Posts by Gary Pearce
Now what?
Two questions arise now that Manafort and an associate have been charged. Will Trump go full Nixon and fire Mueller? If so, will the Republican Congress stand up for the rule of law? All eyes on Burr and Tillis.
Read MoreFlake out
Jeff Flake said it’s time to stand up. Then he said he’ll step down. Bob Corker stood up to Trump, but he’s also stepping down. George W. Bush gave an eloquent speech. But W, Poppy and Low-Energy Jeb are history. John McCain gave a great speech. But he has nothing to lose. For all the…
Read MoreThe content of his character
Only Trump can turn what should have been a sympathetic call to a fallen soldier’s widow into a week-long (so far), racially charged brouhaha over who said what to who and who can say what to a four-star general. Americans may not be tired of winning yet. But many, even Trump voters, are getting tired…
Read MoreThe anti-democratic (small d) party
Some Republicans have the annoying habit of calling us “the Democrat Party.” It’s an old slur, dating back to the 1940s and 1950s. Maybe “slur” is too strong a word. “Democrat Party” is more an insulting, annoying, derisive epithet. It conjures up “autocrat” or “bureaucrat” or just plain “rat.” When he was Speaker of the…
Read MoreDigging our own grave online
Back in the 1950s, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev boasted that “We will bury you.” Vladimir Putin figured out that if he just gave us the right tools, we’d bury ourselves. A spate of news stories explores how Russian misinformation (fake news) combined with Americans’ own rage and with our addiction to social media to affect…
Read MoreThe good news and the bad news for Democrats in Raleigh’s Mayoral race
The good news: Democrats are fired up and ready to vote. The bad news: They’re fired up at each other and ready to start a civil war. Nancy McFarlane says Charles Francis’s decision to call a runoff will “divide those who share progressive values.” And her supporters say Francis has been known to consort with…
Read MoreTrump’s bully pulpit
Trump puts the “bully” into Teddy Roosevelt’s “bully pulpit.” Trump has 40.3 million Twitter followers. Every morning, he gets up, picks up his cell phone and picks a fight with somebody. This week it’s “Liddle Bob Corker.” Last week it was his own Secretary of State. All the time now, it’s (black) NFL players. His…
Read MoreRace, party and – yes, Trump and the Republican legislature – roil Raleigh politics
The Meeker-McFarlane Era of Good Feelings in Raleigh politics ended Tuesday. It had a good run for 16 years, but it’s over. Not since the days of Tom Fetzer and Paul Coble, who lost to Charles Meeker in 2001, has Raleigh politics been this hot and heavy. Why? First, race. The contest between Nancy McFarlane…
Read MoreNow he tells us
Tennessee Senator Bob Corker uncorked on Trump in an interview with The New York Times, “Bob Corker Says Trump’s Recklessness Threatens ‘World War III’:” “(Corker) charged in an interview on Sunday that President Trump was treating his office like ‘a reality show,’ with reckless threats toward other countries that could set the nation ‘on the…
Read MoreTrump’s true colors
Something has always seemed off psychologically about Trump. The ego, the grandiosity, the thin skin. The missing link came into focus in Puerto Rico when he tossed the paper towels to hurricane victims: The man has no empathy for other human beings. His coldness and his contempt show when he is forced to mix with…
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