What Would John A. Do?

A reader writes: “Were you as astonished as me at the reaction to Bev’s consolidation plan?”   State Controller David McCoy told WRAL he is opposed to Governor Perdue’s Cabinet-consolidation plan.  Linda Hayes, Perdue’s Secretary of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, dragged her feet about how difficult it would be.   The reader notes: “If John…

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Three Politicians

Over the last month I’ve watched stories converge for three politicians I’ve known: Jim Hunt, Mike Easley and John Edwards.   First I published my biography of Hunt, and we made a 10-stop book tour. Then Mike Easley was convicted of a felony. Then John Edwards reemerged after Elizabeth’s death.   Toward the end of…

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Perdue Shuffles the Deck

Governor Perdue’s Cabinet reorganization demonstrates the advantage a governor always has over a legislature.   While Republican legislators organize themselves and talk about what they plan to do, she can act.   In the context of a near-$4 billion hole, her plan may not look huge. But her changes look good; even Republicans praised them.…

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Wishful Thinking Department

The Southern Pines Pilot opined optimistically:   “During the years in which they were out of power, GOP legislators long argued in vain for taking redistricting out of the hands of the General Assembly and turning it over to an independent, nonpartisan redistricting commission. Now, maybe that can finally happen.”   Ha!   As an…

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Sign of the Times?

A wise Raleigh hand told me about a capital-city event this week that was unique in all his years: a show of real bipartisanship.   Two veteran House members – Republican Danny McComas and Democrat Pryor Gibson – cohosted a reception in the Capitol for new legislators.   Most people came, of course, to see…

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Public Life, Private Tragedy

A friend wondered why Elizabeth Edwards’ life and death transfixed so many people. Maybe it’s the American fascination with the lives of the rich and famous – especially when they are marked by so many triumphs and tragedies.   For her they were, in order: the death of a child, her husband’s meteoric rise in…

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Obama Investigates Perdue

Twenty-seven year old Jeremiah Love – who’s schizophrenic – was murdered in a Rest Home by another schizophrenic who attacked him swinging a metal cane at his head like a baseball bat.  In another Rest Home across the state a forty-three year old schizophrenic beat a sixty-seven year old patient to death in an argument…

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Obama’s Signals

President Obama sent two signals about 2012 on today’s front page.   First, he’s going to contest North Carolina.   Second, he’s going to run the same way he ran the first time, even if it drives die-hard Democrats crazy: as an adult trying to rise above a Washington filled with immature partisans.   Despite…

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Buried Secrets

By not indicting Governor Easley, Joe Cheshire says, District Attorney William Kenerly proved Easley’s innocent and not just innocent but a victim too.  The Governor, Cheshire says, has been ‘trashed’ by the villains in the press.   And he has a case:  The newspapers report the Governor’s done everything from swapping developers permits in exchange…

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This is Adult?

Erskine Bowles said his deficit-commission’s recommendations would help start an adult conversation in Washington.   So the first thing the Senate does is extend tax cuts, which we can’t afford, and unemployment benefits, which we also can’t afford.   Both make wonderful sense. But voting for popular things without paying for them is what got…

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