Proving that he cares more about power and influence than he does about service:

After weeks of exploring a possible bid and even running TV ads criticizing Hagan, Berger announced last week that he will seek re-election to the state Senate. As tempting as a U.S. Senate bid would have been, Berger would have been risking a certain power base in exchange for a roll of the dice.

Even if he had won election, Berger, 61, would have been a rookie in what would likely be a Senate led by Democrat Harry Reid or Republican Mitch McConnell. Instead, Berger will continue as the most influential figure in North Carolina politics as long as the Republican hegemony continues in Raleigh.

Berger is still running TV ads against Hagan (and Barack Obama, just to please the racist mouth-breathers). Along those bigoted lines, he will probably throw his support behind an architect of the anti-gay marriage amendment:

I am asking anyone who has had a problem with filing a grievance with the State Bar and who has proven beyound a reasonable doubt that a lawyer has indeed failed to act in an ethical manner to contact me.

I have spoken to some and now would like to form a group that can act together to show force and right the wrong that has been the norm for too many years. When will the State Bar realize that it will not be tolerated any longer.

Those fancy charity fundraisers finally pay off:

Is there a fire under that smoke? It’s too soon to say. Drawing rash conclusions — that the department is dysfunctional and Wos should go — isn’t helpful. DHHS is the most complex agency in state government. It administers a massive program that operates under federal rules and deals with a medical economy where costs always go up and opportunities for waste and fraud seem boundless. Past audits showed that North Carolina’s Medicaid program incurred higher administrative costs than most other states’.

Bolding mine. If I didn't know better, I'd be forced to conclude from this paragraph that the N&R editorial staff is blaming the structure of DHHS for Aldona Wos' wasteful and fraud-like behavior. It's not her fault, it's the environment she's in. I know for a fact this view is not held by the majority of N&R's editorial staff, but whoever penned this is hiding under your banner. Boss or not, that's wrong.

Your email today left me puzzled. Being a corporate monopoly slopping at the public trough in North Carolina, you seem to think that all of your customers are greedy, short-sighted bastards. You wrote:

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing new regulations that will prevent any new coal-fired electric generating plants from being built. The result will be less affordable electricity for members of Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative, and electric consumers nationwide.

As a property owner on the coast, I am far more concerned about climate change and sea-level rise than I am about "affordable" electricity. Indeed, the sooner we kick our coal habit, the better. In the meantime, please stop using my money to send out your hysterical emails.

Your unhappy customer,

James Protzman