Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Her fourth day in office Madame Governor trooped up to Washington, held out her hand, and asked Congress to give her $18 billion – plus, another billion or so she needs to balance the state budget. She sat down with North Carolina’s Congressional Delegation, then with Obama’s transition team, handed them a list of things…
Read MoreGeorge Bush’s presidency was defined and dominated by the image of jets skimming low over Manhattan, slamming into the World Trade Center. Yesterday, his farewell address was overshadowed by the image of a jet resting in the Hudson River, all aboard alive. Might the miracle on the Hudson be a metaphor for new hope in…
Read MoreLast fall, after Obama got elected, Richard the Intellectual got so discouraged about politics he took to reading religious poetry – The Divine Comedy about cured him of that but, then, he switched to the Civil War and when he got to the Battle of Antietam the gloom thickened. The way Richard tells it the…
Read MoreMonday Madame Governor signed a spate of executive orders and it’s time for the Republicans in the House and Senate to strap on their shields and bucklers and have at it. They’re supposed to be the loyal opposition and this session they would be wise to take the job seriously. For instance, not long ago,…
Read MoreNot to compare Bev Perdue with Rod Blagoyevich, but both have shown how the sudden power of the executive branch can frustrate the legislative branch. Blagoyevich’s appointment of Roland Burris to Barack Obama’s Senate seat was a stroke of evil genius. The already-arrested, to-be-indicted and probably to-be-removed-from-office governor flummoxed the President-elect, the United States Senate,…
Read MoreIt was hard, personally, not to like Mike Easley – at times Easley showed a lack of pretension rare in governors which, by most reports, made him immanently likeable. But he also showed a void of interest when it came to the workings of his own government that the word ‘detached’ doesn’t begin to cover.…
Read MoreWith the unfortunate exception of Jesse Helms, no U.S. Senator from North Carolina has won reelection since Sam Ervin (1956, 1962 and 1968). Kay Hagan needs to keep that sobering fact in mind. Unfortunately, some of her public statements give one pause about her prospects. Like her victory speech Election Night, which was needlessly nyah-nyah…
Read MoreGiven the criticism of her campaign performances, Bev Perdue gave a surprisingly good inaugural speech. As a connoisseur of inaugural speeches â and the co-author of several â I give her a B. She largely avoided the common mistake of âvision strain:â trying too hard to sound lofty. Her speech was clear, short and simple.…
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