American government, it turns out, is a lot more colorful than I was taught in High School Civics class. Take the stale, old, boring ‘The Separation of Powers Doctrine.’ It turns out it’s not boring at all. The real theory here seems to be that most politicians are pirates. So the Founding Fathers set up…
Read MoreMayor Meeker and the City Council are considering changing Raleigh’s C.A.C. (Community Action Council) structure. And, of course, the first thing someone suggested was hiring a consultant to do a study. For $150,000. The C.A.C.’s are gadfly-like neighborhood groups funded by the city to advise the City Council. Right now, they claim 6400 members. But…
Read MoreMandy Grunwald may be the best political consultant youâve never heard of. Sheâs the image-maker behind Hillaryâs âSopranosâ video. And sheâll handle the ongoing repackaging of Hillary. Iâve known Mandy for more than 20 years. She worked with David Sawyer when he was Jim Huntâs media consultant, including in the 1984 Senate race. Of course,…
Read MoreWell, not John. Elizabeth. Mrs. Edwards made a pilgrimage to San Francisco to help kick off the annual gay pride parade which The News and Observer (6-25-07) described as ‘a campy civil rights celebration… attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators sprinkled with drag queens, leather chaps and a healthy dose of nudity.’ Mrs. Edwards promptly…
Read MoreSenator Richard Burr’s contortions on President Bush’s Immigration Bill have him tied in knots. First, Burr announced he was against the bill. And voted against it. Then, yesterday, he reversed himself, supporting Bush’s bill on a key procedural vote. Now, Burr’s staff is reassuring opponents of the bill, telling them he will vote against its…
Read MoreIt’s time for Democrats to think ahead about the terrorism issue. Today we’re riding a wave of public support for getting out of Iraq. That tide makes 2008 look like a good year. But a lot can happen. George Bush could announce in September that we’ll be out of Iraq next year. Or America could…
Read MoreAt first, I was a little intrigued by Michael Bloomberg’s running for President as an Independent. After all, the Republicans (at least the ones in the White House) have joined Ted Kennedy on immigration and the Democrats have marched so far left Hillary’s now a moderate, so I thought, maybe, shaking up the two-party system…
Read MoreIt’s perplexing. How could Vice President Cheney not understand that when he said he was not a member of the Executive Branch just about everyone in America was going to look at him and say, Huh? Cheney may have a hoary legal point. But he just surpassed Dan Quayle’s misspelling potato when it comes to…
Read MoreFirst, Blair is better because he’s smarter. And he can talk sensibly. Blair did what Bush never could do: articulate a persuasive case for invading Iraq. But in the end it didn’t help Blair. For all his brains and glibness and media mastery, he leaves office unpopular and unmourned. Because of Iraq. That’s the main…
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