Archive for September 2014
Obama Shows Strength
President Obama came out swinging, saying, We have to act fast. We cannot dawdle on this one. We have to move with force – but he wasn’t talking about ISIS, he was talking about the Ebola virus and sending 3000 soldiers (putting boots on the ground) to Africa. Each of us looks at villains…
Read MoreEyes on Scotland
Every budding journalist is taught to look for the “local angle” in any big story. WRAL takes the prize for this one: “Scotland County residents watching overseas vote for independence.” The lead sums it up: “As the world waits for the outcome of Thursday’s historic vote on Scotland’s independence, southeastern North Carolina’s Scotland County…
Read MoreDebating Debates
Carter and I were on News14’s Capital Tonight this week, talking with Tim Boyum about debates today and the Hunt-Helms debates 30 years ago. You can watch our segment here. Tim was struck by how free-flowing and wide-open the 1984 debates were. As we talked with him, we realized that we had happened onto…
Read MoreDeath Wishes
Like many people who have more years behind them than ahead of them, I regularly read the obituaries. First I look for people or families I know. Then I look for their ages. Then I look for the signs of how they died. Many times it says “after a long period of declining health,” “after…
Read MoreVoter Irony
The Old Wise Leader (OWL) chuckled over coffee about Republicans’ voter-suppression drive: “They should beware the Law of Unintended Consequences.” I enjoy talking with OWL. He reads a lot, and he thinks. Two things caught his eye: The story about Senator Berger’s voter-confusion ad and a mailing that a friend got. The mailer…
Read MoreNo Love Lost Here
First Governor McCrory compared Senator Phil Berger to Tony Rand, Marc Basnight and Harry Reid. Then, McCrory said he wouldn’t call the legislature back into session because “after a lengthy session they need a break, and frankly I need a break from them” – a sentiment heartily endorsed by many North Carolinians. This week…
Read MoreNot a Combat Mission
It turns out not having ‘boots on the ground’ isn’t quite what it seems. The other day when the President said he was sending 425 more soldiers to Iraq he added, These American forces will not have a combat mission – we will not get dragged into another ground war in Iraq. That…
Read MoreA Safe Bet?
Not long after President Obama pressed the go-button Kay Hagan chimed in, “The President and our military leadership have now developed a plan to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels and defeat ISIS with a sustained campaign of airstrikes.” Moderate Syrian rebels? Do you reckon such a creature really exists? Basing a military…
Read MoreWomen and Men
More telling than Kay Hagan’s overall lead in the polls may be her overwhelming lead with women. According to a Rasmussen Poll last week, Hagan leads Thom Tillis by six points, 45-39. But then it gets confusing. The poll said Hagan leads among women by 21 points, while Tillis leads among men by nine…
Read MoreBe Calm, Don’t Worry
Back in 1939 (when a varmint was on the loose) there was hardly a mother, father or wife around who felt enough fear or saw any good reason to send their sons or husbands to Europe to fight what looked like a modern version of the bubonic plague – which left Franklin Roosevelt facing a…
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