No Defending Trump

It’s striking what Republican politicians didn’t say after Trump was convicted of 34 counts of felony falsification of business records. They didn’t say, “Trump is an honest businessman. He’d never falsify business records.” Or, “Trump is a fine family man. He’d never cheat on his wife with a porn star.” Or, “Trump is an honest…

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Hold the Line

“We’ve been flanked and we’ve lost the line!” – Metropolitan Police radio, January 6, 2021 Fifty years ago this summer, the American system held up against the criminal presidency of Richard Nixon. Trump makes Nixon look like an Eagle Scout. Will the system hold up this year against a convicted felon, fraud and rapist –…

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Democrats Exposed

We’ve been outed, Democrats. A wily Republican strategist, Matt Wylie, has exposed our real agenda. In an op-ed in The Charlotte Observer, Wylie warned his party what America will face if Democrats win this year: “Increasing the federal minimum wage to $17/hour, incorporating provisions of the Green New Deal, implementing new federal voting rights mandates,…

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Trump’s Reich

Surely, I thought, this isn’t true. Not even the Trump-MAGA crowd would boast that one result of Trump’s election would be a “Unified Reich.” “Reich.” Like Hitler’s Third Reich. But there it was, on Trump’s Truth Social account, among messages flashing across the screen: “Trump wins!!”, “Economy booms!” and – yes – a headline with…

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The 70-Year War Against Public Schools

After 70 years, North Carolina’s school segregationists are nearing their cherished goal: destroying the public schools and replacing them with racially segregated private schools. And you, the taxpayer, are paying for it. On May 17, 1954, 70 years ago this month, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that segregated schools were unconstitutional. Across the South, and…

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No “Deceit and Betrayal”

Today’s blog, which responds to Carter’s post “Deceit and Betrayal,” was written by a thoughtful reader who prefers not to be named. I agree with their opinion, and I can’t say it any better. Carter, you have written a column accusing President Biden of “deceit and betrayal,” reporting that he had “refused to send Israel…

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Trump’s $1 Billion Bribe

This one stands out – even in the never-ending flood of Donald Trump’s sins, crimes and scandals. But the national media hasn’t given it the same time and space as, say, President Biden’s age or swing-state polls. At Mar-a-Lago last month, The Washington Post reported, Trump told Big Oil executives that if they raised $1…

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Biden’s New Democracy

Joe Biden is a great President, but not a great communicator. He has a good story to tell. It goes like this: For more than 40 years, since 1980, the Republican Party – and, sad to say, too many Democrats – have taken the American people down the wrong road. They saddled us with trickledown…

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Protest Politics

Two things have been true throughout American history: We love to protest, but we hate protesters. And bashing protesters is always good politics. Protesting is deep in our DNA. Protesters settled the country. The American Revolution was the ultimate, violent protest. Ever since, we’ve cycled through protest and repression. When abolitionists protested slavery, Southern slaveowners…

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Grand Old (Drunk) Party  

Before North Carolina Republicans got down to business in the legislature, they got down to some serious partying. First there was the incident at the December wedding of Rep. Destin Hall, who wants to be Speaker next year. One of his groomsmen fell off a truck and was injured so badly he was hospitalized for…

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