General
Long Wars and Iraq
It took us four years to defeat Hitler, two years to defeat the Kaiser and it took the North four years to defeat General Lee. In a few days we will have been fighting the terrorists for five years. I know this is a new kind of war and people say we shouldn’t judge it…
Read MoreA Political Hurricane Coming?
Election forecasts are less reliable than hurricane forecasts. But Democrats have realistic chances to take control of both the House and Senate in Washington. If they do, the political world will be turned upside down: George Bush can look ahead to two years of total political irrelevancy; Democrats in Congress will put forward a raft…
Read MoreBlack and Decker
Last Spring, when the State Board of Elections held hearings into the pay-to-play scandals, the Board asked House Speaker Jim Black if he was paying Representative Michael Decker’s legal bills. (Representative Michael Decker later plead guilty to accepting a $50,000 bribe to change parties and vote for Black for Speaker). Black told the Board no,…
Read MoreA Storm of Confusion
The more TV weather I watch, the more confused I get. Thursday afternoon, I watched two forecasts back-to-back on two stations. The local cable system news, Channel 14, said top winds from Ernesto were 70 mph. The Weather Channel said top winds were 30 mph. Click to Read & Post Comments
Read MoreThe TTA and the Little Engine that Could
Triangle Transit Authority trustee Nina Szlosberg doesn’t want the TTA to strike the flag on Lite-Rail – so when the other trustees arrived at their last meeting she gave them copies of the children’s fable The Little Engine that Could. Taxpayers have poured tens of millions of dollars into the TTA; we’ve paid for studies,…
Read MoreThe Democrats and Corruption
Sometimes you have to wonder if the Democrats in the State Legislature are really serious at all about cleaning up corruption. Attorney General Roy Cooper asked the Democratic leaders in the legislature to give him two weapons to fight corruption. He asked them to make “it a crime to lie to SBI agents, and to…
Read MoreNo Shelter from the Storm
New Orleans hasn’t recovered from Katrina. Nor has George Bush. And neither one’s prospects look good. Bush has never recovered politically because his actions in the storm’s aftermath burned an indelible image in the nation’s mind: an aloof, disengaged patrician totally unable to grasp the suffering of thousands of Americans. No one can imagine Bill…
Read MoreNature or Kids
What does Raleigh need more: another nature park or a place where teenagers can play basketball and stay out of trouble? It seems to me that is the issue in the Horseshoe Farm debate. Horseshoe Farm is a 146-acre tract of land off U.S. 401 in northeast Raleigh, bounded by the Neuse River. Nature lovers…
Read MoreThe Pope Political Legacy
I didn’t know John Pope, the uber-wealthy retail king who died this week. And I don’t know much about the business empire he built at Variety Wholesalers. But I know about his political empire. I don’t like it, but I damn sure respect it. Pope was the big money behind the John Locke Foundation and…
Read MoreWalMart Vs. Democrats
Wal-Mart is becoming for Democrats what al-Qaeda is for Republicans: the source of all evil. The Democratic presidential candidates – even including moderate Senator Evan Bayh – are attacking the big retailer. Its sins include low pay, scarce benefits and big success. All this while Wal-Mart – with Al Gore’s help – is trying to…
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