Archive for 2010
Failure of Leadership
There are two kinds of political leaders: uniters and dividers. Barack Obama is a uniter; Sarah Palin, a divider. Jim Hunt was a uniter; Jesse Helms, a divider. Ronald Reagan was a uniter; George W. Bush, a divider. Dividers can succeed in politics. But they don’t leave lasting legacies of accomplishment. The…
Read MoreMarshall and Agents
There’s an old joke that the most dangerous place to be in an election year is between a politician and a TV camera. This year, the most dangerous place may be in any group regulated by Secretary of State Elaine Marshall. Her Senate campaign got big headlines today by promising to investigate sports…
Read MoreThe Gang of Eight
Laura Leslie of North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC is a great reporter and one of my favorite bloggers. She recently had a post about the capital media that is worth attention. Since 2004, she wrote, the legislative press corps’ ranks have dropped from 20-something to, at the end of this year’s session, eight. That brought…
Read MoreTeens With a Cause
Forty years ago, I took part in an antiwar protest at the State Capitol after KentState. Yesterday, my 17-year-old daughter took part in the Wake schools protest at the Capitol. So I’ve been amused by Carter’s blogs about teenagers being “used” by adults angry at the new school board’s assignment policy. My experience…
Read MoreU-turn
Governor Perdue made the right move in removing Colonel Glover from the Patrol. By the way, don’t believe for a minute it was Glover’s idea – or that the Governor was “surprised.” These things don’t work that way. Unfortunately, she reversed direction a week later than she should have. This should have happened…
Read MoreRare Old Bird
Here’s a nice compliment – and a striking statistic – from a reader: “According to today’s (New York) Times only 7.1 percent of all bloggers are over the age of 51. You have always been ahead of the curve!” And I blew past 51 long ago.
Read MoreStooping Low
Everyday the bru-ha-ha between our local Progressives and the Italian transplants on the School Board gets more entertaining – the whole thing’s turned into a microcosm of modern life with far-left Liberals, Democrats, Progressives, Italians, Southerners, far-right Republicans, NAACP Reverends, a Duke Professor and a liberal Baptist Church all going at one another tooth and…
Read MorePraying in the State House
Back in May the State House invited Reverend Ron Baity down to Raleigh (from his Baptist Church in Winston-Salem) to be Chaplain for a week but when the minister got up and ended his first prayer with “In Jesus name” House Speaker Jack Hackney promptly fired him. Because, Hackney says, by tradition prayers in…
Read MoreObama and Wall Street
The anti-Wall Street talking Obama administration just let Goldman Sachs off the hook for bilking investors for billions with a wrist slap. Now, granted a $550 million fine sounds like real money. But consider this: It’s less than 5% of Goldman Sachs $12 billion in profits. And not one Goldman Sachs executive got…
Read MoreWho Can You Trust?
It’s a bad time for once-trusted institutions. Highway Patrol: Yes, the vast majority of the line troopers are courageous and honorable. That’s why they – and the public – and mad at the people at the top. UNC-TV: Pulled off a rare two-fer by looking both unprofessional AND spineless. It’s bad when your…
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