Taking us to the ground for a point The air traffic controller furloughs are the White House tours of the sky.
From time immemorial, a government that doesn’t want to tighten its fiscal belt finds high-profile ways to inconvenience the public to try to turn it against spending cuts. In keeping with this so-called Washington Monument strategy, the White House canceled tours in the immediate aftermath of sequestration. In an escalation, the Federal Aviation Administration has f...
Governor should be a Mr. Fix-It RALEIGH — Now that Pat McCrory has passed the oh-so-important mark of 100 days in office, the political class in Raleigh feels obligated to offer a critique of his administration. The most common one is that Gov. McCrory is playing “small ball.”
That is, the critics say that because the governor didn’t propose a major spending program in his 2013-15 budget plan, he’s not really doing anything of consequence. Even the reform initiatives McCr...
Genes and race: Both are in play During decades of watching both collegiate and professional football, I have seen hundreds of touchdowns scored by black players — but not one extra point kicked by a black player.
Is this because blacks are genetically incapable of kicking a football or because racists won’t let blacks kick a football?
Most of us would consider either of these explanations ridiculous. Yet genes and discrimination were the predominant explanations of blac...
Obama’s nice campaign a failure If there was one thing the left was certain about in 2008 it was this: George W. Bush had catastrophically undermined America’s world reputation with his unprovoked aggression and use of torture. The advent of Obama would reverse the damage. As Andrew Sullivan wrote in 2007, among best assets Obama brought to the “rebranding” of America was “his face.” The election of Obama and his friendly approach to the Muslim world would make the United S...
Times are a changing The political strategy of divisiveness is thriving in this country, and neither party has the stronger grip.
On the national level, criticisms from the right of twice-elected President Obama are that he is a communist, foreign born, a Muslim, or all three — charges that reveal much more about the accuser than the accused. The left counters by embracing class warfare, saying that Republicans are for the rich, and don’t care for the middle cl...
Our duty is keep the terrorists out The uncle of the accused Boston Marathon bombers got the boys right. They were unable to settle into American life, Ruslan Tsarni told reporters from his home in Maryland, “and thereby just hating everyone who did.” He called the two brothers “losers.” I prefer the term “weaklings.”
As the story thickens with detail, it would seem that the older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, now dead, was the ringleader. So let’s concentrate on him.
Tamerla...
Cutting of wrestling programs will affect other high schools To the Editor,
I must say I am extremely disappointed to read the article on the decision to drop the wrestling programs at St. Paul and South Robeson high schools. My understanding is that both of these schools will be jointly in one conference in the state’s new realignment. The decision by Superintendent Johnny Hunt and the school board will present challenges to the other schools in the conference and the regional schools that need to s...
The fact-free crusade against guns Amid all the heated, emotional advocacy of gun control, have you ever heard even one person present convincing hard evidence that tighter gun control laws have in fact reduced murders?
Think about all the states, communities within states, as well as foreign countries, that have either tight gun control laws or loose or non-existent gun control laws. With so many variations and so many sources of evidence available, surely there would be so...
Moving fourth graders wrong answer to Tanglewook crowding To the Editor,
I understand that during the next meeting of the Robeson County’s Board of Education, a vote will be taken over a suggestion to transfer Tanglewood’s fourth graders to Gilbert Carroll Middle. The rational behind the suggestion is because Tanglewood is overcrowded. I find this proposal almost corrupt.
It is true that Tanglewood Elementary (K-4) is crowded, and it probably has reached its capacity. The reason for that is beca...
A new use for prison? It is paradoxical that at the same time Robeson County residents are bracing to pick up a bill for a new county jail because the current one is too crowded, the state is considering closing the minimum-security prison just outside of Lumberton because there are too few inmates.
An earnest effort began last week to keep the Robeson Correctional Center open, with supporters asking local legislators to return to Raleigh and share with their pe...
