Talking Berger and shrimp with Andrew Dunn (07-15-2025--Hour1)

What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to dpeakclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support. And it's Tuesday. It's noon, and that means we chat with Andrew Dunn. He is a contributing columnist over at the Charlotte Observer and the publisher of long Leaf Politics. That website is longleafpol dot com. Andrew, how are you, sir? I'm fantastic and great to be back with you. My whole week last week was thrown off because I wasn't on your show. Just really depressed and just lamenting the loss of this nine minute chat. I understand, I understand, I thinking about you two. All right, So let's let's talk burger and shrimp. What do you say talking about Phil Berger and his challenger, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. Phil Berger is the leader of the North Carolina Senate Republican and has been in that position for many years now and is arguably the most powerful politician in the state. But he's got this challenger, Sam Paige, and he's actually polling pretty well against Burger in his Rockingham County district. So what does Burger and shrimp, specifically shrimp trolling have to do with each other. Yeah, yeah, let's unpack that a little bit. You know, as we head toward the March third primary, which seems like it's far off, but it's really not all that far off, you know, especially a lot of campaigns are starting to ramp up right around now. In that primary election is the most interesting race in the state of North Carolina by far. You know, You've got Phil Berger, who longest tenured leader of the state Senate, and then you've got his challenger, Sheriff Sam Page of Rockingham County, who's been in office just as long as Berger has, but as sheriff in Rockingham County. You know, and in my columns, I like to look for little revealing moments that people might overlook, but that tell us something about North Carolina politics. So when I saw Sheriff Sam Page kind of out front and center when the shrimp trawlers were in Raleigh. It made me think, you know, what's going on here? What does what does the Rockingham County, which is not close to the ocean, there's a sheriff they're at, you know, have anything to do with that. Just for a little background for your listeners if they're not up to speed on shrimp trawling, there was a provision in some bill somewhere that was going to prevent small you know, fishermen essentially from trawling for shrimp and inland waterways. You know, there's a lot of most other states have already done that, but North Carolina had hasn't you know. There's good arguments on both sides for you know, environmental concerns versus you know, livelihoods. I don't really have a position on it either way. But Senator Berger was in favor of restricting the shrimp trawling in the inland waterways, and so here comes Sam Page, of course, taking the opposite position. He is very much in favor of the shrimp trawlers and protecting their way of life. And it made me question, well, is this something that Sheriff Page really feels passionately about or is he mostly just trying to cast himself as the as the anti Phil Burger. So, and as I understand it too, the shrimpers are at odds with other fishermen I guess specifically like the sports fishermen or something, because when they trawl for shrimp with the nets, they catch a lot of other fish and stuff, and so there's like a depletion, I think. And yeah, so this has been going on for a long time. This fight's been going on for a long time. And there was a big well and a bunch of people, a bunch of the shrimp trawlers showed up, and they successfully got it removed from that bill. So the shrimp trawling will continue in the inland waterways. So when you looked at this issue, you saw Sam Page there and you thought, okay, is he really a big, you know, proponent of the trawling. What did you determine and is he is he a big shrimp trawling kind of guy or is he staking out positions just in opposition to Phil Berger on stuff? Yeah, Well that's what I what I called him, That's what I was trying to suss out. And you know, he actually had a pretty good answer for for why he you know, he was talking about the agricultural heritage and was telling me about how head of the Sheriff's Association he's been, you know, involved in in statewide issues for a long period of time. And I buy all that, but I do think at you know, the core of it is he wanted another posi to be contrary to Burger, which which I understand from a campaign perspective. You know, when you're going against an incumbent, and especially one is powerful and well known as Senator Phil Berger, you want to draw those distinctions. It's not always easy in a primary, right, so I totally get that. But you know what I argued in my column is it's easy to get carried away with that right, you know, if you it's easy to pick the wrong issue to just reflectively, you know, go against your opponent and just kind of a caution throwing a caution flag out there that you know, if he wants to be taken seriously as a candidate, he's got to be really judicious and you know where he plants his. Flag, right, and this started with his position. In fact, that's what got him. I think a lot of attention was the casino measure that Phil Berger tried to slip through the legislature a couple of years ago. I guess it was. And he came out as one of the biggest opponents of the casino that was actually slated for Rockingham County. He was like, we don't need that here. He got a lot of publicity off of that. But then he also has come out he's taking positions on chemical company immunity, you say, and the raw milk crackdown, and all of those were in opposition to Burger. But if that's all, if that's all he's going to be, that's not enough, you say, to what to get past him in a primary? I mean it may be. I mean, I there's a lot going on, a lot of rumblings in Rockingham County about people just kind of wanting some new blood and sheriff same page is just as well known as as Senator Berger is in Rockingham County. Maybe it's enough, but it sure makes them easy to attack as an unserious challenger if if he's not really dedicated to these positions. Yeah, and that was a yeah, that was an op ed over at the Charlotte Observe or Candidate tries risky approach and bid too topple North Carolina's most powerful lawmaker. Over at your site, long Leaf Politics, you had some words about Tom Tillis's interview that he did with CNN the other day, and you say that he gave one of his most spirited, confident defenses of his conservative record, But then you say he also he made clear, if slightly condescending, an argument for the value of governing experience. You say he was feisty, he was focused, but then you also said that you got to be willing to explain yourself without sneering at the people you're trying to lead, and that too often he shades into disdain for people. Okay, So is that how you think? And by the way, I agree. I think that's one of the Tom Tillis's liabilities is that he comes across as these very things, even if I don't know if he's trying to be or if that's just sort of the way he naturally speaks. So is this sort of like a style issue for you? I think so. I do think if you're representing the people, it's important to be out in front of them, And you know, I just I haven't seen on him. Maybe you have. I haven't seen Senator Tillis in North Carolina nearly as much as I would I expect to for a senior senator from North Carolina. You know, my overall point was, you know, everything that he said in that interview was accurate. You know, he was defending his conservative you know, values and what he's done for the state. And he certainly has done a lot for the state in terms of moving in a conservative direction. But I question, you know, why do that on CNN after you've dropped out, Like, why not go to the North Carolina GOP convention and make that case? You know, why not be at Lincoln Reagan Day dinners around the state making that case. I think people would be willing to hear it. And yeah, I think he'd still get some heckels and whatnot. But you know, when I was a full time reporter, I was interviewing the school superintendent of Charlotte Mecknenberg Schools and I was a little nervous, you know, I was young then. I was nervous about asking him some hard questions. And the superintendent told me, he said, hey, this is a full contact position. I know what I signed up for. I knew I was going to get hard questions, so fire away. And I just thought that was you know, more people should have that approach if they're in positions of leadership. You've got to be willing to take the hard questions with grace and with confidence. Yeah. Well, and I'll tell you the only time I ever heard from his office usually was when he was running for reelection or election to reach out to Hey, can we get on the show or anything like that. That was the only time I ever really heard from his office as well, saying goes for Mark Robinson. As a matter of fact, you have a piece about him at the Charlotte Observer that he is Apparently he's lost one hundred pounds and he sounds like he's gearing up for a comeback. He went on a podcast and is I guess, is he starting his own podcast too? Is that what I read in here? He said, he was, I haven't seen it yet. You know, I'll certainly listen, but I haven't seen it yet. All right, So he he says that, well, you're right that he blamed his blowout loss in last year's governor's race on consultants, the media cowards who abandoned him. I guess his Republican colleagues. Those are the people who wouldn't and the people that would not let Mark be Mark. And so, in other words, he blamed everybody else but himself. And then he said, I was a lot smarter than most of the people who worked on my campaign, which I don't know. I don't know if you're gonna win a lot of people to your campaign, if you are going to run again by trashing everybody that helped get you elected the first two times. No, it certainly doesn't speak well of former Lieutenant Governor Robinson to have that sort of reaction. I mean, the reality is his implosion was completely his own fault. And I honestly think that voters, the American people, are very willing to be forgiving if you ask for forgiveness and act like you need forgiveness. And you know, I don't think that Robinson is going to run for the US Senate seat, but I do see a scenario in which he runs for a House seat, which is what everybody was telling him to do, you know, a couple of years ago, and he rejected that. I think he would have avoided a lot of pain if he had taken that advice. But it's just really disappointing to see someone in such a you know, a position of prominence fail to be self reflective. Yeah, you wrote, I thought you had a couple of really good lines in this piece. Robinson didn't lose because the party abandoned him. The party abandoned him because he can't win. And that people love you when you are useful to them. Robinson should have learned that, but he didn't. Yeah, that's one of the things in politics. Like you may not like that aspect of it, but that is absolutely true. If you are you. Yeah, if you can't deliver for people as an elected leader, then there isn't really a lot of value that you're bringing to the table. Yeah, that's exactly right. And it's you know, that's why a lot of people think politics is a dirty business. In a lot of ways, it is, and but that's the reality of it. Yeah, all right, Andrew Dunn. I appreciate the time as always, sir, and we'll talk with you next week, same time. Great, looking forward to it. Thanks, man, appreciate it. That's Andrew Dunn. He is a contributing columnist over at The Charlotte Observer as well as the publisher of long Leaf Politics, which is long leafpol dot com. Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina. 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Cabins of Ashville has the ideal spot for you for any occasion, and they have pet friendly accommodations. Call or text eight two eight three six seven seventy sixty eight or check out all there is to offer at Cabins Offashville dot com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. So North Carolina Attorney General Jeff aka Baby Jesus Jackson joined two dozen states in suing the Trump administration because that's what Democrats elected him to do. They want him to sue Trump on everything. This time it is for withholding not necessarily yet like rejecting it or or canceling it or whatever, but withholding at this point almost seven billion dollars in federal education funding in a federal lawsuit filed yesterday in US District Court up in Rhode Island, where there are so many conservative judges that I'm sure they'll get a fair hearing up there. The twenty four mostly Democratic led states accused the US Department of Education and Office of Management and Budget or OMB, of unconstitutionally withholding six point eight billion dollars that had been authorized by Congress. This story at The Observer by T Kung Hui quote. Jackson said, the decision to withhold the money is costing North Carolina schools one hundred and sixty five million dollars in needed funding as teachers and students prepare for the new school year. The money was supposed to be given out by July one. What is this all about? If you had to take a guess, why do you think the Trump administration might be withholding one hundred and sixty five million dollars to North Carolina school systems? What do you think that's about? Care to take a guess? Well, if you said DEI initiatives or divisive topics or stuff related to illegal immigration, you would be correct. Congratulations, give yourself a gold star. Now, I don't think they talked about any of that at their press conference. They were just talking about how, you know Trump hates children? All right, if you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events, and I know you do too. And you've probably heard me say get your news from multiple sources. Why, Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with ground News. It's an app and it's a website. And it combines news from around the world in one place so you can compare coverage and verify information. You could check it out at check dot ground, dot news slash pete. I put the link in the podcast description too. I started using ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself check dot ground, dot news slash pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. The Charlotte Observer reporting that the North Carolina Attorney General aka Baby Jesus. That is not my nickname for him, although I do use it, But that's the nickname that he was given by his colleagues when he was in the North Carolina General Assembly because like he was, you know, he simply showed up and everybody treated him like he was this savior and he could do no wrong and whatever. So that's what they called him. So I just figure, well they would know him best, so I'm going to, you know, use the moniker. It's probably a term of endearment. They really love him, like Jesus. So Jeff Jackson does this press conference along with a bunch of others and including Superintendent Moe Green, formerly of the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District. He was the former lawyer for the board. And then he went up to Greensboro, i want to say, and he was the superintendent up there, and now he is in charge of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, and so he was there and he said that the withholding of funds makes up about ten percent of the entire federal funding for the state. Okay, so recognize what that means. The vast majority of the state spending is K twelve education, along with community colleges and the university system. But education is the number one priority, top priority in the budget has been for as long as as long as I've ever looked at a budget, almost thirty years, it's been number one, probably always has been. So what they're talking about, excuse me, what they're talking about is this ten percent of federal funding? So one hundred and sixty five million dollars is ten percent statewide of all federal money that right now is frozen. On June thirtieth, the Department of Education told States that nationwide there was six point eight billion that was being withheld for programs such as teacher training. Oh my gosh, the teachers have to be trained, trained in what? Trained in? What? I feel like that's an important question to be answered, because if you're training teachers like Charlotte Mecklenburg schools did by bringing in Ibram x Kendy to teach all of the teachers how not to be or how to be anti racist, and you make them all read a book, and then you have them in for like I think they paid him something like thirty thousand dollars or something for a ten minute interview with Sonya Gant on a zoom call. Yeah, like maybe these types of divisive topics that the state has sought to root out, and at the federal level they are attempting to root out these DEI critical race theory, queer theory, right, these different neo Marxist pedagogies. Then I think, yeah, then that is something that the state or the national Education Department is what it should be looking to root out. And this is what the President ran on and one on and he promised to do this. They want to look at what you're using this money for. So it's not just simply teacher training, it's what kind of training you're giving the teachers. Then there's after school programs and summer programs. And I would ask here such as right like what kinds of programs are you running? Are you doing privileged walks or something after school? Like what exactly are these programs? That's what they want to look at. And the final category services for migrant students and English learners. Migrant students and thanks to the media participating in the corruption of our language in order to make us all stupider in our discussions of important issues, when they say migrant students, they mean illegal immigrants. That's what the US Department of Education wants clarity on what are you funding? What is this money being used for, because we now the new administration do not want you to be using this money for these things. The delay and possible loss of the funding has cost panic for schools across the country. It could cost Charlotte Mecklenberg School System twelve million dollars twelve million. Do you know how big Charlotte Mecklinberg School's budget is. I want to say it's about two billion. Maybe I forget. I know it cleared a billion years ago, so it's somewhere between one and two billion. Republican President yeah. Republican President Donald Trump's administration has questioned how some of these six point eight billion dollars is being used. The Office of Management and Budget or OMB, pointed to New York schools that had used money for English language instruction to promote organizations that advocate for immigrants in the country illegally. Right. That's why they put a freeze on the funding. They were made aware that you're using these funds for things that you should not be using these funds. You ask for funding, and you're like, oh, we're going to use it for you know, promotion of the English language or instruction in the English language, and then you turn around and hand it off to some you know, pro illegal immigrant nonprofit. So no, you don't get to do that. Washington State used money to direct immigrants without legal status once again corrupted language illegal aliens. Okay, Washington State used the money to direct illegal aliens towards scholarships that the Trump administration says we're intended for American students. Are we at the point in the debate where it's not happening. No, no, we can't be there because we just have now evidence that it does happen. So now we're at the second level in the argument where they say, Okay, fine, it's happening, but it's not a lot. They do this on everything, particularly like the trends in sports, vote fraud. Right, it's the same pattern, voter ID whatever, it's the same pattern. It's not happening. And then okay, maybe it's happening, but it's not a lot. It doesn't affect anything. And it's like, okay, find it may have influenced some particular races or something or instances, but it's not widespread. You know. Stories are powerful. They help us make sense of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect us to the people of our past while transcending generations. They help us process the meaning of life, and our stories are told through images and videos. 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So kudos you know credit where it is due to the Charlotte Observer Raleigh News and Observer reporter t Qonghuei, who did put in this story. A response from the Administration and the Office of Management Budget as to why the funding has been frozen while a review is done because the administration has identified some problems, shall we say, with the way the funds this six point eight billion dollars is being used in various states and school districts. Right, I mentioned the New York schools funneling money that was supposed to be for English language instruction instead using it to promote organizations that advocate for illegal immigrants or as they say in the story, immigrants in the country illegally, which that just flies in the face by the way of like all journalism and training, which is, you use as few words as possible to tell the story, because the more you can edit it down, the more information you can put in the story. Whether you're print where you're constrained by you know, word counts and column inches, you're radio constrained by time, TV constrained by time. So you want to tell the story few words as possible. And so rather than say illegal immigrants, they've constructed all of these longer ways to say immigrants in the country illegally or immigrants without legal status, all to sanitize the issue and to conflate two different groups of people, two different categories. What else did they find, Oh, grant funds were used for a seminar on queer resistance in the arts. So yeah, they want to take a look at the funds. They want to know what you're spending it on. Many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical left wing agenda, the OMB said. In a statement to the Associated Press, the administration said that it had not made any final decisions about whether to withhold or release individual grants, but school leaders fear they may not get the six point eight billion because Trump's twenty twenty six budget proposal called for Congress to zero out all of the programs under review. So that's why North Caro North Carolina taxpayers now are going to be joining a lawsuit and having to pay to litigate something that hasn't even been decided. Back in February, the Education Department canceled six hundred million dollars in teacher training grants, ninety million of that was earmarked for North Carolina, on the grounds that they were being used to promote devisive ideologies. Then in April, the Education Department announced that it was canceling a billion dollars in school mental health grants. The Trump administration again cited the promotion of DEI. Trump is also pursuing a plan to dismantle the Department of Education, and actually yesterday the Supreme Court allowed him to go ahead with the plan to layoff some fourteen hundred Education Department employees. North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson joined in seven of the thirty eight lawsuits so far filed by Democrat attorneys generals against the Trump administration. So that's what our attorney general is focusing his time on. By the way, maybe completely unrelated here this story the other day, actually a couple weeks ago, out of real clear politics, out of Carl'sbad, California. If I was living in Carlsbad, I would name my kids Carl I mean, if they were bad. Anyway, parents are demanding answers after a self described science of BDSM expert from a clinic providing transsurgeries, as well as representatives from organizations that help facilitate gender transitions. We're all scheduled to speak at a California high school during a recent week of events supporting LGBTQ students LGBTQ students, and that opens the door for BDSM. Do you know BDSM is you got kids in the car, may just want to turn the volume down for like just two seconds, maybe three seconds. That's it, okay, ready, go. BDSM stands for bondage, discipline, sadism, and masochism. Okay, and we're back so BDSM. They brought in some self described BDSM expert. Parents learned that this individual meta Beach, who lists his pronouns as They then planned to speak as part of the Gender Sexuality Alliance Club's ally week. After looking into his business websites and social media accounts, which contained at least one photo of Beach engaged in BDSM and listed workshops that he has led called kink one oh one and examining self injurious behavior, erotic play, and body modification. Several concerned parents contacted the high school and the superintendent's office, not happy. A bunch of bigots, right, all right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.