General
Bright Futures
Even though I had to put on a suit and tie, the evening was balm for my soul in these troubled times. It was the annual Scholarship Dinner of N.C. State University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, which honors scholarship recipients and donors. I’ve endowed a scholarship in political science/communications at the college, which…
Read MoreThe Price our Children Pay
The morning after Pearl Harbor, surrounded by men he grew up with, standing in a draft board, my grandfather volunteered for the army. Growing up I spent hours listening to stories about World War II. But, like most of my friends, I hardly ever told stories about the hard times Americans struggled through to stop…
Read MoreBickering away…
I opened the newspaper, read most Americans are fed up with bickering…that what they really want is unity. That would be a blessing if it’s true. But it doesn’t look that way. The next article was full of bickering. Both sides have fought in politics for years but, not all that long ago, they had…
Read MoreLast Night
Last night Trump took a blow – in Florida and Wisconsin support for Republican candidates dropped ten-plus points. That drop’s more than a turnout skew. People who voted for Trump in 2024 voted against candidates he endorsed this election. Why? The media’s pointing the finger at Elon Musk. But that doesn’t sound right. One thing…
Read MoreCutting Spending
Once again it’s not what Trump did, it’s how he did it. Congress appropriates money. The president spends it. If Trump doesn’t like how much Congress spends he can veto the spending. Or he can tell Congress ‘cut this waste now’ – and if Congress tells him no he can take his case to voters,…
Read MoreDeporting Gang Members
The problem’s not Trump deporting Tren de Aragua gang members – that’s a good idea. The problem’s how he did it. Locked in jail five deportees sued, told the judge they were not Tren de Aragua gang members – all Trump had to do was prove they were. But didn’t. So staring at Trump’s lawyers…
Read MoreAn Old Doctrine
Politics just gets stranger and stranger. Trump ordered around 200 Tren de Aragua gang members deported – the ACLU filed a lawsuit, told a judge five of the deportees weren’t Tren de Aragua gang members. All Trump had to do was prove the ACLU was wrong. But he didn’t. Instead his lawyers said he had…
Read MoreWake Up, America
A dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, locked down during COVID, he called, surprised me asking: ‘Ford beat Reagan in the first 5 primaries in ‘76 – how on earth did Reagan beat Ford in North Carolina?’ The day we lost the Vietnam War mothers and fathers who’d lived through World War II, watching Russian tanks roll into Saigon,…
Read MoreThe N&O Story
Once upon a time, there was a great and powerful newspaper: The News & Observer. Everybody from the Governor on down read it every morning. It covered everything that moved in state government and politics. Its investigations took down crooks, incompetents and corrupt politicians. Its editorial pages stood up for the little guy and stuck…
Read MorePuzzling
Trump raised tariffs. Said tariffs are beautiful. The next day, about facing, said automakers didn’t have to pay the tariffs. A day after that suspended tariffs on Mexico and Canada for a month. If those tariffs are beautiful – why do that? And if those tariffs are not beautiful, why didn’t Trump know that in…
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