Some of the Raleigh bureaucracy continue to play petty, partisan games.

Last November Les Merritt became the first Republican to be elected to the office of State Auditor. Upon taking office, he found that nearly 2,300 square feet of space that had housed the department’s whistleblower unit had been taken over by Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, a Democrat.

As a result of this change, employees who staff the sensitive waste, fraud and abuse hot line now work in a common area where their telephone conversations could potentially be overheard.

Democrats in the state Senate have introduced a bill to revoke the Auditor’s authority to test security on the General Assembly’s computer system.

The Mooresville office of Liberty Tax Service is collecting used cell phones at several drop boxes around the county. Liberty will ship the phones to a participating manufacturer who will donate 100 minutes of free phone service to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan for each phone that is collected.

Retired Mooresville town Commissioners and ABC Board members with at least 20 years of service have received free health insurance, with the premiums paid by Mooresville taxpayers. Former Mayor Joe Knox and three retired town Commissioners receive this benefit.

On a motion by town Commissioner Frank Owens, the board recently voted unanimously to end this practice. But those currently receiving the free insurance are not affected. The measure applies only to officials who retire after January 1, 2005.

A couple of years ago several Mooresville officials received negative publicity for charging personal items on their town credit cards.

Recently WSOC-TV reported that retired town Manager Rick McLean had used his town credit card to purchase alcohol at a restaurant. According to Mayor Al Jones, the amount in question was only $16.50, for which McLean has since reimbursed the town.

Last year McLean fired Library Director John Pritchard over a small amount of excess spending on his credit card. The town board later reinstated Pritchard.

Mexico’s Foreign Ministry has printed and distributed a “Guide for the Mexican Migrant.” The comic-style book is essentially a “how to” manual for illegal entry into the United States.

The guide advises illegal immigrants as to their legal rights, but goes further. It tells how best to sneak across the border without being detected, and how to avoid detection once in the United States.

The Mexican government has a department to promote the well-being of Mexican illegals, and routinely sues to protect their rights in U.S. courts. It is estimated that at least five million Mexicans live in the United States illegally.

A few years ago leftwing filmmaker Michael Moore produced the pseudo-documentary Bowling for Columbine. The film exploited the tragic murders at Columbine High School to attack guns and gun owners.

Moore doesn’t think average citizens need firearms to defend themselves. But like most liberals, he applies a different standard to himself. Recently one of his bodyguards was arrested for carrying an unlicensed handgun into Kennedy Airport in New York. Its too bad Moore can’t be charged as an accessory.

A new Harris Poll found that by a margin of 62 to 22 percent (nearly 3/1) Americans did not trust the press. Interestingly, while a majority did not trust the press in general, a 43 to 33 percent plurality of Americans did trust the radio.

Harvey Kash and Carl Lanzisera are founders of Americans for Legal Reform, a group which monitors courts. For years they have stood outside courthouses on Long Island, NY, and mocked lawyers.

In January the two were waiting in line to get into the courthouse. “How do you tell when a lawyer is lying?”, Kash asked. “His lips are moving,” they replied in unison. Many in line laughed.

A lawyer who overheard the joke reported the incident to court officials. The joke tellers were charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.

Austin Aitken watched an installment of the reality show “Fear Factor” in which the contestants ate rats. He alleges the rat eating made his blood pressure rise, causing dizziness, which caused him to run into a doorway, resulting in suffering and pain. He is suing NBC for $2.5 million.

This gives us an idea. The liberal media often makes our blood pressure rise.