Raleigh
Artful Lies
Little White Lies. Outright Lies. Artful Lies. Once a bartender told a sailor on leave for the weekend, There’re a lot of prostitutes down at the bus station. Say hello to Anna if you see her. Listening you’d think Anna was a prostitute but you’d be wrong: She was the sixty year-old clerk working behind…
Read MoreA Misunderstanding, Chapter 1
The Governor’s biggest challenge, a Republican consultant explained to the newspaper, is coming up with a way to overhaul Medicaid and stopping its persistent cost overruns – if the Governor can do that, the consultant said, it “practically will insure his reelection.” Which sounds fine – except for a misunderstanding. Six years ago, back in…
Read MoreWake Effect
First the legislature retreated on RFRA. Then on Dix. Take a bow, Wake County. And take note of what this portends for 2016. The Republican juggernaut slowed, if only briefly, because Republicans realized they better not push Wake County much farther. Education cuts, tax increases and commissioner-gerrymandering have mobilized Democrats in the county and alienated…
Read MoreCarter’s Right!
To my readers: Because you often come here through Facebook or Twitter, you may not see Carter’s blogs. But you should. Because even when you don’t see eye-to-eye with him, you get to see where he’s coming from. And sometimes, shockingly enough, you may find yourself agreeing with Carter. So I wanted to be…
Read MoreThe Return of Elmer Gantry
The Reverend William Barber stepped back up onto his soapbox and thundered it’s time that Richard Burr and Thom Tillis left the chains of hatred behind and joined the chorus for justice by voting to confirm Loretta Lynch. The Reverend went on to explain how he’s looked into Ms. Lynch’s heart and how he…
Read MoreThe Way of Things
Roy whacked Pat. Pat then slapped Phil. Phil poked Pat back. And no one laid a glove on Roy. That was last week. This week Roy whacked Pat again. And Pat gabbed Phil three times. Last week Pat said Phil was cutting taxes too much – and this week he said Phil…
Read MoreWaking Up
Yes, the Republicans’ Wake County power grab is raw, cynical politics. But it could help Democrats win legislative seats, the Governor’s Office, the U.S. Senate race and even a U.S. Senate majority and the Presidency next year. Wake is the biggest-voting county and the biggest swing-vote county in a big state that could decide…
Read MoreClaude Sitton
Claude Sitton was, indeed, forceful and fearless. But not without flaws, flaws that show what is great and what can be dangerous about journalism. Sitton’s forcefulness shaped a controversy that rages more than two decades later: Did the N&O unfairly railroad Jim Valvano? Many State fans neither forgive nor forget. One said this week,…
Read MoreJamie’s Voice
There will be more pain, more tears, more heartbreak as the trial goes on. But Jamie Kirk Hahn’s voice in the courtroom reminded us what was lost that awful April evening two years ago. A witness who had talked to her by phone about a campaign billing problem described her as “genuine and honest.”…
Read MoreDuke’s PR Outage
Once upon a time, in the Shire of Raleigh, there was a company called Progress Energy, nee CP&L. The residents of the Shire oft complained about the company, but with affection. After all, its employees and managers and overlords and even its King lived amongst the people and even walked amongst them. The people knew…
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