Politics – Hampton Roads Weekly

Apr12024 by Web PublisherNo Comments

The Decline of Civil Discourse

How Targeted Media and Technology are Shaping Our Conversations in The Chaos of Our Ever-Fragmenting World, Illustrated by the Israel Conflict Civil discourse, the cornerstone of democratic societies, has been on a concerning decline in recent years. Amid this backdrop of escalating tensions and diminished dialogue, one cannot help but dissect the forces driving our global community away from mutual understanding and towards division. Chief among these drivers is the media's tidal shift from universally appealing platforms to niche and demographically targeted content. Coupled with the subtle yet profound influence of AI algorithms, echo chambers emerge, amplifying polarization. This is starkly evident in the portrayal of events as complex as the current Israel-Hamas conflict, where th...

Aug152023 by Web PublisherNo Comments

Civility vs Disrespect vs Behaving as an Adult for Virginia By Bruce Meyer – Publisher of Hampton Roads Weekly

Headlines, Politics

On Tuesday, July 30th, the Virginia General Assembly hosted a Special Joint Session in Jamestown, Virginia to commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the first legislative body to operate in the New World. The featured guest was the President of the United States - Donald J Trump. This ceremony was supposed to be a non-partisan celebration of Virginia’s rich history and the foundational beginnings of what would one day become the United States of America. For the most part, all of the goals were accomplished. We had dignitaries from throughout the world in attendance; however, some of Virginia’s own elected officials unwisely decided to play partisan politics and “boycott” because President Trump was to be in attendance. There are certain special occasions when po...

Aug42023 by Web PublisherNo Comments

How the Greatest Generation Can Save Our Current Generation

Politics, Uncategorized

By Bruce Meyer After the terrible tragedies and prevalence of violence we have all witnessed recently, people all over the country are once again asking when this madness will stop. There are two primary strategies that have been discussed for several years. The first strategy discussed by Democrats and the media is gun control. The second strategy discussed by Republicans is arming schools and citizens and eliminating stringent gun control laws. We can debate for years (and we have) the advantages and disadvantages of each proposed strategy; however, at the end of the day, they are not solutions to the problem. They are, in fact, just a band aid. The infection is still raging and both strategies are not the “antibiotic” that will cure this di...

Apr22023 by Web PublisherNo Comments

Tech Talk-Vote Mobile

Politics, Technology

Vote Mobile Over 200 million people have access to mobile devices in the United States. Still, only approximately 150 million people voted in our presidential election. This needs to change. We now have the technology to put the power of the vote in the hands of every United States citizen who is of age. The more people we have involved in our governmental elections, the more representative and democratic our government will truly be: of the people, by the people, for the people Voting is a crucial piece of our democracy. It has been from the very beginning when representatives from the original 13 colonies voted to declare our independence from England. We also encoded this right in our founding documents with the individuals and representatives both voting. These rights have slowly but ...

Feb122020 by Web PublisherNo Comments

2020 General Assembly

Politics

Delagate Jason Miyares The honor of my life is representing the citizens of Virginia Beach in the Virginia House of Delegates. In 1965, my mother Miriam Miyares fled Cuba as a scared, penniless 19-year old girl, leaving a country where the government has no consent of the governed to almost fifty years to the day in 2015 being able to vote for her son to represent her in one of the oldest democracies in the world. This is truly an example of the American Miracle. 2019 is the 400th Anniversary of the founding of the oldest continuous democratic body in the Western Hemisphere, the Virginia General Assembly. Virginia has come a long way since the first meeting of the legislative body in a Jamestown church on a hot July 30th, 1619. However, the same d...

Feb122020 by Web PublisherNo Comments

2020 General Assembly

Politics

Senator Bill DeSteph Elected to the Senate of Virginia in 2015 and 2019, Senator Bill DeSteph is a veteran, entrepreneur, leader, and father whose chosen pursuit is to serve and protect our nation’s citizens. Senator DeSteph represents the 8th District in the Senate of Virginia. The 8th District includes portions of the city of Virginia Beach. As the 2020 General Assembly session ended its first full week of business, Virginia’s Capitol was surrounded by 6-foot-high chain-link fencing. This followed the historic ban on weapons in the General Assembly imposed by the Joint Rules Committee. We have not had such restrictions imposed at the Capitol in anyone’s memory, but the new majority implemented changes in advance of Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, which has long been the bu...

Feb122020 by Web PublisherNo Comments

The Northern Virginia Power Grab and the Loss of Hampton Roads’ Influence in the Commonwealth

Politics

By Bruce Meyer - Publisher There is an old saying: “Elections have consequences”. 2019’s Legislative Elections are a prime example of that saying. Believe it or not, the results of this election were not about partisanship, but rather regionalism and the “Power Grab” by Northern Virginia. Prior to the 2019 General Assembly Elections, Hampton Roads held two of the most important House of Delegates committee chairmanships for our region: Appropriations and Transportation. Those two committee Chairmen – Delegate David Yancey of Newport News and Delegate Chris Jones of Suffolk were our primary champions in the House for all of our transportation projects. After the 2019 Elections, the House flipped and the Democrats took control for the first time in 20...

Feb122020 by Web PublisherNo Comments

Regionalism Not Partisanship

Politics

Hampton Roads Weekly had the opportunity to discuss the impact of changes in committee assignments in our House of Delegates and Senate with Hampton Roads Chamber President and CEO, Bryan K.Stephens. HRW: As we all know, a historic shift has occurred in the Virginia General Assembly as a result of our last elections. Democrats are now the majority party in both the House and the Senate. When new committee assignments were announced recently by our new Democrat Speaker of the House Filler-Corn and Majority Leader of the Senate Saslaw, both of whom are from Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads Delegates and Senators were removed from and left out of many influential committees. Leadership and committee assignments for the most powerful committees in the Gen...

Dec22019 by Web PublisherNo Comments

The Rise and Fall of the Republican Party and Takeover of The Democratic Party in Virginia

Politics

By Bruce Meyer The 2019 Election cycle has come and gone. The Democrats outspent, out-organized and turned out more voters than the Republicans. They achieved great success. Voter turnout in Virginia Beach averaged a little over 40%. In the Richmond area, it averaged approximately 50%. An off-year election typically averages approximately 20-30%. The Republicans lost 6 seats in the House of Delegates and 2 seats in the Virginia Senate, giving the Democrats control of the Governor’s Mansion, the House and Senate for the first time since 1993. That is 27 years! The big question being asked is “What Happened”? This is not a simple question. There were numerous factors that contributed to the Republicans losing control.&nb...

Aug152019 by Web PublisherNo Comments

Krissy Unger- Civil Discourse

Headlines, Politics

Director of Operations for Hampton Roads Weekly MPS Political Management While many will blame my millennial generation for the lack of civil discourse, they are certainly not the only generation to blame. With the rising use of technology in our lives, it has prompted many individuals to hide behind screens. People feel much more powerful when they can “hide” behind their computer screens. Comments and discussion threads online have become sets of personal attacks on others. People are more willing to speak their mind through an online post, rather than having an open conversation, face-to-face, in real life. These viral arguers do not feel threatened or show any remorse when posting their negative opinions online. There has been a fine line cre...