Meeker’s Bumpy New Year

Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker hasn’t started the new year with a bang. First there were stories about mounting costs at the Civic Center. Then his partisans got into an ill-advised overreaction to a newspaper column. And now he can’t get the Council to approve his Hillsborough Street roundabout plan. For better or worse, the Mayor…

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From the Halls of Montezuma to the Kasbahs of Baghdad

The powers that be have given our Marines in Iraq a new “counter-insurgency manual.” One of the greatest fighting forces on earth is about to start wooing civilians, “learning social networks, building personal relationships and creating jobs” – for Iraqi’s. (News and Observer; 1-9-07). The Marines may never be the same. The new plan –…

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Making War on Ideology

President Bush said on “60 Minutes” Sunday night that Americans must understand “we’re in an ideological struggle.” That’s precisely the problem, Mr. President. We understand that. We Americans will fight a war for our national interests and survival. That’s why we fought the Nazis and the Japanese. That’s why we fought the Cold War. That’s…

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Relatives Assault Lower Caste Husband

In Pakistan “outraged in-laws slashed the nose and ears of a college student who married a woman without the consent of her higher caste family, and then fractured his legs with blows from an ax.” (News and Observer; 1-4-07) The newspapers report thirty male relatives of Mohammed Iqbal’s wife ‘stormed into his mother’s village home,…

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I Should Have Stayed at Yale

There is a new twist in the Duke Lacrosse case: Duke University has been sued by a lacrosse player over a failing grade. At times, the rhetoric coming out of Duke’s spokesman has sounded like they were overly concerned with not being as violating the standards of ‘political correctness.’ But Duke’s major responsibility during the…

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No Profiles in Courage

As we watch President Bush try to unscramble the eggs he broke, we should reflect on the political cowards who now require more sacrifice from courageous troops. The cowardice of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, who sold us war on the cheap. The cowardice of Colin Powell, who knew better, but saluted and kept silent. The…

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Chapter Two – Nancy Pelosi

With North Korea building missiles and Iran building nuclear bombs it looks like the time has come for us to build the Strategic Missile Defense. After all, if Korea or Iran are dead set on building nuclear weapons, there doesn’t seem to be a way to stop them – short of launching a pre-emptive nuclear…

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Iraq Exit Strategies

Now all the Big Shots have an exit strategy – politically speaking, of course. Bush: He apparently will link the surge – or escalation, if you prefer – with deadlines for the Iraqis to take over. If his plan doesn’t work, he blames them. John McCain: He’s always called for more troops. If it doesn’t…

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A Second No to a “Surge”?

President Bush goes on TV tonight to discuss Iraq. The Democrats in Congress, who oppose President Bush’s ‘surge’ just got some help form unexpected quarters: Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nouri al Maliki. Maliki’s spokesman told the press that when “President Bush told the prime minister he was ready to send additional troops” instead of saying, ‘Yes.…

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The Female Mystique

I must admit the primordial male in me is having a little trouble coping with all the gushing over ‘the first female Speaker of the House.’ It seems to me we are having another pop-culture moment – a media feeding frenzy not as intense as like Tom Cruise’s wedding or Angelina Jolie’s baby – but…

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