Republican

It appears that Patrick McHenry doesn't know when to hold his tongue in front of cameras. At a Lincoln GOP convention, a cameraman (possibly from the Sigmon for Congress campaign) recorded McHenry calling a solider a "two bit" because he was restricted from a green zone gym, and goes even further by lying about a death in the green zone. Naturally, Lance Sigmon's campaign is out to spread this news as wildly as possible. Gotta love Republican infighting.

Press Release:
"McHenry refers to military sentry as 'two-bit' at Lincoln GOP event, exaggerates story to include death"

Youtube video in the fulltext.

Did you notice, we're in a drought. Via Binker we see that REPUBLICAN Phil Berger has called for Governor Easley to not approve Alcoa's request for dominance over local water resources because they don't provide enough jobs to North Carolina. Go to Binker to read the letter to the Governor, I'll wait.......

Okay, I'll admit it, I don't see the angle. For a Republican to stand up to big business (anyone remember the NFL ALCOA commercials? "We can't wait, we can't wait, for tomorroooooooooooooow, Alcoa can't wait!") and ask the Democratic governor to yank their operations in North Carolina, for all intents and purposes, boggles the mind. Berger says that "In 1958, when its current license was issued, Alcoa provided a number of jobs to North Carolina's citizens; sadly, this is no longer the case. In 2002, Alcoa laid off hundreds of North Carolina workers and no longer provides employment for a substantial number of our people."

One can only imagine that the message is a shot across the bow of outsourcers - if you take jobs out of North Carolina, just take your ball and go home, because we ain't playing. Am I missing something here, is there some hidden neocon agenda to shutting down Alcoa in North Carolina or has the moderate Republican reappeared in North Carolina after a half-century. Or, is it just all smoke and mirrors and vague sightings, like the ivory-billed-woodpecker?

On Thursday February 28th, the Fayetteville Observer published an opinion article entitled "On point: Congressional vigilance is needed to ensure educational excellence." The article discussed the need for members of Congress, in particular those that represent the areas around Fort Bragg, to appropriate additional impact aid to support the burden that Fort Bragg's future growth will put on the communities around it. Although members of Congress are responsible for federal education appropriations, there must be accountability and sound policy from state and local officials as well. State and local officials decide how those appropriations are used. It is up to the constituents of these officials to hold them accountable for their education policies. If there is a valid documented fear that the entrance of new students from Fort Bragg families will harm the education system, then local and state officials need to prepare for such a situation. Setting aside funds, cutting programs, and submitting requests for additional funding are some steps that can be taken before it becomes a real problem.

Cross-posted from The Progressive Pulse

What did we learn from the week of Super Tuesday? Mostly this…if turnout matters, the Democrats kicked some Republican ass.

Just how bad was the Dems smackdown? The numbers are truly staggering. In the 19 states where both Republican and Democratic primaries were held, Democratic turnout was 73% greater.

Frontpaged by A.

Our local excuse for a congressman, Robin Hayes(R), is ticked off.
No, he isn't ticked off about jobs shipping to Central America and He certainly isn't ticked off by millions of poor children without health insurance, Robin Hayes is upset because he is convinced that people in Washington think he has cooties.

You can find the full story in today's Charlotte Observer.

The House Homeland Security Committee planned a fact-finding trip about public health preparedness at mass gatherings and decided to conduct the research at two of the nation's most heavily attended sporting events, NASCAR's Bank of America 500 event this weekend and the UAW-Ford 500 last weekend.
Staff who organized the trips advised the NASCAR-bound aides to get a range of vaccines before attending -- hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria and influenza.

You might recall that Coy Privette last week announced his intent to resign as Cabarrus County Commissioner. It turns out that you're a fool if you believed him. Of course you're a fool if you ever believed him before, but I digress.
You see, the key word in his statement back then was "intent".
What it comes down to is that Mr. Privette will only resign if he gets to hand-pick his successor and if his home in Kannapolis gets sold.

In an article published in The Independent Tribune today, the Privette soap continues:

Privette, 74, said in a statement Tuesday that “a committee of non-partial community leaders” should be appointed to consider candidates for the seat he plans to vacate.

There's one problem. What Mr. Privette is demanding isn't even legal.

Take action and protest with me. More information at the end of this post.
If you need to catch up with the whole Coy Privette story, please read one of my earlier posts about this.

Coy Privette showed a big middle finger to his Party and his constituents today.
A statement he released clearly states he will not resign as County Commissioner.

"I realize the mistake I made in my private life affects my reputation. This mistake has been dealt with, and I am ready to move forward," the Republican said in an e-mail to area reporters.
"I intend to continue to serve the citizens of Cabarrus County."

Today was our republican Cabarrus County Commissioner, former state legislator and preacher Coy Privette's day in court after being charged with 6 counts of "aiding and abetting" prostitution back in July.
I decided to get up early and go watch this circus.

UNC-Asheville students are planning to confront Senator Richard Burr when he stops by their campus tomorrow, August 22, 2007.

Students are organizing through Facebook, of course, and telling each other to "Bring Your Tuition Bills" to Burr.

Another one bites the dust. Franklin County Republican Commissioner Harry Foy has been arrested in Dare County on drug and assault charges according to a News and Observer story.

Franklin County leader faces multiple charges

Harry Foy is charged with one count of assault on a female, possessing less than half an once of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, said Dare County Sheriff Rodney Midgett.