratic Party’s water when it’s time to vote in favor of another tax hike to solve transportation issues that are, overwhelmingly, northern Virginia issues: Your allegiance is not to Fairfax or Alexandria. You owe it to your constituents here to vote in their best interests. In fact, it goes beyond that. Your votes in favor of tax hikes do considerable damage to those who are most in need of your help.

There are those who argue that we shouldn’t be trying to pound a wedge between north and south; that we’re all ultimately in this together. Really? It’s fair to suggest that higher taxes will drive more Southwest Virginia employers out of business and our governor and most state legislators are arguing in favor of raising them and raising them again. We are all in this together to benefit whom?

We’re going to raise taxes here to pay a quarter of a billion dollars to construct a tunnel for a small stretch of rail line from Tyson’s Corner to Dulles airport (that amount is just to run it underground; the four-mile railroad extension project will cost $4 billion in its entirety) so as to not affect property values and to preserve Tyson’s scenic ambience?

We’re willing to vote people out of work in Saltville and Pulaski and Hillsville for that?

People in the state’s poorest county, Lee, are going to pay for a tunnel in Fairfax County, the state’s wealthiest, so people don’t have to look upon an unsightly train track when they stroll over to Starbuck’s for their daily Venti Peppermint Java Chip Frappuccino?

I don’t think so.

It’s time our elected representatives were on our side. That means voting to create jobs. And that is accomplished, in part, by reducing the tax burden on Southwest Virginia’s employers.

Folks up north want their roads repaired? Ain’t nobody stopping them.

Amid the Chaos And Dread ...

A U.S. Marine squad was patrolling north of Fallujah when they came upon an Iraqi terrorist, badly injured and unconscious.

On the opposite side of the road was an American Marine in a similar but less serious state.

The Marine was conscious and alert and, as first aid was given to both men, the squad leader asked the injured Marine what had happened.

The Marine reported, "I was heavily armed and moving north along the highway here, and coming south was a heavily armed insurgent. We saw each other and we both took cover in the ditches along the road. "I yelled to him that Saddam Hussein is a miserable, lowlife scum bag."

"He yelled back that Ted Kennedy is a good-for-nothing, fat, left wing liberal drunk."

"So I said that Osama Bin Ladin dresses and acts like a mean-spirited lesbian!"

"He retaliated by yelling, Oh yeah? Well, so does Hillary Clinton!"

"And, there we were, in the middle of the road, shaking hands, when a truck hit us."

Author unknown.

Who's The Real Bigot?

[The following article originally appeared in the Roanoke Times on Thursday, December 28, 2006.]

Now who's the bigot?
By Jerry Fuhrman

Well, ol' Virgil has stepped in it this time. As you may have seen or read, Virgil Goode, 5th District representative from Southside, sent a letter dated Dec. 7 to a number of his constituents, expounding on his personal belief that the recent election of a Muslim from Minneapolis to Congress was the beginning of the end of civilization. Or nearly so.

Had he stopped there, Mr. Goode would have been in trouble enough. God knows we don't say bad things about Muslims in this day and age and get away with it, even if some are inclined to want our children and grandchildren slaughtered in the streets of our cities. Or so it seems. We don't want to get them madder at us, that's for sure.

But Goode went well beyond trashing a Muslim congressman-to-be, who has stated that he intends to use the Quran next month at his swearing-in ceremony. Goode also took the time to denounce illegal immigration, a subject about which many conservatives agree, and to call for reductions in legal immigration as well, something with which most of us don't.

Lord have mercy.

As a result of the publication of his letter, the good congressman has suddenly been thrust into the limelight, finding himself trying mightily to defend his positions to the press. I'll leave it to others to decide whether he's been successful. And I'll not defend him here. He's on his own.

But for those of you who think Goode is a bigot or a xenophobe or a knuckle-dragging throwback, have you the same thoughts and feelings about the Muslim who prompted this uproar? If you're unaware of this guy's history but were now to find out that he is an adherent of one of the most bigoted and hate-consumed Americans alive today -- rivaled perhaps only by Al Sharpton and David Duke -- would you be prepared to denounce the incoming congressman as willingly and as vehemently as you are Virgil Goode?

Keith Ellison is said to be of the Muslim faith. In truth, he is a disciple of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan's fanatical black nationalist religious sect that calls for the complete separation of black America from the rest of society.

Malicious toward whites in general, Farrakhan and his followers save their most venomous hatred for Jews. From his lips, in a speech at a mosque in Chicago in 2003 and earlier on "Meet The Press": "You say I hate Jews. I don't hate the Jewish people, I never have. But there [are] some things I don't like. ... I don't like the way you leech on us. See a leech is somebody that sucks your blood, takes from you and don't give you a damn thing. See, I don't like that kind of arrangement."

He went on: "I believe that for the small numbers of Jewish people in the United States, they exercise a tremendous amount of influence on the affairs of government. ... Yes, they exercise extraordinary control, and black people will never be free in this country until they are free of that kind of control."

But what does this have to do with Ellison, you ask? This: The man who once went by the name Keith X Ellison has never renounced his affiliation with the most hate-driven organization in America. To this day, he is an enthusiastic supporter of Farrakhan, his grossly malevolent pronouncements and the principles upon which the Nation of Islam stands.

Ellison is a home-grown radical Muslim. And he's soon to be a member of Congress. Had Rep. Goode focused on this issue, he'd have gone on record as having brought up a subject that few people in this country seem to want to address but will, at some point, need to.

Having dragged the immigration issue into the discussion, though, Goode has brought upon himself an endless string of denunciations. Perhaps deservedly so.

That having been said, I ask once again: For those of you who think Goode is a bigot, have you the same thoughts and feelings about the Muslim who prompted this uproar? If your answer is no, I ask you this: Who's the bigot now?

Break Out The Bubbly

[The following column appeared in the Roanoke Times on Thursday, December 4, 2006]

Silver Lining In High Fuel Prices?
By Jerry Fuhrman

I have a theory. Call it the Fuhrman Theory of Southwest Virginia Macroeconomics. Or simply call it crazy.

It's been in development for years and came to me once again after reading two different news articles in The Roanoke Times in recent days -- "U.S. retail gas prices continue to creep upward," (Dec. 5) and "Furniture makers protest rate plan," (Dec. 7). Both articles involve the rising cost of our two most precious necessities -- fuel and electricity -- a circumstance that will undoubtedly be having a disagreeable impact on area consumers and business owners. Disagreeable, that is, unless one looks to the future and sees something of a silver lining.

Let's talk about foreign competition. One of my earliest recollections as it relates to jobs being shipped overseas has to do with baseball gloves. There was a day when Spalding, Wilson and Rawlings ruled the industry -- no Nike, no Mizuno, no Nokona -- with those three U.S. manufacturers producing 100 percent of their mitts here in the United States.

But in the mid- to late-'70s a change started taking place. American companies began seeking deals with plants in Japan and later Korea to provide ball glove inventory for the American masses. Great deals. Such great deals that factories here began to cut back on production and eventually began to close.

What was difficult for me to understand at the time was that the raw materials -- the hides that were used to build the ball gloves -- continued to come from this country, from American beef cattle. Huge stocks of untanned leather would be gathered up at slaughterhouses in Omaha, bundled, put on trains heading to the nearest port, loaded on ships bound for Osaka and trucked over to the baseball glove plants, where our kiddies' ball gloves were made. The finished products would then be shipped back here for sale.

It cost less to ship raw materials halfway around the world and have low-wage, no-benefit employees work them into finished goods that were shipped (halfway around that same world) back here than it did to have those same commodities manufactured here. And the exodus of American jobs began.
The predominant factor in the decision-making over the last few decades has been the price of labor. Villagers in the jungles of Indonesia work cheap and don't demand dental and optical benefits. Far down the list of production costs are -- were -- transportation and utilities.

That's changing. Rapidly.

With the price of oil climbing once again, the cost of transporting raw materials is rocketing skyward, as is the cost of manufacturing itself (due to rising heating, cooling, lighting, energy bills). Thus both are becoming key factors with which to reckon.

It is soon going to be an expensive proposition to ship timber that was cut from the forests of Tazewell County to China where that Wal-Mart bookcase is made and then to ship the finished product back to Tazewell County for sale.

Looking back, it's easily understood why America's leading furniture manufacturers had processing and finishing plants in Southwest Virginia. This is where the raw materials are, and where the productive, skilled workforce is.

Perhaps, just perhaps, until that (inevitable) time when another cheap fuel -- and with it, cheap electricity -- comes along, our furniture companies will see expansion opportunities and prosperity once again.

Gasoline and energy prices are going up. So break out the bubbly.

There is, of course, a downside to all this. Besides the increase in prices consumers will pay, the vast majority of the exports that depart the state of Virginia this year for foreign lands were finished goods. So rising transportation costs and more expensive electricity will be bringing about considerable upheaval on the export side of the equation.

Still, looking to Southwest Virginia, where we are graced with a perpetual abundance of raw materials, that dark cloud that has been hovering over our heads these many years might just have a silver lining once again.

Showdown

[The following column appeared in the Roanoke Times on Thursday, December 7, 2006]

Preparing For The Party Fight
By Jerry Fuhrman

It's high noon in the OK Corral. The Clanton gang looks warily upon its foe. The desperados array themselves tactically opposite Wyatt Earp and his deputies. All have loaded their weapons and are preparing for the epic gunfight. The outcome of this battle, very much in doubt, will determine who controls Tombstone.

To better understand the epic duel, think of the commonwealth of Virginia as Tombstone, the state legislature as the OK Corral, and the Clanton gang as the Democrats. Now think of the Republicans opposite them -- Wyatt Earp and his deputies -- being hog-tied, muzzled, bleeding profusely from previous encounters, with broken legs and arms, nearly blinded, and with delirium and fever having set in. And they're low on ammunition. Oh, and half the Earp posse has gone over to the Clanton side.

Welcome to the Big Transportation Funding Debate -- 2007.

The nature of this larger-than-life face-off probably began when former Gov. Mark Warner succeeded in pulling a handful of spineless Republicans over to his side to end the education funding debate in 2004, an act of cowardice on their part that resulted in a massive tax increase being foisted upon the people of Virginia and levels of improvement in our education system being ... well, they really didn't change at all. But that's for another day.

Then came Republican Jerry Kilgore's trouncing in the governor's race last year. An avowed conservative, Kilgore's message, convoluted though it became, by all accounts never resonated with the people of Northern Virginia (though he remained wildly popular in all other regions of the state) and he was defeated handily by a temporarily conservative foe who took away Kilgore's thunder by vowing to not raise taxes under any circumstances.

Which brings us to Gov. Tim Kaine's tax increase proposal of 2006. Though smarting from Kilgore's loss and the betrayal of formerly stalwart Republicans in the previous tax hike wars, party loyalists, led by Roanoke's Morgan Griffith and his band of courageous House delegates, did what was seemingly impossible: They stopped a powerful and influential bloc, referred to famously as the "axis of taxes," comprised of senators of both parties, Democrat House members, the mainstream press, public school and university administrators, and every other group in the state with a hand in your pocket, in their tracks. Because of their valiant efforts, the people of Virginia were spared another massive tax increase in 2006 that would have followed close on Warner's massive tax increase of 2004.

Then came Sen. George Allen's shocking loss last month, followed by recriminations within the party and the obligatory soul searching:

"We've lost touch with the people of Northern Virginia." "We haven't taken into account the rapidly changing demographics in Northern Virginia." "We need to understand that 60 percent of the population growth in the commonwealth, much of it 'ethnic,' is in Northern Virginia." "Traditional family values are unimportant in Northern Virginia; education, transportation, and 'smart growth' are the important issues in Northern Virginia."

Northern Virginia, where Republicans and Democrats, male and female alike, old and young, white and black (and ethnic) unite in a grand desire to raise everyone's taxes beyond their means to resolve problems that citizens in the remainder of the state would give their eyeteeth to have, all relating to explosive growth and eye-popping economic prosperity.

You can see it coming. Republicans suddenly feel like they're on the ropes and there's only one way to get right with the people. Listen to Rep. Tom Davis's (R-Northern Va.) assessment to The Washington Post after the election:

"This is a challenge to our leaders in our legislature to find some common ground. The voters look at our legislature today and see the fighting between the different factions and say: 'Are we capable of governing?' That's going to be our challenge in 2007."

Translation: You knuckle-draggers in the party need to compromise or we're doomed.

So Morgan Griffith and his cohorts, Reagan conservatives in that fine tradition, the only elected officials remaining in office in the state of Virginia who remember the ones what brung 'em, are soon to begin assembling in the OK Corral for the fight of their lives. For the fight of our lives.

Bruised, battered, bloody, bandaged -- but not bowed -- they face a formidable foe.

Eat The Rich

[The following article originally appeared in the Roanoke Times on Thursday, November 30, 2006]

Rising Tide

By Jerry Fuhrman

"That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and hence, is just encouragement to industry and enterprise."

-- Abraham Lincoln, 1864

"Probably the greatest harm done by vast wealth is the harm that we of moderate means do ourselves when we let the vices of envy and hatred enter deep into our own natures."

-- Theodore Roosevelt, 1902

The election of 2006 is over. The dust is settling. The Democrats have won a decisive victory over their Republican opponents. The celebration begins. Power shifts. The platform takes shape. And, as if we learned nothing from the early '70s when the party then (and now) in power did its best to drive the wealthy among us into oblivion, and nearly destroyed the economy in the process, we find ourselves once again returning to the ugly politics of class envy.

It first arose here in Virginia. Just days after James Webb won an upset victory over Sen. George Allen, Webb wrote a commentary for The Wall Street Journal in which he brought us the shocking revelation that some in this country have accumulated great wealth while others haven't:

"America's top tier has grown infinitely richer and more removed over the past 25 years. It is not unfair to say that they are literally living in a different country. Few among them send their children to public schools; fewer still send their loved ones to fight our wars. They own most of our stocks, making the stock market an unreliable indicator of the economic health of working people. The top 1 percent now takes in an astounding 16 percent of national income, up from 8 percent in 1980. The tax codes protect them, just as they protect corporate America, through a vast system of loopholes."

What Webb plans to do about this situation wasn't stated. But his having mentioned the tax code makes his intentions clear. Since the bottom 40 percent of wage-earners pay no federal income taxes, you can bet your life savings -- at least the portion that he doesn't intend to confiscate -- who it is Webb plans on going after. The detested rich.

Then there's Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel's call for the reinstatement of the military draft. Traditional arguments in favor of forced conscription revolve around the fulfillment of manpower needs in the most expedient, if ultimately detrimental (think Vietnam), way. But if you listen to Rangel's explanation, you come away with the understanding that his goal has nothing to do with improving the fighting effectiveness of our military; he simply wants Harvard and Yale students, those children of the pampered and pompous classes, to be dying in Iraq too. Feel the resentment:
"Am I raising the class issue? You bet your life I am. Am I saying that the affluent and those that are hooked up politically are excluded from serving? You bet your life."

Blind, seething rancor. And a jaw-dropping misunderstanding of how our all-volunteer military is incorporated. How does drafting the wealthy improve the military? To him it doesn't matter.

Closer to home, certain left-wing bloggers here in the commonwealth have taken up the cause too, not realizing the hypocrisy in their denouncing the war raging in Iraq and decrying the tragic loss of American lives, while at the same time demanding that the children of the rich share the experience. How depraved.

It has been said, and I believe it to be true, that the key difference between conservatives and liberals is in their attitudes toward the rich. Conservatives work to make everyone someday wealthy. Liberals work to destroy wealth.

I called a meeting of my sales team not long ago and in the course of my laying out the coming year's plan, I told each of them: I intend, if you do your part, to make every one of you rich. In so doing, of course, I intend to enrich myself. For having succeeded, the corporation to which we all answer will prosper. As will its shareholders. And the families of each shareholder.

As someone once said, "A rising tide raises all boats." This will only happen, though, if there isn't a tidal wave of class hatred sweeping over and capsizing us all.

Separated At Birth?

[ I have included this post for one reason: It received more negative feedback than anything else I ever posted to From On High. Even loyal friends unloaded on me for stepping over the line. I thought the look that Speaker Pelosi had on her face, and with that clenched fist raised, it was a startling likeness. Oh well.]

So Much More We Need To Accomplish

[The following column originally appeared in the Roanoke Times on Saturday, November 25, 2006]

The Job's Not Done

By Jerry Fuhrman

I am proud of you guys. I knew the outcome of the marriage amendment vote on Election Day was never in doubt, but I had no idea the turnout would be so high and the support for the amendment would be so overwhelming.

In the 9th Congressional district, 141,511 citizens of Southwest Virginia voted to permanently protect the much-beleaguered institution of marriage (75.2 percent of the total vote), and in the 6th, which includes the city of Roanoke, 137,902 did the same (64.3 percent).

Compare this to that bastion of liberalism in the commonwealth, the 8th district (much of Arlington, Fairfax, Alexandria, Falls Church), where 143,794 voted to oppose the amendment, and it is clear that we together not only drowned out the clarion call for amorality, we sent an unequivocal message to liberal newspaper opinion editors and leftist legislators around the state:

We rule.

But our work doesn't end here. There is much yet to be done. If our purpose in passing an amendment to the state constitution was to prevent rogue judges from someday reinterpreting the fundamental tenets of the document that serves as the cornerstone of all laws that govern our great state, reinterpretations that occur all too frequently in this era of activist political judges, we now need to turn to other vital areas of concern and chisel in stone in a similar way our collective will, to prevent them from making further mockery of our way of life.

We should now turn our attention to the most divisive social issue of our time: affirmative action. Whereas the concept originally called for positive steps to increase the representation of minorities and women in the areas of education, employment and business opportunities from which they had been historically excluded -- a concept with which few of us ever disagreed -- affirmative action evolved into a harsh, negative sociopolitical policing program, used as a cudgel to beat down certain groups not protected in favor of others that were.

It is today a quota system advancing the opportunities of those often less qualified over others because of their gender or the color of their skin (in some areas of the country, even their sexual orientation).

You may recall the firestorm that engulfed Blacksburg in 2003 when the Virginia Tech board of visitors decided to implement in policy form that which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sought many years before -- that his "four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

The board had decided to bar the consideration of race and gender in admissions, hiring and financial aid programs at Virginia's largest institution of higher learning. The decision was, by every poll ever conducted, supported by an overwhelming percentage of the populace.

Then-Gov. Mark Warner and a coalition of liberal organizations throughout the state and nation thought otherwise, denouncing Tech's actions and rejecting any notion that the university would be color- and gender-blind in its practices. The university quickly retreated.

Because the issue hasn't been on the front page of your local newspaper of late doesn't mean it isn't an issue we need to confront. Just this past Saturday, an article appeared in The Wall Street Journal about a young male who had a perfect 2400 on his SAT and a near-perfect 2390 on SAT2. Despite this, he was rejected by the University of Michigan, Stanford, MIT and three Ivy League schools.

Why? He was Asian-American, that ethnic group lowest on the affirmative action quota totem pole and the most discriminated against in the country. His case is being investigated by the Justice Department because -- get this -- a white student with lower scores was admitted to Princeton at the same time he was turned away.

Affirmative action is un-American. It goes against every ideal we hold dear. And it breeds nothing but contempt and racial hostility.

We the people have the power to put a stop to it forever by amending the state constitution.

I'll Be Home For Christmas ...

Work brings me to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania this evening. I've a meeting scheduled over near York in the morning.

How many years has it been that I've found myself far away from home the week before Christmas? Often right up until Christmas Eve?

I need to cut this out some day and get a nice office job.

On second thought ....

We Solved The Problem While I Was Sleeping?

[The following article originally appeared in the Roanoke Times on Thursday, November 9, 2006]

Where Did The Transportation Crisis Go?

By Jerry Fuhrman

Now that we've mostly settled the macaca matter once and for all, finally, we can get back to the one crisis that looms largest for all humankind, a problem that, if not dealt with, will most assuredly bring about the destruction of all life on the planet.

No, I'm not referring to the report released last week, the details of which were reported in the Washington Post, that sent shivers down the spines of Red Lobster busboys everywhere, a study that predicted the extinction of the planet's ocean marine species within the next 50 years due to over-harvesting.

And I'm not referring to the worsening global warming crisis that prompts thousands of overpaid and underworked United Nations delegates to be assembling, as you read this, in Nairobi, Kenya, so as to find a solution to the planetary carbon dioxide emissions dilemma. Thousands of delegates. 

Two weeks. All expenses paid. At luxury hotels. With plenty of adult beverages. Live entertainment. Poolside frivolity. Fun and sun. Stretch limos. Private jets. Gathered together to figure out how to conserve the planet's precious resources. On your dime. A crisis indeed.

Nor am I bringing up the dreadful calamity that is soon to result from Category 5 hurricanes slamming into the Gulf region, as all the experts have predicted. They tell us that the warming temperatures of the oceans will cause shifting weather patterns that will bring ruin, once again, to New Orleans and southern Mississippi. Maybe even before the end of hurricane season, which is fast approaching.

Beyond these imminent catastrophes, there are also brooding crises having to do with E. coli in our spinach and flu bugs in our chickens, medigap and the earnings gap, prophets as cartoon characters and evangelists as immoral characters, and Mel Gibson. Problems, to be sure, of biblical proportions.

None of these troubles, though, holds a candle to what we face currently here in Virginia. Or, to be accurate, what we faced just a few short months ago. A problem that must have corrected itself while we were all distracted, trying to keep up with more important matters like what a macaca is.

Just what the heck happened to all those crumbling roads and bridges? To our deteriorating infrastructure? To VDOT's impending demise? To the end of life as we know it? Did someone sneak into town in dark of night and resolve our monumental transportation crisis while we slept? They must have, because nobody is whining about it any more.

It seems it wasn't that long ago that we were subjected to this:

• Gov. Tim Kaine: "Solving Virginia's transportation crisis is the most urgent issue facing my administration, and I am getting started on it right away." 

• State Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr.: "While traveling across Virginia, I realize that Virginia has one of America's worst transportation crises."

• Bev Fitzpatrick, chairman, Virginia Municipal League's Transportation Policy Committee: "Virginia is in a crisis that would have our Founding Fathers rolling in their graves. The lead state of all the colonies has forsaken its responsibility to ensure a future for its citizens by not investing strategically in a long-term solution for our transportation needs."

Gosh. Urgent issue? One of the worst? Sounds serious. How did we let these dire warnings go unheeded? Could it be that we saw the hype for what it is? A naked -- and feckless -- attempt at growing state government?

After Mark Warner pulled the same stunt (substituting the word education for transportation), could it be that the people of Virginia have gotten wise to the game being played?

If our democratic republic teetered on the brink, is it possible that a small handful of Republicans in the House of Delegates, led by the courageous and indomitable Morgan Griffith, could have stopped this train in its tracks? Seems so.

Because the transportation crisis is as dead as a turkey in the oven. An apt metaphor for so much of this shameful saga.

More Evidence of Media Deceit

[The following article originally appeared in the Roanoke Times on Thursday, October 19, 2006.]

Over Their Dead Bodies

By Jerry Fuhrman

Deceit is probably too strong a word. It implies the intention to defraud. And, without evidence of intent, that might be a stretch. Laziness is part of it, though. Perhaps willful ignorance. Certainly sloppy journalism.

I'm reminded of the news account in July, accompanied by fantastic photos, of an ambulance that had been destroyed by an Israeli missile as it was being used to care for innocent Lebanese civilians in Cana. The photos clearly showed a gaping hole in the roof of the vehicle, centered in the large red cross that had been painted there to signify the fact that the vehicle was being used by non-combatants. Very damning stuff. And a complete fabrication.

It was only after the BBC, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and countless other organizations reported, in sober tones, the horrific circumstances of the incident that someone took the time to enlarge the photos and found that the metal around the hole in the roof of that ambulance was badly rusted, meaning the damage was clearly ancient. But the damage had been done, and the story was quickly forgotten as the news organizations involved moved on -- to another fabricated photo, this one of Beirut enveloped in billowing smoke. Shameful episodes both.

Which brings us to ABC News and its treatment of Southwest Virginia's very own 1173rd Transportation Company of the Virginia National Guard.

On July 27, ABC aired a report, and accompanied it with spectacular video, of an attack on a civilian convoy in the streets of a village near Balad, Iraq. The video, shot by the driver of one of the supply trucks in the convoy, clearly showed the line of vehicles coming under assault, followed close on by the disabling of one of the trucks, and the cold-blooded execution of one of the American civilians. 

Disturbingly, the video also seemed to show a 1173rd Humvee fleeing the scene of the fighting once the escort came under attack, leaving, as reported by the driver and by correspondent Brian Ross of ABC News, the civilians in the convoy to their fate.

In ABC's report, Ross asked the driver, Preston Wheeler, who narrated the video: "You were abandoned?" Wheeler's reply: "Yes, sir."

To many of us who watched the video at the time, it was clear that there was more to this story. In the first place, the video distinctly showed the Humvee that was reported to have abandoned the field to have, instead, simply moved forward with the lead trucks. And one was prompted to ask the obvious: If the driver was left alone to die, why wasn't he dead?

It was only after the broadcast of the incriminating account that the rest of the saga became known. It turned out that Wheeler's truck was being protected all along by other members of the 1173rd throughout the attack, men and women, America's finest, who heroically and selflessly risked their lives to save his.

What's most galling about this, beyond the gross misconceptions created by the report, are the excuses made afterward. In a feeble attempt to "provide the opportunity to respond," ABC noted in the report itself that the Army was "unaware of the incident" and could therefore "not comment."

When a far more factual account of the events that occurred emerged, ABC reacted with all too familiar weasel words: "The report accurately portrayed Wheeler's experience during the ambush." Other news outlets and editorial pages around the country repeated ABC's response and many tried to blame the military for the inaccuracies, writing that, had the Defense Department been more cooperative and less secretive, the full scope of the incident would have been revealed and there would have been a more balanced report provided.

Sure there would.

We often hear people on the left saying, rather incongruously, "We support the troops but not the war." We now have another glaring example showing how delusional -- or deceitful -- they are. ABC News attempted to destroy the reputations of soldiers who had risked their lives in mortal combat in order to, once again, denigrate our actions in Iraq. That is without question.

Here's to the 1173rd. No greater story of heroism and devotion to duty has ever, finally, been written.

Staying The Course

[The following article originally appeared in the Roanoke Times on October 12, 2006]

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The Soft Bigotry of Can't-Do
By Jerry Fuhrman

When it comes to discussing long-term economic prospects for Southwest Virginia, a perplexing sort of defeatism reigns.

A pervasive and frustrating can't-do attitude. What President Bush has called the soft bigotry of low expectations.

It manifests itself in gatherings of area business and political leaders, most recently in the "Creating A New Economy in Southwest Virginia" conference in Abingdon this past June attended by Gov. Tim Kaine and Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon. At such gatherings, it is accepted as fact that the direction in which our corner of the state is headed takes us away from that which has worked best over the years and toward a kind of competition-proof "asset-based" economy centered around basket weaving and banjo plucking.

It can be seen in the recently inaugurated "Return To Roots" campaign introduced with great fanfare by Kaine and state Sen. Phil Puckett, the thrust of which is to implore, with the creation of an Internet Web site, the estimated 15,000 high school and college graduates who have migrated from the area in recent years to return here where "job opportunities are exploding."

Those new jobs, except at one government-created data storage center over in Lebanon, mostly involve inbound and outbound telephone call centers. The fact that our elected officials consider it necessary to beg native Virginians to come home says a good bit about the likelihood of their success and about the attractiveness of those "exploding" job opportunities.

In fact, it is manufacturing that has been the lifeblood of this region for many decades. And it is this segment of the economy that gets short shrift in discussions about our future.

We hear it all the time. Manufacturing is on the decline. Has been for years. It's a disparity in wages. We can't compete with the Chinese. It is more cost-effective to cut down a tree in Wise County, put it on a boat headed for Shanghai, where it is made into cheap furniture and returned to Wise County and sold at the local Wal-Mart in Big Stone Gap, than it is to manufacture the cheap furniture in Wise County in the first place. We've heard it; we all know it to be true.

This is why we resort to talking about our future as being in asset-based basket weaving and banjo picking. Because we can't compete with the Chinese.

Well, you might find this interesting. The Chinese government, in partnership with a company called Nanjing Automotive, has announced its intention to build a new automobile manufacturing plant (in which it intends to revive the legendary MG brand) ... in Oklahoma. That's Oklahoma, USA. Low-wage China.

Why? Because the market is here; the highly motivated, productive labor pool is here; the raw materials are here in abundance, and because officials in Oklahoma haven't adopted the idea that manufacturing is dead in the United States of America.

So we are witness to this spectacle: While we accept plant closing after plant closing here in Southwest Virginia as being, somehow, God's plan, and seek, in response, a workforce made up of pickers, pluckers and pottery producers, the manufacturing sector prospers in other areas of the country.

Has the U.S. experienced devastating industry job losses in recent years? Without doubt. But if one looks at durable goods, Southwest Virginia's greatest strength, employment in America's factories is at an all-time high.

Is our workforce, in terms of productivity and output, still the envy of the world? You bet. Does manufacturing still provide 12 percent of our Gross Domestic Product? Fully. Can American manufacturers compete with the Koreans and the Chinese? If they're smart, efficient and unencumbered by burdensome government taxation and regulations.

So what it comes down to is this: We here in Southwest Virginia can compete with anyone in today's global arena. If we choose to. Unfortunately, we have leaders who choose not to. Perhaps it is time for the citizens of Southwest Virginia to choose for them.

Chilhowie Royale

[The following article originally appeared in the Roanoke Times on Thursday, October 5, 2006]

A Gambling Fix For a Poor Economy

Jerry Fuhrman

It's time we had this debate. Gaming is a cash cow. Should it be allowed to flourish in Southwest Virginia?

Now, before you get your undies in a bunch, it would serve you well to remember that one can't drive down a street in any village or town in the area and not be confronted with signs and placards heralding the current status of Virginia's favorite sport. No, not Virginia Tech football; I'm referring to our state-sanctioned lottery system. In fact, I can find out what the lottery jackpot has risen to at any given point in time by driving past the Pepsi plant in Wythe County and looking at the massive billboard nearby.

Gambling, like it or not, is already an integral part of our society, with the Virginia Lottery pulling in nearly half a billion dollars in revenue for the state education fund last year alone.

With that understood, how about we invite Donald Trump or Bally's to build a casino just off I-81 in Smyth County? Say, Chilhowie.

Let's look at the possibilities.

When you think of the No. 1 destination in America for tourists who want to play the slots or a hand of blackjack, what comes to mind? That's right, Las Vegas. Guess what the fastest growing city in America is. Right again. Did you know that Las Vegas played host to 26 million tourists last year who contributed $14 billion to the local economy? And, at the risk of being accused of disparaging Wayne Newton's talents, those millions aren't flocking to Vegas to hear him belt out "Danke Schoen."

By comparison, it makes our best efforts at developing the tourism industry in Southwest Virginia through the construction of miles and miles of bike paths and hiking trails, the results of which have brought us a handful of fast-food establishments and an outfitters shop or two, seem kind of ... what's the word? Puny?

Las Vegas is unique, you say. We could never replicate here what they have accomplished there. If you were to take a look around, you'd find fabulous growth in gaming tourism occurring across this great land, in places like Turtle Lake, Wisconsin; Christmas, Michigan; Joliet, Illinois.

Dollars generated by tourists visiting casinos in Louisiana and Mississippi now account for a stunning 8 percent of total state tax revenue.

Could Smyth County benefit from a casino or two being built in its midst? Take a look at what has happened to Tunica County, Miss. Famously referred to by the Rev. Jesse Jackson as "America's Ethiopia" because of its crushing poverty, Tunica was once one of the poorest counties in the country. In 1992, shortly after the gaming industry received approval from the legislature to build casinos in the area, construction began in Tunica with $3 billion of construction and related tourism investment.

There are now nine casinos operating up and down the Mississippi River in Tunica County (it was not in the path of Hurricane Katrina so it escaped relatively unscathed), employing 12,000 people (with ancillary employment, the number grows to 19,000). County per-capita income has risen from $9,900 in 1992 to an estimated $20,400 in 2000. 

Unemployment dropped from 13.6 percent to 5 percent. Its population has risen 13 percent in the decade between 1990 and 2000. The county, 72 percent black, prospers like never in its history.

Smyth County, by the same token, has seen its population, according to the latest census data, actually decline by 1.3 percent in the last five years and its private nonfarm employment drop 9.6 percent. Its median household income is more than $18,000 below the state average and the number of people living in poverty is 5 percent higher.

Chilhowie in particular could sure use an infusion of capital. 

Having suffered through plant closings and more than 1,430 layoffs (in a town of 1,784 people) in recent years, a casino prospering where once Reebok and J.C. Penney T-shirts were made might be just the thing.

Impossible, you say? It could never happen? Perhaps. But our state government got into the liquor business many years ago for similar reasons. Why not roulette tables?

I even have a slogan for Chilhowie to adopt, if it hasn't already been taken: What's spent in Chilhowie stays in Chilhowie. Let the good times roll.