Posts by Gary Pearce
King, Trump and Helms
My blog “President Shithead” irked a TAPster who worked for Jesse Helms (not Carter): “I don’t mind when you pick on my old boss, but saying he’s part of a string of Trumps… that’s hitting below the belt.” That is pretty low. But is it justified? Well, Martin Luther King Day is an appropriate day…
Read MorePresident Shithead
At times like this I consult my friend Boweaver. Now 90-something, he’s seen it all. He grew up in the Depression, enlisted in World War II and would be happy if FDR had lived forever and stayed President. His counsel generally keeps my head from exploding. He wrote back: “Who cares if Trump called some…
Read MoreCooped up
2017 was a cold first year for Governor Cooper. More heat is coming in 2018. Fittingly Cooper started both years on TV, managing snow and ice storms and wearing “disaster casual” (a tip of the TAP hat to Joe Stewart). In between, the Governor navigated an icy relationship with a power-crazed Republican legislature. He spent…
Read MoreThere are leaders. And there’s Trump
The big holiday gift book was about Grant. The big movie is about Churchill. The hot book now – and the big story – is about Trump. Two leaders. And one poor excuse for a leader. I haven’t read the Trump book. I’ve read plenty about it. It’s set the political and media agenda since…
Read MoreHappy 2018
A year that started with Trump’s inauguration was bound to suck. Good riddance, 2017. The year – and Trump – were so bad, 2018 is bound to be better. First, there’s a counter-reaction coming. There always is in politics. Second, women are mobilizing, voting, organizing, running and winning. That caused earthquakes in Virginia and Alabama.…
Read MoreTrump or taxes?
Republicans have picked their battle line for 2018: “We cut your taxes, the economy is booming, stick with us.” Will Democrats take that fight? Or is there a better path to victory? Maybe the Republican tax bill will be the political and economic disaster that Washington Democrats say it is. But, hey, Democrats don’t have…
Read MoreMoore questions
Fundraising emails from Democrats in Washington insist that Doug Jones could beat Trump’s wingman Roy Moore Tuesday night. Okay, I hear you. But we’re talking about Alabama. If Jones does win, Democrats will face some interesting questions. Like, can we win in the South only when the Republican is a creepy sexual predator? If the…
Read MoreBankrupt GOP
Set aside what the Republican tax bill does to people and the economy. Look at how they passed it, why they did it and what it says about who they are. House and Senate Republicans rushed through massive bills that affect the entire economy – with no hearings, no transparency and none of John McCain’s…
Read MoreThis should do the trick
The Republican tax bill should pretty much cinch a big Democratic year in 2018. The bill does exactly what Americans suspect Republicans want to do: reward their big donors at the expense of everybody else. When you take away a tax break for teachers who pay out of their pockets for school supplies – and…
Read MoreRace, rage and Democrats
My last blog quoted Jim Messina, President Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, on Trump’s tweets. There’s another point in Messina’s article that deserves attention: “…(A) debate has developed within some of the Democratic Party about whether we should focus on the white working-class voters or what pollsters call the ‘rising American electorate,’ which is usually defined…
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