Posts by Gary Pearce
Fatal Folly
The National Guard members who were shot in Washington came from West Virginia. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom (photo) died; she was just 20. Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe is fighting for life; he is 24. President Trump sent their unit to D.C. to fight crime, he claimed – but, really, to score political points. The…
Read MoreRoadkill?
I didn’t know what to tell this prospective candidate. They (I use “they” to protect the innocent) want to run as Unaffiliated in a heavily gerrymandered Republican district. And they wanted my advice. Why run Unaffiliated? “Because a Democrat doesn’t stand a chance, and voters deserve a choice.” Much as I admire that, I wasn’t…
Read MoreTrump + Mamdani
The last time a “fascist” and a “communist” were this chummy, they divided up Poland. This time, President Trump and New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani shook up politics. Trump had called Mamdani a “communist lunatic.” The mayor-to-be had called the President a “fascist” and “despot.” But love was in bloom when the two met Friday.…
Read MoreFighting for Freedom
Do any “Freedom Conservatives” in the Republican Party have qualms about masked government agents snatching people off the street and locking them up? The only Republican I’ve heard pipe up is lame-duck Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who said at a Senate hearing yesterday: “I want to make sure that Homeland Security can provide…
Read MoreThe Forgotten President
We know about the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. We may know that the assassination of William McKinley in 1901 elevated “that damned cowboy,” Theodore Roosevelt, to the Presidency. But who knows about the fourth President to be assassinated, James A. Garfield? A new Netflix series, Death by Lightning, reintroduces us to…
Read MoreReign of Terror
Federal agents – and fear – have descended on North Carolina. I’m old enough to remember when President Kennedy sent federal agents to protect Black Americans from racist cops and masked Klansmen. Trump sends masked agents – why the masks? – to terrorize people who look Hispanic. As Governor Josh Stein said, “This is not…
Read MoreBit by the Politics Bug
The four of us – from four political generations – fell into talking about when we first got hooked on politics. The oldest, in his 80s, remembered his father letting him stay up and watch the national conventions in 1952, when Dwight Eisenhower and Robert Taft battled for the Republican nomination and Adlai Stevenson and…
Read MorePodcasting Jim Hunt
Jim Hunt finished his fourth term as Governor 25 years ago this coming January, and many North Carolinians today don’t know the enormous impact he had on our state. Colin Campbell at WUNC Radio – seeking “to better understand what he accomplished and what lessons his political career offers for today’s landscape in state politics”…
Read MoreA Writer’s Mark
My wife didn’t say I had to go, but I figured it was smart to go. So, instead of walking our dog in the woods and watching football last Saturday, I went with her to Northampton County for the unveiling of a state historical marker honoring her late aunt, Mebane Holoman Burgwyn. The Burgwyn family…
Read MoreDemocrats’ Victory Roads
Not only is there a road to Democratic victory, there are roads – plural. For Republicans, there’s only one road: Trump’s way – or the highway. Democrats took many paths to winning Tuesday – from a democratic socialist in New York City (a Muslim) to an ex-Navy officer in New Jersey (a woman) to an…
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