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Feeding the Beast
Republicans made a deal with the devil 60 years ago, and the devil has come to collect. In 1964, Barry Goldwater turned the party of Lincoln into the party that opposed civil rights. In 1968, Richard Nixon followed Strom Thurmond’s Southern Strategy to the White House. In 1972, Nixon helped elect North Carolina’s Jesse Helms…
Read MoreWhy does my newspaper tell me why my Facebook feed is full of clues about finding painted rocks?
Because this is journalism today. And The News & Observer’s owners are desperately searching for a way to survive. So the rumor is that a lot of big names are leaving the N&O. And a lot of big changes are coming. The biggest change: Reporters will be evaluated by their clicks. By how many online…
Read MoreFeed the Birds!
With snow in the forecast, this is my annual reminder – for the sake of our feathered friends and in memory of my father. First, the birds. Snow covers up the seeds, bugs, worms and other delicacies they eat. So, Feed the Birds! When you stock up on bread, milk, toilet paper, wine and brownie…
Read MoreFeed the Birds
A TAPster reminded me of a snow day blog I did once in memory of my father. It’s apropos today. My dad, Jim, was a printer and, at one time, foreman of the N&O composing room. In those hot-type days, printers used house ads to fill in columns of type. The ads would tell you…
Read MoreFeed the Birds
This blog is a tribute to my late father, Jim. He was a printer all his life, first at Parker Brothers Newspapers in Ahoskie and then at The News & Observer. For many years, he was foreman of the N&O composing room. Those were the days when newspapers were produced with hot metal…
Read MoreCalling Out Liars
Good for the Biden White House! The day after Speaker Kevin McCarthy caved in to the ultra-right and launched a bogus impeachment of the President, the White House fired back – and took a pointed jab at the media: “It’s Time For The Media To Do More To Scrutinize House Republicans’ Demonstrably False Claims That…
Read MoreBig Mark and Big Pharma
When it comes to Big Pharma, Lt. Governor Mark Robinson goes from roaring lion to purring pussycat. The Republican candidate for governor told the New Hanover County GOP, “I don’t intend to do like our current attorney general did and sue the drug company.” Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democratic candidate for governor, did sue…
Read MoreThe Gathering Storm
Carter once said a wave election is like a hurricane. You know it’s coming. But you don’t know if it’ll be a Category 1 or a 5. And you don’t know if it’ll hit Wilmington or Nags Head – or everywhere. We’ve got a big one coming at us now. We’ll worry about the election…
Read MoreWhy Hillary lost, continued
Bill Clinton’s old pollster Stanley Greenberg joins the pile piling onto Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. Greenberg’s most striking point is the campaign’s overreliance on “data analytics” and under-reliance on polls, focus groups and good old political gut. In other words, the campaign abandoned the very same techniques that made Bill Clinton a winner in 1992…
Read MoreWalking with dogs
We all get tired of talking about politics. So let’s talk about dogs. Specifically, walking with dogs. Thanks to the mysterious workings of Facebook, something written 18 months ago popped up on my feed. And touched a chord. It was an August 2015 column by the N&O’s John Drescher, “Walking in all seasons with the…
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