Politics Trumps Logic

It’s easy to understand President Bush’s stand on the war in Iraq. He says: Let’s fight it out until we win. It’s also easy to understand the anti-war Democrats’ stand. They say: The war is wrong. Let’s get out. Now. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s stand is puzzling. She says: The war is wrong. But let’s…

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Giuliani Should Strap On His Helmet

Debates between presidential candidates about issues can be pretty vicious. But they’re mild compared to campaigns where one candidate decides to attack the other’s character. Rudy Giuliani is the leading Republican candidate for President because of the character he displayed when the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center, so, inevitably, as he begins his presidential…

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Cooperating With Prosecutors

It is hard not to feel sympathy for a seventy-one year old man whose world has come crashing down around him as completely as Jim Black’s. Allies who not long ago defended him at the tops of their voices have abandoned him, the Attorney General is demanding he repay the state $30,000 in legal fees,…

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The ‘Surge’ Hits a Snag

What happens to the terrorists when you occupy a big country like Iraq with too few troops? When you have a ‘surge’ the terrorist go to the provinces. In Diyala, thirty miles from Baghdad, the American commander put it this way, “You’ve got more than 20,000 more American troops pouring into Baghdad – so the…

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Polls and Trial Lawyers

The Civitas Institutes latest poll was bad news for North Carolina’s two most prominent trial lawyers-politicians. Right here in his home state John Edwards finds himself in a dead head with Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton 22% John Edwards 24% Barach Obama 22% In politics, when the folks at home – who know you best –…

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Richard Moore: The Old Bait and Switch

The newspapers have blasted Richard Moore’s shaking down state pension fund managers for campaign contributions. Moore’s response: He’s pulling the ‘old bait and switch.’ Moore, spewing statistics, claims it doesn’t matter how much he’s raised. All that matters, he says, is how the funds have performed. Which according to him is just dandy. Moore calculated…

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How About You?

No politician in Congress is going to dare to propose a draft. The Democrats would impeach President Bush if he even brought it up. But looking back the President made a big mistake by not proposing a draft years ago. He wouldn’t have gotten in this mess if he had. He’d have known right then…

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In the Soup

There’s a sad sequel to Mayor Meeker’s failed obsession with Lite-Rail. The News and Observer reports the Mayor’s Triangle Transit Authority is having a tough time keeping its fleet of buses afloat. The TTA has maintenance problems. Big maintenance problems. Problems so bad the City has filed a lawsuit to make the bus makers take…

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Governor Easley’s Math

When Jim Hunt was Governor no one could open a Seven-Eleven without Hunt adding a new page to his new job recruitment statistics. By the time Governor Hunt left office he’d announced so many new jobs – some promised, some real – the unemployed were in a state of shock. He also made “Smart Start”…

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