Monday, March 08, 2004

Dear Editor, this is what the Bush campaign says that I think. At the Bush/Cheney blog, just click on the green checkmark to include prefab text in your letter to the editor: "President Bush’s compassion agenda begins at home by ensuring that every child in America learns the basic skills of reading and math. His work is also ensuring that faith-based organizations are not discriminated against." It works for talk radio, too! 3:37:49 PM    comment []

H.L. Mencken: "Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy." 2:39:08 PM    comment []

F. Scott Fitzgerald: "An aristocracy founded sheerly on money postulates wealth in the particular." 2:22:52 PM    comment []

James Taranto makes some good points about Democratic woes in the South in this morning's WSJ -- it's a smarter piece than the clanging headline "Don't Blame Civil Rights" would suggest. But it still underplays the fact that racism remains a powerful undercurrent in Southern politics, and that the perception of the Democrats as the party that wants to take all your money and give it to those blacks (rarely as explicit as in the Jesse Helms "hands" ad, but a constant nonetheless) provides GOP candidates with a solid base of support before any other issues are factored in. Proof via transitive property: Southern blacks skew conservative on social issues, too, but still feel unwelcome in the GOP. Semi-related: Tom Frank on "backlash populism" (via Matt Gross), and Micah Sifry. 10:15:04 AM    comment []

yesterday's newspaper column.... Sure Signs of Spring in Greensboro By Edward Cone 3-7-04 It’s only early March, but signs of spring are everywhere, or soon will be: You awake to a record-setting snowstorm on Friday morning, notice daffodils pushing though the snow on Saturday, and wear shorts to an outdoor youth soccer practice on Sunday afternoon. TV weather forecasters prepare to call the inevitable March snowfall  “unseasonable.” The tender shoots of new shopping centers begin to sprout along Battleground Avenue,  fertilized with mulched copies of the Comprehensive Plan for land use and growth by pitchfork-wielding members of  the Greensboro Zoning Commission. Suddenly it is light enough early enough that the neighbors can see what you are not wearing when you retrieve the morning paper from your driveway. Bats’ fans are getting ready for the home opener in a run-down old stadium (this rite of Spring expires after the current season.) The Greensboro City Council does not see its own shadow, until news that taxpayers are paying the shadow’s salary is printed on front page of this newspaper; the forecast is for six more weeks of business as usual. The Guilford County commissioners see their own shadows, call shadows rude names, pledge to undermine shadows when they run for reelection; forecast is for six more weeks of business as usual. You find excuses to work the word “golf” into phone calls with friends and colleagues in northern climes.  Bunnies and chocolate eggs appear in stores to remind shoppers of the true meaning of Easter. The thug on the street corner by my office is selling Claritin. You are gently lulled into your Sunday afternoon nap by the drone of NASCAR engines on the television. April 15 is no longer sneaking up on you, but has done snuck. You try to guess whether to seed your yard with drought-resistant grass or flood-resistant grass; the one you choose will be wrong. The Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournaments (his and hers) return to their rightful home at the Greensboro Coliseum, bringing thousands of visitors and millions of dollars to the city and saturation-bombing sports fans across the country for several days with the name “Greensboro,” thus garnering tons of free publicity and creating the impression that interesting things do occasionally happen here; meanwhile, people here continue to complain about the Coliseum. Duke basketball fans start making travel plans for the Final Four, the rest of us start making excuses for our teams. More textile and furniture jobs migrate to other countries; financiers migrate south to pick over the bones of bankrupt North Carolina companies. People like me who don’t know an oak tree from a shoe tree think they are Euell Gibbons for recognizing those early bloomers as Bradford Pears.  It is ten degrees colder at the Bryan Park soccer fields than it is at your house. You know this but under dress anyway, except on the days you need sunblock, which you will not bring. Edward Cone (www.edcone.com, efcone@mindspring.com) writes a column for the News & Record most Sundays. See details of all the day's news in tomorrow's News & Record Contact Us | Web Design & Advertising | Print Advertising | News & Record Corporate | News & Record Jobs   © News & Record 2004 9:41:34 AM    comment []