Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Last week I had dinner with Paul the theologian and Willie, who is a rosary-thumping Catholic and, for a moment, I thought the Reformation and the Seven Years War were about to start all over again. Oddly, what started the conflagration was Willie saying he’d just read Pat Buchanan’s new book; then he leaned across…
Back in Jesse Helms’ campaign in 1990 when we made the ‘infamous White Hands’ ad one of the handful of people sitting in the studio was Alex Castellanos; lately Alex has been spending time on CNN and the other night he was asked how the Republican Party could save itself politically – after Barack Obama…
Horror of horrors, John Edwards is back in the newspaper the second day in a row. This time he has flown all the way to San Francisco to find a safe haven to debate Karl Rove. One thing Edwards is not doing is taking any risks by talking to the press. (I guess the National…
Sometimes politicians just can’t help being politicians, which, most times, means they can’t help gilding the lily or coloring the truth, even when they don’t need to. Kay Hagan is dropping her lawsuit against Elizabeth Dole. Want to guess why? For the good of the people of North Carolina. Now, why couldn’t Hagan just say,…
You will recall that George W. Bush was going to give America the “MBA Presidency.” Apparently, that turned out to mean “Management by A–holes.” The Republicans were done in by the Bush team’s incompetent management of Iraq, Katrina and the economy. Ironically, the Obama campaign – and, so far, the transition – holds the competence…
You will recall that George W. Bush was going to give America the “MBA Presidency.” Apparently, that turned out to mean “Management by A–holes.” The Republicans were done in by the Bush team’s incompetent management of Iraq, Katrina and the economy. Ironically, the Obama campaign – and, so far, the transition – holds the competence…
Back in 2005, when 90% of the students in Wake County Schools passed state achievement exams, the New York Times ran an article lauding our world-class schools, attributing their success to the School Board’s ‘diversity’ policy. Well, last week, our world-class schools vanished into thin air. It turns out for years, critics have been criticizing…
Governor-elect Bev Perdue is wrestling with two public images. One is the picture in Sunday’s N&O of her with Marc Basnight, with Basnight looming over her. The other is her vow election night to make a “fresh start.” Her speech was odd. She sounded tired, even touchy. She reprimanded the crowd for not listening. Clearly,…
The morning newspaper was a blow to Obama supporters and the legions of young people who just voted for change: Because in the Obama administration, lobbyists are in. Back during the campaign Obama excoriated lobbyists by saying, “They won’t find a job in my White House” – but his post-election transition team is welcoming them…
Senator Phil Berger was out of touch with voters in his district – and suffered the…
A reassuring lesson from our trip to Germany and Czechia is that dictators, despots and tyrants…