Posts by Carter Wrenn
Team of Rivals
Presidents fight two wars. One to get elected. And one that starts the morning after the election. Only they may not know about the second war. Naturally, Barack Obama may think his authority (in the legal sense) as president gives him power to run his own government. But authority is a long way from control.…
Read More“Rove pins GOP hopes to Burr, others like him”
From the N&O’s Under the Dome: Karl Rove thinks U.S. Sen. Richard Burr could help save the GOP. In a proposed road map out of the political wilderness published last week in Newsweek, the former political strategist for President Bush said that Burr could be a fresh face for the Republican Party. He contended that…
Read MoreThe Great Skizzle
Once upon a time not so long ago Wachovia Bank, a hundred-year-old bank, was as solid as the rock of Gibraltar. What went wrong? It’s a tale of miscalculations and mistakes – by its own managers. As a result investors have seen their shares plummet and the bank put on the auction block not once,…
Read MoreWhat’s Wrong with This Picture
The fight over the future of the Republican Party has spilled over into the state chairman’s race. Linda Daves has the job. Fred Smith, apparently, wants it. And there’s a third, lesser known, candidate. Daves’ critics say the last two elections prove she knows little about politics. Smith’s critics say he spent $2.5 million of…
Read MoreEconomics Simplified
When the heads of the Big Three went to Washington to ask Congress for $25 billion to save their companies, one congressman asked, What will you do, personally, to make a bailout a success? The president of Chrysler said he would work for a dollar a year. The congressman looked at the presidents of GM…
Read MoreWelcome to the New World Order
Talk about Old White Guys (OWGs) – when I read Gary’s blog yesterday I had to look up what a Prius was, which I guess is emblematic of a problem for a lot of us OWGs – the rules have changed and we can’t learn the new language. Here’s an example: The other night driving…
Read MoreCults
Well, now, I’ve taken to reading the Life section of the newspaper to continue to monitor the pulse beat of culture. Thursday there was an Ann Landers-type self-help column about religion written by a Methodist minister. The question she was asked by one of her readers was: “What’s the difference between a cult and a…
Read MoreAfter the Fall
To most people – like Bill Clinton losing his party’s control of Congress in 1994 – one election is usually enough of a wake-up message. But Republicans are hard-headed – if madness is repeating the same mistake over and over with the same result we qualify. We shrugged off 2006, so history repeated itself in…
Read MoreThe Failure of the Southern Strategy?
When folks lose elections they go into paroxysms of contrition – usually confessing to the wrong sins. And when they win, there’s a parallel temptation – they attribute victory to virtues that had little to do with their success. Now, mi amigo Gary surely has a point when he says Republicans are in danger of…
Read MoreTeam of Rivals
Barack Obama is going to fill his Cabinet with a “Team of Rivals?” Like Lincoln. This is going to be one big mistake. Let me get this right: Obama is going to appoint people who disagree with his policies (which they will promptly torpedo) and, when they do, he can’t fire them because he’s established…
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