Wampus Cat Report

Introduction

Strangers, I have always heard, are friends you haven't met before. Please let me introduce the Wampus Cat Report. And myself as its originator.

A Non-Story

Governor Bev Perdue appointed a new commander for the State Highway Patrol. The brother-in-law of the colonel he replaced put out the word that the former commander had been forced out without cause. The speculation was that there might have been some political skulduggery involved.

That "story" wasn't worth the ink required to print it - or the breath used to put it on the airways.

For years newly elected governors have selected a person of their choice to head the Highway Patrol.  Those chosen for the position understand that they will be retiring when a new governor takes charge.

If the retiring colonel didn't realize that was the way the game was played, he shouldn't have been in the top job in the first place.

Impressed With Perdue

Governor Beverly Perdue has been criticized in some elements of the media for lack of leadership and courage during the first few months of her administration.

I do not share that view and am perplexed by the criticism.

It is true that Governor Perdue has managed to upset many Democrats for advocating cutting some programs and most Republicans for saying the state needs to generate more tax money.

Like virtually every other state in the Union, North Carolina faces a huge shortfall of revenue.  To balance its budget - which the state must do under our Constitution - we must raise more money or reduce spending. Or a combination of both.

The governor has shown not only leadership but great courage in advocating a reasonable combination of both approaches.

 It was predictable that Democrats would protest cutting programs and Republicans would denounce raising more tax  money.

Governor Perdue was not dealt a good hand when she began her term, but she is playing it well. And unlike her predecessor, she is  traversing the state telling the people where she stands and why and calling on them to support a very reasonable, if difficult, solution to North Carolina's fiscal crisis.

Mrs. Perdue deserves  our support, our gratitude - and our admiration. 

EASLEY’S LEGACY

There is no question today about the legacy of  two-term governor Mike Easley.

It is, purely, simply, enduringly: DISGRACE.

He has disgraced himself. He has disgraced the high office twice entrusted to him by the people of his state and he has disgraced a great university. He has embarrassed all of us.

The former governor is under federal investigation for campaign and other financial shenanigans. The latest scandal involves a lucrative position he pressured heads of N.C. State University to create for his wife – followed by a five year contract at salaries totaling $800,000.

At the center of creating the lucrative “position” for Mrs.. Easley – in addition to the governor, himself – were State University trustee McQueen Campbell (appointed by Easley) and Chancellor James Oblinger.

Oblinger, who reportedly has a reputation for a “photographic memory,” apparently suddenly was stricken by a temporary seizure of Alzheimer's. He couldn’t remember anything about anything. Until a stack of emails was produced showing he and the governor had been involved from the beginning.

Meanwhile, some of Oblinger’s henchmen were bailing out with enhanced golden parachutes.

His memory refreshed by a stack of emails, Oblinger met with University President Erskine Bowles who said he was “sickened” by what he learned had been going on. Oblinger offered his resignation and Bowles snapped it up like Matt Dillon going for his six-gun.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Easley had been asked to resign – and refused. But after details of her job creation and enhancement were revealed, she was fired without notice.

But what about her contract? Does she depart with almost a million bucks of taxpayer’s money?

If so, perhaps that money should be provided by those involved in the scurrilous shenanigans that created the “position” for her in the first place.

SHAD HAVE ARRIVED

Anglers are catching shad in good numbers in the Roanoke River near Weldon. That's the word from N.C. Wildlife Commission Fisheries Chief Bob Curry. The shad - hickory and American species - travel up the Roanoke and other rivers, including the Neuse, to spawn in late winter and early spring.

The daily limit is 10 which can be a combination of both species.

The American (or white) shad is considered fine eating despite being bony. Both American shad and hickories are prized for their roe.

The "Moe Hole"

Recently a Navy missile ship ran aground on a shoal shortly after being in dry dock for a routine overhaul. It took days of effort on the part of Navy and commercial tugs to get her free. At one point they considered removing most of the tons of fuel, along with the water, to lighten the vessel. In the end, about the only thing that was permanently removed was the hapless skipper.

The incident reminded Wampus of what happened back in the 1950s when I was covering the waterfront for the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot.  The battleship Missouri ran aground in Hampton Roads. It was a huge ship and stayed aground for a good while, despite Herculean efforts by the Navy and civilian entities.

Finally, of course, "the Mighty Moe" was freed to sail the seas once more.

But by then, the Missouri had wallowed out a huge hole in the bottom of the bay. It proved to an excellent place to catch all sorts of fish.

Consequently, to the probable chagrin of the U.S. Navy, anglers far and wide referred to their favorite fishing spot as "The Moe Hole." 

Hope - The Key Word

The nation will be sending hundreds of billions of dollars in borrowed money to cities and states in hopes of reviving the prostrate economy.

Will it work? We can only hope. Congress itself has mixed feelings. And continuing criticism probably poses a cloud of cloubt over the prospects.

Perhaps this is a time when we need to lower the voices of criticism and skepticism and focus on positive elements  of the recovery effort. However flawed it might be,  we must do everything possible to make it work.

It is difficult to build confidence on a foundation of despair and doubt.

Exxon's Record Earnings

The world is being strangled by a dismal economy. But there recently was at least one "bright" spot.

Exxon Oil posted another record profit over the previous year. It amounted to billions upon billions more than profits for 2007 which was also a record year.

Congratulations perhaps are in order for the financial experts running Exxon. But we are painfully reminded that while they have been counting their stacks of money, their fellow citizens have been hammered by prices they have been being charged for their fuels.

Fuel costs are felt not only at the pump. The ripple effect is never ending. It is reflected in the costs of everything that moves in today's commerce - from running the farms and factories to purchases at the supermarkets and department stores. Homes, schools, hospitals, churches, cities, counties, states all are hit.

Plants and businesses have been closed. Millions of our citizens are out of jobs.

And the oil barons cannot say the high cost of fuel has not had its effect on the pain our people and industries are feeling.

Exxon will have to forgive us if our congratulatory applause is a bit muted.

 

The Washington Monument Ploy

It's back - the old Washington Monument ploy!

In the old days when Congress put pressure on the Washington bureaucracy to cut spending, the response was predictable. Among the first warnings from the bureaucrats was that they'd have to close down the Washington Monument.

That, of course would be unacceptable - as would most of the other cut-backs in services projected to make the reductions in expenditures possible.

So we hear it now at the state level. Governor Perdue, as she must, is telling state agencies to come up with cuts in their budgets.

Like clockwork, the public hears warnings that this could mean not using prisoners on work gangs, eliminating chaplains positions, closing libraries, not filling in potholes, muddier streams, closing rape crisis centers...

The list of unacceptable "alternatives" goes on and on.

The purpose is all too transparent - to get the public up in arms in opposition to the cuts.

Bev Perdue is in her first term as governor. But this isn't her first trip to Raleigh. She can recognize a ploy when she sees one. Run 'em back to their drawing boards, Guv!

OUTRAGEOUS BONUSES CAN BE STOPPED

 

  President Obama has criticized the nation's banks for paying their CEO's millions in bonuses despite dismal performances and then turning to taxpayers for billions in bail-out money.

  Congress and the President can put an end to such outrageous bonuses. It can tell institutions asking for "stimulus" money that no such funding will be forthcoming if corporate officers are given bonuses  from any sources  - no matter what their contracts say.

  If they do, funding will be rescinded and the institutions and individuals responsible will be fined.

  With trillions in "bail-out" money being authorized, there likely will be many schemes for opportunistic skulduggery. But Congress can at least curb some of the greedy "financial geniuses" who got their banks and businesses - and the country in this mess. 

 

Puny Pirates Cower World's Merchant Fleets

The world's navies have aircraft carriers, battle ships, cruisers, destroyers and all kinds of vessels capable of major and minor assaults.

Yet this year alone pirates have attacked almost 100 merchants ships and taken command of half of them virtually with impunity in the busy shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia.

The pirates use small, fast seacraft often operating from "mother" ships.

Recently, the Indian Navy did what should been done all along. One of its warships attacked and sank one of the pirates' mother ships.

And why not!

The pirates are operating largely out of Somalia which is a dysfunctional country enjoying the benefits of piracy and other  lawlessness.

Nation's with ships under attack have aircraft and other surveillance capabilities to track and monitor the pirate  ships and their movements from ports to the shipping lanes.

They also are fully capable of taking out those ships, their docks and refueling facilities quickly and efficiently.

There's no excuse for putting up with this costly nuisance of piracy any longer.