Posts by Gary Pearce
Sowing the Wind
Politicians with too much power always go too far. In less than 24 hours, North Carolina House Republicans rammed through a far-reaching abortion ban. It’s 46 pages long, and we barely grasp its consequences. It’s a radical, right-wing assault on women. It criminalizes health-care professionals. It outlaws safe, sound and responsible medical care. Thank Tricia…
Read MoreCleta Mitchell is Worried
Two people from my political past are battling over college students voting. Cleta Mitchell wants to make it harder for them to vote. Daniel Gilligan wants to make it easier. Daniel was a student in a politics class I taught at NC State 20 years ago as an adjunct lecturer. (I think “adjunct” is Latin…
Read MoreFox Poll on Guns
If you don’t watch Fox News, you may have missed its poll on guns: “Voters favor gun limits over arming citizens to reduce gun violence.” The April 21-24 nationwide survey found: This time, Fox News isn’t fake news. Yet, Congress and the North Carolina legislature will do nothing. Thank the NRA.
Read MoreKnock, knock. Bang, bang
Across the county, innocent people – including children and teenagers – are getting shot for ringing the wrong doorbell or turning into the wrong driveway. A reader asks: “Who in the world would want to do Meals on Wheels, sell Girl Scout cookies or knock on doors to campaign?” Don’t ask me to do any…
Read MoreFamily Feud
Our dysfunctional American family is picking a leader again, and we’re all tore up. My side of the family thinks Grandpa Joe has done a grand job. He fixed up the house nicely. He handles the dangerous neighbors on the next block with a firm, steady hand. We worry he’s a bit shaky at 80,…
Read MoreDefund the Schools?
The legislature’s expansion of private-school vouchers fulfills a nearly 70-year-old dream of North Carolina’s far-right. Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregated schools unconstitutional in 1954, ultra-conservatives here have wanted to replace integrated public schools with all-white private schools. Leading the charge back then were avowed segregationists I. Beverly Lake (pictured) and Tom Ellis.…
Read MoreWe’re in Good Hands
Near the end of a Zoom meeting this week with Anderson Clayton and other new leaders of the state Democratic Party (and about 100 other people), I messaged the group: “AC, y’all are the best thing to happen to the party in a long time.” Clayton, the new party chair, and vice chairs Jonah Garson…
Read More4,000 Kids Killed by Guns
Nearly 4,000 children and teens are killed by guns every year in America. 15,000 more are shot and injured, according to Everytown Research & Policy. Guns are the leading cause of death for children and teens. In 2021–2022, there were 193 incidents of gunfire at preschools and K–12 schools. Over the last two decades, more…
Read MoreA Nation Divided
Vicious partisanship. A vitriolic press. Fistfights, skirmishes and violent clashes. Foreign interference in domestic politics. A crackdown on immigrants. States defying federal law. A bitterly contested election. An unpopular one-term President ousted. That was the United States from 1792-1800. Our nation was small and weak then, a precarious vessel tossed about on stormy seas, steered…
Read MoreI don’t care
The Tricia Cotham soap opera doesn’t interest me. Were Democrats mean to her? I don’t care. Did PAC donations play a part? I don’t care. Will a once-pro-abortion progressive find peace, love and joy in the Republican caucus? I don’t care. Things I do care about: the public-school crisis, the behavioral-health crisis, the gun crisis,…
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