Archive for 2009
Politics – Montana Style
I figured brazenly appointing your wife to a top-paying government job (or swapping a political appointment for a deal on a beach front lot) was a temptation our local Democrats couldn’t resist because after two decades in power they’d lost their humility. But, yesterday, I read Montana’s Democratic Senator has succumbed to temptation too…
Read MoreThe Rescue of Mike Easley?
I reckon U.S. Attorney George Holding has done more to fight corruption than just about anyone in North Carolina except News & Observer Editor John Drescher. But, now, it looks like Holding’s days are numbered. There’re three Federal Judges and three U.S. Attorneys for President Obama to appoint in North Carolina – want…
Read MoreSchoolyard Bullies
All the nice, well-intentioned people who support diversity in the Wake schools better wake up and realize they’re in a war. Many of them eschewed Democratic Party help in the election. We’re non-partisan, they said. Well, the other side had no qualms about enlisting the Republican Party on its side. So now…
Read MoreThe Scarlet Pimpernel
Once I asked a friend what he thought of a prominent South Carolina politician and he laughed and said, Well, you know what they say about LeRoy – he hasn’t met a principle since high school. Back when she was running for Governor, Beverly Perdue promised liberals and environmentalists there was never, ever, ever…
Read MoreOff With Their Heads!
The new majority took over the Wake County school board like the Jacobins took over Paris. Replacing a board that was seen as high-handed and arrogant, they set new standards for high-handed and arrogant. One step got little attention. The board hired a Republican lawyer. Unclear is whether they fired Tharrington and Smith,…
Read MoreCruel and Unusual Punishment
Democrats have no pity. No sooner did unemployment hit double digits than Mayor Meeker and Raleigh’s City Manager and Meeker’s allies on the City Council announced a plan to raise property taxes. Think of it: Right now almost everyone in Raleigh is paying taxes on overvalued homes and the Mayor and company are…
Read MoreI Stand Corrected
News & Observer Executive Editor John Drescher doesn’t miss much. Within minutes of my post below about the N&O’s 25-year club, he shot me this email: Gary, There are far more long-timers here than you give us credit for. Of the people in the 25-year club, 15 are in the newsroom: Tudor, Christensen, Stevens, Siceloff,…
Read MoreAging Out
As an ex-News & Observer employee (I left in 1975), I’m always interested in the 25-year club members. The ad in today’s paper was revealing. Of the 62 members, only five work in news. One more is in editorials. And two more are in interactive media. That is, only five people in…
Read MoreLanding in the Soup
You can tell when a politician lands in the soup – because he starts writing op-eds in the News and Observer – praising himself. What put Secretary Lanier Cansler in the op-ed writing business was a story on WRAL-TV about Cansler trying to cut medical care to a 20 month old infant on Medicaid.…
Read MoreSharp DSCC Elbows
This isn’t how Cal Cunningham wanted to reenter the Senate race. Joe (the Sledgehammer) Sinsheimer weighed in on Facebook: “While I think Cunningham is an attractive candidate, I really don’t like the idea of folks in Washington choosing our next Senator.” Nor does Elaine Marshall’s campaign. The Hill says: “This has left Marshall‘s…
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