Consider this small sampling of headlines from news outlets across the globe in the wake of Robinson's nomination:
Robinson will face Democrat Josh Stein in the general election. Stein is an earnest, ultra-competent, highly qualified public servant. He's been North Carolina's Attorney General since 2017. Prior to that, he served three terms in the state senate. Given the dichotomy between his accomplishments and mien and Robinson's, this shouldn't be a contest. And every report since the primary concluded suggests that it'll be neck and neck. For fuck's sake, North Carolina.
Huffington Post said, Mark Robinson's Bizarre Ramble: 'I Absolutely Want To Go Back To The America Where Women Couldn’t Vote'.
Mark Robinson, the North Carolina GOP nominee for governor, is off the rails even by MAGA standards, according to Vox.com.
The New York Times stole our angle: We Need to Talk About This Republican Candidate’s Antisemitism.
And The Guardian didn't pull any punches: Hitler-quoting candidate wins North Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary.
I suspect you get the point, gentle reader, and so we won't belabor it. What we will note is that Robinson represents the furtherance of an ideology based not so much on policy or a philosophy of governance but on grievance. Robinson and the GOP don't care about getting things done (note as evidence the abject inability of the U.S. House of Representatives to legislate and chew gum at the same time). Rather, the modern GOP cares about making the right people ripshit frothing angry, propriety be damned.
Like the Ur-MAGA himself, Robinson has filed for multiple bankruptcies, has a history of avoiding, evading, and just not paying taxes, and has admitted to paying for a woman he impregnated to have an abortion. He's an objectively shitty person and a charlatan, and the North Carolina GOP voters Do. Not. Care.
Fevers tend to break eventually. That, or they kill their hosts. I hope, fervently, that the MAGA fever currently infecting our body politic will break this November. I fear, genuinely, that it won't and that the consequences could prove fatal to the way we perceive ourselves as a people.
Prepare to man the battlements, good people of Gheorghe. Winter is here.
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50 comments:
You'll be my write-in candidate Whitney. Seriously. I can't watch any news channel for more than 2 minutes before putting my head back into the sand, pretending it's all going to be okay, we're fine. SOTU, not a minute. As my kids get older, I contemplate whether or not to tell them not to have kids. We're in the proverbial handbasket heading to the earth's core.
Just viewed the Steve Lawrence post - what I would do to get Phil Hartman back in our lives.
Whitney, next president of Finland?
i don't hate it, rootsy.
That will get those little fuckers to laugh at his jokes.
My state. So proud. Also worth noting that due to gerrymandering and judicial f*ckery (hey, we wrote about that here!) that NC will likely send 10 or 11 GOP reps out of 14 total seats to the House of Representatives in November, despite the fact that HoR vote totals for the entire state are fairly evenly split.
Right alongside you Danimal, in regard to SOTU. Didn't and couldn't watch a minute. I try to pay attention to politics, but the SOTU is theater -- bad theater, at that. Nice that Joe guzzled a Red Bull and got a B12 shot beforehand and torqued off critics and rallied supporters, but won't change a thing.
As for Robinson, he is indeed a contemptible human who also projects as not very intelligent. But as Rob and others point out, for far too many the attraction is that he has an R next to his name, or perhaps more important, Isn't A Democrat. Pretty shitty litmus test.
I’m not sure why we are stunned that bad candidates keep making it though the primary process and then often get elected on party lines. Hell, Bill DiBlasio was elected mayor of NY twice! That’s a city of 8 million people - comparable in population to all of NC. The only thing America has agreed on politically over the last 10 years is that Bill DiBlasio sucks.
In NC, less than 25% of NC voters turned out for the primary and those that did were likely over representing MAGA shitbags who picked this clownshow. I believe 6 of the last 7 NC govs have been Democrats. Robinson was a stupid nominee will likely lose. Behind closed doors, I think NC Dems are actually happy this dipshit is the GOP candidate.
I know a lot of DeBlasios, some of whom are politicians, and Bill is the DeBlasio I like the least.
Robinson might be the result of "over representing MAGA shitbags," but that just means fans of democracy need to work harder to get out the non-shitbag vote. I'm more worried that Robinson isn't the result of "over representing" and that "MAGA shitbag" is the Republican baseline. All the normies left the party so this is what you get.
i'd submit that this post is a lament, not a statement of surprise. the really shitty thing is that this outcome *isn't* a surprise.
i'm going to celebrate by going to a drag brunch tomorrow. doing my part.
I thought Keith D from Teaneck was about to catch a stray.
dane fischer trying to stave off the inevitable and us unable to stream it. sounds about right.
Oh, I think the MAGA shitbirds are the Republican baseline. The big problem is that they actually vote.
the nc gubernatorial race pits a black guy against a jewish one. gonna twist the bigots' brains into pretzels.
tribe leads!
this post and the subsequent comments do not inspire me to start following national politics . . .
tribe wins? tribe wins! getting lukewarm at the right moment.
I’m with the Professor. Unless I’m running for the big office, I can’t stomach witnessing the freefall shitshow. So I’ll be here for the filler and dipshittery.
was that a campaign announcement?
He’s running.
Vote for Whitney… you could honestly do worse.
It would also fit into my grand plan to take back Whitney as a man’s name. A virile, super cool, macho man’s name.
far more studly than 'donald'. fucking dork's name, that. i had an uncle named donald. proper dork. who is now an aunt named donna. true story.
I got a grandma Hazel and a grandma Tilly.
zdaughter's basketball team opened their season with a loss, then won 13 regular season games in a row to win their division, then two playoff games to make the semifinals. Which they lost tonight, by two points, in overtime. I always get stuck running the clock and scoreboard because the book is too hard, and there was a disagreement between the bookkeepers over the number of timeouts left with 20-some-odd seconds left in the game (we both had one but the other side thought they had two) and the other team's bookkeeper gave off a vibe that led me to believe he was willing to physically fight my bookkeeper over this matter, and my bookkeeper is not the type of guy to pick up on such a vibe and did not modulate his tone properly so I blew the horn and the ref took care of it and it didn't matter anyway, but all this is to say I'm fucking exhausted and glad the season is over.
i had a grandpa seymour. solid man's name, seymour. he went by russ.
coincidentally, my youngest daughter's friends call her russ. circle of life.
Zman on the 1s and 2s! Wahhhh!!!!
My grandfather Lester was born in 1894 to a poorer than dirt fam in Asheboro, NC, and he was called Fletcher. He had a brother Erastus, a few other Biblically named kin, and several sibs who didn’t escape childhood. Grandfather hated his name so he took to calling himself F.C. Later in life, when pressed, he decided his middle name was Cummings. Just cuz. Cool nuf.
Grandfather was the first in his fam to finish HS and go to college. Elon. Class of 1918. Then went to Yale Seminary, which is like being in a band that spent years and years playing Iota in Arlington, going solo, and then doing a residency at MSG. He was the nicest man in any part of my family, was a minister forever and a day, and lived to age 97.
More on FC Lester in a future post. It gets better.
We’re already in the biography phase of the campaign? That was quick.
Stage 1: Gain credibility via family rep.
It’s all happening.
also, hi gheorghies
a drag queen just made me chug an aperol spritz. so my day’s looking up.
This comment thread is fucking everywhere.
My daughter’s basketball season ended last night as well. Can’t say I’m bummed. One of the least enjoyable teams I’ve ever coached. Nothing quite like teenage boys who aren’t nearly as good as they think they are and aren’t coachable.
drag brunch featured a large group of gays and a large group of sorority girls from the university of alabama. the vibe was over the top, in a very good way.
Hello from Charleston, gheorghies
tribe leads?!?
Sweet 20-6 run by the Tigers
Tribe up 44-38 w/ 14:00 remaining. Don't score for 10 minutes. Towson scores 20 straight. Tribe falls 67-56, finishes season 10-23.
that’s our tribe!
Hampton U. looks at Tribe scoring struggles and says, 'Hold my beer.' Delaware outscored Pirates 44-11 last 17 minutes first half, led 51-16 at break. Extended lead to 70-23 to start second half.
Dane Fischer, relieved of duties
that didn’t take long. correct decision, says this guy. wonder what tony shaver is up to.
Among Tribe commentariat and connections, any obvious candidates or guys they at least should talk to?
people are talking about sherman rivers (former tribe player who's done well at the high school level in nova), jonathan holmes (on shaver's staff for a decade or so), and even jimmy moran (currently on the blazers' staff). our man the dlc likes duane simpkins (currently at american). but we have no nil money, no facilities (until the new one gets built) and no history of success, so it's a tough hire.
our large adult son robbie avila and his indiana state teammates are gonna have to sweat out selection sunday. sycamores lost to drake in the mvc championship game to finish the season at 28-6. most bracketologists seem to think they've got a case, but the committee enjoys fucking the little guy, so i have my questions.
things are spicy in the sec women's final.
bench "clearing" brawl with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. every bench player from both teams was ejected, save one gamecock, as was kamilla cardoso who shoved an lsu player to the ground. game will end with neither team having a single sub.
it also means that the ejected players are ineligible to play in the first round of the ncaa tournament, so south carolina will have six players for that game and lsu will have five. zoinks.
scratch that last part. only cardoso is ineligible.
just saw dune 2 in an imax theater. if you get that chance, do it. that's a heck of a cinematic experience. epic set pieces, strong acting, cool visuals. austin butler is amazing as a villain.
cord jefferson wins the oscar for adapted screenplay for 'american fiction'. tribe represent.
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