I came back from a week long tour of Florida yesterday thinking that the cities in Florida were so much better than those in our great state. Sure our cities are nice, but there were many more pieces of public art, more exciting and vibrant downtowns, and more people actually out at night in downtown in Florida's cities. Also, Florida has at least 9 major-league professional teams while North Carolina has 3.

Apparently, Raleigh's actions in the Plensa plaza affair, where Raleigh is about to turn down a plaza designed by an internationally known artist and paid for with private funds, convinced the N&O that it was time to attack Raleigh for creating a boring city. The Q section of Sunday's N&O contained four articles on how boring the city is and how the boringness is created by reactionary "No-it-alls". The articles:

Slogging through some Republican swamps this morning, I came across the defunct blog, Carolina Pundit, the musings of a self-professed member of a dying breed, a conservative Christian Republican. If you have time, it's worth a brief tour, if only to get some early takes on the NC GOP meltdown, the emergence of the Puppetmaster, and the story behind the story behind the slimeball that is Michael Decker. Here's what the Pundit had to say.

The Times They Are A-Changin’ in the NCGOP

As a follow up to my first commentary, I want to say thank you to all who commented and participated in the discussion. A few took issue with what I had to write and there were some apologists or “spin doctors” who wanted to get in on the act. This development is a great place for Republicans, particularly Conservatives, to begin the formulation of a possible New Republican Majority in North Carolina.

For those interested in the inside scoop on the GOP's plans for November, one of the newest Puppets lays it out for all to see. The gameplan comes to us via Willie Ray Starling, hand-picked by Republicans for a Legislative Majority, Inc., in the 10th district (Kinston). This is from his website.

Here are the four points the Republicans will hammer home starting after Labor Day:

Two days ago, I had the amazing privilege of watching loggerhead turtle hatchlings scramble from a nest on Emerald Isle into the breaking waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Ninety turtles made the trip in all, but I only saw the last four. They were helped out of their nest and scootched along, sort of, by the Turtle Rescue people.

Three of the four came out of their nest and charged ahead like hell on wheels, heading straight for the ocean without even the hint of distraction. But then there was the fourth one, the one that spent half its time heading the wrong way and wandering around like a lost soul. The first three made it to the ocean (not the safety of the ocean, just the ocean) in less than five minutes. The fourth took twenty minutes. It was exhausting.