Archive for 2012
Stand Your Ground, Rep. Akin
Rep. Todd Akin shouldn’t pull out (pardon the expression) of the Missouri Senate race. First of all, he is the Democratic Party’s best bet to keep control of the United States Senate. So stand up to all those weaklings in the GOP, Todd! Stand up for what you believe! Second, Akin may have…
Read MoreThe Breaking Point
The other day Gary wrote “Why They Lie” about the election in 1984 when Jim Hunt and Jesse Helms were duking it out and how elbow throwing was acceptable in that campaign but outright lying was taboo – that was one line both Helms and Hunt feared to cross. Because they’d pay a price. …
Read MoreWalmart Shoppers
Rob Christensen’s column about “Walmart Moms” shows that this election is more about personalities and less about Medicare, the debt, competing budget plans, taxes or any of the issues that animate the media and political chatter. The focus groups Christensen went to focused not on “issues,” but on personal impressions of the candidates and…
Read MoreCrisis at Chapel Hill
UNC-Chapel Hill’s biggest mistake in handling its academic scandal: Treating it as a PR problem (“How do we put a stop to these stories?”) instead of a leadership problem (“How do we find out what happened and make sure it never happens again?”). The Jim Martin investigation is a good step. But way past…
Read MoreToo Good to be True?
It doesn’t take a great deal to turn a fellow’s head – a blonde whispering in his ear, unexpected praise from a stranger, a new sports car. Humility’s hard to come by and harder still to hold onto which, I guess, is one reason the Good Lord made the world such a difficult place to…
Read MoreBetty Owen
Betty Owen, a valuable aide and adviser to Governor Hunt both in and out of office, died Friday. Click here for her obituary. Betty was a schoolteacher, a mom and an activist in Charlotte when Hunt first ran for Governor in 1976. He brought her to Raleigh as his education adviser. Through his first…
Read MoreShirtless Debate
The author of a recent guest blog (“GOP Sex Change 2012”) was amused by the comments she provoked. She responds: “Your readers’ comments about my Shirtless Paul Ryan guest column demonstrate the depth at which the True Believers have their collective pointy little heads stuck in the sand. In no way was I implying…
Read MoreThe Right Size of Government, More or Less
Guest Tapster blogger Joe Stewart writes: People don’t want more government or less government, they want just enough government and no more. I heard then-president Bill Clinton say that during his visit to North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Fran in 1996, when I was legislative liaison in the NC Department Crime…
Read MoreWhy They Lie
When Carter and I were beating up on Jim Hunt and Jesse Helms, respectively, in 1984, we said some tough things. But we always stuck to some semblance of the truth. Not that we were all that noble; we feared the backlash from the media and the voters if we went too far. Something…
Read MoreThe Money Matters…
Guest Tapster blogger Joe Stewart writes: In the same way my daddy has a saying that manners are not all that matter, but what they do matter matters a lot, the relative financial advantage of one candidate over their opponent, or one party versus their rival, doesn’t make all the difference but the difference…
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