Archive for 2009
Bubba’s Back!
Wasn’t it great to see the Big Dog back again? There was Bill Clinton – out of the doghouse and back in the limelight he so loves. Grinning. Biting his lip. Hugging Al Gore! Bubba looked great. White hair shining. Aides (the small, dark-skinned guy was John “Skippy” Podesta, ex-Clinton COS and Obama…
Read MoreDemocratic Disaster?
I’ve got a bad feeling about this. My hair’s standing up on my neck the way it did early in 1994. But four months earlier this time. Obama is struggling to keep control of the agenda. August will be crucial. If the right-wing attacks on health care reform, deficits, cash-for-clunkers and “Not Born…
Read MoreIn a League of Her Own
The most audacious woman ever to draw breath in North Carolina has now outdone herself and passed into the annals of political lore;—no one knows exactly how Mary Easley lit a fire under her easy-going husband but it’s a fact the Governor got stirred up enough to carve out a political sinecure for her over…
Read MoreBurr’s Future
Richard Burr probably didn’t want to be running for reelection to the Senate next year. He hoped to be sitting in John McCain’s Cabinet. Or maybe presiding over the Senate as Vice President. Why else did he campaign in the snows of New Hampshire – without socks – for McCain? Alas, McCain picked…
Read MoreThe Limits of Reason
A few days ago up in Washington the President got a visit from the Chinese; it seems China is holding $800 billion in U.S. government bonds (which basically means they’ve been loaning us the money to finance our national debt) so, naturally, about the last thing on earth they want is to see an outbreak…
Read MoreTerrorists in Johnston?
Carter blogged last week that he was shocked that there were terrorists in Johnston County. Hell, Carter, Johnston County has a long history of terrorists. They were called the Ku Klux Klan. Well into the 50s – maybe later – there was an infamous billboard outside Smithfield: “Welcome to Klan Country.” But…
Read MoreKen and Cal
Recently I blogged that, if Elaine Marshall gets in the Senate race, her candidacy should give pause to Ken Lewis and Cal Cunningham. The reverse is also true. Yes, Lewis and Cunningham are both unproven unknowns. But don’t overestimate how well known Marshall is. Or Richard Burr, for that matter. In recent…
Read MoreWelcome to Modern Times
Good Lord: There’re terrorists in Johnston County. They’ve been sitting down there around a local fish pond for three years planning to go to Israel and blow someone (and themselves) sky high. In the old days Johnston County was famous for Ava Gardner and world-class bootleggers but times have changed; now the home of…
Read MoreThe Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight
It’s a fact: One hand in Governor Perdue’s administration doesn’t have a clue what the other hand is doing. The Governor’s out telling everyone who’ll listen that if she doesn’t raise taxes a billion dollars she’s going to have to make terrible, terrible budget cuts – but the factotums in her administration seem determined to…
Read MoreWhy Doctor O May Win
Barack Obama brought his health-care reform campaign to Raleigh just as polls suggest support is slipping for reform. As always, Washington and the media are poised for a rerun of history. They see the story in terms of the death of Clinton Care in 1994. But the story could turn out different this…
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