Richard Hart

Absurd news item of the week: “Fox News Channel has sued liberal humorist Al Franken and the Penguin Group to stop them from using the phrase ‘fair and balanced’ in the title of his forthcoming book.” The name of the book is slated to be Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair […]

It’s August, and summer’s almost over. The General Assembly’s gone home. Dubya’s retreated to the “ranch,” and Hillsborough and Franklin streets are quiet. It’s time to make sure we’re still having some fun. That’s where the Independent comes in; it’s our job. So look for a run of fun in the next few issues of […]

What are we becoming? As Hal Crowther makes clear this week in that voice of barely restrained outrage he uses better than anyone else, the level of political paranoia being fostered by the Bush administration is becoming dangerous. People have complained in the past that the United States was on its way to becoming a […]

The letter is plain and straightforward. The header: “North Carolinians for Affordable Health Care.” The hook: “Are you worried that the cost of health care … is continuing to climb?” The question: “So who would support anything that would increase the cost of health care?” The answer: “Special interest groups, that’s who.” When Bill Rowe, […]

As state legislators wrangling over the budget continue to tug on a spread that’s too small to cover the bed, someone’s got to point out the corners left uncovered. And as they have for the past nine years, the people most astute at doing that are at the Common Sense Foundation. The progressive, nonprofit organization […]

It’s about time we looked at the bright side. For starters, the big news is that the Bush Administration’s misinformation campaign (i.e. lies) aimed at selling Congress and the American people on an invasion of Iraq is finally getting some scrutiny. The failure to find any evidence of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons has been […]

When I was a reporter covering something even remotely controversial, I was inevitably accused of writing it to sell papers. No, I assured people, that wasn’t the case; it might have been true back in the days when people bought their papers from streetcorner newsboys and a big murder with a screaming headline was good […]

The world’s turned upside down and most of America seems not to be concerned. Iraq is in a shambles; under U.S. control the country has deteriorated to the point that looters are apparently even making off with the remains of Saddam’s nuclear program. We wanted empire, now we’ve got it. But the first month of […]

“At approximately 11:45 a.m. today, Gov. Mike Easley brushed a retaining wall in turn two at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte.” — Press release from the governor’s office after he totaled the #48 Lowe’s race car owned by Jeff Gordon. “The car skidded out of Turn 2 and toward the retaining wall. The left-front end […]

There are some subjects that most newspapers are reluctant to dig into, and at the top of the list are newspapers themselves. It’s not that they have a whole lot to hide (the Jayson Blair affair at The New York Times aside). It’s just that newspeople generally loathe becoming part of the stories they’re covering. […]