Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Trump Versus Biden
Biden’s itching to run against Trump – he’s the Republican Biden’s most likely to beat. And it looks like Biden may get what he wants – in a poll last week Trump had 52% of the vote, a big lead, in the Republican primary. But there’re warning signs (for Trump): A block of his voters…
24 Hours
Ole Trump’s a law unto himself. Back during COVID he speculated that injecting bleach in your arm might kill the virus. Last week, in New York, he said that when he was president he prevented a nuclear holocaust and saved millions of lives. Running for president, again, he says he’ll end the Ukraine War in…
How Low Can They Go?
You’ve hit bottom when Donald Trump Jr. accuses you of “shady back room deals.” He tweeted about North Carolina legislators’ machinations on casinos: “What’s going on in NC? Outrageous. Shady back room deals and crony capitalism are not the path to #MAGA!” One thing the Trumps surely know is The Art of the Shady Deal.…
The Inescapable Issue
Powers beyond our control, breeding crises no one saw coming, have changed politics in the blink of an eye: Pearl Harbor did that. So did 9/11. And Covid. The ‘unexpected’ makes predicting the outcome of an election a year away risky business. For all we know Putin may invade Poland next. Or Kim Jong Un…
Politainment
A video landed from a friend in my inbox – Reverend R.C. Sproul talking about ‘worshiptainment,’ – a blight sowed in churches by preachers turning services into concerts, stage shows. I wrote back, agreed, added I felt the same way about ‘politainment.’ Vivek Ramaswamy’s the new Republican politainer. We’ve also got entertainer Mark Robinson off…
Four More Years?
An aging President faces questions about his fitness for a second term. His poll numbers are discouraging. Americans are down on the economy. The opposing party smells blood. Joe Biden in 2023? Maybe. But also, Ronald Reagan in 1983, 40 years ago. Then, things changed. In 1984, a Reagan-Republican rout reshaped politics for decades to…
Earth to Mike Pence
At the debate Mike Pence told Vivek Ramaswamy he was ‘wrong’ three times. After the debate, while campaigning in Iowa, Pence called Ramaswamy wrong two more times. Mike Pence is a good man but his campaign’s headed in an odd direction: He trails Donald Trump by 40 points but hammers Vivek Ramaswamy – but even…
Until the Roof Falls In
A veteran who fought in the Iraqi war wrote in an op-ed: “Civic ignorance is a very old American problem…as far back as 1943, 77 percent of Americans knew essentially nothing about the Bill of Rights, and in 1952 only 19 percent could name the three branches of government.” He went on to say ‘civil…
Supreme Politics
My lawyer and judge friends may rule me out of order, but I believe Democratic candidates for the state Supreme Court should tell voters where they stand on fundamental constitutional issues. They should say that women have a constitutional right to abortion, that gerrymandering and voter suppression are unconstitutional, and that the legislature hasn’t met…