(This column originally appeared in AltDaily)

Ahhh… The day after Election Day.

Are you basking in the afterglow? Smoking a cigarette? Did you just roll over and go to sleep? Or were you one of the 72% who ignored the easy opportunity?

As I see it, there are two major takeaways from this year’s political fiesta:

This time around, I want to discuss consumer rights vs. the rights of those who seek profit without limits, healthy competition or public scrutiny, and why the rights of profiteers always seem to dominate.

For example, there’s this story, in which our old friends at Dominion Power continue to promote their plan to string a high-voltage power line over a historic section of the James River.

Truthfully, I don’t think I’m as concerned with the aesthetics of Dominion’s proposal as those who so passionately oppose it. What I am opposed to is Dominion’s ongoing attempts to force a project on the people who do oppose it through extortion, intimidation and coercion.

This week, I want to take a break from poking the bear and point out some good things going on around the region. As always, I hope they represent a trend, and I want to encourage the kind of progress these positive actions represent. 

A ray of sunshine? Let’s hope so

I want to start this week in Portsmouth, but for a more positive reason than usual. I’ve spent a lot of time picking on Portsmouth, and frankly it’s been justified. The litany of problems that city faces–when combined with the incredibly poor leadership displayed by it’s elected representatives–have combined to leave Portsmouth in a particularly bad lurch.

It seems pretty obvious there are a growing number of people of the right-wing persuasion who simply hate America. Isn't it time to consider some pragmatic solutions so we can find a way to make all of us feel happier and welcome in the particular societal environments in which we live?

It’s likely the haters were always there, but were keeping their hatred to themselves - that is until the 2008 election of the first African-American president, since which they’ve been coming out of the woodwork in mind-boggling numbers.

The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that: “The number of Patriot groups, including armed militias, skyrocketed following the election of President Obama in 2008 – rising 813 percent, from 149 groups in 2008 to an all-time high of 1,360 in 2012.”