Archive for 2017
Plagues
‘You said to watch that documentary – with all that ranting about ‘real nut jobs’ and ‘stone cold losers’ those two guys remind me of a pair of teenage boys.’ Judge Bryne grunted. ‘You mean Roger Stone and Donald Trump?’ The waitress served three breakfast plates. Conor glanced around the table. ‘That show addled my…
Read MoreWatergate at warp speed
Hand it to Trump. He moves fast. As big a crook as Richard Nixon was, it took him four years to get caught. Trump did it in three months. It took two years for Nixon to resign. What might happen with Trump? Some smart people think he might quit. That he’s thinking: “Running was fun.…
Read MoreThe Greening of Trump
Harrison Hickman, my genius pollster friend, told me a simple fact about the 2016 presidential election that I had not seen anywhere. The votes that Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, got in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania were enough to swing the election from Hillary Clinton. And make Trump President. Here are the numbers. …
Read MoreJim Hunt at 80 and 40
Former Governor Jim Hunt celebrated his 80th birthday last week. And this year marks 40 years since his first year as Governor. Last Thursday evening, Governor and Mrs. Cooper hosted Governor and Carolyn Hunt, their family and about 200 “Hunt alumni” – from 16 years of staff, Cabinet and campaign teams – for a wonderful…
Read MoreScoop Breaks Record
Imagine: A reporter leaning over a computer, eyes locked on Donald Trump’s face, watches the President’s lips begin to move, hears the words ‘Great,’ ‘Huge’ and ‘Fake News’ and goes a little berserk – then the phone rings and a voice says sitting in the Oval Office with the Russian Ambassador the President did the…
Read MoreFollow the Money
That’s the guidance Deep Throat gave Bob Woodward through Watergate. It also applies to Trumpgate. (Of course, it’s hard to follow anything given the velocity with which Trump is trampling the government, national security and the Constitution.) With Trump, it’s always about the money. His money. That’s his Russia tie. Not just the long red one…
Read MoreShow Business
CNN said Roger told Donald he ought to fire Comey and Donald Tweeted “Fake news. Have not spoken to Roger in a long time.” Then Roger told ABC he’d spoken to Donald “very recently.” It was an odd sort of disagreement between two old friends that left ‘Trumpistas’ angry, liberals outraged and the media in…
Read More2 Tyrants, 1 Leader
Trump saw the FBI on his trail. So he fired Comey. Senate Boss Berger was enraged that Democrats had the gall to propose amendments to his budget. So at 3 am he rammed through an amendment taking money away from schools in Democratic districts. Those were the actions of tyrants. There’s another way. Governor Cooper…
Read MoreMill Wheels
It was part circus and part melodrama but the mill wheels were grinding, even if it left you shaking your head: On Twitter Trump was hollering ‘Ask her who leaked the classified information’ and, at the same time, the Democrats were howling ‘Prove Flynn was Trump’s go-between with the Russians.’ A trio of Republican Senators…
Read MoreKatie-Bar-the-Door
He leaned forward pouring over page after page of numbers, searching for a lodestar, then stopped: ‘Republicans are dropping. Democrats are dropping. Independents are going up. There’ll be more registered Independents than Republicans by the end of the year,’ he said and I asked, ‘Did you see Pat McCrory’s TV interview?’ ‘You mean where…
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