Issues
Ugly Facts
Not long after we took up the burden (or had it forced on us) of fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq we decided ‘Democracy Building’ (wherever our army went) sounded like a noble idea. And no doubt it was noble but nearly nine years later we’ve had an education and learned not everyone agrees.…
Read MoreLet the Mosque Go Up
I understand the emotional reaction against building a mosque near the site of the World Trade Center. And I understand politicians who demagogue the flap to score points. That’s what politicians do. But I don’t understand the logic. Carter wrote in his blog yesterday, as I read it, that the mosque shouldn’t…
Read MoreA Mosque in Manhattan
When an email floated in out of the blue saying a fellow named Oz Sultan wanted to build a Mosque a block from where the Twin Towers used to be I thought it had to be a joke – but darned if it wasn’t true. The next thing I knew New York Mayor Michael…
Read MoreA Wild Whirlwind?
The other morning there was an article in the paper listing perverse examples of how the President has spent ‘Stimulus Funds’ – like paying $300,000 to study the power of yoga to relieve hot flashes. Now, at first blush this sounds like typical government foolishness (or some Congressman buying votes from yoga enthusiasts) but…
Read MoreThe End of the Post Racial Era
An odd thing happened on the way to the post-racial era. Mrs. Shirley Sherrod a black Department of Agriculture employee in rural Georgia gave a speech to the NAACP, admitted twenty years ago she discriminated against a poor white farmer, explained how she’d realized she was wrong and turned around and helped the farmer –…
Read MoreFamily Values
There was a nice little contrast this weekend under the category of News About Politicians’ Children. There was the nice, simple little wedding of Chelsea Clinton. (I can already see my conservative commentators’ blood pressure rising as they prepare to lace into the cost and glitz of the ceremony. Give the girl a…
Read MoreThe Most Mysterious Politics of All
Over the years I’ve watched Southern Politics and Irish Politics (in New York) and once even had a dose of Chicago politics but none of them were as byzantine as Italian Politics in Raleigh – for a week I’ve been trying to figure out if the Italians are surrendering or if they’re about to sneak…
Read MoreCC’d
“Controlled choice” is all the buzz now in the Wake schools debate. This has the whiff of one of those oxymoronic (with the emphasis on “moron”) political/policy phrases that sounds great but never quite works out in practice. Remember George W. Bush’s “compassionate conservatism”?
Read MoreInside the Press Corps
My blog about the capital press corps – and how its coverage of the Alcoa story might have been influenced by UNC-TV’s Eszter Vajda – brought this response from Scott Mooneyham of The Insider/Capitol Press Association. I think it’s worth reprinting in full. Background: I had quoted a blog by Laura Leslie about how…
Read MoreThe Forgotten Man
Let’s pass on talking about politics today and talk about something I know nothing about: Economics. My friend Richard, who’s a banker, just sent me a book called The Forgotten Man about the Depression. Now, normally, I’d run from a book about economics but Ms. Amity Shlaes has written a fascinating story about New…
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