Posts by Gary Pearce
The Sins of Ruffin Poole
The fall of Ruffin Poole is an old story in politics, one familiar to readers of All the King’s Men. An idealistic young man (and it’s always a man) goes into politics, hooks up with a winning politician and ends up next to the seat of power. It’s a heady wine. Suddenly people want…
Read MoreInmate Labor Pains
What would Jim Gardner say? The silver-haired, golden-tongued GOP gubernatorial candidate had a great issue in 1992, when he was running against Jim Hunt: “Make prisoners work – and work hard,” he said in his TV spots. He was outraged that hardened criminals were idling away their time “watching TV and working out.”…
Read MoreDangerous Business
We now have clear evidence that political blogging is hazardous to the health of the body politic. Under the Dome led this morning with my blog speculating that the legislature would be in session until December. It was a joke. I was being facetious. (Well, partly facetious. I was serious about legislators being…
Read MoreA Reese Hart Story
Back in the 1970s, the AP had a legislative reporter in Raleigh named Reese Hart. In those days, AP, UPI and all the major newspapers generated a flood of stories about daily legislative developments. The N&O, where I worked, had a couple of pages every day devoted to the minutiae of bill introductions, committee meetings…
Read MoreThe Obama Poll Bump
Dick Morris was quick to dismiss the AP poll showing President Obama’s approval rating at 60 percent. The sample was “too Democratic,” he said. Indeed. Well, if Dick’s squawking, Republicans must be squirming. Especially given the pitiful weakness of their presidential field so far. Now, I’ve cautioned Democrats about a post-bin Laden “bump”…
Read MoreOff Track Again
First it was protecting us against Shariah law. Then it was protecting our right to carry guns to parks and workplaces. Then it was designing roads. Now it’s dictating medical procedures to women and their doctors. Republicans in the legislature are determined to do everything – but address North Carolina’s economic problems. And…
Read MoreWrong Turn
Once again Republicans in the legislature have focused on an issue that apparently is more urgent than creating jobs and balancing the budget: They’ve gone into the road-designing business. Bruce Siceloff reports in the N&O that “the Senate is scheduled to vote today on a proposal to rip out part of an Asheville road,…
Read MoreA Quirk of History
I’m fascinated by odd coincidences in history – like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both dying on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after the Declaration of Independence. What are the odds? What are the odds that a terrorist named Osama would be killed in a military operation ordered by a President named…
Read MoreWarning: Non-PC Jokes Ahead
Last week, I received a couple of definitely non-politically correct Osama jokes from TAPsters. I wasn’t sure whether to post them, especially given all the angst about killing Osama, the raucous celebrations, releasing the death photos, etc., etc. Then I decided: What does this blog stand for if it’s not for offending some people?…
Read MoreThe Osama Story and Photo
President Obama probably wishes his PR team worked as smoothly as the SEAL team that killed Osama and the intelligence team that found him. The White House fuzzed up the triumph by rushing to put out information that later proved to be wrong. Here’s a guess about why that happened: The White House…
Read More