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Showing posts from December 29, 2002
EDWARDS IS IN: My longtime friend John Hood -- who got me into this biz by 1) offering me a gig at the Carolina Critic, a classical-liberal zine he founded at UNC in the '80s, which allowed me to 2) get an internship in Washington, where John was working at the time and where he 3) introduced me to Virginia Postrel , who gave me an entry-level reporter's job at Reason -- has a fascinating, contrarian take on John Edwards' probable run for the presidency. The thrust of John's argument -- Edwards' opponents underestimate him at their own peril -- may indeed make him a formidable contender for the Democratic nomination. Still, as much as I hate second-guessing my friend, who understands N.C. politics better than anyone I've run across, it's my guess that, whether he'll admit it or not (even to himself), Edwards' best hope is to land the No. 2 spot on the ticket. John's piece notes that it's folly to merely write off Edwards as a trial lawyer,
A SOMEWHAT LENGTHY CIVICS LESSON, NEVADA-STYLE: One myth about my adopted hometown that's difficult to dispel is that Las Vegas -- let alone Nevada -- is some sort of freewheeling, libertarian paradise. Please. For one thing, more than 80 percent of the state's land mass is controlled by the federal government, and nearly 10 percent more is either state or county property. Even 90 percent of Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, is public land. That's one reason desolate, sparsely populated Nevada is one of the most urbanized states in America : What little land is in private hands is crammed with tract houses. Gambling-inspired tourism may be the prime engine of economic activity. And prostitution is legal in 15 of the state's 17 counties ... though, notably, not in Clark (Las Vegas) or Washoe (Reno) counties. Gambling-related taxes provide roughly 40 percent of state revenues. But Nevada's sin industries aren't exactly entrepreneurial enterprises. They