Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
The Bush Administration seems to be doing everything it can to lose the war against terror, but I still don’t know if Democrats can win the political battle. The headlines are bad for Bush: Intelligence agencies say the Iraq war has spread terror instead of stopping it. Retired military officers bash Rumsfeld for malpractice. The…
I don’t know Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong but, sometimes, he says things that leave me shaking my head. Like when the press asked him why the defense attorneys tried to have him recused from the Duke Lacrosse trial. Mr. Nifong said, in effect, ‘Well, if he was a defense attorney he wouldn’t want to…
An editorial in The News & Observer fondly hopes that Governor Easley’s appointees to lead the Progress Board – Mac McCorkle and John Merritt – will revive the board, which has been wandering in the wilderness for years now. Not a chance. The Progress Board has always been plagued by a fatal premise: Its supporters…
Nobody comes off well in the dispute over Raleigh’s downtown art. Would-be benefactor Jim Goodmon looks high-handed and arrogant. Mayor Charles Meeker gets blasted by Goodmon: “He followed the herd.” City Manager Russell Allen started the brouhaha, but couldn’t – or wouldn’t – stop it. Arts lovers sound elitist and condescending. The people of Raleigh…
Dear Carter, I hate it that President Bush gave in to the Democrats on this issue. Best, A Reader President Bush’s ‘New’ Policy The US Navy today announced that it has released a senior Al Qaeda terrorist after questioning him extensively for 27 days while being held prisoner aboard a US aircraft carrier in…
We’ve blogged earlier about the Service Employees International Union jumping into Raleigh’s City Council race last year. They’re back. We hear that SEIU representatives were in Raleigh this week – meeting with sanitation workers who then staged a slowdown. The SEIU is targeting public employees as part of its larger, more active and aggressive national…
Now George Bush says this is a “battle for civilization.” No it isn’t. And that’s exactly why he’s bad for America. Like all second-term Presidents, Bush yearns for a place in history. So his rhetoric grows ever-more overblown: The struggle against radical Islam is “the calling of our civilization.” “The safety of America depends on…
Not to long ago State Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Carmen Hooker-Odom claimed she was going to save taxpayers millions by hiring a new computer vender to process the state’s Medicare claims. Today the new vender is a year behind schedule, the system is not in place, the state is in a contract…
First the federal government shot down Raleigh’s hopes for light-rail money. Now the State Board of Transportation has cut off the spigot. Who is to blame? Here are some nominees: The Mayor and City Council. Heckuva job lobbying, folks. And now Mayor Meeker is suggesting a half-cent local sales tax instead. The Wake County legislative…
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…