General
A Tough Question
Ole Ned Barnett, the Editorial-Writing-Chief down at the News and Observer, is a fine fellow though like many Editorial-Chiefs he’s a bone deep liberal who frets over the vices of sexism and the virtues of gay rights and seldom finds an encouraging word to say about Republicans. Which is fine. The N&O’s spending its own…
Read MoreStrongmen. Or not.
Two would-be strongmen huffed and puffed, postured and blustered on 60 Minutes Sunday night, but neither Vladimir Putin nor Donald Trump could hold a candle to the strength that Pope Francis showed America during his visit. The Pope reminded us that real strength means faith, empathy and compassion, not name-calling, mouthing off and macho posing.…
Read MoreElections Where Issues Don’t Matter
Arthur walked through the door, dropped a four inch thick poll on the table with a thud, sat down, and said, If you don’t want to lose this election, you have to learn something new. That was in December of 1983 when Jesse Helms was fighting for survival against Jim Hunt and Arthur – who’d…
Read MoreThe Old Hymn
The old hymn goes, ‘Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow.’ Is that idea true? Or false? Do you agree? Or disagree? And if the old hymn’s true what happens if we elect a President who worships another god? Does it matter? Do blessings only flow to individuals – or does He also bless nations?…
Read MoreWebs
It usually begins with an evasion which leads to another evasion and soon, like a hapless fly, even for a Brigadier General (who was a paratrooper) the silken webs are inescapable: Tony Tata, explaining to the News and Observer about three affairs, an out of wedlock child, a forged court order, an army investigation and…
Read MoreQuoting a Crazy English Lord
Since the day the John Locke Foundation opened its doors two decades ago it’s stood steadfast for free markets and steadfast against government regulations but then the unexpected happened: Its two perfectly reasonable abstract principles collided head-on and suddenly the Locke folks found themselves quoting an English Lord named Christopher Monckton who’d once claimed he’d…
Read MoreRoy Cooper’s Lucky Day
Manna doesn’t fall from heaven often and falls on politicians least often of all but after Roy Cooper said he was dead-set against letting Duke Energy add the costs of cleaning up its coal ash ponds to its customers’ electric bills, Governor McCrory pounced – and it was ole Roy’s lucky day. Last fall, in…
Read MoreGetting Shed of the Politicians
ISIS is selling women at open-air slave markets; Iraq’s awash with Iranian soldiers; the Taliban’s waiting for us to high-tail it so it can take-over Afghanistan; Putin’s gobbled up the Crimea; and Iran’s marching down the road to a nuclear bomb. So with Obama in the running for the weakest President in memory, after Republicans…
Read MoreLeft out
At least Democrats left out of the budget process have company: Governor McCrory. Lobbyists report that, just like them, McCrory was calling around last weekend trying to find out what was in the budget. It wasn’t just that he had no impact. He had no information. Never has a Governor had so little clout with…
Read MoreTaking a Punch
It was like watching the toughest football player from Phillips Andover Academy set out to put a street kid from Queens in his place and getting the surprise of his life. Quiet and polite Jeb Bush, of Phillips Andover Academy, rolled out a video saying Donald Trump was a Manhattan liberal. In the blink of…
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