Opinion (633)
OPINION: COVID-19 panic is the new state religion
Written by Thomas L. Knapp
The TL;DR on COVID-19: Panic, not science, continues to drive the public policy discussion.
OPINION: Lieutenant governor rivals differ sharply
Written by John Hood
The post of lieutenant governor is a constitutional office in North Carolina, and the only one empowered to exercise both legislative and executive powers. Those powers are rather limited, however — casting a vote in the state senate when there is a tie, “presiding” over that chamber in a titular (but rarely practical) sense, and serving on several boards.
The other night, after dinner, my wife pointed to a small stack of mail on my desk. She had noticed it getting a little taller and eventually it caught her attention. She picked it up and dropped it on the keyboard of my laptop.
Polls coming in around the country show a country that could be closely divided in the electoral college while seeing a blow out in the popular vote or a country that handily elects Joe Biden president of the United States. In North Carolina, we might see something different than the rest of the nation. For the past two presidential cycles, we have diverged from the nation as a whole.
OPINION: District closings boost homeschooling
Written by John Hood
North Carolina is already the homeschooling capital of the United States. Now the attraction of this education option is soaring higher than ever — thanks not to the actions of its proponents but to the antics of its opponents.
America is in need of two things very fast and very different. One large, and one small — sort of. One that goes a couple hundred miles an hour, and one that goes almost the speed of light. One that travels in complicated paths, and one that goes in a giant circle. One that is familiar, and one that is not so much. One that is reliable and efficient, and one that crashes constantly.
OPINION: Supreme Court: Playing for time vs. advise and consent
Written by Thomas L. Knapp
"The American people," U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said in 2016, "should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president." McConnell took that position in response to President Barack Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to replace the late Antonin Scalia.
According to the latest jobs report, North Carolina’s headline unemployment rate fell to 6.5% in August, down from 8.5% in July. Good news worth celebrating, right?
COLUMN: My choice for president will change the world
Written by Joe Weaver
Once again, America has found itself at crunch time. We are a stone's throw from another presidential election.
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OPINION: 'The socialists are coming! The socialists are coming!'
Written by Bob Orr
Mitch McConnell texted me the other day with an urgent message! If Democrats are elected, particularly Joe Biden, then America will be lost to socialism! Ok, so Mitch actually texted every breathing Republican with the same message looking for money — not just me. But it was a stark warning to voters, playing on fears about some huge Democratic plot to undermine our economy and allow the government to control everything.
I’m having a sense of déjà vu about the election. Maybe it’s just PTSD from 2016, but, back then, I believed Hillary Clinton would win in a walk at this point in the election. The first cracks in my belief came when I drove across the heart of the state along rural roads. Virtually every yard had a Trump-Pence sign. Stores had them, too. And yet the news articles I read gave little indication of the momentum.
COLUMN: The feds can't even get Constitution Day right
Written by Michael Maharrey
Thursday will be "Constitution Day."
I have repeatedly criticized Roy Cooper’s troubling efforts to amass power in the governor’s office at the expense of other elected state leaders, local governments, and private citizens.
