Issues
The U.N. Goes Gay
Richard, the Intellectual, sat down at breakfast and out of sheer devilment looked across the table at Mike the Democrat and said, Well, I see in the newspaper this morning Obama’s now gotten the United Nations to officially go ‘gay, lesbian and transgender’ friendly. Ole’ Will Patton, the lawyer, looked up and said, How’s…
Read MoreDENR Fires Back
Robin W. Smith, Assistant Secretary for Environment in the Department of Environment & Natural Resources, took issue with an earlier blog (“Chicken Littles”) about environmental regulation in North Carolina. Smith’s response follows: “I read your recent post about environmental regulation [Chicken Littles] and wanted to provide another perspective. I don’t believe the sky is…
Read MoreBin Laden’s Victory?
Americans have celebrated the killing of Osama bin Laden. Now we’re debating how quickly to leave Afghanistan. But is there a chance bin Laden is still going to get what he wanted all along? A week or so ago, I picked up a biography (“Osama bin Laden”) written before his death by Michael Scheuer,…
Read MoreNo Holds Barred
Before it went home the legislature passed Representative George Cleveland’s bill to require employers to use the federal government’s E-verify program to avoid hiring illegal immigrants. Which sounded fine. Until I figured out I’ll have to use E-Verify. Which I’m guessing (since this is the government) may be like figuring out hieroglyphics. Irritated, I thought,…
Read MoreOddly Familiar
The way I see it, Richard said putting down the newspaper, those Greek fellows have been living high-on-the-hog and paying for it with borrowed money for years and now half the country’s on the public payroll and the other half’s getting lifetime government pensions and now they can’t borrow anymore so they don’t have the…
Read MoreThe Winners
A friend asked who the winners were in the legislature: Governor Perdue or the Republicans? My answer: both. Thanks to the legislature, Perdue got herself back in the reelection game. By taking on the legislature and wielding some big vetoes, she put some steel into what had been her mushy public image. …
Read MoreCarville’s Advice to Obama
James Carville is still one of the smartest and most perceptive people in politics. Most of all, he knows how to get the hay down to where the goats can get it. So itâs worth sharing his advice to President Obama about the economy, courtesy of CNN: Sir, I’m sure the last thing that you…
Read MoreIrony
Leaning across the table, Eric, who attended Divinity School in Edinburgh, handed the press release from Redistricting Chairmen David Lewis and Bob Rucho to Richard, the intellectual, and said, This reads like a legal brief written by a Harvard lawyer set on explaining no matter how much sinning his clients are doing it’s perfectly fine…
Read MoreThe Politics of War
President Obama promised last night – after 10 years of war – that America is finally going to do what some people suggested we do in Vietnam: Declare victory and leave. Nobody will like the comparison, but a lot of Democratic and Republican politicians today put me in mind of George McGovern’s 3 a.m.…
Read MoreThere Will Surely Be A Reckoning
The following article about the war in Afghanistan was in the newspaper Saturday: ABOARD A BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER IN SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN By ANJA NIEDRINGHAUS, Associated Press The Army medics had just dropped off a Marine wounded in a bombing when one reached over and handed me a scribbled note inside the noisy U.S. helicopter. …
Read More