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Open Wide
When I was invited to talk about the state of N.C. State on this weekend’s Headline Saturday for WRAL and The N&O, I was prepared to get even more depressed about my alma mater. Instead, I left the studio this morning feeling good.
The reason ...
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6/11/2009 11:32:00 AM
gpearce
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Bleeding Red
The Wolfpack Nation is angry. Angry at the Big Men On Campus who embarrassed N.C. State, angry at The News & Observer and angry at Mike and Mary Easley.
Here is an up-to-the-minute guide to the venting:
Jim Oblinger and Larry Neilsen. They ...
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6/10/2009 1:49:11 PM
gpearce
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The Gang That Wouldn't Shoot Straight
George Wallace used to rail against “pointy-headed professors who can’t park their bicycles straight.”
The administrators at N.C. State couldn’t get their stories straight. The result is national humiliation, the loss of three top leaders and p...
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6/9/2009 1:59:42 PM
gpearce
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Are Taxes Political Death?
Joe Sinsheimer came down last week on Mark Mellman, the House Democrats’ pollster, for counseling against raising taxes.
(I read this, by the way, on Facebook. Going on it is paying off for me.)
Like a lot of Democrats, Joe is enraged about b...
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6/1/2009 9:07:41 AM
gpearce
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Big Names vs. No-Names
Potential Democratic candidates against Richard Burr fall into two groups: the big names and the no-names. The big names are current office-holders like Mike McIntyre, Heath Shuler and Dan Blue. The no-names are Kenneth Lewis and Cal Cunningham.
...
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5/29/2009 2:59:26 PM
gpearce
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The Problem with Old Media
I read a lot of newspapers. And a lot of newspapers are writing these days about what newspapers could do different to make more money. Like charging people to read content online.
But my friend David Burney said something wise that made me think th...
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4/21/2009 1:19:49 AM
gpearce
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Fox and Friends
The Fox News crowd was in full cry at North Ridge the other evening. Along with the usual fare of foxy news babes and red-faced rants about creeping socialism, there was video of the Obamas’ new dog.
It was too much for one man. “Guess who gave him ...
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4/21/2009 1:15:06 AM
gpearce
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Teacher-In-Chief
President Obama had a good week. Adorable pictures of his family and dog. The rescue of the American captain from Somali pirates. Which has to be embarrassing for the person who posted "Our Milquetoast President and the Somali Pirates” in our comment...
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4/17/2009 11:15:19 AM
gpearce
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Obama Picks NC
President Obama picked UNC to win the NCAA. More than that, he seems to be picking North Carolina as a key political target.
Gary Robertson at AP wrote a good story about the high level of attention we’re getting from the administration.http://www...
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4/7/2009 3:37:44 PM
gpearce
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The King Has Left the Building
The North Carolina House vote for a (revised) public-smoking ban conjures up memories of Jimmy Green.
When the chain-smoking Green was Speaker of the House in the 70s, he had a regular routine that passed for high comedy in the legislature. Eve...
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4/2/2009 9:05:28 AM
gpearce
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The King Has Left the Building
The North Carolina House vote for a (revised) public-smoking ban conjures up memories of Jimmy Green.
When the chain-smoking Green was Speaker of the House in the 70s, he had a regular routine that passed for high comedy in the legislature. Eve...
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4/2/2009 9:04:43 AM
gpearce
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Upside Down
Who said foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds? Republicans in North Carolina certainly appear untethered by consistency when it comes to the relationship between government and the private sector.
Nationally, Republicans are in ...
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4/1/2009 11:23:27 AM
gpearce
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Orage Quarles' Letter
When I worked at The News & Observer long, long ago, there was a legendary editor named Bob Brooks.
Bob brooked no runarounds from big shots. I can still feel his forefinger jabbing my chest and him demanding: “There’s a hole in this story. Yo...
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3/31/2009 11:51:58 AM
gpearce
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Reading the Sunday Paper
Tom Fetzer is a smart guy. I’m thinking of endorsing him for state Republican Chair. That’s because he would be good, and I don’t want a good GOP chair. I figure my endorsement would be the kiss of death.
Tom has a gimmick in his campaign: help...
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3/30/2009 2:00:43 PM
gpearce
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Bowles Rolls
How confident is Erskine Bowles of his standing in the legislature? Confident enough to tell the Appropriations Committee that Governor Perdue’s UNC budget is “ludicrous.”
Bowles’ bluntness raised eyebrows around Raleigh. The Governor said she ...
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3/27/2009 11:00:20 AM
gpearce
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Thinking Before Talking
The most striking thing President Obama said in his news conference last night was: "I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak.”
He may be the only person in Washington.
It was his shortest answer of the night – and the most refr...
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3/25/2009 4:59:07 PM
gpearce
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Defending FDR
Right-wingers are so mad at President Obama for trying to fix the economy they’re renewing a war they lost 75 years ago – against FDR and the New Deal.
The Fox mantra has been that the New Deal didn’t end the Depression, but only made it worse;...
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3/24/2009 10:26:58 AM
gpearce
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Pass to Play
State Senator Charlie Albertson has a bill guaranteed to get people talking.
It’s simple. Just one page. It prohibits any participation in athletic competition by “schools in which a majority of the students are below the 50th percentile on end...
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3/23/2009 10:54:37 AM
gpearce
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Where Were Axelrod and Gibbs?
The blabbering classes are taking up pitchforks and torches over the AIG bonuses. The AIGate question now becomes: What did the President/Secretary of Treasury/Fed/Congress know and when did they know it?
My question: Why didn’t David Axelrod a...
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3/20/2009 7:44:22 AM
gpearce
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Bev's Budget
I give Governor Perdue and her staff an A+ on message management.
They pulled off a neat three-step strategy:
Spend weeks warning people how awful the budget cuts are going to be.
Then devote her State of the State speech – and the next...
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3/19/2009 7:25:31 AM
gpearce
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Obama's Stock
I could never predict what will happen to the stock market. But I can predict that President Obama’s numbers will go down – soon.
It’s inevitable. And it’s no reason for Democrats to panic. They just need to prepare themselves.
Here’s why h...
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3/17/2009 3:45:52 PM
gpearce
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The New Populists
Since the November election, I’ve been telling business people that the election marked a new cycle in politics: from pro-business government to pro-government – and potentially anti-business – government.
That cycle has dominated American hist...
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3/17/2009 10:11:09 AM
gpearce
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Walter Davis Sends Some Fish
News coverage of Ned Cline’s new book about Walter Davis – and his “bags of cash” – reminds me of my two encounters with Davis.
The first was in the Senate Dining Room in Washington during one of Governor Hunt’s first two administrations. I don...
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3/16/2009 2:15:50 PM
gpearce
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Go Heels
I’m an N.C. State grad and a rabid Wolfpack fan. But I’m pulling for UNC this year.
The last time I did this was in 1956-57, when I was a young fan of Frank McGuire’s undefeated national championship team. I got over that quickly. I spent many ...
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3/13/2009 10:32:28 AM
gpearce
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Burying Her Lead
Governor Perdue had the makings of a great speech last night. But she didn’t give it.
When she finished, it felt like the old song: Is that all there is?
I had predicted she would paint a broad picture rather than fill in details. But she c...
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3/10/2009 1:01:00 PM
gpearce
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