Posts by Gary Pearce
Political Justice
As the Bush administrationâs politics-in-Justice scandal mounts in Washington, one would be naïve not to wonder about recent federal prosecutions in Raleigh. No, Iâm not defending Jim Black, Michael Decker or Kevin Geddings. They clearly broke the law, betrayed the public trust and deserve punishment. But the harshness of their sentences does raise your antennae.…
Read MoreReturn of John McCain
Watch for a John McCain comeback in the Republican presidential campaign. Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney have taken their star turns. And the social conservatives who dominate the Republican Party can’t be happy. Giuliani is taking them on directly. He says his support for abortion rights, gun control and gay rights should not matter. Good…
Read MoreThe Wake Schools Plot
It’s all a vast right-wing conspiracy. And it’s about to wreck the Wake County schools. The plotters started by opposing a school-construction bond issue in 1999. They beat it. Then they targeted the school board elections, but lost. So they targeted election of the county commissioners, who control the school money. They won there. The…
Read MoreDemocratic Derby
If the Democratic presidential race was the Kentucky Derby, John Edwards would be the third-place horse hoping for Hillary and Obama to stumble – or leave him a gap to run through. Edwards’ best chance for a breakthrough is on the war. No other issue matters: health care, global warming, none of them. It’s all…
Read MorePutin’s Soul
Two things jumped out from the pictures taken of George Bush senior, Bill Clinton and Vladimir Putin at Boris Yeltsin’s funeral: Putin’s cold killer’s eyes. Which reminds us what George Bush junior said when he met Putin: he looked in his eyes and saw his soul. And decided it was good. Which explains why Bush…
Read MoreWith Friends Like These…
Driving along U.S. 64 to the Outer Banks – through Martin, Washington and Tyrrell counties – you see an endless string of “No OLF” signs. Handmade, in various sizes, shapes and lettering, they make clear residents’ opposition to the Navy’s Outlying Landing Field. Now virtually every politician in Raleigh has jumped on the “No OLF”…
Read MoreOur Commander-in-Chief
President Bush calls himself “the decider.” Now he has a new wartime title, bestowed upon himself by himself. Bush met with congressional leaders Wednesday on the war-spending bill. Then he gave a speech criticizing Democrats for their get-out-of-Iraq deadline. He added: “The question is, ‘who ought to make that decision, the Congress or the commanders?’…
Read MoreRahmbo Secrecy
I’m ashamed of my fellow Democrats. They shut the press out of last weekend’s Jefferson-Jackson Day speech by Congressman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois. What could Rahmbo have said that was so hush-hush? A secret plan to end the war in Iraq? A secret plan to take over the White House and increase Democratic congressional majorities…
Read MoreA Democratic Senator in ‘08?
Whenever a Democrat asks me about beating Liddy Dole next year, I ask this trivia question: Who was the last Democrat from North Carolina to win a U.S. Senate seat in a presidential election year? The answer: Sam Ervin. 1968. Almost 40 years ago. And Ervin won not as the Watergate folk hero – that…
Read MoreMissing David Halberstam
After David Halberstam died this week, The News & Observer reported on a chance meeting that U.S. Attorney George Holding had with Halberstam a month ago. According to the N&O account by Matthew Eisley: It was a chance encounter last month at a hotel bar in Washington. (Holding) had happened to sit next to a…
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