Here is the difference between Virginia and California: When I went to vote here in Fairfax County, Va., I had to decide "yes or no" on boring stuff like the "Virginia Eminent Domain Amendment," which was Question 1 on the ballot. Question 1 read: Shall Section 11 of Article I (Bill of Rights) of the Constitution of Virginia be amended (i) to require that eminent domain only be exercised where the property taken or damaged is for public use and, except for utilities or the elimination of a public nuisance, not where the primary use is for private gain, private benefit, private enterprise, increasing jobs, increasing tax revenue, or economic development; (ii) to define what is included in just compensation for such taking or damaging of property; and (iii) to prohibit the taking or damaging of more private property than is necessary for the public use? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I read that a couple of times, never quite understood it (despite having gone to law school and practiced law for a decade), and then just took a guess at it and moved on to some equally boring questions on bond issuances. Meanwhile, across the country in Los Angeles County, voters were considering...

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