Dan Gearino says some bill titles are Orwellian.

Picking up on our recent series of posts on Dome, the conservative commentator writes on his blog that we live in "the Age of Misbegotten, Mawkish and Misleading Titles."

...some of those titles seek to disguise the bill's actual intent ("The Healthy Youth Act," for instance, which is simply yet another sex education bill sure to raise conservative hackles), while others engage in shameless public relations spin ("Taxpayers Protection Act," which doesn’t actually protect you, but only seeks to limit the state's plunder of your wallet). 

He says the titles are "a nifty primer on the Orwellian thinking behind the titling of our laws." 

Dan Gearino thinks a USA Today ranking misses North Carolina's corruption.

The conservative blogger notes the newspaper's recent attempt to rank state corruption by comparing population with the number of corruption convictions won by federal prosecutors from 1998 to 2007.

With 179 convictions and a population of nine million, North Carolina came out in the bottom third.

North Carolina had 2 convictions per 100,000 people, a lower ratio than all but 16 other states. My problem is that we don't get credit for the quality of our political crooks. North Carolina's corruption is top-shelf stuff, and we’re not getting recognized for it.

He notes, for example, that disgraced former House Speaker Jim Black went to prison for accepting bribes in public bathrooms.

"By my reckoning, one House speaker selling out the integrity of the state in toilet stalls is worth ten small-town councilmen who get caught fixing traffic tickets or trading votes on zoning matters in return for Caribbean vacations," he writes.

The blogosphere has weighed in on Kay Hagan's decision to drop a lawsuit.

The Democratic senator-elect had sued Sen. Elizabeth Dole for a TV ad that criticized her for attending a fundraiser held by an atheist, but dropped the suit this week.

On Talking About Politics, Republican consultant Carter wrenn says a statement by Hagan's spokeswoman that she wanted to end the suit for the good of North Carolina sounds phony.

"Now, why couldn’t Hagan just say, The election's over. I won. So, what’s the point in the lawsuit?" he writes. "The candor would have been refreshing."

Conservative blogger Dan Gearino says the lawsuit was either "stupid or craven."

"If she truly thought Dole's campaign ad went over the line into slander and defamation, and that the court system should be called upon (or would even be willing) to referee political charges and countercharges, she’s a fool who has no business being in Congress," he writes.

Meantime, J.W. Williamson on Watauga Watch was more stoic.

"Apparently, Liddy's losing the election was punishment enough," he writes.

Dan Gearino says North Carolina will go for the change ticket.

The conservative blogger and former N&O columnist writes Dome that the state will continue to be a "paradox" but in a different direction.

The state will "go for Obama, send Kay Hagan to Washington — and put Pat McCrory in Raleigh," he writes.

Dan Gearino thinks the Iowa caucuses are overblown.

The former N&O columnist writes on his blog that the caucuses are undemocratic, since they are decided by only a handful of older, white voters, and overblown because of the sheer numbers of political reporters who cover them.

Iowa’s importance in the political process is a phenomenon created, and nurtured, by journalists. They have helped turn a silly popularity contest that has all the sophistication of a high school Queen of Hearts selection (”OK, everybody who likes John Edwards go stand in that corner!”) into an event so important that the presidential field can easily be cut in half by the caucus results.

Dan Gearino says Randy Parton is part of a long tradition.

On his blog, the former N&O columnist writes that Roanoke Rapids officials were wrong to kick him out of their theater for allegedly being intoxicated.

He points to Hank Williams' drinking, Johnny Cash's pill-popping, Willie Nelson's marijuana using and Toby Keith's lyrical offensiveness.

It appears that country music has a long history of drinking, carousing, infidelity and profanity, with wicked hangovers thrown in for good measure. In fact, such activities and events are the very basis for approximately 99 percent of all country songs.

So Parton, he writes, was thrown out of the theater for "acting like a country singer."

Dan Gearino says Martin Lancaster has convinced him.

The former N&O columnist writes on his blog that he has a "profound unhappiness" that illegal immigrants might get amnesty. But he says the head of the state community colleges has a good argument.

In a statement earlier this week, Lancaster noted that many European countries are facing more deadly terrorism from immigrants than the United States:

"For years these countries have denied immigrants basic rights and services, creating a permanent, disenfranchised, and angry underclass. By refusing to educate and make productive members of our society the children of undocumented aliens, North Carolina and the United States face that same eventuality."

Gearino says "every immigration hard-liner should ponder" that argument.

"Turning marginalized high-schoolers into well-educated college students seems like good public policy," he writes.

Dan Gearino says the Sparta Teapot Museum is like a speeder.

In a post on his Words Assembled Well blog, the Raleigh writer says that the museum may have been unfairly picked out by "pork-barrel watchdogs in the media."

Once that happened, the museum became a combination of punching bag and punchline. Every story or broadcast either used the museum as an example of government waste, or made a joke about teapots. Usually both.

Still, he said that he doesn't think Sparta got "a raw deal." Yes, the state and federal grants are a "pittance," compared to other pork or the federal defense budget, he notes.

But, like a singled-out speeder, Sparta is "just the one that got caught."

Dan Gearino says John Edwards is in trouble.

The former N&O columnist and blogger writes that Edwards' presidential campaign is having problems because of his positions on poverty and his own personal history.

Gearino calls a recent story about a former Edwards employer foreclosing on Hurricane Katrina victims a "squirm-inducing bit of news."

Poor Johnny. He's become the Democratic equivalent to those family-values conservative Republicans who get rolled up in sex scandals.

Gearino says even Edwards' response brings to mind another type of scandal, with him saying it's "an innocent misunderstanding" and that he will never do it again.

Dan Gearino has some short reviews of new bills on his blog.

The former N&O columnist turned self-employed blogger and Wal-Mart shopper is not entirely impressed with lawmakers' output.

On a Senate bill that requires candidates for legislature, county commissioner and school board to disclose past felonies, he notes the exceptions.

Also, notice that other elective offices are specifically not mentioned. Note to felons: Set your sights on a sheriff's post. Or maybe even the governor's office. 

Gearino also says a law making it illegal to feed wild alligators is self-enforcing. "Survivors," he writes, "will be prosecuted."