Archive for 2015
The faith of Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter certainly wasn’t our best President, but he’s clearly one of the best human beings to be President. At the core of his goodness is a powerful Christian faith that has sustained him throughout his life, even as it complicated his political life. My then-N&O colleague Ferrel Guillory was one of the first reporters…
Read MoreFun with Trump
Admit it. You love it. We all love it. That’s why the Donald Trump for President Show rolls on and on and on. That’s why all political news – from the New York Times to Fox News to MSNBC to Inside Edition and Entertainment Tonight – is all Trump, all the time. Staid, sober observers…
Read MoreRepublicans learn to love government
Republicans hate government. Too big and bloated, they say. Too many people on the public payroll. Too many seat-warmers, Governor McCrory says. But something magical happens when they get their turn at the tax-paid trough. To wit: Former state Rep. Nathan Ramsey got a job in the Asheville office of the state Division of Workforce…
Read MoreThe Carolina way?
After years of damaging disclosures and disastrous PR, you’d think there’s no way UNC could make its grades-and-athletes scandal worse. As George W. Bush would say, don’t misunderestimate them. They could make it worse by making Sylvia Hatchell the scapegoat and Roy Williams the escape ram. A Page One story by the N&O’s Dan Kane…
Read MoreThe Cure
To hear the good ole boys in the State Senate tell it they’re going to cure all our Medicaid ills: No more soaring costs. Better care. Budgets that balance. No more meltdowns. MCOs, they say, will heal our wounds and stop our hemorrhaging. If that sounds too good to be true, well, take a look…
Read MoreA Mystery
The Senate Leaders said it was terrible, just terrible that when people who live in rural counties shop in Charlotte, the sales taxes they pay stay in Charlotte to build schools and roads in Charlotte – and introduced a plan to cure the devilment. By changing the way the state allocates sales taxes between counties…
Read MoreI’m too old for this
Readers of a certain age will appreciate this. The rest of you can aspire to it. “There is a lot that is annoying, and even terrible, about aging. The creakiness of the body; the drifting of the memory; the reprising of personal history ad nauseam, with only yourself to listen. But there is also something…
Read MoreTears in the Mansion
Once upon a time, crying in public was political suicide. (See Ed Muskie, 1972, in the snows of New Hampshire.) Now, we’re more in touch with politicians who are more in touch with their feelings. (See John Boehner, anytime, anywhere.) So Governor McCrory’s tears at the departure of Aldona Wos (apparently, no tears were shed…
Read MoreKeeping it honest
Let’s hand it to Grady and Marie Jefferys. They’re braver than the rest of us. The rest of us wouldn’t be willing to publish a book baring all the pain – let alone all the mistakes, misfortunes and misjudgments – we’ve been through, and put others through, throughout our lives. We might – in fact,…
Read MoreDebate winners, losers and jokers
A liberal Democrat found little to like in last night’s debate, with one exception. So that’s no way to rate it. Instead, let’s handicap the horseflesh. There were two winners, two big flops and six jokes on stage. The winners were the only two who came across as thinking human beings rather than pre-programmed political…
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