Category Archives: Uncategorized

Sharon owned a small store in Rockbridge. For a few decades her store served as a deer registration station during the nine-day gun deer season, which begins again on Saturday.  When you shot a deer in her neck of the woods you had to bring it to Sharon’s where she filled out some paper workContinue reading “What We Lost When We Lost Sharon’s Store”

At some point, when he’s long gone, people will look back on the Trump era and make a simple judgement: did you oppose or support the man who was the most corrupt president in history? A man who sought to destroy American democracy and replace it with an autocracy. A man who displayed nothing butContinue reading “The Tragedy of Tommy”

That orange glow you see on the horizon may be Donald Trump setting in the west. God knows, we’ve been here before. I was sure of several things. Trump could not be elected in 2016. Trump could not be reelected in 2024. And along the way, on numerous occasions, I was absolutely certain that heContinue reading “Sunset of Trump?”

Close readers of YSDA may have noticed that our production has fallen off in recent weeks. The other members of my household are to blame. I’ll explain. I usually write this blog early in the morning. I read something in the morning’s papers. My goat is gotten. I spout off. I post the spouting andContinue reading “Blame My Dog”

Three weeks ago in this space we urged Democrats to do the responsible thing, be the adults in the room, and vote to end the government shutdown. Now, thanks to the sensible moderate Democrats in the Senate, that’s exactly what’s happening. Moreover, it’ll pay off politically for their party. Our argument back in October wasContinue reading “Moderates Act Like Adults”

The Edmund Fitzgerald began to sink in June, 1958. Today, November 10th, only marks the 50th anniversary of the actual sinking in 1975. That’s one conclusion you could reach after reading a new recounting of the tragedy, Wrecked: the Edmund Fitzgerald and the Sinking of the American Economy, by Tom Nelson with Jerald Podair. NelsonContinue reading “The Fitz Was Sunk From the Start”

If you can just step back, take your heart out of it for a moment, and analyze it as a management exercise, the whole controversy over the future of the Wisconsin football program and, indeed, the whole Athletic Department is fascinating. The latest news, as of this morning, is that Luke Fickell will be backContinue reading “Badgers Buck the Trend”

It’s possible to be both frustrated with the Beltway consultants and pols in the Democratic Party and not take positions on the issues that are out of the mainstream. But a recent column in the New York Times by Michelle Goldberg about the troubled candidacy of Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner posits it asContinue reading “The Anti-Establishment Moderate”

There was one clear message from yesterday’s elections: it’s all about the cost of living. The Democrats got creamed a year ago not because most voters loved Donald Trump or embraced his full agenda. They were pushed toward him by a Democratic Party whose image was too far to the left on social issues andContinue reading “It’s About Prices”

Say what you want about YSDA, but we go there. We go to places sensible people fear to tread. And that has never been more true than it is today, when we dare to take on the feminization of America. We go there now because there’s an essay out there causing a mild stir. It’sContinue reading “My Most Ill-Advised Blog Ever”