Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
A marine officer on patrol in Baghdad sees five Iraqi soldiers clustered beneath a streetlight, an easy target for snipers; certain something is wrong he rushes across the street. He finds the Iraqi ‘s staring at pornography on a cell phone. (News and Observer; 2-10-07). An Army Lieutenant on patrol with Iraqi soldiers captures three…
Jim Black crossed the line – and fell off a cliff. Like too many politicians, Black didn’t see that some old political plays are out of bounds today. North Carolina politics has long been built on friends helping friends, as Rob Christensen pointed out in The News & Observer. But the rules have changed. Some…
John Edwards says he was wrong on Iraq. Barack Obama says he was right from the start. So should Hillary Clinton apologize for her vote – along with Edwards’ – to authorize the war? Does she have to say now that she made a mistake then? She is resisting. She says the mistake was Bush’s.…
John Edwards enjoyed a surge in popularity after his announcement, even leading Hillary in polls in Iowa. But a new poll raises questions. A month ago Edwards led Hillary by 13 percent in the polls in North Carolina. But, now, the latest Public Policy Poll (News and Observer; 2-9-07) shows Hillary surging, cutting Edwards’ lead…
The head of the Optometrist PAC, who gave former speaker Jim Black blank checks, which Black in turn gave Representative Michael Decker (some says as a bribe for Decker’s vote) entered an ‘Alford Plea’ in court last week. The News and Observer described how an ‘Alford Plea’ works in another case, involving a school teacher…
Barack Obama is out to steal the mantle of optimism from John Edwards. In 2004, Edwards ran with a smile. He positioned himself as the positive, uplifting, optimistic candidate. He has even called his political committee the New American Optimists. But the stagecraft and tone of Obama’s announcement hit the very note that served Edwards…
State and local government have made a deal to give Google $260 million to put 210 jobs (with average salaries of $48,000) in Caldwell County. Do the math: $260,000,000 in ‘incentives’ is greater than the total salaries Google will pay over the next 24 years. Supporters of these deals say that government subsidizing corporations is…
The Air Force jet former Speaker Dennis Hastert used can’t fly all the way to California without stopping to refuel, so Speaker Pelosi wants a bigger plane. The Air Force said no. The Speaker shot back, “I’m not saying that I am being discriminated against because I am a woman. I’m just saying as the…
Like children, presidential candidates can get into trouble on the Internet. Ask John Edwards. His campaign spent several days dealing with a contretemps over two campaign bloggers who – on their personal blogs – had said unkind things about the Catholic Church. The story made it to the front page of The New York Times…
“For over a thousand years Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of triumph,…
Because of just 2 votes, North Carolina politics will be consumed – and the General Assembly…