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I have to retract my former prediction that John Edwards will serve as secretary of labor in Barack Obama's administration.

He's attracting too much unwanted publicity. The Charlotte Observer and News & Observer of Raleigh are pursuing the story now.

If Edwards is involved in this, he needs to stand up and take responsibility. It's inevitable that the whole truth will come out, probably sooner than later.

From the time High Point City Council proposed shifting its election schedule, I've viewed the idea as an incumbent protection plan.

With filing completed for this fall's election, I'm proven right.

Mayor Becky Smothers and Council members Bernita Sims in Ward 1, Michael Pugh in Ward 3, Bill Bencini in Ward 4 and Chris Whitley in Ward 5 are unopposed.

There are contested races in Wards 2 and 6 where incumbents Ron Wilkins and Lisa Stahlmann, respectively, aren't seeking re-election.

The other competitive race is for the two at-large seats. There are four candidates, including incumbent Latimer Alexander. The other incumbent, John Faircloth, is running for the Ward 6 seat, so newcomers do have an open at-large seat to shoot for.

The reason for this shortage of candidates was easy to predict. It's too difficult to unseat incumbents when your race falls near the bottom of the ballot in a presidential election year. Challengers would struggle to win the voters' notice. It's much easier to get attention in odd-numbered years when the city elections are the main attraction.

The council's justification for switching municipal elections to even-numbered years was voter turnout. It will see a much larger turnout, no doubt about it. So what? More voters will have less choice.

I agree with Cal Thomas that Oregon's "we'd rather you die" response to costly health-care issues is horrific.

But he takes a cheap shot with this statement:

"This is the future of the socialized medicine that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and the Democrats wish to impose on us."

Come on, Cal. What are you going to say next -- this is their plan for saving Social Security?

We're attending a wedding in Charleston's beautiful old First Scots Presbyterian Church this evening.

Sometime since its construction in 1814, they've added air conditioning.

And I hope it's working today.

Heading for much cooler weather as we begin a long drive that will end sometime tomorrow in gorgeous Harbor Springs, Mich.

A letter writer today states:

"Only in America are people judged by the color of their skin, their gender or their class."

I think she means well but may lack awareness of events outside the United States.

Genocide in Rwanda, Darfur and Bosnia ...

Tribal conflicts throughout Africa ...

Religious, sectarian violence across the Middle East ...

You could go on and on.

For all our problems, our conflicts over race, gender and class are largely peaceful. Sometimes people in this country may be judged by certain characteristics, but they are much less likely to be killed for them than in many other parts of the world.

The United States, contrary to what some Americans seem to think, is not the worst place you could be.

I'm leaving this post ahead of time, before a link is available, but I want to give Leonard Pitts his props:

Today's column is masterfully written and 100 percent right.

About extreme Bush loyalist Monica Goodling and others like her:

"Apparently these people have forgotten or never even knew: It wasn't George W. Bush they were supposed to serve."

I have my issues with Pitts, but delivering like this makes him one of the best in the business.

Our day trip to Charlevoix on a perfect northern Michigan day was disappointing only in one respect.

After a pleasant lunch of perch and whitefish on the deck of the Weathervane, overlooking the canal that connects Round Lake to the great Lake Michigan, watching the drawbridge rise for tall-masted sailboats, I headed for the local bookstore to peruse what surely would be an extensive collection of Ernest Hemingway material. After all, the famed writer had spent many summers as a child and young man here.

I was wrong ... but not in the way I originally thought.

It wasn't Charlevoix where Hemingway fished and hunted and married Hadley in 1921; it was Horton Bay, as we discovered by happy accident. Rather than return from Charlevoix to Harbor Springs via Petoskey along the lakeshore route, we decided to follow the Boyne City Road and work our way back inland.

About halfway, we arrived at the hamlet of Horton Bay on Lake Charlevoix, where we were arrested by two surprising landmarks: The Horton Bay General Store and the Red Fox Inn, both structures dating from the 1870s and absolutely impossible to pass by -- especially the Red Fox, which advertises a Hemingway bookstore.

More like a museum, whose proprietor/curator is James Vol Hartwell, a historian of all things Hemingway/Horton Bay.

Hartwell is an attentive host, probably because the Charlevoix-Boyne City Road is definitely off the main tourist path and he isn't overwhelmed with customers. He attempts to introduce us to every item in the store, many of which obviously have been resident for decades. But his passion comes honestly -- his grandfather, Vollie Fox, was Hemingway's fishing guide. Hartwell has collected some of the lore in his own slim volume, "Fishing For Life -- Stories of Vollie Fox & Other Horton Bayites." It includes a hand-drawn map of the area as it appeared about the time of Hemingway's visits and marks the locations of events from his life and stories.

Hartwell also has notated the table of contents of a paperback edition of Hemingway's Nick Adams stories: "Three Shots" takes place at nearby Walloon Lake, Hartwell's additions say, "The Indians Moved Away" at Horton Bay and Petoskey, "The Last Good Country" at Horton Bay and Walloon, and so on. I buy a copy and ask Hartwell to autograph it, which he does gladly, also stamping a Horton Bay postmark dated Sept. 3, 1921, the day of Hemingway's marriage to Hadley.

The General Store, which also serves as a deli, restaurant, antique shop, ice cream parlor, liquor store and bar, is well worth a look-in, too. But the real treasure of Horton Bay is Hemingway heritage.

Contrary view: Not everyone in Horton Bay remembers Hemington fondly, the NYT reported a few years ago.

By the time I heard about John Edwards' confession late in my Michigan vacation, I'd already been reading all week about the latest twists in the sordid saga of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Edwards aptly admitted that his egotism led him to believe he could get away with anything, but I'd say the formerly perpetual presidential candidate is a model of decency and virtue compared to Kilpatrick, for whom adultery was just the opening act.

Once a political star, Edwards has ruined his chances of returning to public office, hurt his remarkable wife and disappointed his followers. Kilpatrick, however, is dragging down a reeling city that desperately needs strong, honest leadership but is saddled with this lurid drama of its mayor's disgraceful descent.

While Edwards ought to retire from the public's eye, Kilpatrick is in danger of being put away ... and for Detroit, the sooner the better.

Nearly two-and-a-half years ago, a driver in an SUV ran through a crowd of people on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.

He has yet to be dealt with by the judicial system.

I hope today's the day.

Update: It looks like only partial justice will be administered. Taheri-Azar pleads guilty to attempted first degree murder -- but only two counts for sentencing purposes. He struck nine people.

"He has repeatedly stated that he intended to kill people, made statements on camera that it was his intention," Orange County District Attorney James Woodall said.

It should have been easy, then, to hold Taheri-Azar accountable to the fullest extent.

Still, he can get 40 years for each count at his sentencing hearing Aug. 26. I don't know if a de facto life sentence is appropriate, but he shouldn't be let off easy. He really could have killed someone.

My column today:

(Apologies for similarity to a previous post, which I expanded for print)

The sins of a lying, cheating politician kept me turning pages of the morning newspaper last week ...

And that was before the John Edwards story broke.

I was on vacation in Michigan eagerly awaiting each day’s Detroit Free Press, the source of cover-to-cover Kwame Kilpatrick coverage. The Freep may be a shadow of a once-great journalistic powerhouse, but it left no detail of the Motown mayor’s meltdown unreported. After a gutsy judge ordered His Dishonor hauled off to jail, Freep writers traced every moment of the unfolding drama.

Saturday’s edition was so jammed with further Kilpatrick developments that Edwards’ confession could claim only a few paragraphs on an inside page — stingy placement for a man who thought he ought to be president. ...

We had a fun evening at The Young Americans Dinner Theatre at Boyne Highlands, Mich., last week ...

... but left wondering just who the heck are The Young Americans?

Well, we knew they are talented, personable and good-looking college-age men and women from all over the United States who, in addition to putting on a terrific show, wait on tables.

We also found out from our waiter that they all attend a "college in California." We learned during the evening that, in addition to a summer engagement in northern Michigan, they send groups to Europe and Japan and give programs and workshops for kids throughout this country.

We also were informed, just before leaving, that they don't get paid but share tips left on the tables.

What? Don't get paid?

These kids worked their butts off for three hours while we were there, performing informally before dinner, on stage after dinner and serving the meal and clearing the tables. Our waiter also told us they start their work day at about 3 in the afternoon to set up tables and make other preparations.

And this is six days a week.

By the way, the evening isn't inexpensive -- $43 per adult. The meal is fine, but you wouldn't pay much more than $15 for it, or maybe $20 at inflated resort-area prices.

Where does all that money go?

We didn't come up with that answer, but closer examination of TYA Web site offers more interesting information.

For example, about their "college": "In 2002 we founded California Pacific College of the Performing Arts. The Young Americans and California Pacific are currently based in a facility in Corona, California, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. We are in negotiations to relocate to a larger facility in Southern California to advance our process in developing California Pacific into a four-year degree granting institution. Students who complete a course of study prior to California Pacific receiving this approval will receive a certificate of completion in lieu of a Bachelor’s Degree."

As for costs: "Student tuition consists of a California Pacific base enrollment fee, and per unit costs.

Base Enrollment: $350.00 per semester
Cost per unit: $72.00
Students take an average of 17 units per semester
$350 + $1244 = $1574"

As for living arrangements:

"The Young Americans will make special arrangements with carefully selected apartment
complexes in the local area for all of our new students. You will be sharing an
apartment with other new students like yourself.

"We assure you that any apartment complex chosen will be a gated complex that has
security patrol, will be clean and will provide a comfortable and safe living environment.
A non-refundable deposit of $150 should be sent in with the Housing Questionnaire
found at the end of the packet. This deposit will be credited toward your August rent
payment. Each student will also pay a security deposit of $750 which be refunded at
the end of your lease term, less any charges for cleaning or repairs to the apartment
and unpaid rent.

"All payments will be made to California Pacific and we will make the monthly payment to
the apartment complex. This allows us to negotiate a below market rental rate and
ensures your rental payments are made on time."

Students pay utility costs and provide for their own meals.

The info sheet notes that scholarships are available but adds:

"For those students with strong financial needs, we highly recommend that you seek
sponsorship/scholarships from your local community, organizations, businesses,
churches, etc. They can send their contributions directly to our offices and we will credit
the funds to your student account."

Students' expenses are covered on tours. At Boyne Highlands, they stay in dormitories.

The kids we saw were enthusiastic and obviously happy to be performing. Even in show biz, some things can't be faked.

But we couldn't shake the idea that they were being exploited a bit. Maybe they get top-notch training for possible careers in entertainment. But they're paying for it and giving up some of their college years without getting credit toward a college degree.

While not earning anything -- except tips -- for their very hard work.

OK, enough of the suspicions. Nobody's making them do it, right? They're terrific Young Americans, and we wish them well.

Congratulations to Michael Phelps, winner of more Olympic gold medals than anyone.

Phelps is so dominant, he might have been able to win the 4x200 relay all by himself. He staked his teammates to an insurmountable lead.

I'm a Phelps fan, but I do want to put his 11 gold medals in perspective. Swimming provides more opportunities than most other Olympic sports to rack up medals.

Swimmers compete at various distances in four different strokes: free, fly, back and breast. Then there are medleys that use all of them.

You don't do that in track, where the object is simply to cover the ground as fast as you can.

I suppose if there'd been a backwards 100-meter dash, Carl Lewis might have won another gold or two.

There's no doubt Phelps is an all-time great, and I'm rooting for him to run the table. But ranking him above the Olympic stars of the past, like the amazing Paavo Nurmi, is difficult. They didn't compete on a level playing field.

Charlotte-Meck Schools find 70 gangs, with 450 members, in their system, the Observer reports.

One school board member wants to expel all gang members.

Officials say gang members account for only 1 percent of students facing disciplinary hearings.

That's a low number but, if there are only 450 identified gang members, it's still disproportionate. Gang members make up just one-third of 1 percent of the CMS student population of 132,000 -- meaning gang members are three times more likely to face disciplinary action than other students.

It looks like CMS is trying to get a handle on its gang problem. With Mo Green heading this way, maybe Guilford County Schools will, too.

Judge Howard Manning's declaration that the state must pay nearly $750 million in unlawfully withheld civil penalties made big headlines.

But tucked near the back of his order is this interesting paragraph:

"The Court recognizes that although the defendants are the parties who must be ordered to pay into the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund the moneys that should have been paid to the public schools but were improperly retained by the agencies for their own use, ultimately it is the General Assembly that will decide whether to appropriate sufficient funds to those agencies to allow them to make the required payments without disrupting their ongoing operations. The Court also recognizes that the General Assembly has final responsibility for state appropriations to the public schools and can use that power to determine the net benefit the schools derive from this judgment."

Note the key words: net benefit.

This means the General Assembly can provide the $750 million the various state agencies owe ...

... and deduct the same amount from appropriations for public schools ...

... leaving no net benefit at all.

That would be the best deal for taxpayers, of course.

But it would let off the hook the Hunt and Easley administrations, and legislative leaders, who for nearly a decade failed to turn over to schools the money due them, according to state law and the N.C. constitution.

Manning flatly admitted the courts have no constitutional authority to appropriate funds from the state treasury. He's powerless to provide a net benefit for the schools, even if they're legally entitled.

That's actually a good thing. We shouldn't want judges raising our taxes.

Still, I feel there could be a miscarriage of justice here.

Maybe if Manning were to write a few contempt of court citations ...

I mean, if this were a criminal case about keeping money that belonged to someone else, people would be going to jail.

By request, here's an entry on the issue of sending parents, at school system expense, to a national conference.

The board said no to sending 40 people whose children attend Title I schools, but agreed to four at an estimated cost of $7,200.

Read Taft's story here.

The purpose of the three-day conference in Birmingham, Ala., is to teach parents how to become more involved in their children's schools.

This sounds to me like an unusual request. I'm certainly glad the board didn't agree to the larger expenditure. This could become an annual outlay.

It's one thing if the PTA wanted to use its funds to send parents to the conference. Public funds are another story. For starters, you have the question of why some parents should be selected to go at taxpayers' expense and not others. What entitles any to go on the public's dime? It's not as if these folks have been elected to a public office.

I wonder how the four parents are going to be selected. Who decides? There might be hundreds who'd like an all-expense-paid trip out of town. And who would determine whether they were spending public funds appropriately? What return would the taxpayers get for the expenditure?

The matter of parental involvement in schools isn't so complicated, anyway. You go to school ... and get involved. Principals I've known have been receptive to appropriate, positive involvement by parents and other volunteers. If there are problems, the PTA Council should hold some seminars right here in Guilford County.

By approving funding for four parents, the board now has set a precedent it's bound to be tested on later. Parents can ask for money for all kinds of purposes related to schools. How about going to Raleigh or Washington to lobby legislators on education issues? Once you've said yes, it's harder to say no.

I watched the police arrest video and didn't see any brutality.

On the other hand, it didn't look like a model arrest, either. Two officers had a lot of trouble making one mouthy little punk get down on the "f---ing ground." Slapping him on the head and kicking him in the butt a couple of times wasn't very effective.

(You do have to feel for officers called on to deal with idiots like this.)

Maybe they should watch the Olympic judo competition for some pointers.

Or use a Taser next time.

The important point, though, is that there would have been nothing to watch at all if the suspect had gotten down on the ground like he was told. Repeatedly claiming "I'm down, I'm down" while he's still on his feet is just stupid.

He really should have been taken down.

Where was the officer who arrested Pop Kohanowich?

Great line by Brad Krantz this morning in response to illegal immigrants on a charter bus to Mexico detained by ICE agents in Alamance County:

"They were deporting themselves."

Good point. The bus should have been given an escort all the way across the border.

Instead, as Ryan Seals reported:

"The detainees were processed and issued notices to appear before an immigration judge before being released on their own recognizance until their court dates," an ICE spokeswoman said.

Meaning, if they are ever deported, it's going to take a lot of time and cost a lot of tax money to do it.

There haven't been fast cars tearing through downtown High Point since Gerald Hege led a chase across the county line several years ago.

The former Davidson County sheriff and his spider car are long gone, but a group of motor sports entrepreneurs called Furniture City Motorsports announced Thursday it wants to bring grand prix-style racing to High Point. The team already has plotted a downtown course.

This looks to me like a credible enterprise, and I'm all for it. The Triad is a great market for motorsports, and street courses are becoming more popular. This one would cover the furniture market district, which includes some very attractive showroom buildings that would look terrific on TV.

The good thing about holding a downtown race in High Point as opposed to Greensboro or Winston-Salem is that, unless it's held during a furniture market, it won't cause much disruption. Downtown High Point is all too quiet most of the year.

A good auto race would liven things up.

And, without Gerald Hege and his posse in the field, there shouldn't be any shootin'.

Addendum: The Web site for racetrack designer Chris Kneifel.

Bev Perdue laid it on the line today when she offered the motion to bar illegal immigrants from community colleges while a study is under way.

As lieutenant governor, she's a member of the community colleges board. Failing to win over a majority of fellow board members on this highly politicized issue would have cast doubts on her persuasive powers. Her main opponent in the governor's race, Pat McCrory, could have made hay.

But Perdue prevailed. The board approved her motion.

Perdue's position was reasonable, and she deserved to win the day.

So far, these are the Games of the Super Swimmer, Teen Queens and Bikini Beach Babes.

Redeem Team is heating up, but the World's Fastest Human will not be American Tyson Gay.

Gay's sputter in the 100 semis today is my biggest disappointment so far. It derails what might have been the most competitive dash in Olympics history. Now it's up to Florida State alum Walter Dix to battle Jamaicans Bolt and Powell. It take take a world record to win, but I don't think Dix is capable of that yet.

Whether that race will be shown live by NBC, I don't know. Live track coverage doesn't seem to be the network's priority.

One bright spot on the track so far was Carolina grad Shalane Flanagan's bronze in the 10,000 meters. She set an American record -- after recovering from food poisoning earlier in the week.

I didn't manage to catch any TV on that, if there was any.

NBC seems to be all-Phelps, May-Walsh, Johnson-Liukin, all the time.

I don't begrudge any of it. Michael Phelps, seven golds so far, is setting an historic standard. He's incredible, and his victory in the 100 fly was absolutely amazing. He won by a fingertip. What's more, he's a terrific young man, well-spoken and humble.

Gymnasts Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, gold and silver in the all-around, are really poised and personable young women. They truly supported each other even while competing for the gold -- models of sportsmanship.

On that subject, could Kobe Bryant be working any harder to polish his image? He's giving interviews to everyone, in three languages, proclaiming his pride in his country and leading Redeem Team on a straight path to the gold -- provided they get past tough-as-nails Spain today.

Meanwhile, we can look forward to more (over)exposure of Misty May and Kerri Walsh. Well, beside their obvious appeal, they're outstanding athletes who deserve the acclaim they earn every four years. But let's ask the question: If they were wearing boxer shorts like the guys, would NBC give them so much TV time?

Update: Wow! Usain "Lightning" Bolt flashes to a world record victory in 9.69 seconds. Dix takes third behind Trinidad's Richard Thompson.

No coverage on NBC or its affiliates that I could find.

The geographic concentration of athletic talent in certain sports is amazing.

I just watched the men's 10,000 meters (taped). The top 10 finishers, in order, hail from:

Ethiopia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Kenya, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Qatar, Tanzania and Uganda.

Check out the location of those countries on the map. Except for Qatar (not shown, but just north of Oman on the Persian Gulf), they all follow the Great Rift Valley of East Africa.

But never mind Qatar, anyway. The athlete running for that nation is a native of Kenya.

Ethiopians and Kenyans emerged on the international distance-running scene back in the 60s (think Abebe Bikila and Kip Keino). They've gotten stronger and stronger ever since.

Truth be told, if countries were allowed more than three entrants in Olympic events, you'd see even more Kenyans and Ethiopians pacing races like the 10,000 meters, which require a rare combination of endurance and speed. Now, neighboring countries are producing top runners, too.

The common denominator is the striking geographic feature that cuts through East Africa -- the Great Rift Valley. Whether its inhabitants are naturally superior distance runners because of genetics and environment (high altitude, for one thing), I can't say. Those could be factors, as could culture: Living is hard in East Africa; kids in rural areas grow up covering long distances on foot, and naturally gravitate to distance running for sport, especially because it doesn't cost a lot of money or require expensive facilities (face it, they're not going to become swimmers). Plus, the best runners, the Olympic stars, are the most popular sports figures, the Kobe Bryants and Lebron Jameses of their countries. They set the standards kids want to reach.

Whatever the reasons, there's no denying the result.

"They deserve a chance to have a better life."

"They have a right to be here as well."

Those statements were made at a prayer vigil at an Asheville church yesterday in support of illegal immigrants arrested in workplace raids recently.

I agree with the first, not the second.

The second can't be correct as long as there's such a thing as nation. Countries determine who may or may not legally reside within their borders. Individual "rights" are subordinate to that legal authority.

I do, however, believe that all people deserve to have a chance to achieve a better life ... which is one reason I support free trade among nations.

Many Americans see trade as a threat to our economy, flooding our market with cheap goods. But producing those goods provides employment and income for workers in countries like Honduras, El Salvador and elsewhere -- could helps stem the desire for those people to cross our borders, illegally, looking for jobs.

Sure, the issue is much more complicated than I've presented in these few lines. My bottom line, though, is this: In most cases, it's better to help create jobs for Third World residents in their own countries than in ours.

Condolences to the Wake Forest University community and the family of Thomas K. Hearn Jr., who died today in Winston-Salem.

Hearn was president from 1983 to 2005, a period when Wake Forest rose into the ranks of the nation's top universities.

More importantly for my family, he was president during most of the time when my son, Kenny, was a student at WFU.

I'd hoped Kenny would go to Carolina, but Wake Forest made it possible for him to enroll there, and to complete undergraduate and graduate studies. He received a first-rate education, and I'm grateful for Hearn's role.

The university developed in so many ways during his tenure and today is making a greater impact in Winston-Salem, the Triad and North Carolina than ever. Its medical center is doing amazing things, many of its other graduate schools are national leaders and the Deacons never lose to Carolina in football anymore.

Hearn will be long remembered, and appreciated, for his leadership at Wake Forest University.

I enjoy discussions like the one initiated by Bob Kollar in today's letters. He's using the dictionary to back up his view of the virtues of liberals and liberalism.

There's an important distinction between liberals and liberalism that shouldn't go unnoted. Liberalism, as cited in the American Heritage definition, is a political theory. But the definition for liberal lists personal, not political, characteristics.

Those characteristics, I submit, can apply as much or more to people who are politically conservative.

Take, for example, "generous" or "tending to give freely." Some people, maybe even Kollar, associate these traits with politicians who appropriate large amounts of public funds for various causes, perhaps especially those that benefit the poor. But in my view, you cannot be "generous" with, or even "give," what doesn't belong to you. Collecting and redistributing other people's money may be a function of public policy or a political strategy, but it isn't an act of generosity. That requires giving one's personal resources.

There's evidence that people who are considered conservative are more generous with their own money.

More here. And here.

Some politicians are adept at portraying themselves as generous or compassionate when they really deserve no such credit. Take those who pass laws raising the minimum wage, for example. Unless they meet a payroll, it costs them nothing out of their own pockets. They're requiring other people to pay the cost of their policy. The business owner who already pays workers more than the minimum wage, and provides benefits, is more worthy of being called generous -- even though, politically, he or she may be a conservative.

Clearly, there's a big difference between giving from your own pocket to address needs around you and expecting government to do it. It's a matter of personal generosity.

Some of the other definitions for "liberal" similarly can apply to people of any political persuasion: broad-minded; free from bigotry; tolerant of the behavior of others.

People who are politically liberal are hardly immune from narrow-mindedness, bigotry and intolerance of people and ideas they don't like. The whole phenomenon of "speech codes" on liberal college campuses should embarrass anyone who contends that intolerance and narrow-mindedness are characterstics of the political right. Enforcing rules against the expression of ideas that might offend or hurt the feelings of certain people is not "liberal," it's oppressive and authoritarian.

It's also my observation that some people who consider themselves liberals display bigoted attitudes toward those they consider socially or culturally inferior, whether they're rural Southerners, middle Americans or religious conservatives.

Kollar is welcome to his view that liberalism is a worthy approach to political policy, but liberal personal traits can belong to anyone regardless of political beliefs.

A Charlotte Observer editorial rips Bev Perdue today for her stand against admission of illegal immigrants to North Carolina community colleges:

"The position Ms. Perdue has taken is wrong for North Carolina and for its future. We may not like the fact people break the law to come here and live. But it's practical to provide everyone who lives here access to as much education as desired ..."

OK, then, here's the question for the Charlotte Observer, Gov. Mike Easley and everyone else who supports admission:

Will you hire individuals you know are illegal immigrants?

If you say yes, you are admitting you're willing to defy the law ... a risky position.

If you say no, then just who do you think should provide employment for illegal immigrants, regardless of how much education they have?

Perdue has addressed this issue logically, not emotionally. As long as illegal immigrants are not entitled to work in North Carolina, they should not be granted space in our community colleges ... whose primary mission is to train workers.

Is that a politically advantageous position for Perdue? Of course it is. The public has it right on this issue. And so does she.

My column today:

Leaving a wedding reception at the International Home Furnishings Club in downtown High Point Saturday night, I noticed one thing right away: You could run a car race around there and not cause a traffic problem.

There’s just not much going on in High Point’s central business district most of the time, not even Saturday night.

High Point’s business, after all, is furniture marketing. Except during the April and October markets, and a few smaller events during the year, you’ve got the same solitude after dark you’d see in a beach town in January.

Sure, High Point Theatre, Noble’s restaurant, the Radisson Hotel and the rail depot generate some activity. But let’s face it: High Point would love to have a problem like Greensboro’s, where large, hard-to-manage crowds spill out of the bars onto South Elm Street late at night.

Downtown High Point is so dull that even the cruisers prowl miles farther up North Main Street, where at least they can find places to stop for a burger or ice cream.

The irony is that downtown looks good, thanks to dazzling furniture showroom buildings. It’s just that no one uses them most of the year.

How to fill the empty spaces and spare time is a challenge High Point has never solved. Notable failures include the defunct Furnishings Festival, which had a run of a few years but was neither very exciting nor very popular.

Maybe it’s just a matter of finding the right idea. ...

The Perdue-McCrory debate produced by WTVD last night was very good. Too bad no Triad stations picked up the broadcast. I had to watch on the Web.

I scored the debate in Pat McCrory's favor. Counting opening and closing statements and answers to a dozen questions, I thought he won 6 rounds, Beverly Perdue won 2 and 6 were even.

McCrory's opening statement set the tone. He started by noting a Democratic attack ad on TV that's labeling him as dangerous for North Carolina. He said he thought the real dangers to the state are posed by gangs and crime, poor roads, a failing mental-health system and corruption in state government. McCrory effectively pursued those themes for the next hour.

Perdue began her opener with platitudes about education, jobs and health care, but she finished a bit stronger when she declared herself a "fighter" for the people of North Carolina.

The candidates pretty much battled to a draw, in my view, on questions about the economy, globalization, immigration, dropouts and open space and water. Immigration was maybe a surprise because McCrory has taken a hard line on that issue, but Perdue matched him.

Perdue claims an advantage in health care -- in fact, she twice called herself "the health-care leader in North Carolina for the past eight years" -- but McCrory answered with a strong reference to the state's mental-health debacle, an example of mismanagement that's cost hundreds of millions of dollars and dozens of lives. As lieutenant governor, Perdue actually wasn't in charge of that, but if she's going to declare herself the state's health-care leader for the past eight years, she's inviting trouble.

McCrory was positive on the question of drilling for oil and gas, which he favors off North Carolina's coast for its economic benefits. Perdue echoed a line out of the latest Democratic playbook: She favors drilling on the 68 million acres already leased (not off the N.C. coast) and would want assurances that drilling would be safe off our coast (in the "Graveyard of the Atlantic") before agreeing to allow it. Dem Congressman Brad Miller used identical language in an interview with us yesterday. It's a nuanced position that leaves lots of room to maneuver, but it was good enough for me to call this category a draw.

McCrory probably was at his best on the issues of open government and crime. Perdue said all the right things in answering questions on those topics, but McCrory deftly pointed out quite correctly that Democratic Gov. Mike Easley and the Democratic legislature have not been champions of open government. Perdue didn't try to defend them. On crime, McCrory recounted the frustrations he and other mayors had for years trying to get the governor and legislators to pass tougher laws to deal with gangs. He also mentioned the Eve Carson murder case as evidence of the broken criminal-justice system.

I thought Perdue came back near the end to offer better answers to two questions I thought she might flub: capital punishment and the gas tax. Perdue adamantly stated her support for the death penalty but explained why it's been necessary to put it on hold for a while. McCrory did pluck at emotions by talking about the cases of murdered Charlotte police offers where the killers have yet to be dealt with, but I thought he was clumsier on this difficult issue.

McCrory should have hit the gas tax question out of the park, but instead he went off on the income tax and claimed that bordering states Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia don't have an income tax, putting North Carolina at a competitive disadvantage. That's true for Tennessee but not for S.C. and Va. Their income tax rates are lower, but they do have them.

Overall, however, McCrory handled himself very well and effectively took advantage of opportunities to rebut Perdue. She tried to hit him with haymakers about his support for school vouchers and opposition to the lottery but didn't connect for lack of time to elaborate. But both conducted themselves very civilly, giving viewers a better understanding of their views and personalities.

Addendum: It's good timing for us that Perdue will be here later this morning for an interview.

Update, 12:45: Perdue was personable and gracious as always during our interview. She pointed out that references to herself as North Carolina's health leader come from her position as leader of the state's Health and Wellness Trust Fund. That agency was not responsible for mental health reform. Perdue places responsibility for that issue in the governor's office.

Our interview was videotaped, and excerpts will go on the Web at some point.

What puts you more on edge:

Waiting for Barack Obama to name his running mate ...

... or synchronized swimming?

It just can't get much worse for American sprinters.

They've been whipped by the Jamaicans in every men's and women's individual 100 and 200.

Now the men are out of the 4x100 relay thanks to a dropped baton in a qualifying heat.

If the Jamaicans avoid a similar mistake, they'll cruise to the gold in this event.

They might have anyway, but I would love to have seen Tyson Gay take a run at Usain Bolt on the anchor leg in the relay finals. Gay needed a chance for redemption.

But the top U.S. sprinter, at least before these games, let the opportunity literally slip through his fingers. That's been the tale of the track for the Americans, far outclassed by Bolt and the Jamaicans..

Update: I was wrong, it could get worse ... and did. The women's 4x100 team dropped the baton, too.

On a much brighter note, our men came through strong in the 400 meters.

If John McCain's campaign paid me $1 million, I would think of a brilliant explanation for this stupid gaffe.

For free, the best I can do is:

"I thought the question was how many spouses I've had."

Why a million bucks for a better line? Because it's going to cost McCain more than that for enough positive TV ads to undo the damage he's done himself by losing count of the houses he owns.

This is why I don't believe the polls showing McCain has a chance to win this election. He's going to prove to be a genius at making dumb mistakes.

A Charlotte businessman accused of claiming payments to a high-priced call-girl ring as advertising expenses on his corporate income taxes pleaded guilty Thursday to tax fraud, the Observer reports.

Man, IRS rules are tough. I bet you can't write off payoffs to a politician's girlfriend, either.

In today's Counterpoint, George F. Sowers presents an idea he thinks is pure brilliance:

Mechanically restrict all vehicles to a top speed of 55 mph.

"I have spoken to a lot of people personally about this proposed law and have not found anyone yet who would oppose it," he writes.

Obviously, he didn't speak with the people who comment on the letters blog. They're subjecting his idea to considerable ridicule.

How to explain the different reactions?

My guess is that Mr. Sowers is a nice man, and people who listened to him explain his idea in person simply didn't want to be disagreeable. They preferred to humor him rather than risk hurting his feelings.

There are no such sensitivities on the letters blog, where almost everyone is anonymous and unrestrained. Without having to "face" anyone else or reveal their own identities, they feel free to bash away.

It's not polite discourse but it's honest. Sometimes brutally honest.

Barack Obama made a mature, serious and safe decision in selecting Joe Biden as his running mate.

He didn't go for a gimmicky choice, or pick someone calculated to improve his chances of winning in the South or Midwest.

Biden, of course, is a long, long-time Washington politician, but his experience and foreign-policy knowledge help shore up Obama weaknesses. Biden himself, before he dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination, said Obama wasn't ready to be president.

You could make a good case that this would be a better ticket if it were reversed: Biden-Obama. But what counts is getting votes, and Obama proved to be a lot better at doing that than Biden.

Between now and November, though, Biden might turn out to be an effective critic of John McCain. The two have served together for many years in the Senate, and that long association gives Biden more credibility in questioning McCain's judgment than Obama has.

At the same time, Biden's extensive record will give Republicans plenty of opportunities to attack him -- but you don't win presidential elections by going after the other guy's running mate.

This takes Biden out of line for a possible secretary of state position under Obama.

For the second straight election, Democrats have two senators on their ticket. Kerry-Edwards proved to be a bust. They'd rather recall 1960, when the Kennedy-Johnson slate prevailed. In fact, Dems love to compare Obama to Kennedy. Obama probably welcomes the association with JFK, but I doubt Biden would appreciate being cast into the LBJ role. Johnson didn't especially like Kennedy; it was purely ambition that led him to accept the second spot. If Obama wins in November, and runs again in 2012, Biden would be 73 -- McCain's age -- when he'd have another chance to try for the top job. But if the office is cast upon him sooner, he will be qualified to serve.

The final piece of the election puzzle is McCain's running mate. Will he also reach into the Senate? Having four senators on the major party tickets would be extraordinary.

The Obama campaign made a big whoop out of notifying supporters first of the veep choice. The text message supposedly came at 3 this morning. Wow, thanks a lot. For Joe Biden, even Obama loyalists might have preferred more sleep.

Tougher on demonstrators: Beijing or Denver?

Media favorite: Michael Phelps or Barack Obama?

More anticipated: Tonight's speech by the candidate's wife, or the water polo final?

Dream Team: USA Basketball or Obama-Biden?

Biggest losers: Trash-talking French swimmers or the Clintons?

Best backflips: Shawn Johnson or Biden on Obama's qualifications?

Most notable no-show: Tyson Gay in the 100 finals or John Edwards?

Younger: The Obama girls or China's "women" gymnasts?

Most fakery: The Olympics opening ceremonies or a political convention?

Thomas Friedman notes the 33 foreign-born athletes on the U.S. Olympic team and adds:

"It is amazing that with our Noah’s Ark of an Olympic team doing so well 'that at the same time you have this rising call in America to restrict immigration,' said Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International. 'Some people want to choke off the very thing that makes us strong and unique.' ”

This isn't news to me. I wrote a blog entry titled "Immigrant Olympians" last month.

This isn't a phenomenon limited to the U.S. I noticed a number of Kenyan distance runners competing for other countries. You also might have noted that Usain Bolt was called the first man to win the 100 meters for Jamaica, not the first Jamaican to win. Native Jamaicans Linford Christie for Britain and Donovan Bailey for Canada were earlier winners.

But let's define what we're talking about. Foreign-born athletes must be naturalized U.S. citizens in order to compete on the U.S. Olympic team. Illegal immigrants are not eligible.

I don't know of many Americans trying to "choke off" legal immigration.

I'm not. Keep them coming; in fact, we could take a lot more if we could stem the flow of illegals.

All the better if we can bring in people with special talents and training.

Frankly, our foreign-born distance runners were a big disappointment. Surely, we can find faster Kenyans.

Mike Barber's likely to win support, from the public and fellow council members, for his proposed ordinance to ban registered sex offenders from city parks and recreation facilities.

It's easy to go along, hard to say no.

I've written about this before, highlighting N.C. Appeals Court Judge Martha Geer's dissent in the Standley v. Woodfin case.

Since then, the state Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the Court of Appeals decision, leaving Geer out on a legal limb with no support at all.

So be it. It's permissible for a city or county to enact an ordinance like Barber proposes. In fact, Mecklenburg County put such an ordinance in place this month and already has recorded the first arrest.

City leaders can congratulate themselves on making their parks safe from fiends who prey on children.

Except they're doing no such thing. As information in the Standley v. Woodfin case record showed, most sex crimes are committed by people who are NOT registered sex offenders. And certainly most sex crimes are NOT committed in parks.

The fact that you can find a registered sex offender in a park, as an officer did in Charlotte, hardly means that a horrendous crime was about to occur. You also could find registered sex offenders in grocery stores, movie theaters and maybe even churches.

Nevertheless, I'm sure the greater good will be served to see to it that a registered sex offender -- one who's not considered dangerous enough to be locked up, by the way -- isn't allowed to play tennis or jog in a city park, or watch a ballgame at War Memorial Stadium.

The greater feel-good, anyway.

I enjoyed this piece on Marketplace yesterday:

"Is there an enviromaniac loose in your office?"

Have a listen if you missed it.

The best quote describing one office enviromaniac: "She's the Osama Bin Laden of green terrorists. If she saw you throw away a plastic fork, she would take that fork out of the trash and come after you with it. And then she'd rinse it off and recycle it."

A more serious note was sounded by Kit Yarrow, a consumer psychologist at Golden Gate University in San Francisco (of all places):

"I'm calling it the dark green movement that is just blatantly hostile. The point is not really protecting the environment, the point is an opportunity to be able to feel superior to someone else and to kind of get off on releasing a little bit of anger."

Know anyone like that?

Al Gore, maybe?

My column today:

Beverly Perdue is running for governor like a genie let out of a bottle.

She’s full of energy, ideas and promises to grant three wishes, at least, for every North Carolinian.

Now that she’s escaped the confinement of her corked-up job, there are no limits on what she says she can do. ...

After the Olympics, a political convention is definitely a letdown. The dilemma for this only mildly interested viewer is ... CSPAN or CNN?

The advantage of CSPAN is that you actually get to see the convention ... all the videos, all the musical acts, all the speeches.

But those speeches! Mercy! It really tells you how much the Dems will grovel to Big Labor if they'll put AFL-CIO boss John Squeaky, I mean Sweeney, on the podium during prime time. Quick, switch to CNN!

Yes, Cable News Network presents "the best political team in America." The talking heads are literally lined up in rows ... and rows ... and rows. If everyone gets just a little face time, there's no time for the convention.

The evening's story line is "Hillary's Big Night." What? That's bull.

"This is Hillary's little night," my wife astutely remarks.

"Her very, very little night," I affirm.

Back to CSPAN ... Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is reciting the list of failed presidential candidates from her state and wishing for the losing streak to continue. I guess she wants Arizona to be the Cubs of politics.

Back to CNN ... where we're promised we're soon going to hear from ... Rudy Giuliani! Give me a break. He gets his turn next week.

Back to CSPAN. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm is leading some kind of "town meeting" on energy. It's totally canned. Duke CEO Jim Rogers is part of it, talking about conservation. When did he join the Obama campaign? (He doesn't mention building a great big new coal-fired generator, which would get him booed off the stage by this crowd, if anyone actually were paying attention).

Back to CNN ... where John King is laying out the electoral map. My gosh, is CNN going to call the election for Obama already? Not quite, but he's just about got all the pieces put in place. (North Carolina is red on his map but don't worry, Democrats, you don't really need us.)

Back to CSPAN ... We're hearing hard-luck stories from ordinary working people, including a former Pillowtex employee from North Carolina. Thousands lost their jobs when the plants closed and government failed them. President Bush only told them to go to college, but 65 percent of them "could barely read and write." Oops, not a good commentary about North Carolina. Government failed those folks long before the plants closed.

A DNC video presents Obama saying in a speech that government can't solve all our problems, that Americans need to pitch in and take care of each other. But it strikes me that most of the speakers I've heard at this convention so far seem to think that government will solve all their problems just as soon as Obama's elected. Democrats are setting very high expectations. But that's what conventions are all about these days. Everything's decided, everything's scripted, there's no drama -- unless ...

Come on, Hillary. Rally your troops. Call you delegates. Vow to fight to the bitter end. Make this your Big Night after all.

Oh, what a disappointment. Michael Phelps, she ain't.

Democrats are using the Congress.org Power Rankings to bash Elizabeth Dole (she's a low 93rd!), but they aren't mentioning where John McCain stands:

Tenth.

That's better than Barack Obama ... but only by one place.

Both presidential rivals fare pretty well, considering McCain's in the minority party and Obama's a first-termer.

Here you can see that McCain was No. 3 in 2005 when Republicans controlled the Senate. The rookie Obama was 68 then, pretty good for an initial ranking.

Let's check out the North Carolina delegation:

Richard Burr is 69th in the Senate, not bad considering he's a freshman Republican with two years' less seniority than Dole.

No North Carolina representative ranks in the Top 50, and only Mel Watt and David Price, both senior Democrats, crack the Top 100.

Democrat Brad Miller is next at 115.

The state's senior congressman, Republican Howard Coble, is way way back at 335 -- behind fellow Republicans Patrick McHenry, Walter Jones and Sue Myrick.

Congress.org explains its rankings criteria here.

Is this sort of rating useful to you?

The United Way in Charlotte (officially United Way of Central Carolinas) has created a PR disaster by paying its (former) CEO a boatload in salary and benefits.

Apparently a case of an agency that had grown so large that its board decided the top executive deserved very high compensation. But, when it comes to a charitable agency, the public and donors don't necessarily agree.

Given the implications, I'd think the board would have a message on the organization's Web site explaining what's happened, what changes have been made and where it is going from here. Alas, not so.

As I said, a PR disaster ... and a good lesson for other United Ways.

The best remarks at yesterday's State of Our Community luncheon weren't delivered by one of the elected officials but by Tim Rice, the Moses Cone CEO who's in his second year as chairman of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce Operating Group.

Rice's comments about our economy were direct and to the point. You can read them after the jump. Particularly apt is his list of eight actions Greensboro and Guilford County need to get done:

Although it must be, oh, weeks ago now, I distinctly remember John Edwards confessing to a bad case of egotism -- among other sins -- in an interview with ABC's Bob Woodruff.

I guess the former senator/presidential candidate hasn't found the cure yet if he's raising his speaking fee. A University of Illinois student group is going to fork over $65,000 to hear him blather about the "American Dream" Oct. 14.

More like the American Scam.

Where does a student group get that kind of money? And couldn't it find something better to do with it, like help poor people?

Edwards ought to be embarrassed to go out in public after exposing himself as a cheat and liar -- evidence that he's been a phony all along. The idea that, now, his value as a speaker has gone up is just repulsive.

I could see the National Enquirer paying him big bucks to talk about his affair with Rielle Hunter, the paternity issue and the matter of the payoffs. Maybe Edwards would take it if he needs the money that badly.

But even the Enquirer would expect the truth.

McCain picks Sarah Palin -- practically unknown outside Alaska, but a tremendously interesting, mold-breaking politician.

Only 44, Palin is a former star athlete and beauty queen, TV reporter, outdoorswoman, wife and mother, whose kids range from a son about to be deployed to Iraq to a baby with Down syndrome.

The question: Brilliant choice, or gimmick?

Will Palin draw more women voters to the Republican ticket? Or will this be seen as pandering for the female vote?

One thing for sure: History will be made. Either the U.S. will have its first black president, or first woman vice president.

That's change you can believe in.

Addendum: Palin is pro-life, and walks the talk.

Addendum: NOW says Sarah Palin isn't a real woman.

Palin bio from Anchorage Daily News.

Fred Barnes on Sarah Palin from last year: "... a politician of eye-popping integrity ... approval rating in the 90s."

Obama-Biden ticket issues a gracious statement about Palin: "We send our congratulations to Governor Sarah Palin and her family on her designation as the republican nominee for Vice President. It is yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics. While we obviously have differences over how best to lead this country forward Governor Palin is an admirable person and will add a compelling new voice to this campaign."

Then they get a "spokeswoman" to deliver the attack: "Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Gov. Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same" -- Adrianne March

Republicans are more concerned about Gustav than politics, John McCain campaign manager Rick Davis says.

As a result, the party's convention starting in Minneapolis-St. Paul tomorrow will run on a curtailed scheduled.

This is the right call for Republicans, and the only possible decision. Gustav will likely strike the Gulf Coast with a devastating blow. The last thing Republicans need to do is conduct politics as usual. They're still smarting from the poor Bush administration response to Katrina three years ago.

The convention will open for a brief session to conduct required party business, Davis said, but there will be no political activity. The scheduled speech by President Bush is canceled.

No decision has been made about what will happen after Monday, Davis added.

Officially, McCain won't be the nominee unless he wins the necessary number of delegates. The party apparently hasn't worked out exactly how that will happen.

Maybe if the hurricane fizzles, the convention can go on. But that's probably wishful thinking.

They may have to conduct a truncated roll call to formally bestow the nomination but dispense with all the windy speeches.

Given the ramifications of a Cat 3 or 4 storm in the gulf, more wind from the Republicans is the last thing anyone needs.

McCain himself says he won't deliver a traditional acceptance speech under those circumstances.

That's the right approach. Of course, there could be a political fallout. McCain's losing a lot of free TV time. It's bad luck (or maybe not all bad if having Bush and Dick Cheney on the podium would be a negative rather than a positive).

Yet McCain should get some credit for setting the proper priority.

Putting on a big political show just isn't the thing to do under the circumstances.

Back again for the sake of argument, my mostly uninformed rankings of North Carolina football teams. Feel free to disagree.

1. Wake Forest, 1-0
2. East Carolina, 1-0
3. Carolina, 1-0
4. Appalachian, 0-1
5. Duke, 1-0
6. State, 0-1
7. A&T, 1-0
8. Elon, 0-1
9. Western, 1-0
10. Lenoir-Rhyne, 1-0