Over at AlterNet, Tara Lohan takes a look at the recent wave of extreme conservatism that’s swept through several states, and wonders if the damage has been most disastrous right here in Virginia:
Reading the news these days is like going through a time warp. States across the country are racing toward the past. It’s 2012 and we’re still forced to stomach “debates” on birth control and whether we should be teaching science in the classroom. Georgia may pass a law banning protests at or near private homes. In Missouri Republicans are stripping healthcare provisions for the blind. We’ve hit a new low. And one of the states leading this mad dash to the bottom is Virginia.
It isn’t known for being a bastion of liberalism, but even for a “purplish” state, Virginia has taken extraordinarily conservative actions recently. The push has come from the Right — and the perfect storm of a Republican governor with eyes on the vice president’s mansion in Washington: an ultra-conservative attorney general (who thought the goddess on Virginia’s state seal, which dates back to 1776, was dressed inappropriately); and a GOP-controlled state legislature. The combination has been bad news for women, gays and lesbians, the environment, and just about everyone else in the state, too.
Tara then lists “5 ways Virginia may be the worst state in the nation.” What do you think? Is Virginia now less civil, less compassionate and less welcoming than states like Georgia and Texas?
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
