Black Clinging to Innocence and Power With All His Might

Speaker Jim Black said that he is seeking a fifth term as speaker and is innocent of all charges. In fact he claims there is no investigation. According to the Daily Reflector:

N.C. House Speaker Jim Black on Monday called news reports about a federal investigation involving his office inaccurate and reiterated his intention to remain in his leadership position.

In an interview on the Talk 1070 (WNCT-AM) program "Talk of the Town," Black maintained he is not being investigated and is not guilty of any crime.

We're Going Camping!

For the next few days BlueNC is leaving the comfort and shelter of its front page to venture into BlueNC Backcountry. While the front page is taking a well-deserved rest, you can find everything you need and more using the tracker (bluenc.com/tracker). If you're logged in, the tracker will even tell you where the new posts and comments are! (It doesn't warn you about the bears, though; you're on your own there.)

In the meantime, blog and post as usual. Go to the Take Action Page and use the internet to talk some sense into your government. Use the BlueNC Calendar to find out what's going on, or even add your own events. Check out the NC Blog Index, were you can find out about other NC blogs or add your own. Most important of all: keep discovering and sharing a passion for liberal North Carolina politics!

—Lance

P.S. Just to be extra clear, the site is having some problems, caught in a time warp, so to speak, with old entries showing up on the front page and in the comments sections instead of new entries. It may be a few days until we get it fixed.

Local Shopping for Holiday Gifts

The national scene is still hopping with the illegal spying, transit strike, and other exciting stories. But here in North Carolina it looks like everyone has closed up shop, started the fire, and began sipping on the egg nog. So, I figured that I would join the season. This year I managed to do all of my shopping at local stores, except for one book I picked up at BJ's, but the gift from BJ's was a cook book by Mama Dip in Chapel Hill so it should count as well. I figured I would share my best local spots for finding gifts in Raleigh and ask for help for next year. But first the political commentary: Why is it that progressives, who hate their country, the ones willing to spend more to shop local and keep jobs in the U.S.?

Pardon our Dust and (Internal) Links

The one difficulty we have had in transferring to the new system is that many of our internal links are now bad. We are working hard to fix the problem and should only be a concern in older posts, but please let us know if you click on anything that does not take you to where you need to go.

Walter Jones in Mother Jones and Why That is Good

Republican Walter Jones has been a conservative voice in the North Carolina congressional delegation since his election in 1994, for which he changed both parties and districts to run. Jones is so conservative that he won and accepted the "True Blue" award from the ultra-conservative Family Research Council. He even gained infamy by leading the charge to change "French Fries" to "Freedom Fries". But his switch from leading war supporter to critic has recently gained him praise from progressive circles.

JibJab's Latest Efforts

With everyone jumping all over themselves about the new Jib-Jab video on Bush, I figured that I would post a link. Check out the Bush video, it is funny but tends to make him too much of an innocent party to circumstances for my liking. I would say that "Big Box Mart" on the same page is a much better effort. The movie is basically a short diatribe against Wal-Mart and very well done. It includes a great line (transcribed from memory, so may be a little off):

Real Values Take on Rumors that Dole Might Run for Governor in '08

There have been rumors circulating that some want Dole to run for Governor. I have avoided them since I do not see her actually leaving Washington to grace us with her presence. Real Values, however, is welcoming Dole's bid:

What, you mean Susie Sour Grapes Myrick and her anti-immigration shtick aint setting the world ablaze?

Maybe Dole will promise to do for NC exactly what she has done for the National Republican Senatorial Committee!!!

I for one hope she DOES run for Governor in 2008. I think Attorney General Roy Cooper, State Treasurer Richard Moore, or Lt. Governor Bev Perdue would eat Empty Wig's lunch in a run for Governor. Of course if she did run for Governor, she might actually have to move to NC, which I am sure would cramp her style.

Wilmington Race Riots in the New York Times

An important event in North Carolina's history was the Wilmington race riots of 1898, which resulted in the only successful overthrow of a local government in the history of the United States. The riot occurred on November 10, 1898, an election day. The City was being run by a Black and Republican government during reconstruction. On the election day, the Republicans were defeated in part by a ballot box stuffing campaign. After the vote, some Whites attempted to gain control of the city immediately. When the sitting government refused, riots ensued.

The first headline in New York regarding the event was entitled "Whites Kill Negroes and Seize City of Wilmington" (photo included below). The newest headline in New York addresses not just the event but also the findings of the Wilmington Race Commission, a commission created by the NC legislature to examine the events. The New York Times posted a story entitled "North Carolina City Confronts Its Past in Report on White Vigilantes" today here.

Backlash against Foxx's Immigration Onslaught

J.W. Williamson at Watauga Watch has an interesting catch on businesses that want the illegal immigrants here to work:

The Christmas tree industry has let out its first peep against Madame Virginia Foxx's efforts to decimate its workforce with her war on Latino immigration. A letter to the editor (scroll down) published in Friday's paper from Patricia Gaskin, legislative chairwoman of the National Christmas Tree Asssociation, is only the opening salvo in what could become a most interesting exchange of views: "...the Enforcement bill that Rep. Foxx so proudly sponsors will leave agriculture and small businesses with nothing."

Two Interesting Links

Perusing today's papers, I found two interesting links that readers might want to check out:

1) The Winston-Salem Journal does an interesting roundup of recent clashes between branches of the North Carolina government and how separation of powers is working here. The article includes a brief summary of an action to invalidate the state's recent lottery.

2) The N&O has an article that begins:

Like country singer Tammy Wynette, North Carolina House Democrats are standing by their man.

And concludes that Jim Black is staying in power despite all of his recent troubles here. I was previously saying that Jim Black must go, but you cannot argue with country music.

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