North Carolina – Republicans
‘I Am The Senator’
Dwane Powell’s return to the N&O captured in one cartoon – a depiction of the Republican elephant gone wild – what thousands of words fail to describe. (Congratulations, incidentally, to Powell on being selected for the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame.) Even a Republican TAPster wrote: “This cartoon just about sums it up.…
Read MoreSchool Daze
The Republicans’ education agenda finally comes into focus: It’s about creating a market for private enterprise. They want to privatize Medicaid and privatize the Department of Commerce, so why not privatize schools? It’s the only thing that makes sense. You might be wondering: How do they propose to make public schools better when they…
Read MoreMurdering Santa Claus
For years Jesse Helms wrote every speech he made, typing each on an old reporter’s typewriter, then one year when he was unusually harried he decided it was time to hire a speechwriter – so we hired ‘John.’ John was an unusually gifted writer but for all his virtues he had a peculiar view…
Read MoreWhen a Politician Goes Too Far
Republicans and Democrats over in the legislature have been battling hammer and tongs but, still, it raised eyebrows last week when the News & Observer reported Republicans have declared war on the cities. House Speaker Thom Tillis explained the new conflagration philosophically, saying ‘Part of the conflict is due to a different world view…
Read MoreUNC vs. GOP
Now that UNC-Chapel Hill has a new chancellor, maybe it can move beyond the battles over sexual assaults and athletics-versus-academics and get on with the real war – the one with the new Republican majority in Raleigh. And it will be war. This is a fundamental social, cultural and political conflict. It is…
Read MoreA Swell Idea
A laurel and hearty handshake go out to Rep. Robert Brawley for boldly speaking up for the right of legislators to take free gifts from lobbyists. Right on, brother! The legislature should pass this bill. Because it then would take almost no time before most of the members are in jail or forced out…
Read MoreOne Wrong Begets Another
Years ago some crafty Democratic gnome sitting cloistered in a cell pouring over reams of demographics (trying to figure out the political inclinations of people who didn’t vote) had a revelation: If those folks did vote, a lot more Democrats were going to get elected. Now, in a way, that sounds odd (after all,…
Read MoreIdle Hands
My grandmother used to say, ‘Idle hands are the devil’s workshop’ – and while legislators are waiting for the Senate to introduce its budget over in the General Assembly, they’re making a strong case that temptation and too much time on your hands is as deadly a combination as ever: One legislator sponsored a bill to make…
Read MoreRecycled Issues
The more you hang around, the more things come back around. Like controversial Dix land transfers and privatizing the Department of Commerce. At the dedication of N.C. State’s new Hunt Library last week, one visitor took note of a Duane Powell cartoon in Governor Hunt’s office. It poked fun at his hotly debated plan…
Read MoreDissecting the Vote
Ferrel Guillory & Co. at UNC J-School’s Program on Public Life have taken a discerning deep dive into the 2012 election results – and show why last year reversed the results of 2008 and what lies ahead. The most interesting finding in the latest DataNet report is how Governor McCrory outperformed Mitt Romney among…
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