Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Last week Republican legislators stripped Governor-elect Roy Cooper of power. This week Cooper showed he still has the power to beat them. Cooper’s strategy was simple and elegant: If the Republicans repealed HB2, he won. If they didn’t, he won bigger. They didn’t. He won. Big time. The Republicans had said – over and over…
Read MoreThe devil never sleeps; for four years the Republican powers-that-be in Raleigh worked and strained to have Pat McCrory appoint their sons, cousins, friends and contributors to patronage jobs – then Roy Cooper defeated Pat and, a moment later, temptation whispered, Protect your friends. And loved ones. If you don’t they’ll lose their jobs. Only…
Read MoreThe Founding Fathers, in their wisdom, gave us the Electoral College. Now the Electoral College has given us President Trump. We know he lost the popular vote by almost 3 million votes, and we know most Americans believe he isn’t fit for the Oval Office. But in the six weeks since the election we’ve learned…
Read MoreMy old boss Governor Hunt should be proud. Forty years after he first took office and 16 years after he last left, he still drives Republicans nuts. Governor-elect Roy Cooper should be proud. He hasn’t even taken office and he’s driving them nuts. All Democrats should grab the Christmas gift the GOP has given us.…
Read MoreThere were a lot of folks patting themselves on the back in the newspaper the other morning: The head of the LGBT Human Rights Committee sat down with the editors of the News and Observer and told them, ‘HB2 doomed McCrory.’ However, the Reverend William Barber, head of the NAACP, didn’t see it the same…
Read MoreFirst Trump said he didn’t need to hear any intelligence. Then he named Rick Perry to head a Cabinet department that Perry once wanted to abolish, except he couldn’t remember the name of it. To which a TAPster says, “Somebody get me a dumbrella – it’s raining stupid.”
Read MoreA book about the 1950’s sounds like a bland and vanilla story but it turns out David Halberstam had two stories to tell – and one wasn’t about the 50’s. Back when Milton Berle and ‘I Love Lucy’ ruled the airwaves unemployment was nil, inflation was nil, incomes were rising and families were moving…
Read MoreForget for now what Democrats will do in the Age of Trump. What will Republicans do? They won their biggest election victories in many a year, thanks to a man who ran against their party establishment, ridiculed and routed their favored candidates, and has at best a tenuous commitment to their conservative orthodoxy. He promises…
Read MoreAt an ‘Open House’ years ago at our school I listened as Eric talked with a parent I barely knew – then as the parent walked away I said, He sounds like a reasonable man. He mistreats his wife, Eric said. Physically? Eric nodded. I looked back at the parent and saw a different man.…
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If you seek political asylum the next four years, try Iceland. We went there last week…
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The tumult and the shouting dies; The Captains and the Kings depart: Still stands Thine ancient…
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Bert Bennett of Winston-Salem, the legendary political godfather to Terry Sanford and Jim Hunt, had a…
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