Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
House Speaker Thom Tillis is not exactly this legislature’s MVP. First came his staff “play to play” scandal. Then came news of his costly town-hall entourage. Today he said that his inability to get $10 million in eugenics-victim compensation is “a personal failure.” Here’s some free political advice, Mr. Speaker: Never admit you failed.…
Read MoreIt’s a sad fact but there’re not many farmers left these days and even back in the old days when I was a boy I don’t recall ever meeting a Jewish farmer and if I’d ever needed to go looking for one (or any other kind of farmer for that matter) the last place on…
Read MorePolitico the Washington super-blog reports that on the sixth floor of an office building in Chicago there’re ‘150 techies’ working night and day to reelect President Obama by doing ‘data mining’ which may sound as stimulating as watching paint dry but consider two facts: President Obama now has 27 million ‘Facebook Followers’ (to Mitt…
Read MoreWas the N&O’s front-page story on “lettergate” overblown? The story referred repeatedly to “false letters.” What was false? Apparently, this sentence: “Funds are needed in this budget cycle” for two highway projects. Members of Governor Perdue’s staff inserted that line. Jim Trogdon of DOT, whose signature was added to the letters electronically, didn’t…
Read MoreSometime awhile back the State appointed a Commission of Scientists who set to work to figure out how much the seas are rising and last week the commission announced its conclusion: Science proves the Atlantic Ocean is going to rise exactly 39 inches (over the next century) and if the folks in Morehead City and…
Read MorePolitical reporters are like flocks of birds. One bird flies to a wire, and every bird flies to the same wire. One national political reporter writes a story about Obama’s problems in North Carolina, and every national political reporter writes the same story. The latest story to cause the Obama campaign heartburn came from…
Read MoreOpen the newspaper most any day and you’ll read some politician somewhere saying the government’s flat broke. Washington’s out of money. Raleigh’s destitute. Money’s tight at City Hall. The County’s cut its budget. But the other morning I opened the newspaper and one story sounded a different note: Amid all…
Read MoreFor a year Phil Berger the Leader of the State Senate’s been looking the Governor in the eye and telling her, ‘No,’ and now as if wrestling a Governor isn’t enough trouble for one man he’s told the State House ‘No’ too. Governor Perdue and the Democrats have been pummeling House Speaker Thom Tillis…
Read MoreMaybe there was energy, electricity and excitement in the air at N.C. Democrats’ Jefferson-Jackson this weekend. But, judging from outside, the optimism seemed a bit forced. (I’m happy to say I wasn’t there.) Also on the outside, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of enthusiasm among Democrats right now about the fall election.…
Read More
