Remember the game “Simon Says” we used to play as children? One person, the designated “Simon,” would show the players an action to take or saying to repeat. But you weren’t supposed to mimic it unless Simon prefaced the instruction by specifically saying, “Simon Says….” If you performed the action without Simon’s specific say-so you were out of the game.   I couldn’t help but be reminded of this recently when I listened to a CNN interview with Frank Luntz. Those in politics know Luntz as a leading Republican pollster, strategist and analyst. In the interview, he stopped me cold when talk ..read more

Speaker Mike Johnson, on Saturday, April 20, led the US House of Representatives in a monumental decision to continue funding for the Ukraine war. In the press conference following the historic bipartisan vote, he said, “I want to be on the right side of history.” And for this vote, he will be.   Honestly, I have not had a lot of confidence in Mike Johnson. He supposedly was one of the architects of the fake elector scheme, with intention of overthrowing the legitimate election of Joe Biden. That certainly would not have put him on the right side of history. So how does one define what is ..read more

It might sound odd to hear this from someone who’s been writing a syndicated column on politics for nearly four decades, but politics has become vastly more important in our lives than it should be. Virtually every decision we make in our ostensibly free society is now subject to review, refinement, and reversal by some government agency. We can’t buy or consume what we want; hire whom we want on mutually agreeable terms; inhabit and dispense with our property as we want; or make critical decisions about our families’ education, health care, and financial planning without the intrusion of gove ..read more

Nearly 8 in 10 North Carolina voters support better pay raises for the state’s public school teachers next year. In a statewide poll conducted for Public Ed Works before the NC General Assembly convenes next week, 78% of NC voters said K-12 public school teachers deserve a bigger raise than the 3% raise they are currently scheduled to receive in 2024-25. The National Education Association ranked North Carolina 46th in starting teacher pay and 34th in average teacher salaries last year. Public school teachers’ pay is currently scheduled to increase to a starting salary of $41,000 and an average ..read more

We’ll have to wait until May 1 for the official commemoration of Law Day in the United States. But North Carolinians have a good excuse to celebrate three days early. Established in 1958 by President Dwight Eisenhower, Law Day aims “to celebrate the rule of law in a free society,” according to USCourts.org. “Eisenhower, a former five-star Army general during World War II, saw first-hand what happens when the rule of law breaks down.” Sixty-five years after Ike’s action, North Carolina’s Supreme Court unveiled three high-profile opinions on a single day: April 28, 2023. Each highlighted the rul ..read more

I will be restraining some of my customary sarcasm this week because the subject matter is much too important to our citizenship. If state Attorney General Josh Stein or any of his staff is reading this, then question: what is a state attorney general? According to the National Association of Attorneys General, a state attorney general (AG) “…is the chief legal officer of [each] state.” Among the routine duties of the AG’s Office is the “handling [of] criminal appeals and serious statewide criminal prosecutions.” So the state attorney general, when it comes to criminal matters, is a prosecutor ..read more

Trump rolled through two civil trials, hardly blinking, defiant, but at the end of the first week of his criminal trial sitting at the defense table staring straight ahead, eyes sagging, he looked weary. Worn down. A born street fighter, living by the sword, like a reflex Trump punches back whenever someone punches him – but sitting in that courtroom his sword is useless. Sitting silent, face haggard, he listened to prosecutors calling him a criminal, a juror reading her Facebook posts calling him a sociopath, egomaniac – couldn’t punch back. It’s not likely, even if convicted, he’ll end up in ..read more

New data shows that North Carolina Democrats are right to look for votes on country roads and small-town streets. A group called Rural Democracy Initiative – “Communities, Not Corporations” – will release a poll next month saying that “rural voters tend to be economic populists who would overwhelmingly support parts of the Democratic Party’s agenda — as long as the right messenger knocked on their doors.” Anderson Clayton has been pounding on that message since before she was elected state party chair last year. Rachel Hunt, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, is campaigning hard ..read more

Newly anointed RNC co-chair Lara Trump’s recent impassioned plea for folks to donate money, even if they currently don’t have any, would make P.T. Barnum blush. “If you can’t afford a donation today,” said Lara, looking sleek and sophisticated in a dress that probably cost more than my car, “I ask that you save it for a later date. But if you could donate even as much as five dollars, it will go a long way.” Here’s Lara Trump, metaphorically unfolding her tiny cardboard sign while standing on a median in the rain. If you don’t have even five bucks to donate, save up! You can do this! The young ..read more

I’ve never been more delighted to be mistaken. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a column observing that, over the first eight months of the 2023-24 fiscal year, the state’s General Fund revenue was down slightly from what was collected during the first eight months of the previous fiscal year. North Carolina faced no “fiscal emergency,” I wrote, but unless revenue collections were “bountiful” this spring, the General Assembly wouldn’t have lots of extra cash to work with during its short session. Well, state economists have just released their consensus revenue forecast — and bountiful isn’t too ..read more