Posts by Gary Pearce
A Win for Perdue
Remember the furor last year when Governor Perdue announced that dozens of long-term, convicted criminals might get out of prison early because of an issue over “good time”? Remember how everybody said what a disaster this would be for her? Remember how critics said she overreacted by threatening to stand in the jailhouse…
Read MoreFlight of Fancy
My friend Damon Circosta, executive director on the N.C. Center for Voter Education, gets an A for effort but an F for persuasiveness. Circosta, according to Under the Dome, says the flap over Governor Perdue’s campaign not reporting some flights is an argument for “voter-owned” (publicly financed) campaigns. http://projects.newsobserver.com/dome#ixzz0yBS20BU0 The logic goes over…
Read MoreResolved
I’m amused by people who argue that the “mosque” shouldn’t be built near Ground Zero because a poll showed a majority of Americans oppose it. Well, not along ago I saw a poll that found, for the first time, that most Americans think gay couples should be allowed to wed. That settles it,…
Read MoreOnly in America…
…could a charlatan like Glenn Beck (with Sarah Palin as backup) claim that holding his Washington rally on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s is “divine providence” AND simultaneously claim that an Islamic center shouldn’t be built two blocks from Ground Zero because it offends some people. Am I the only person who thinks…
Read MoreCan’t We All Get Along?
It’s a familiar question. I heard it again not long ago. My Republican friend/foe Jack Hawke and I were tossing partisan grenades at each other during a panel on this year’s elections. When it was time for Q&A, the question was: “Can’t the two parties put aside their differences and solve our problems…
Read MoreHolding for AG?
The rumor among Republicans is that George Holding will run against Roy Cooper for AG in 2012. That assumes, of course, that Holding doesn’t stay on as U.S. Attorney forever. It also assumes he finally handles his high-profile cases: Mike Easley and John Edwards. Maybe Holding will punt Easley to the state,…
Read MorePerdue’s Luck
Governor Perdue can’t catch a break. Today should have been a big news day for her: North Carolina winning one of the 10 “Race to the Top” selections. That’s a big step forward in school reform. And, by the way, one of the most significant and least recognized achievements of the Obama administration.…
Read MoreThe Inmates Are Loose
One thing is clear from Tuesday’s primaries: the lunatics are running the Republican asylum. Rick Scott, a key figure in the biggest health-care fraud scandal ever, won the Republican nomination for governor of Florida. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski trails a Sarah Palin-endorsed Tea Partier. And John McCain, who gave America Sarah Palin, survived in…
Read MoreNot ‘94?
The last couple of weeks, I’ve talked with Democrats and Republicans who are deeply involved in this year’s elections. And I found a ray of hope for Democrats: 2010 may not be 1994 revisited. The reason: 1994 itself. What happened that year is hard-wired into Democratic DNA – in North Carolina and…
Read MoreHallowed Principle
Well, Carter, I get your point that the World Trade Center is “hallowed ground.” But why does that mean a mosque, or an Islamic cultural center, shouldn’t be two blocks away? In an area, apparently, that is now home to bars, restaurants and a strip club? Apparently, the reasoning is that anything Islamic…
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