Mark Robinson is a cross between MTG and Hershel Walker
A couple of weeks ago, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene headlined a gala held by the Wake County GOP. As the N&O says, Greene is an extremist “known for claims of widespread election fraud during the 2020 presidential race and for comments she has made...
The gig is up
Last week, Kevin Williamson, an anti-Trump conservative, blasted the GOP for only running against Democrats. As he said, “I have not heard a case for Republicans worth repeating in years—only a case against Democrats.” Then he added, “Democrats, for their part, are in...
Countering the red wave
Yesterday, prominent North Carolina Republican political consultant Paul Shumaker released a memorandum to “Interested Parties” with the subject line “The 2022 Red Wave.” It’s the latest missive from the GOP strategist pushing the narrative that Republicans are on the...
Ode to October
On this last day of September, I have a lot of thoughts as the midterm heads into its final weeks. Here in North Carolina, the Senate race should be getting far more attention than it is. Nationally, after Democrats won the summer, Republicans’ fortunes improve...
Trump and the N-word, part 2: Nobody cares
Yesterday, I wrote a piece about Donald Trump baiting his base to yell racial slurs in public. I pointed out that Trump knew the press wouldn’t cover it. Several commenters on the blog asked why. I realized that I missed the biggest punch line of the story: Nobody...
Trump and the N-word
Donald Trump came to North Carolina this weekend to campaign for Ted Budd and other candidates. Of course, much of the event was Trump airing his grievances and touting his victimhood because it’s always all about Donald. Still, the stage was full of Trump sycophants,...
A good week for democracy and the rule of law
Photo by Evan Vucci/AP/Shutterstock There’s no shortage of reasons to feel that our democracy is in peril. A substantial portion of the population seems to believe that our system of government is unable to cope with the pressures placed on it by changing cultural...
Tribalism and fundamentals at work
For years, I used to tell people who said, “Well, I vote for the person not the party,” that once that person is elected, they vote with party in Congress or the state legislature. Now, that message has clearly sunk in and while I might have been right, I wish I...
Ted Budd is a threat to democracy
So Ted Budd refuses to commit to accepting the election results in November. When asked why, his campaign manager “claimed without evidence that Cheri Beasley, the Democratic nominee and a former State Supreme Court justice, might try to disenfranchise voters,”...
Dark fantasies
Every so often, an event captures the imagination of conservatives that lays bare how deeply bigotry is ingrained in the movement. This month, it’s been mermaids and Hobbits. When Amazon Prime introduced Black actors playing Hobbits, conservatives screamed,...
