Posts by Gary Pearce
A nation at risk
Has America really come to this? Have we come to where we must rely on the Republican Party to save us from electing a President who is an arrogant, egotistical blowhard with the vocabulary and maturity of a fourth-grade boy and the potential to wreck our economy and start World War III? What have we…
Read MoreStrange Budfellows
There was anti-union, pro-free market Phil Berger. On a Teamsters Union truck. Decrying corporate plans to close the MillerCoors plant in Eden. I’m reminded of that great political philosopher, Groucho Marx, who once said, “Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others.”
Read MoreIn defense of Woodland
Two people say something stupid, the Internet goes crazy and a fine little town gets smeared around the world. I rise in defense of Woodland, North Carolina. Regrettably, I’m not defending the town against the usual hit squad of right-wing Republicans who stereotype people, like Muslims and gays. This time, the stereotyping is by some…
Read MoreWRAL’s climate change
Greg Fishel says he took a while to change his mind on climate change. Then he got a quick lesson in politics. Richard Stradling wrote in the N&O (“Climate change reversal puts brighter spotlight on weatherman Greg Fishel”): Fishel’s change in thinking has showed him how divided Americans are on this subject and others. It…
Read MoreIs Trump 2016’s Ross Perot?
Didn’t we see this movie before? A billionaire with a big ego and a bigger mouth seizes the stage, runs for President as an independent and ends up electing President Clinton. That was Ross Perot in 1992. Now Donald Trump is warning he may go third-party next year. Visions of Republican chaos and a Clinton…
Read MoreThis is your chance, Chris Christie
The worse Donald Trump gets, the better his poll numbers get. Once again, he owns the national political debate because he goes where no one else dares to go. And when you go where even Dick Cheney and the South Carolina Republican Party chair won’t go, you’ve left the gravitational pull of Earth. It’s time…
Read MoreTerror and the Oval Office
The political significance of President Obama’s speech last night wasn’t what he said, but why. Obviously, our famously no-drama Commander-in-Chief felt the seismic shift after the California killings. Weeks ago, he calmly assured us that ISIS (why does he say “ISIL”?) was “contained.” Last night, he sternly assured us he takes the threat seriously. Forget…
Read MoreHere we go again
As soon as you heard about the California shootings, you knew what was coming next: another political shootout over gun control, Muslim refugees, mental health, homegrown terrorism, etc, etc. Right after politicians sent out their requisite “thoughts and prayers” to the victims. And we should have all those debates. But first take some advice from…
Read MoreNo holiday for campaigns
A year from now, either Roy Cooper’s team or Pat McCrory’s team will be sifting through resumes for the next administration. The losers will be polishing their own resumes. Right now, both teams are deep in the same two struggles: raising millions of dollars and wrestling for control of the debate. Soon, we’ll know whether…
Read MoreTrump disease
Donald Trump is like a fever in the Republican body politic: a sign of sickness. A lot of Republicans are hoping and praying the fever breaks before the sickness infects the entire body. Trump has owned about a third of the Republican vote in polls since he announced. That one-third gravitated to him when he…
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