Displaying items by tag: politics

"Working class Bronx native" served U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) well as "elect me" schtick in 2018.

Even in North Carolina, the rejection of fundamental American principles thunders ahead. The proof? Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed an anti-critical race theory bill on Sept. 10. If one reads the text, it’s hard to imagine political leaders opposing these principles a few years ago. Simply put, the bill works to reinforce the American tenets of equality and our E Pluribus Unum motto.

RALEIGH — Complaints on social media from a left-wing redistricting activist are drawing fire from a state Senate redistricting leader. He accuses the activist of "begging" people to deliver her scripted remarks during public hearings.

Republicans arguing against coronavirus mitigation efforts have been consistently dishonest, ignorant, or both. For instance, one columnist from National Review posted a chart showing the rate of deaths from COVID by state, starting from January 2020. The top ten were a mix of Democratic- and Republican-run states. The writer, Charles C. W. Cooke, tweeted that public policy made no difference in the spread. (As I searched for his tweet, I found that he deleted it, but at the time, it had been retweeted hundreds of times.)

Zac Campbell paused suddenly and took a minute to gather himself, while colleagues shuffled toward him to touch his back in support. The emotion that can accompany the act of baring one’s soul in front of a phalanx of TV cameras, photographers, and notepad-bearing journalists on a controversial matter of public policy had briefly caught up with the veteran Wake County school bus driver. For someone who usually does most of his public speaking into a rearview mirror as he addresses a gaggle of energetic kids, speaking in public in front of the state Legislative Building last Friday was clearly a new and challenging experience.

On July 26, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order under which the U.S. government's Medicare Part D program would have negotiated lower prescription drug prices based on an "International Price Index."

Do the ends justify the means? This familiar question produces strong feelings precisely because its answer is necessarily complicated. Just about all of us admit to a scenario, such as the proverbial ticking time-bomb, in which we would countenance unsavory means if required to save lives. In general, however, most religious and ethical traditions teach that we are not permitted to use injurious or unethical means to accomplish even noble ends.

It would be outrageous.

It would be unprecedented.

It would damage the credibility and validity of North Carolina’s highest court for decades.

As an academic dean of library services for the past 40 years, I think I have a good eye for what constitutes censorship. Cancel culture, a new term for an old and deadly form of silencing your enemies has recently shown its ugly face and has unmistakably assumed the role of free speech bullies. Not since the McCarthy Era have we seen such proscription of speech, and it appears to be unrelenting. The eagerness with which these new speech bullies seek to prohibit ideas is now ubiquitous, and the desire to cancel scores of individuals from Washington State to, well, the heart of the reddest of Red States, Rock Hill, South Carolina, where I live, is raging.

Well, it’s over. Joe Biden announced the end of the Afghanistan adventure yesterday. It will quickly start fading from Americans’ memories. As one person said on Twitter, Americans barely paid attention when we were there. They will certainly not pay attention when we are gone.