Posts by Carter Wrenn
The Unraveling
At an ‘Open House’ years ago at our school I listened as Eric talked with a parent I barely knew – then as the parent walked away I said, He sounds like a reasonable man. He mistreats his wife, Eric said. Physically? Eric nodded. I looked back at the parent and saw a different man.…
Read MoreA Real Threat
We Americans thrive on disagreeing and fighting among ourselves – it’s part of the fabric of our democracy. But, since the election, our natural crankiness seems to have deepened into paranoia. Young people in colleges are demonstrating, afraid, after Donald Trump’s election, their freedom of speech is in peril. More than a few Internet websites…
Read MoreWarning: Rumors Ahead
On Election Day Republicans lost their majority on the State Supreme Court, but this morning the newspaper reported – when the General Assembly returns to town next week – Republicans may try to ‘pack’ the State Supreme Court by adding two new Republican Justices. Since the election there’s been a story – more of a…
Read MoreMissiles
Last week Congress passed legislation to make our ‘missile defenses’ stronger and immediately a hue and cry went up from ‘arms control activists:’ Strengthening our missile defenses, Union of Concerned Scientists declared, would frighten Russia and China which would lead to instability. So what do we do? Wait and hope no rogue nation like North…
Read MoreKlansmen for Trump, Again
A troop of determined anti-Klan demonstrators, who’d probably read the News and Observer’s story – based on an Internet website – about a ‘Klansmen for Trump’ rally in Pelham, showed up at 9am to protest. The same day – last Saturday – anti-Klan protestors gathered in Moore Square in Raleigh and across the state. There…
Read MoreCaesar’s Wife and Smelly
An ally of the Governor’s – The Civitas Institute – sued to stop the State Board of Elections counting 90,000 ballots cast by people who’d registered and voted on the same day; normally the State Justice Department would have defended the Board but, since those voters cast ballots in Attorney General Roy Cooper’s race against…
Read MorePat and Roy
Pat laid his offer on the table Saturday: Recount Durham’s votes and I’ll drop my request for recounts in other counties, he told the State Board of Elections. It sounded reasonable. And fair. But like a lot of knotty problems there’s more than one way to look at it. The chance of a Durham recount…
Read MoreConnecting the Dots: Broken Journalism
After a year of waking up every morning to listen to name-calling and howling on TV I figured, Enough politics – after the election what everyone needed was a break to calm down. About a week later I read an article about the demise of journalism during the election, thought, Amen – then a couple…
Read MoreTwenty-Something Gunslingers
Ole Pat labored faithfully day-in and day-out and did his best to whip Roy for almost two years but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t quite catch up – on Election Night when the first returns rolled in it looked like the polls were right: Pat trailed. But within an hour the world…
Read MoreHope
Well, it’s Election Day and we haven’t covered ourselves with glory – Hillary sounded like the meanest mother-in-law on earth yesterday and if Donald Trump ever so much as looks sideways at another blonde he ought to be committed to Bedlam. If politics is the measurement of our nation’s virtue – we’re up the creek:…
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