Author: Northumberland County Democratic Committee

On Thursday, June 4 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm, connect with candidates for Congressional District 1, aka Virginia’s 1st Congressional District. The event is being held at RCC Glenns Campus (12745 College Dr, Glenns). If you are unable to attend in person, use the QR code in the flyer, below, to get the Zoom link.

Learn about each candidate’s take on the current state of our country, the issues they believe are most important, and how they plan to address them as they compete in the Democratic primary for the First Congressional District seat. Candidates attending are Elizabeth Dempsey-Beggs, Salaam Bhatti, Tim Cywinski, Jason Knapp, and Ericka Kopp. Shannon Taylor and Melvin Tull are unable to attend.

This forum is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the Gloucester, Mathews, King and Queen, King William, Essex, and Middlesex County Democratic Committees.

Remember: Early voting for this primary election begins June 18. Primary Election Day is August 4, 2026.

Join neighbors, workers, students, and families Friday, May 1 from 3:30 – 5:30 pm for the national May Day Strong demonstration supporting regular ol’ people over billionaires (the Epstein/Ballroom class!). We rally in front of Town Centre Park in Kilmarnock (150 N Main St).

We’re opposing any and all policy actions that put billionaires’ interests above those of everyday Americans. We are supporting an America in which regular ol’ Americans can thrive and in which small businesses succeed and support their community.

This event is non-partisan and not affiliated with any political party/organization or civic group.

At the December 2025 meeting, three of the four two-year exec board seats were filled. David Dustin was selected chair, Wayne Hausser Administrative vice chair, Clair Salkowski Events vice char. The open seat is Communications vice chair. Dave Dustin hopes to fill the Communications position at the regular January meeting, Thursday February 19th.

The Communications Vice Chair (CVC) will assist the Chair, preside at meetings in the absence of the Chair, perform all duties delegated by the Chair, and have all authorities of the Chair when the latter, for any cause, is unable to act. The CVC will maintain the NCDC Web page , social media accounts, billboards, and other public facing resources. The CVC will help produce an annual calendar of communications events in coordination with the Events Vice Chair events calendar.

If you are interested in serving as admin, yay! Contact David Dustin via email.

The truth about President Trump’s operations in Venezuela has yet to come to light. But this we know now: Congress did not approve the action.

Take action right now to tell our MCs that the president’s middle-of-the-night abduction of another country’s leader was an illegal act: Stop the Military Escalation with Venezuela (UPDATED 1/3).

For some takes on the actions, continue reading.

It's an old and obvious pattern. An unpopular president – failing on the economy and losing his grip on power at home – decides to launch a war for regime change abroad. The American people don’t want to “run” a foreign country while our leaders fail to improve life in this one.

— Pete Buttigieg (@petebuttigieg.bsky.social) 2026-01-03T17:08:38.724Z

And saving the best for last, Secretary of State Marco Rubio does not answer George Stephanopoulos’s twice-asked question, “What is the legal authority for the United States to be running Venezuela?”

Reading is, as RIF‘s name states quite clearly, fundamental.

Reading is also “a subversive act” according to Lt. Governor-elect Ghazala Hashmi in an interview with Shenandoah, a literary magazine out of Washington and Lee University.

Reading has been and continues to be an act of learning about others, seeing the world through others alike and different, and actively seeking out information and perspectives.

What you just said about literature being reserved for the elite—I think you and I probably share the perspective that reading is a subversive act. It is an act that has historically been forbidden to so many different communities. I’m coincidentally reading Percival Everett’s James right now; it’s such a powerful retelling of Huck Finn’s story. But it [reading] is subversive, and I try to always share with my students how powerful the act of reading is, and how dangerous it is, and that’s why the educated elite try to keep it out of the hands of the “commoners.” Women were in particular forbidden to read, and any person of lower classes. I wanted my students to understand the immense power of literacy, and that’s something that we can never take for granted. And we see it now with the banning of books across the country.

How will you be subversive in 2026? Here are some book ideas to get you started:

• Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow
• Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
• Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life by Barbara J. Fields and Karen E. Fields
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
• The Federalist Papers
• V for Vendetta graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd (with additional art by Tony Weare) (recommended by Salaam Bhatti for Congress)
• Animal Farm by George Orwell (recommended by Salaam Bhatti for Congress)
• The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy by Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman
• Why I Am a Democrat by Theodore C. Sorensen
• More from clearandpresentdanger.blog (recommended by RJ Schlatter)