Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Two of my PR friends considered it unethical for Raleigh PR exec Rick French to shop around the offer of “Juror Number Six” in the Casey Anthony trial to talk to the media – for $50,000. Just to be contrary, I posed this contrary question: “What’s wrong with the jurors cashing in? Everybody else…
This is going to be fun. North Carolina joins the states that have “veto override sessions.” It’s uncharted territory. Nobody here has much experience with this kind of thing. We’ll learn fast. And move fast if, as Speaker Tillis promised, the session lasts only four days. Last I saw, Governor Perdue had…
A kind reader emailed this week: “I enjoy your blog. What’s a TAPster?” A TAPster is my version of a Tipster. TAP is for “Talking About Politics.” Plus, I promised to buy a beer for anyone who sends me material that I post, which saves me the trouble of doing my own thinking and…
Folks used to say, You can’t fight City Hall, but these days City Hall down in Stanly County is having a tough time battling a multi-national corporation. Back in the 1950’s the federal government granted Alcoa a ‘license’ that gave it control of part of the Yadkin River for the next 50 years. Alcoa…
Things are looking dim for President Obama. His poll numbers are lagging along with the nation’s economic numbers. He’s locked in three Middle East wars and a war with Republicans in Washington. Now he’s got Democrats and the AARP mad because he’s willing to cut Social Security and Medicare to get a budget deal. …
A state trooper from Wilmington stopped Gina Tessener from Raleigh because her headlight was out, then smelled liquor on her breath and asked her to take a ‘walk the line’ sobriety test. Mrs. Tessener told him no – so the patrolman put the willowy blonde mother of three in handcuffs and drove her to…
Seeing the Republicans’ gerrymandered redistricting scheme reminds me of the rueful comment made by a wise old Democrat right after the 2010 elections: “We picked a bad year to have a meltdown.” If this was a “normal” year – i.e., not a redistricting year – Democrats could be confident the Republicans blew their chance.…
I continue to be amazed by the disgust and distrust of the State Highway Patrol that I hear. One TAPster had a cogent analysis – and some thoughtful ideas: “Here are a couple of policy suggestions for the governor and General Assembly as the putrid stench of testosterone and KY jelly wafts once again…
Speaker Thom Tillis was a successful management consultant, but he’s having less success at message management. When he met with the Asheville Citizen-Times editorial board recently, the Republican Speaker and his well-paid staff probably anticipated a headline something like “Tillis touts lean budget, efficient session.” Instead, they got this: “N.C. Speaker defends staff…
The political sniping began even as chaos still reigned at the White House Correspondents Dinner. My…
A new nationwide poll shows that, if they could run against each other in 2028, Barack…
Senator Phil Berger was out of touch with voters in his district – and suffered the…