So...I was sitting and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with my two teenage daughters when this float with goofy critters stopped on the screen. I laughed my fanny off when Rick Astley came out. Macy's Rick-rolled us all and it was hilarious. So...why weren't my children laughing? They are on the internet...practically live on it. Sigh, I guess it is just an old person's thing. Here's the video if you missed it.

Candace Gingrich wrote a post to her big brother, Newt after he bashed people protesting the hate legislation in California. She started it this way:

I recently had the displeasure of watching you bash the protestors of the Prop 8 marriage ban to Bill O'Reilly on FOX News. I must say, after years of watching you build your career by stirring up the fears and prejudices of the far right, I feel compelled to use the words of your idol, Ronald Reagan, "There you go, again."

However, I realize that you may have been a little preoccupied lately with planning your resurrection as the savior of your party, so I thought I would fill you in on a few important developments you might have overlooked.

This'll be a set back for the free-market fringe: Private insurers add cost and complexity to Medicare, but almost no benefit.

Duh.

You may not know it, up here in northeastern NC we are battling to save our future and way of life. The Navy is seeking to place an Outlying Landing Field (OLF) in Camden County that will remove up to 53,000 acres of valuable, productive farmland from the county’s tax rolls.

Please keep in mind that the OLF will not create any jobs for our community and will not be of economic benefit to our area. We have discovered that the current OLF at Fentress Field in Chesapeake, Virginia, employs only 38 military personnel (Section 3.5.1.1 of the 2003 FEIS) and has attracted virtually no economic development.

Here's a chance to chat about the changes you see here at NC Politico that you think you will like at BlueNC and the things that you aren't so sure about. Go ahead and post a trial diary to see if you like the new teaser method. (Hint - look for the radio button that reads, "Split summary at cursor.")

Try out the forums. I'm not sure if they will work at BlueNC, but now is your chance to talk about what you like and don't like.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be checking in while BlueNC is being upgraded and will give progress reports periodically.

I caught up with Wayne Goodwin this week and asked him about his campaign. I was specifically interested in how public financing worked for him. Both he and his opponent participated in public financing, so were on equal footing in that regard. The most obvious result of their participation is that insurance industry money was kept at a minimum in both campaigns reducing the appearance that those who are regulated by the office also hold influence over it.

This year the voters booted the insurance industry and its employees out of this campaign, not that the current or future office holders were or would have been influenced by their contributions in the first place.

The following is a bit of my Q & A with Commissioner-elect Goodwin:

Say it Ain't So, Sarah - 101 Lies of Sarah Palin

Lie #1 - Lie of Omission

The Vice Chair of the Alaska Independence Party, a political party whose members believe Alaska should secede from the United States has been caught on tape calling Sarah Palin a member of the AIP. He also claims that she registered Republican simply to get elected. Todd Palin's membership in the group has been documented. Sarah Palin has spoken repeatedly at their conventions. She obviously supports the group, but if what we hear in these tapes is true, Palin has lied about her own membership.

Earlier this week I wrote a brief post about lobbying activity from Former Senator Bob Dole that served to hurt our veterans and their families. That activity deserves more attention and a more detailed post. Bob Dole isn't running for reelection in North Carolina, but his wife is. He may have earned the 6-figure income from the lobbying contract, but it is Elizabeth Dole's inability/refusal/lack of desire to push legislation to protect military families that is truly disturbing.

I admit to thinking that the Republican leadership has to be some of the nastiest, whiniest, most asinine, most unprofessional people out there. However, when the Republicans showed up for their press conference after the failed bailout vote, I absolutely could not believe my ears. I watched in utter disbelief as John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Roy Blunt whined that they couldn't get the votes they'd committed to bring to the House today because of the speech Nancy Pelosi gave. They blamed Nancy Pelosi. They said she didn't have the leadership to get the votes.

Elizabeth Dole's absence from North Carolina has long been fodder for discussion among Democrats. We're prone to refer to her as a carpetbagger and talk about her 40+ year absence from the state, her voting history in Kansas, her run for president as a Kansan and her residence at the Watergate where she and husband Bob have lived since they were married in 1975. What we don't talk about is her long history of service in North Carolina because there is no history to speak of.

You would think that after a rushed residency period and her election to the U.S. Senate as a "North Carolinian" in 2002 that Dole would start spending a little more time in this state. Time she could use to get to know the people and our goals, dreams and hopes for the wonderful state we live in. Time she could use to gain understanding of the challenges and obstacles we face in North Carolina. If you honestly thought Dole was going to spend any substantive time here, you're wrong. Dead wrong.

Here's what residents of Salisbury, NC - Dole's alleged city of residence - had to say about Liddy:

Congressional Quarterly is reporting that Obama has made three previously Republican favored states more competitive. Virginia has moved to the toss-up category and both Indiana and North Carolina have moved to the "leans Republican" from "Republican favored."

The entire article can be found here.

Former Governor Jim Hunt campaigned for Larry Kissell in Richmond County at the Rockingham Speedway. According to a friend in attendance, as the crowd of around 300 filled the event area Hunt said he didn't know there was a candidate in North Carolina who could draw a crowd that size.

There's more about the event from the Richmond Daily Journal:

Hunt and Kissell shook hands with supporters and greeted old friends in the Speedway garages before the rally began. Hunt explained why he supports Kissell in his race to the House of Representatives.