General
Villains and Heroes
The Associated Press just took one of its perennial New Year’s Eve polls, asking questions like “Who was the biggest villain this past year?” George Bush was the biggest villain. More Americans said President Bush was a villain, than said Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Iran’s nuclear arms building President) and Kim Jong…
Read MoreNewt McHenry
North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry is the early favorite for this Congress’ Newt Gingrich Hysterical Hypocrisy Award. “Waving his hands and stomping his feet,” according to news reports, McHenry decried House Democrats’ plans to quickly act on their key priorities. Such as ethics reform, stem cell research and raising the minimum wage. Railed McHenry: “If,…
Read MoreLegal Ethics Revisited
Last fall, defense attorney Tommy Manning did what appeared to be a clever thing. He got a case against his client, a Durham policeman accused of assaulting a short-order cook in the parking lot of Blinko’s Restaurant, dismissed on a technicality. But it turns out Manning wasn’t so clever after all. He told Judge Debra…
Read MoreJohn Edwards Finally Takes a Stand
John Edwards finally took a controversial stand on Sunday on George Stephanopoulos’ TV program and it was a doozie. Edwards didn’t put it quite this bluntly, but when Stephanopoulos asked if he supported ‘gay marriage,’ Edwards shook his head and said, ‘Well, I’m just not there yet.’ That was a first for Edwards. For years,…
Read MoreA Hanging Offense
Saddam Hussein got what he deserved. But did America? The hanging scene was disturbing on many levels. The masked hangmen looked like the guys who chop off heads in hostage videos. The shouted curses hardly lent an atmosphere of justice being carried out. And what was the big rush? I’m not bothered by a brutal…
Read MoreEdwards
John Edwards’ presidential announcement last week demonstrated why it’s better to be lucky than smart in politics. The Edwards team had a good strategy: a two-day made-for-TV announcement in New Orleans. And what seemed like good timing: the news-dead week between Christmas and New Year’s. Then Gerald Ford died. And Sadaam Hussein was hanged. And…
Read More“Why Not? That Money Was Given to Me.”
State Representative George Holmes took $79,000 out of his campaign committee and put it in his pocket. Then, when the Winston-Salem Journal asked why, Holmes dug the hole a little deeper. He said, “Why not? It’s legal. That money was given to me.” Let’s examine his logic. Campaign contributions are not bribes because the money…
Read MoreTalk About Spin
Politicians aren’t the only ones who know how to ‘spin’ facts. The City of Raleigh is doing a pretty good job too. The headline of its latest newsletter is an example: Officials Approve Increase of Less Than 3 Percent in Convention Center Funding. The city ‘spinners’ made it sound like that little ole’ 3 percent…
Read MoreJohn Edwards’ Charm?
In November of 2004, after People Magazine named John Edwards ‘the sexiest politician alive’ and John Kerry lost, I thought Edwards’ fifteen minutes of political fame were over. Instead, he leads Hillary Clinton in two polls in the crucial Iowa Caucus and may be elected President. John Edwards’ campaign is a study of style over…
Read MoreNix to Syria, Iran
I was dead wrong about the Iraq Study Group. I said the fix was in because Jim Baker was leading the study. I thought the President would wrap his arms around Baker’s proposal and use it for a fig-leaf to get us out of Iraq in short order. Instead the President looked Baker (and company)…
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