The recent Republican Attorney General’s opinion declaring that Pittsylvania County does not have the right to enact an ordinance banning uranium mining within its borders speaks volumes about how corrupt our political system has become.
The fact that the opinion was sought by Republican Senator Robert Hurt, who just happens to be the son of Henry Hurt, a major investor in VUI (Virginia Uranium Inc.), and the fact that the opinion was rendered by a Republican Attorney General also speaks volumes. Here we go again! Republicans are all about Big Money and Big Business, aren’t they? They are the ones who keep giving the Big Bad Boys the green light to plow “We The People” under, aren’t they?
Listen up good people, the system is broken and we need to fix it.
How did we get here, you might ask. The answer is “Dillon’s Rule.” Virginia just happens to be a Dillon’s Rule state. (Some are and some are not.) Simply stated, Dillon’s Rule says that all power belongs to the State and that the State will determine what is best for the people – not the people themselves. In other words, damn the people!
How can that be, you might ask. Doesn’t the Virginia constitution and the U. S. constitution say that all power belongs to the people, and isn’t our beloved State of Virginia the mother of presidents and cradle of democracy?
The answer to both questions is a resounding YES! However, our rights have been hijacked – stolen from us by Dillon’s Rule. Our politicians say that you and I no longer have the power and authority to determine our own destiny – that, ladies and gentlemen, our destiny will be determined by a group of Richmond politicians who more often than not are interested in stuffing their pockets with corporate cash than in fairly representing “We The People” who put them there.
Now, that we know how the deck is stacked against us we need to act. We The People need to take our government back. We The People need to weed out the bums and send good people to Richmond and Washington – and we need to throw out Dillon’s Rule which was adopted by the state without our blessing. Right now, there is a large major Canadian mining conglomerate poised to extract radioactive uranium that is now buried deep in solid bedrock, grind it into a fine powdery state, extract only one-half pound from each ton (.02%) and leave the remaining smoldering mass (99.98%) piled along the banks of the Banister River to ooze its radioactive heavy metal waste downstream forever.
This is War!
If the Attorney General’s opinion doesn’t make your blood boil, you are not a fan of freedom nor are you a true Virginian, and, you do not cherish the rights fought for and handed down to us by our forefathers. This is treason and it should be dealt with accordingly.
Each locality, be it a town, a city or a county, should have the right to determine its own destiny. That’s the American way! That’s Democracy!! If We The People can’t determine our own destiny then there is no freedom and there is no democracy.
I don’t know about you, but come November this loyal and long time Republican is going to start the process by voting for a Democratic Governor – and I am going to look ever-so carefully at all who are up for election.
Yours truly,
Jack Dunavant
Chairman, Southside Concerned Citizens
I hate to say this but, it is not just one political party my friend. Corruption in politics is a systemic pandemic that crosses all party lines. There are good and bad on both sides but overall the issue in Richmond and Washington is that Big Business is in bed with a Government that has seemingly forgotten that they exist for the benefit of the people. When our laws encourage exploitation it must be asked: what can the people do?
Whether our state leaders recognize this or not, we are at a hinge-point in the history of Virginia. Will we continue a legacy of environmental devastation as we import more trash, spread toxic sludge on our farmers’ fields, drool over radioactive treasure, pollute our waterways, and forget that our children will inherit this broken land.
Or will we finally understand that environmental issues are cultural issues, health-care issues, generational issues.
Will we let the vultures continue to gather? Will we continue to allow corporations to rape our resources and damn our childrens’ futures? It’s time to wake up Virginia, because there is no lasting future being drunk on power and money. R.I.P. Virginia? Who will decide your fate?