Posts by Gary Pearce
It’s All in the Game
What is it about our sports teams that possesses us so? Brazil’s soccer team loses in the World Cup, and a nation plunges into despair, mourning and an angry orgy of recrimination. A national tragedy, it seems. LeBron James takes his talents home, and a city erupts in joy and thanks. The Second…
Read MoreOur Changing Faces
You hear that North Carolina is growing and changing. Now you can see just how and how much – and what that may mean for politics – thanks to Ferrel Guillory and his colleagues at the UNC Program on Public Life. They have just posted their new issue of NC DataNet on their website.…
Read MoreLessons From Charleston
It is a well-known fact that the not-so-great state of South Carolina has only two things going for it: the coast and the city of Charleston. The coast is there by the grace of God and the gifts of nature. But it turns out that much of what makes Charleston a great place –…
Read MoreAaron Fussell
Aaron Fussell was one of those modest World War II heroes who saved the free world, then came home and spent the rest of his life building a better world. I knew him as school superintendent and a legislator. But I got to know him best much later, on the golf course. That’s where…
Read MoreMore Stupid Hat!
Governor Pat (Stupid Hat) McCrory’s admonition worked! No deaths or injuries were reported from Hurricane Arthur after he went on television urging North Carolinians along the coast: “Don’t put on your stupid hat.” He even mimed putting on a stupid hat. And made air quotes around “stupid hat.” It got it on the CBS…
Read MoreNot Joshing Around
I know that people in the Governor’s Office read this blog. So please pass this message on to Governor McCrory: Josh Ellis needs some time off. Josh, the Governor’s communications director, responded rather sharply to my blog yesterday about McCrory’s new Governor’s Teacher Network (GTN). (See “McCrory’s Make-up Test.”) Josh’s email is below,…
Read MoreMcCrory’s Make-up Test
Governor McCrory acts like a man who had a serious health scare and now vows to eat right and exercise. His main exercise is running away from the state Senate as fast as he can. Clearly, the Governor has seen the Senate’s poll numbers on education. He doesn’t want to catch that bug. …
Read MoreCorporations Vs. The People
This is one of the oldest battles in our Republic. And you ain’t seen nothing yet. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision ignites a battle over women’s health care, which will command center stage. But it’s really just part of the long-running battle over the proper relationship between corporations and the government/the people.…
Read MoreThe Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!
Maybe Chad Barefoot really believes Putin reared his head and Russia reached its tentacles into the anti-fracking forces in North Carolina. Or maybe it’s just a cynical attempt to raise money from a Fox-fed mob of ignoramuses. Or maybe it’s a desperate overreaction to a poll showing that voters don’t like fracking. …
Read MoreWe Don’t Hear You, Raleigh
It’s a rite of summer. The House, the Senate and the Governor can’t agree on a budget. They tell themselves that millions of North Carolinians are in suspense, following the latest twist in the budget deliberations like they’re binge-watching Netflix. This year, Governor McCrory and Speaker Tillis decide a bold stroke is needed to…
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