Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
While Judge Hudson was making common sense, Mayor Meeker was headed in the opposite direction. The Mayor told the News and Observer (1-3-07) he has “considered” running for the United States Senate against Elizabeth Dole, but decided there is more a mayor in a bustling city like Raleigh can do than a Senator. So he’s…
The Associated Press just took one of its perennial New Year’s Eve polls, asking questions like “Who was the biggest villain this past year?” George Bush was the biggest villain. More Americans said President Bush was a villain, than said Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Iran’s nuclear arms building President) and Kim Jong…
North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry is the early favorite for this Congress’ Newt Gingrich Hysterical Hypocrisy Award. “Waving his hands and stomping his feet,” according to news reports, McHenry decried House Democrats’ plans to quickly act on their key priorities. Such as ethics reform, stem cell research and raising the minimum wage. Railed McHenry: “If,…
Last fall, defense attorney Tommy Manning did what appeared to be a clever thing. He got a case against his client, a Durham policeman accused of assaulting a short-order cook in the parking lot of Blinko’s Restaurant, dismissed on a technicality. But it turns out Manning wasn’t so clever after all. He told Judge Debra…
John Edwards finally took a controversial stand on Sunday on George Stephanopoulos’ TV program and it was a doozie. Edwards didn’t put it quite this bluntly, but when Stephanopoulos asked if he supported ‘gay marriage,’ Edwards shook his head and said, ‘Well, I’m just not there yet.’ That was a first for Edwards. For years,…
Saddam Hussein got what he deserved. But did America? The hanging scene was disturbing on many levels. The masked hangmen looked like the guys who chop off heads in hostage videos. The shouted curses hardly lent an atmosphere of justice being carried out. And what was the big rush? I’m not bothered by a brutal…
John Edwards’ presidential announcement last week demonstrated why it’s better to be lucky than smart in politics. The Edwards team had a good strategy: a two-day made-for-TV announcement in New Orleans. And what seemed like good timing: the news-dead week between Christmas and New Year’s. Then Gerald Ford died. And Sadaam Hussein was hanged. And…
State Representative George Holmes took $79,000 out of his campaign committee and put it in his pocket. Then, when the Winston-Salem Journal asked why, Holmes dug the hole a little deeper. He said, “Why not? It’s legal. That money was given to me.” Let’s examine his logic. Campaign contributions are not bribes because the money…
Politicians aren’t the only ones who know how to ‘spin’ facts. The City of Raleigh is doing a pretty good job too. The headline of its latest newsletter is an example: Officials Approve Increase of Less Than 3 Percent in Convention Center Funding. The city ‘spinners’ made it sound like that little ole’ 3 percent…
Senator Phil Berger was out of touch with voters in his district – and suffered the…
A reassuring lesson from our trip to Germany and Czechia is that dictators, despots and tyrants…
Gwyn and I just returned from a 12-day journey through 1,000 years of history in Germany…