Interesting feature today in the Washington Post about R. Creigh Deeds, the Democrat running for governor of Virginia. That election is only about 30 days away. Deeds is running against Robert F. McDonnell. The thrust of the story is that Deeds is tentative about certain issues — the headline describes him as a fence straddler — and that this uncertainty is a product of his rural upbringing. h

Deeds describes himself as a "work in progress," according to writer Michael Leahy, "the product of growing up on a farm (above), on the hard side of a mountain where the unexpected was the norm and where anyone who couldn't compromise was inviting failure." Lehy describes a childhood of farm work and uncertainty and says this upbringing helped create a politician who is uneasy making final "yes" or "no" decisions about issues. Declining to give specifics about a complicated tax plan, Deeds said, "I could be specifically wrong." It's interesting that uncertainty is considered political immaturity these days, and we think that being absolutely certain is a sign of being a good leader. 

Deeds' early life was uncertain. His parents divorced when he was young and he was raised largely by his grandfather in Bath County. Deeds learned country politics from his grandfather, a Democratic Party official, and he learned how the world worked from patching fence.

Native American farmers and ranchers filed a class action suit ten years ago, alleging that the USDA had discriminated against them by denying federal loans.

Kari Lyderson of the Washington Post writes that Indian plaintiffs (like North Dakotan George Keepseagle, pictured above) now hope for a settlement.

Ron His Horse Is Thunder, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, told Lyderson, "All the [USDA] agents at the local level are non-Indian, and they all have friends and family who are farmers and ranchers, so when they start denying access to loans to Native Americans and that land is lost, it's [the loan official's] family or friends who end up buying this land."

African-American farmers prevailed in 1999, with a similar class-action suit. “Nearly a billion dollars was paid to Pigford claimants, and this year President Obama requested $1.25 billion more for farmers who missed the 2000 filing deadline.”

Secretary Tom Vilsack “has stressed his commitment to improving diversity and equal opportunity” in the USDA. And Native American farmers, the Post reports, believe that the current administration is prepared to reach a settlement.

Sugar is leaving a heavy carbon footprint in human cells. How about applying cap-and-trade rules to companies that are shoveling sweeteners?

Gangs are everywhere in Indian Country and tribal leaders wonder if the community and culture have lost their powers.