Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Moral and Political Failure
The casinos-for-Medicaid deal collapsed in the state legislature partly because it was an epic political miscalculation. It was also profoundly cynical and morally wrong. The Republican leaders, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and Speaker Tim Moore, did the impossible: They united Trump Republicans and almost all Democrats against the deal. Democrats were outraged by…
Teenagers
Mocking, hurling insults, on social media he called people, ‘Morons… Stupid… Dummies…Fascist Monsters…Hacks and Thugs.’ And every time he erupted people laughed, or cheered, or hurled insults back. Here’s a question: When your children talked that way as teenagers did you tell them to stop? So who’s calling people ‘thugs?’ Here’s a clue: He’s leading…
January 6, 2000
Jaw set Trump said, ‘Democrats have been saying for 20 years elections were stolen but not one got indicted.’ Early on election night back in 2000 TV networks announced Al Gore won Florida – later that night, about facing, the same networks said George Bush won Florida by a handful of votes. Angry politicians roared,…
Humor Helps
I got an email titled ‘Old Sayings Still True Today:’ If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates – Jay Leno The problem with political jokes is they get elected We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office – Aesop When I was a boy I…
Bonding Over BBQ
Anderson Clayton reminds me of Jim Hunt: the same energy, the same enthusiasm and the same determination to make North Carolina better – through the Democratic Party. A couple of us old Hunt hands saw that this week when the 86-year-old four-term governor and the 25-year-old first-term party chair met for the first time, at…
Cooper’s Casino Blast
Governor Roy Cooper measures his words carefully, so his tweet Saturday afternoon was striking: “GOP demand for passage of their backroom casino deal in exchange for a state budget and Medicaid expansion is the most brutally dishonest legislative scheme I’ve seen in my 3+ decades. People are right to be suspicious. Something has a grip…
Lauch Faircloth
Former Senator Lauch Faircloth, who died last week at age 95, was a Democrat before he got mad at Terry Sanford. Faircloth got his revenge and got elected to the U.S. Senate. Then he got beat by John Edwards. I was there for the whole Shakespearean saga of vengeance, ambition and – sometimes – comedy.…
Calling Out Liars
Good for the Biden White House! The day after Speaker Kevin McCarthy caved in to the ultra-right and launched a bogus impeachment of the President, the White House fired back – and took a pointed jab at the media: “It’s Time For The Media To Do More To Scrutinize House Republicans’ Demonstrably False Claims That…
FUBAR
In Washington, Republicans block military promotions (still), vowed to shut down the government (again) and launched a bogus impeachment of President Biden. In Raleigh, Republicans can’t pass a budget (still), adjourned without doing anything (again) and were at each other’s throats over casinos. In the press room of Raleigh’s Legislative Building, there’s a FUBAR Meter…