I won't be listening to the entire thing, but here is the site.

Yesterday in Kinston just after lunch Fred Riggs, owner of Rustikat Internet Services, was served dessert in the form of a subpoena ordering him to present documents which will identify the owner of the anonymous fake Van Braxton web site. Riggs has until the close of business Friday to deliver the documents to the State Board of Elections in Raleigh.

Rustikat Internet Services hosts the fake site, several Republican websites including that of Republican Willie Ray Starling and numerous web sites owned by Ted Sampley known for outlandish attacks on public figures locally and nationally and for physically attacking John McCain's co-writer. Republican Steven LaRoque also pays Riggs for banner advertising.

I am sure that this has been talked about and explained before, but I want to give my take on why Art Pope's electioneering is bad. This is mostly in response to the question that most outside of bluenc would ask, which is, "Why does Art Pope matter?"

Extreme partisanship is a threat to any democracy. This was well known in the 18th century, prompting George Washington to famously argue against political parties and permanent treaties. However, since then we have had varying levels of party politics, from the benign early-mid 19th century to 1860s and 1870s, from 2001 to 2006. However, this new brand of partisanship takes things a step further. It is not that Richard Morgan lost his idealogical way, nor is he a bad Republican. In fact, I would not be surprised to learn that Morgan was responsible (directly or indirectly) for the lowering of income and state taxes in our most recent budget. However, what he did do was to place his own personal goals above that of his party.

UPDATE:

The first day is over and Round 1 goes unanimously to Morgan. His attorneys laid out a clear and convincing case that RLM (Art Pope's personal electioneering committee) did three things:

1. Send out more than 5000 nearly identical mailers
2. Coordinated their efforts with candidate campaigns
3. Engaged in express advocacy urging the defeat of specifc candidates.

Any single one of these offenses would meet the standard required for the SBOE to find against Pope. Any. Single. One.

Some other comments:

Morgan's second expert witness wasn't well prepared, but his testimony was compelling in terms of the "identical" question. As I've said elsewhere, anybody who isn't blind can see that the mailers are part of a concerted effort that relies on their similarity to one another.

RedState has a new "blogroll" project, a really big deal over in their universe it seems. It has fancy-pants graphics and everything and it lists blogs:

Below are right of center bloggers that focus on the politics of a particular state or location within a state. Not all local bloggers have been listed here. We've only listed the ones we have reviewed and found to be regularly updated, focused on politics, and right of center.

Join the fun below the fold.

That's right, to hell with those guys that served in Iraq and came home with a big ding in their head. As the lead to this story in the News & Observer makes clear /brain injuries are so common among U.S. troops that they're called the signature injury of the Iraq war/. Well, who's fault is that? Not the wealthy! So, why would you want to punish them for the mistakes these guys made in Iraq, by taking away their tax cuts. C'mon! Let's not make hasty decisions here that will hurt those most in need, the ultra-wealthy.

I think the Pentagon and Congress are on the right track when they decide to /cut military spending on researching and treatment/ of brain injuries. We must not sacrifice our tax cuts for good people like Bill Gates, Madonna, Pamela Anderson , and that guy who makes Girls Gone Wild videos just to help out a few screwballs from the Iraqi War.

More on the story after the break.

UPDATE: Link to WRAL coverage

Lawyers, journalists and all manner of Puppets will be descending on Raleigh today for what could be one of the most important hearings ever conducted by the State Board of Elections (SBOE). At issue is whether North Carolina will be a state in which elections are contaminated by the free flow of corporate money.

Rob Christensen in today's N&O does a decent job covering some of the issues that will be aired over the next two or three days.

THE ACCUSER: [Richard] Morgan is charging that he and his allies were picked off by a Raleigh millionaire who illegally used corporate contributions to oust Republican legislators with whom he disagrees.

THE ACCUSED: Several groups connected to former state Rep. Art Pope, a Raleigh retail executive, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars criticizing Republican House members who allied themselves on some issues with Democrats. Pope says his company's donations were legal.

  

In a letter to all registered voters, Galloway wrote: "I was born in Sanford, North Carolina. My Dad was born in Moore County, of parents who were dyed-in-the-wool Republicans. My Mother was born in Montgomery County, of parents who were dyed-in-the-wool Democrats. I attended the local public school system in Sanford, and continued my education subsequently receiving a Bachelors Degree from Campbell College.

"I moved to Moore County in 1975 to become a police officer with the Southern Pines Police Department. I was promoted to Chief of Police in 1988 and held that position until my retirement in 2005.

In addition to 31 years of law enforcement, he is the past president of the Southern Pines Rotary Club, the Moore County Law Enforcement Officers Association, past chair of United Way of Moore County board of directors and a former board member of the North Carolina League of Municipalities Risk Management Services. Currently, Mr. Galloway is a part-time instructor in the Criminal Justice Program at Sandhills Community College.

Please see the interview below the fold...

I recently came across a set of images depicting two current residents of the White House. The composition of these photos was so strikingly similar that I at once thought I had uncovered a pair of twins separated at birth. Of course, the circumstances behind each caused me to think again.

Follow me to see for yourself...

  

Gerald Galloway is running for the NC House 52 seat in Moore County. The citizens of Moore County, not happy with the politics that ultimately led to a win by Joe Boylan against the Republican incumbent, Richard Morgan, started a petition drive. The two petitioned candidates, Manila “Bud” Shaver, a Republican and Gerald Galloway, running as an unaffiliated, both received the number of signatures required.