Issues
Political Terror
Republicans – including Senator Richard Burr – couldn’t wait to blame the Obama administration for the Christmas Day terrorist scare. In other words, to indulge in the kind of politics they called unpatriotic when Bush and Cheney were in charge. Let’s look at some facts. A. Burr agrees with the President that…
Read MoreBev and New Year’s Resolutions
At breakfast the other day, a friend pointed to his mocha and cinnamon-crunch bagel. “I’m doing this today because starting January 1 I’m losing 20 pounds,” he vowed. I congratulated him. And wished him luck. That’s a hard resolution to keep; most resolvers fail. But Governor Perdue has done it. She recently…
Read MoreEat the Rabbits
Sometimes folks get so carried away with their passions they just go plain crazy – and I’m not talking about Tiger Woods. I’m talking about two Environmentalists at Victoria University. In addition to wrestling with the problem of trying to be open-minded instead of blinded by their passion to save the planet Environmentalists…
Read MoreHow to Get Out of a Mess
The state’s received a whopping $7.5 billion in ‘Stimulus Funds’ and a good part of it was to pay for Medicaid but, despite President Obama’s help, Secretary Lanier Cansler’s got a train wreck on his hands after he gave out $250 million in no bid contracts, a lot of them to his cronies and former…
Read More31 Million Reasons
President Obama and the Democrats are doing a better job ramming health-care reform through the Senate than explaining it. They should try this message: 31 million. That’s the number of uninsured Americans who will get health insurance over the next decade because of the bill. That’s not Democratic rhetoric. That’s from the nonpartisan…
Read MoreCapital Potty-Break Putsch?
Are Washington Republicans learning from Wake County Republicans? Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a leading opponent of the health-care reform bill, said Sunday: “What the American people should pray is that somebody can’t make the vote.” Democrats protested that Coburn was wishing misfortune on a Senator. Maybe Coburn was just hoping that…
Read MorePerdue and the Courts
Editorial writers, defense lawyers and letter-writers claimed that Governor Perdue was defying the courts and the “rule of law” in the life-doesn’t-mean-life brouhaha. But now one judge has agreed with her – and the Supreme Court has decided to review the matter. In truth, her critics’ rhetoric was just as overheated as the…
Read MoreDon’t Drain the Swamp
There was a pretty glowing report in the paper Wednesday about the Copenhagen Summit, saying just about everyone’s agreed to compensate poor countries for preserving forests and swamps. (Just think, once, not too long ago draining a swamp was a virtue). It seems the big hurdle standing in the way of an agreement was…
Read MoreBev’s Lot
Here is the real world of politics. Imagine you’re Governor Perdue’s political adviser. You’re trying to solve her poll problems. You’re looking for policy ideas and initiatives she can push. You’re tweaking her schedule for maximum media. You’re branching into new media and online communications. Then you hear this exchange between a drug-store…
Read MoreOff With Their Heads!
The new majority took over the Wake County school board like the Jacobins took over Paris. Replacing a board that was seen as high-handed and arrogant, they set new standards for high-handed and arrogant. One step got little attention. The board hired a Republican lawyer. Unclear is whether they fired Tharrington and Smith,…
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