Re-elect-me rhetoric

You have to hand it to Liddy. She's another in a long line of Republican "great pretenders." First she pretends like she's from North Carolina so she can get a cushy job in the Senate. Then she pretends like she cares about North Carolina by vacationing here. Then she pretends like she's working for the troops through all manner of parliamentarian double-talk. And now she's pretending like she wants to save folks down east from the mean old OLF.

Even worse, the editorial writers and so-called journalists in North Carolina are buying her happy horseshit, conveniently glossing over the fact that it was Liddy's collusion with John Warner in Virginia that brought the whole ugly mess to our state in the first place. And if there weren't an election on the horizon, she'd still be singing the OLF siren song like nobody's business.

The Winston Salem Journal is the latest to tell Liddy's flip-flopping story, leading, of course, with what a great gal the Very Senior Senator is.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole said last week that the U.S. Navy had better have a good answer to that question before it selects another North Carolina site for its proposed outlying landing field. Given the damage that such a facility can do to a local economy, any community selected has every right to expect offsetting economic benefits from the Navy. For example, the Navy might also bring a base that employs both military and civilian personnel.

Good for Dole. The senator, who was a bit slow getting on board as an OLF opponent, has now uttered the words that have been long unspoken.

The truth is, the Navy has no idea what its long-range plans are and the idea that they would "bring a base that employs both military and civilian personnel" is ludicrous on its face. More to the point, there is virtually no combination of jobs and spending that would offset the catastrophic impacts of a training facility of the kind the Navy wants to build.

"Slow getting on board as an OLF opponent?" Excuse me, WS Journal, but Liddy is the person who started the god-forsaken train in first place.