Former Yes!Weekly editor Brian Clarey’s N&R op-ed takes aim at the evil Art Pope and his evil Roses department store:

There’s a good chance no one struggling to put together a cut-rate Christmas at Roses tonight has ever heard of the man, but among North Carolina’s conservative political circles, Pope is more popular than Nike — another brand his stores don’t carry. How about a pair of Coogis?

Pope’s influence is built on money, and all of it comes from places like this Roses on Summit and Cone, anchoring a formerly dead strip mall alongside Goodwill, a dollar store, the ethnic market, a nail salon, a barbershop and a furniture-rental place.

….And perhaps we should be grateful — Winn Dixie pulled out of this spot almost 10 years ago, when whispers of the Walmart at the old Carolina Circle Mall spot down the road had just begun. Since then we’ve experienced a financial crisis, a real estate crater and a lingering recession. A lot of people in this neighborhood can’t afford to shop at Walmart anymore.

…It’s a perfect circle. As budget director, Pope’s blueprint for the state includes cuts to benefits for the unemployed, increases in state university tuition and other affronts to the mechanisms traditionally used by Americans to raise themselves from poverty.

What a coincidence— I’ve worked for both the John Locke Foundation and Clarey’s former employer, so I at least know how much each one pays freelance writers. All I’m going to say is one of them paid Wal-Mart wages and one paid Roses wages. You’ll have to guess which is which.