Posts by Carter Wrenn
Polling Report
Some pollsters have a gift for reading hundreds of pages of statistics and finding a nugget of truth. Others have a different talent: Flexibility. They can poll one day and say with absolute conviction the public is, for instance, adamantly against President Bush’s plan to send more troops to Iraq. Then a month later, they…
Read MoreThis Proves One Thing
A week ago the Mayor was saying he was going to run for reelection because he could do more as Mayor than as a United States Senator. Now (see Gary’s post below) he says the Mayor doesn’t have enough power. This proves one thing: Mayor Meeker’s lost control of the City Council. His solution is…
Read MoreThe New Ethics Commission
North Carolina has a new “Ethics Commission” to clean up the corruption in Raleigh. But guess who appointed its members? The same people who’ve been in charge all along. Governor Easley, who according to the press just enjoyed a $650,000 windfall by buying beach property from political appointees, picked four members of the Commission. Speaker…
Read More“Vietnamization”
Years ago, when I was young enough to be drafted, I supported an idea called “Vietnamization” which is all but forgotten today. Vietnamization was President Nixon’s plan, at the end of the Vietnam War, to make the South Vietnamese responsible for defending their own country – so we could pull out. (And I wouldn’t get…
Read MoreIs Mayor Meeker Losing Control of the City Council?
In the past the Mayor has pretty much had his own way on the City Council. It voted to fund his hotels, spend more on his convention center and to let him use tax-money to buy Dix Hill. But recently the Council voted down his push for English-style roundabouts on Hillsborough Street, and, now, on…
Read MoreGood Soldiers
Our generals, like the good soldiers they are, are loyally fighting the war in Iraq with the weapons the politicians are giving them. But if those weapons are not sufficient, or, conversely, if sending 21,000 more men to Baghdad is a fool’s errand, their loyalty should not prevent them from saying so. According to Bob…
Read MoreJoe Hackney’s First Scandal
The new Democrat choice for House Speaker, Joe Hackney, just inherited his first scandal. Two years ago Ms. Ann Lassiter, who headed the House page program, landed in hot water. First, in a lapse of judgment she has apologized for, she had the page program pay her son rent (so pages could live in his…
Read MoreWish Lists
The City Council has sent a wish-list of programs it wants the federal government to fund to Raleigh’s Congressional delegation. (News and Observer; 1-18-07). Let’s classify the six projects the newspaper reported three ways: Necessary Projects, Nice Projects (but not immediately necessary) and Luxuries. Necessary Projects $5.6 Million – in “homeland security grants to upgrade…
Read MoreThe Lacrosse Case
There is not much, politically, I see eye to eye on with defense attorney Joe Cheshire. But, years ago, Joe and I worked together when one of my clients hired him as their legal counsel. At a hearing before the State Board of Elections he gave the final argument. Instead of theatrics, he made a…
Read MoreRunning the War in Baghdad by Committee
As if the President didn’t face enough problems with Congress over the war in Iraq – now he has the Iraqi government sniping at his plan too. Or, at least, a crucial part of it. It appears Iraq’s Shiite government isn’t anxious to crack down equally on Shiite and Sunni terrorists. So Prime Minister Nouri…
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