Issues
We’ve Heard this Before
Obama’s new budget is out and the more things change the more they remain the same – he’s increasing the deficit (from $1.3 to $1.33 trillion) and increasing spending, but big cuts are coming somewhere down the road. Obama’s been running that same flim-flam, promising big cuts down the road since he was elected…
Read MoreMitt as Pretzel
Mitt Romney has to be the most phony-baloney politician in American history. If there was an Olympics for Flip-Flop, he’d hold the Gold. If he did yoga, he’d be a pretzel. He is the Mickey Mantle of Political Switch-Hitting, the Oscar Robertson of Obfuscation, the unchallenged champion of the George Orwell Trophy for Double-Talk. …
Read MoreIt’s Free!
I wonder, sometimes, if Obama believes what he’s saying? He ordered the Catholic Church to provide contraceptives to its employees;― the Bishops said No, outrage followed, and Obama realized he’s bitten off more than he could chew. So Obama announced he had a solution. The Church, he said, wasn’t going to have to provide…
Read MoreMedia Blitz
Bill Faison got a rude welcome to statewide politics. The N&O story about his ex-wife’s divorce allegations – published the day Faison filed – was like blitzing a rookie quarterback on his first play of the season. The divorce apparently dogged Faison’s race against David Parker for state party chair – and cost him…
Read MoreSusan G. Komen and the Anatomy of a Social Media Wildfire, including a guest appearance by @rachelsklar
Few would dispute that Susan G. Komen Foundation has dramatically helped advance the fight for a cure for breast cancer. The organization has helped make pink the national color for October, elevating the search for a cure to the top of the national dialogue for an entire month. Its work has resulted in NFL players…
Read MoreUnfit for Duty
A lot of facts and statistics were thrown around at the Emerging Issues Forum on Generation Z, but here’s one that stunned me – from Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus: Three out of four Americans between 18 and 24 are not qualified to join a branch of the military. That’s 75 percent. …
Read MoreTalking About GenZers
I’m one of the GenGeezers attending this year’s Emerging Issues Forum about GenZers – those born 1990-on. They’re facing a changing and challenging economy. Their jobs will last an average of four years. They have an average college debt of $20,000. One-third of them are obese or overweight. They send an average of 3,000-plus…
Read MoreBob Was Ready – or Was He?
Bob Etheridge was ready to run, but not ready to take a stand. The old cager was poised to jump into the governor’s race the moment Erskine Bowles announced he wouldn’t suit up. But Etheridge wasn’t ready to say whether he supported the gay marriage amendment or the school tax. He could have…
Read MoreThe Politics of Breast Cancer
The guest blog below was sent to me by a TAPster Friday, before the Komen Foundation cried uncle – or aunt. But it’s worth posting today: Anyone who watched yesterday’s Andrea Mitchell interview with Susan Komen Foundation founder Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker could plainly see a train wreck in slow motion. Not only did…
Read MoreMcCrory’s Needle is Stuck
Pat McCrory’s announcement statement showed that he hasn’t figured out how this campaign has changed. McCrory has spent four years running against Bev Perdue. Now he’s like Wiley Coyote running over the cliff: his legs are still pumping but there’s nothing underneath him anymore. To switch metaphors, he’s signing the same old song.…
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