NCPOG

Anyone who has been around BlueNC for any time at all knows I hate the so-called North Carolina Education Lottery. I hate everything about it, but mostly I hate the fact that our elected officials have seen fit to bet the future of public education on their ability to coax mostly poor people into gambling.

So my natural instinct is to be sympathetic to people who want to stop the lottery in its tracks by suing the state for not following proper procedures when the monstrosity was approved. But the more I read about these people, the more disgusted I become.

According to the N&O, the plaintiffs in the case include Paul Stam, the Wake County Taxpayers Association and the N.C. Family Policy Council. These folks were against the lottery in the first place, and they've been looking for an angle to stop it ever since.

So why to they have to lie about what they're doing now?

They say their goal is not to end it -- but to make sure its passage followed the state constitution.

With a growing stream of Republican lies being uncovered by Congress almost every day - about everything from Tillman's death to GonzoGate - it's hard to understand the stunning silence of North Carolina Republican leaders. I guess lying to families of dead soldiers will have to be added to the NC Party of Greed platform.

That's the subject I want Heath Shuler to raise when he walks into the lair of the Dark Side. I want him specifically to ask:

How in god's name can the North Carolina Republican Party stand behind a president who has single-handedly destroyed the moral standing of our country and his office in six short years?

Add your questions here for Congressman Shuler. He says he wants to know what ALL the citizens of North Carolina are thinking . . . so don't be shy.

Sponge Bob Orr, Fred (the Asphalt King) Smith, and Gas-Tax Bill Graham showed up in Dunn this weekend to pander to the Party of Greed faithful. They were up to their eyeballs in hypocrisy.

I've never heard of Jim Culbertson, but if he represents the best judgment of the North Carolina Party of Greed, we're in for a fun ride over the next 18 months. According the the News and Observer, Culbertson is all ga-ga over the candidacy (rhymes with idiocy) of occasional drag-queen Rudy Giuliani.

Of course, Jim Culbertson's claim to fame goes far beyond supporting the Rudy clown who just happened to be mayor of New York of 9/11, the very same corrupt greeder who went into business with this crook. Indeed, Mr. Culbertson is partly responsible for the installing the lunatic Child King in the White House throne room, having been Bush's go-to Ranger in North Carolina in both 2000 and 2004. Not the brightest bulb in the box, that's for sure.

When it's a royal decree by The Asphalt King? Some things are just too funny - like this exchange between Bill Graham and Fred Smith noted in the Charlotte Observer.

Salisbury lawyer Bill Graham's campaign has fired the first shot in the race for the Republican nomination for governor in 2008, but it was a bit off target. Graham staffer Andy Lancaster sent out a copy of a no-new-taxes pledge drafted by the conservative group Americans for Prosperity last year and signed by, among others, Sen. Fred Smith, of Johnston County near Raleigh.

Should be an excitable day in the inner sanctum at the North Carolina Party of Greed. Fredly Smith, the asphalt king, will announce his plans to run for governor. Which is very good news. He'll further fracture the Republican base and force Art Pope to spend even more of his family fortune to prop up Bob Orr's regrettable candidacy.

I would normally encourage folks to start doing opposition research, but don't bother. This is going to be an intra-party blood bath. Bill Graham is already taking shots at Smith, and his trial-lawyer background will come in handy in digging up the considerable dirt that's apparently available on Smith.

When all hell breaks loose in national politics, Liddy Dole is usually the first one rushing to the cameras to deliver mindless Republican talking points, with little Patty McHenry not far behind. So where are the two Bushbots this week as the story of White House unethical firing of eight US attorneys?

They are completely invisible. The only NC Republican who has managed to find his voice is Walter Jones.

U.S. Rep. Walter Jones is joining a growing list of Republicans who have expressed concern over the current leadership of the U.S. Department of Justice.

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"While I recognize that all U.S. Attorneys serve at your pleasure, recent news reports alleging the improper political influence of partisan politics in the decision to terminate several U.S. Attorneys are most disturbing," Jones wrote.

Earlier this week, I wrote about the fact that Judge Bob Orr has worked himself into a pickle when it comes to running for governor. And as is often the case in politics, this pickle is about money. Here's my take on the whole sad situation.

1. Art Pope has to give away a lot of money. His daddy's foundation has a ton of cash, and law requires that a significant percentage of that cash be distributed each year. That's one reason Pope starts so many not-for-profit organizations like the John Locke Foundation, Civitas, and the Institute for Constitutional Law. I've studied the financial filings for many of these organizations, and while they are not lavishly funded, they are certainly not scraping by. By some accounts, Pope is spending upwards of $300,000 a month on JLF alone.

The N&O today reports yet another entrant into the lieutenant governor's race, this time it's Walter Dalton. Dalton joins Dan Besse, Hampton Dellinger, and Pat Smathers in a literal run for the money. From what I can tell, they're all good guys - which means the winner's going to be the one with the deepest pockets, best connections, and most powerful fundraising machine.

Which brings us to the end of the N&O article and the point of this entry. Judge Bob Orr.

Also Monday, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bob Orr announced he will step down as executive director of a conservative legal group he helped create to devote more time to his campaign.