Category Archives: Election 2020

A Hero’s Welcome For A Traitor?

Posted on by under Election 2020, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

So, let me ask a question here:  If a man attempts, but fails, to murder your daughter, causing her grievous personal injury from which she may never fully recover, when he gets out of prison after serving for only a few months, will you give him a hero’s welcome?  No, I didn’t think so.  And yet, when a man attempts to murder the democracy of your nation, to render your vote null and void, he gets the royal carpet treatment.  WTF is wrong with the people in this country???

Remember this asshole?

Jacob Angeli Chansley, commonly called the “QAnon Shaman”, was one of the Trump supporters who broke into the Capitol building on January 6th with the intention of overturning the 2020 election, scrapping President Biden’s electoral win, silencing the voices of the people, and installing Donald Trump as “president”.  In November 2021, after pleading guilty, he was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in the insurrection/attempted coup.  And then, he was released on May 25th, after serving only 18 months, two of them in a halfway house – less than half of his sentence.  And he arrived home in Arizona to a hero’s welcome.

According to AZ Central …

A crowd of more than 150 people gathered at Reformed Living Bible Church in Scottsdale on Sunday to celebrate the homecoming of Jake Angeli, one of the most prominent figures at the raid on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Angeli opted out of the painted face and shed the fur and horned hat that earned him a national spotlight. Instead, the man who has been nicknamed the “QAnon Shaman” addressed the crowd in a white suit and American flag tie. “Here I am saying hello, a couple years later, in a much more public way than I ever anticipated and it’s really surreal, almost like a dream,” Angeli said to the crowd.

An organizer of the event, Susan Wood of Scottsdale, told The Arizona Republic on Friday that the event would be a chance to reintroduce Angeli to the public.

Wood said she met Angeli at the various protests and marches he participated in during 2019 and 2020. “He was always just so happy and energetic and fun and nice,” she said. “We were like, what is he doing in prison? He’s not dangerous or anything.”

NOT DANGEROUS OR ANYTHING????  Seriously???  Ms. Wood needs to remove her head from her posterior and read the United States Constitution, if she is capable of reading at all, that is!  This man assisted in what could have resulted in the death of a nation and DID result in the deaths of at least five law enforcement officers!  NOT DANGEROUS???  I suppose she is a fan of Adolf Hitler, too!  He was, after all, just a kind, gentle man who happened to hate Jewish people, eh?  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr …

I ask again, WTF is wrong with the people of this nation???

CNN … The New Fox In Town 🦊

Posted on by under Election 2020, Election 2024, Free Press Issues, History, Political commentary, Social commentary

Many, myself included, were appalled by the news that CNN would give Donald Trump more than an hour on prime time to spew his lies and hatred, which was exactly what he did.  For many years, CNN has been considered a reliable news source, but that all began to change last year with a change in ownership and management.  What started the network’s decline that culminated this week with their hosting of the wanna-be dictator?  Robert Reich gives us the lowdown on what happened … and is continuing to happen … over at CNN.

After last night, anyone still trust CNN?

Chris Licht is full of BS

Robert Reich

11 May 2023

 

Why in hell did CNN give Donald Trump a full hour of primetime television before an audience of ardent supporters who applauded every lie and laughed at every sexist insult?

The germ of an answer could be found last August, when Chris Licht, CNN’s new chairman and CEO, canceled Brian Stelter’s Sunday show, “Reliable Sources,” which had been a reliable source of intelligent criticism of Fox News, rightwing media in general, Trumpism, and the increasingly authoritarian lurch of the Republican party.

Licht also fired Stelter and his staff.

The show had been commercially successful. It was doing better than several of CNN’s primetime shows.

Around the same time, Licht told CNN staff they should stop referring to Donald Trump’s “big lie” because the phrase sounded like a Democratic party talking point. Licht also told the staff he wanted more “straight news reporting,” along with more conservative guests.

Why?

Follow the money. CNN’s new corporate overseer is Warner Brothers Discovery Inc, whose CEO is David Zaslav.

Zaslav has been pushing Licht to reposition CNN to be a network preferred by “everybody … Republicans, Democrats.”

But CNN was never going to be the network preferred by Republicans. Fox News has that sewn up.

Besides, facts, data and logic are no longer relevant to the Republican base.

The anti-democracy movement in America is among the biggest issues confronting America today. Is reporting on it considered “straight news” or “opinion?” Wouldn’t failing to report on it in a way that sounded alarms be a gross dereliction of duty?

How is it possible to report on Trump and not speak of the big lie, or say they’ve broken norms if not laws?

So, what’s motivating Zaslav? Keep following the money.

The leading shareholder in Warner Brothers Discovery is John Malone, a multibillionaire cable magnate. (Malone was a chief architect in the merger of Discovery and CNN.)

Malone describes himself as a “libertarian” although he travels in rightwing Republican circles. In 2005, he held 32% of the shares of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. He is on the board of directors of the Cato Institute. In 2017, he donated $250,000 to Trump’s inauguration.

Malone has said he wants CNN to be more like Fox News because, in his view, Fox News has “actual journalism”. Malone also wants the “news” portion of CNN to be “more centrist.”

It’s unlikely that Malone instructed Zaslav to tell Licht to fire Stelter. Power isn’t exercised that clumsily in large corporate media bureaucracies.

It’s more likely that Licht knew what Zaslav wanted, and Zaslav knew what Malone wanted. A source told Deadline’s Dominic Patten and Ted Johnson that even if Malone didn’t order Stelter’s ouster, “it sure represents his thinking.”

When you follow the money behind deeply irresponsible decisions at the power centers of America today, the road often leads to rightwing billionaires.

Last year, Stelter wrote in his newsletter that Malone’s comments about CNN “stoked fears that Discovery might stifle CNN journalists and steer away from calling out indecency and injustice.”

Last August, on his last show, Stelter said:

“It’s not partisan to stand up for decency and democracy and dialogue. It’s not partisan to stand up to demagogues. It’s required. It’s patriotic. We must make sure we don’t give platforms to those who are lying to our faces.”

Precisely.

Sadly, there are still many in America – and not just billionaires like Malone – who believe that holding Trump accountable for what he has done (and continues to do) to this country is a form of partisanship, and that such partisanship has no place in so-called “balanced journalism”.

This belief is itself dangerous.

After I first criticized Licht for the direction he was pushing CNN, he phoned me. He was angry that I doubted his motives, and said he took the top job at CNN because he “believes in journalism.”

When I mentioned the particularly challenging time American journalism now finds itself — with Trump, most of the Republican Party, and most Republican candidates for office denying that the 2020 election was won by Joe Biden, thereby on the way to undermining America democracy – Licht agreed that it’s challenging. He said, emphatically, that this was why he is so deeply committed to restoring CNN’s credibility as an “unbiased” source of news that “people can feel they can trust.”

Well, Chris, after what you did last night, you can forget the public’s trust in CNN.

A Prescient Warning

Posted on by under Election 2020, Election 2024, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, voting rights

I have been saying for more than two years now that the name “Trump” should not even be on the ballot in the next presidential election.  More and more, it seems that name is the most likely to be on the ballot with a big “R” next to it in 2024.  I am not alone … our friend Robert Reich agrees and perhaps his words carry more weight than mine …

Warning (if you needed it): Trump is nuts, and he’ll do anything — anything — to win

His name should not be allowed on the 2024 ballot

Robert Reich

24 April 2023

Friends,

The most obvious question in American politics today should be: Why is the guy who committed treason just over two years ago being allowed to run for president?

Answer: He shouldn’t be.

Remember? Donald Trump lost reelection but refused to concede and instead claimed without basis that the election was stolen from him, then pushed state officials to change their tallies, hatched a plot to name fake electors, tried to persuade the vice president to refuse to certify Electoral College votes, sought access to voting machine data and software, got his allies in Congress to agree to question the electoral votes and thereby shift the decision to the House of Representatives, and summoned his supporters to Washington on the day electoral votes were to be counted and urged them to march on the U.S. Capitol, where they rioted.

This, my friends, is treason.

But he is running for reelection — despite the explicit language of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits anyone who has held public office and who has engaged in insurrection against the United States from ever again serving in public office.

The reason for the Constitution’s disqualification clause is that someone who has engaged in an insurrection against the United States cannot be trusted to use constitutional methods to regain office.

Can any of us who saw (or have learned through the painstaking work of Congress’s January 6 committee) what Trump tried to do to overturn the results of the 2020 election have any doubt he’ll once again try to do whatever necessary to regain power in 2024, even if illegal and unconstitutional?

Sure, the newly enacted Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022 (amending the Electoral Count Act of 1887) filled some of the legal holes — creating a new threshold for members to object to a slate of electors (one-fifth of the members of both the House and the Senate), clarifying that the role of the vice president is “solely ministerial,” and requiring that Congress defer to slates of electors as determined by the states.

But what if Trump gets secretaries of state and governors who are loyal to him to alter the election machinery to ensure he wins? What if he gets them to prevent people likely to vote for Biden from voting at all?

What if he gets them to appoint electors who will vote for him regardless of the outcome of the popular vote?

What if, despite all of this, Biden still wins the election — but Trump gets more than 20 percent of Republican senators and House members to object to slates of electors pledged to Biden, and pushes the election into the House, where Trump has a majority of votes?

Does anyone doubt the possibility — no, the probability — of any or all of this happening?

Trump tried these tactics once. The likelihood of his trying again is greater now because his loyalists are in much stronger positions throughout state and federal government.

Yes, they were held back in the 2022 midterms. But in state after state, and in Congress, Republicans who stood up to Trump have now been purged from the party. And lawmakers in what remains of the Republican Party have made it clear that they will bend or disregard any rule that gets in their way.

In many cases, the groundwork has been laid. As recently reported in The New York Times, for example, the Trump allies who traveled to Coffee County, Georgia, on January 7, 2021, gained access to sensitive election data. They copied elections software used across Georgia and uploaded it on the internet — an open invitation to election manipulation by Trump allies in 2024.

If anything, Trump is less constrained than he was in 2020. “In 2016, I declared I am your voice,” Trump said in a speech last month at the Conservative Political Action Conference and repeated at his first 2024 campaign rally in Waco, Texas, a few weeks later. “Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”

Filing deadlines for 2024 presidential candidates will come in the next six months, in most states. Secretaries of state — who in most cases are in charge of deciding who gets on the ballot — must refuse to place Donald Trump’s name on the 2024 ballot, based on the clear meaning of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

What do you think?

Jaw-Dropping News

Posted on by under Election 2020, Free Press Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

At exactly 11:39 EDT this morning came the breaking news that caused my jaw to drop:

Tucker Carlson Leaves Fox News

The company gave no reason, only this brief statement:

“FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”

I expected some heads to roll in the wake of the $787.5 million settlement agreed on between Fox and Dominion Voting Systems last week, but last I heard it would likely be Jeanine Pirro and Maria Bartiromo, not their top draw.  Thus far there is no word whether he was terminated or left of his own volition, but I suspect the former, for as journalist Brian Stelter noted …

“The biggest ‘tell’ in Fox’s press release about Tucker Carlson’s exit is that he is not getting a final show. No chance to say goodbye on his own terms or point people to his next home. Fox says ‘Carlson’s last program was Friday April 21st.’”

I wonder if this is just the first head to roll at Fox?  Oh, it seems not, since Justin Wells, the senior executive producer of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” has also been fired.  I wonder who will be left on Fox at the end of this week?

Interestingly, at 12:19 p.m., just 40 minutes after the news broke that Carlson and Fox have parted ways, came the news that in those 40 minutes, “Fox Corporation – the parent company of Fox News – has seen its share value drop by about 4%.”

So … where will ol’ Tuck go next?  Well, already this afternoon it is reported that RT, the Russian state-controlled television network, has put out the welcome mat for Tucker … ‘twould be an appropriate home for him, I suppose.  While I’m not in the habit of laughing at other people’s misfortunes, I must admit some feeling of “you got what you deserved” this time.  Of course others on Fox are equally toxic, but their turn may be coming soon.

And just a little bit ago (2:03 p.m. EDT), it was reported by the Los Angeles Times that Carlson was fired over the discrimination lawsuit filed by a former producer on his show, Abby Grossberg.  Grossberg’s suit claims that lawyers for the network “coached” and “intimidated” her into giving misleading testimony in the lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems. She also alleged a culture of sexism and misogyny at the network, and that executives tried to blame her and host Maria Bartiromo for the airing of 2020 election conspiracy theories.  What a surprise … not.

Well, folks, that’s where it all stands as of now … could be an interesting week for ol’ Fox “News” and their crew of natural-born liars.  Oh, and don’t feel too badly for ol’ Tucker, for he has a net worth of approximately $30 million, so I don’t think he’ll need to apply for food stamps any time soon.

Da Fox Loses … But Gets To Keep The Henhouse

Posted on by under Election 2020, Free Press Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

I was both pleased and disappointed by the news of the $787.5 million settlement in the Dominion v Fox News case.  I was pleased for a number of reasons, mainly that a willingness to settle proves yet again that Rupert Murdoch and others at Fox are well aware they lied to increase their own profits, but also because a trial was likely to be turned into a media circus that would have kept our attention away from most anything else.  My disappointment is in the fact that Fox got off light.  Oh sure, over a three-quarters of a billion dollars is a lot of money … more than I can even begin to comprehend … BUT true justice in this case would have stemmed from Murdoch, Hannity, Carlson, Ingraham, Pirro and others having to face their viewers, the people they lied to, and say, “Yes, we lied to you because we think you are stupid enough to believe our lies, and so we could make more money.”  We were denied that.  Fox viewers were denied an apology, are still being denied the truth.

Erik Wemple, media critic for The Washington Post, addresses this “big hole” left in the wake of the settlement, and I agree … money is paid, but full accountability is still lacking.

There’s a big hole in the Dominion-Fox News settlement

Erik Wemple

18 April 2023

When news of a possible settlement between Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News surfaced on Sunday night, pleas from concerned citizens popped up on social media: Don’t settle this lawsuit, Dominion. Put all the evidence before a jury. Drag Fox News hosts and executives to the witness stand. Grill them on their deceptive programming.

So, the news Tuesday afternoon that the two parties had settled Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation suit over election disinformation for $787.5 million will disappoint those who longed for a more visceral comeuppance for Fox News. That’s understandable, considering that Fox News has littered the public square with lies and half-baked stories — essentially mini-Dominions — for 26-plus years.

The size of the payout, however, speaks to both the journalistic atrocities and the reams of internal correspondence that Dominion pried from Fox News during the pretrial maneuvering. And yet: It all feels a bit empty.

Justin Nelson, a top attorney for Dominion, sounded a triumphant tone in a statement following the announcement. “The truth matters,” said Nelson. “Lies have consequences. Over two years ago, a torrent of lies swept Dominion and election officials across America into an alternative universe of conspiracy theories.” The settlement, he added, “represents vindication and accountability.”

That accountability came via volume. A Dominion document filed with the court on Tuesday listed 7,021 trial exhibits, including transcripts of offending programs, internal correspondence among producers expressing doubts about the stuff their bosses were broadcasting, scolding remarks about people committed to doing actual journalism, and a lot more. A good portion of the material relates to the actions of former Fox News host Lou Dobbs, a 30-plus-year veteran of cable news. He figures to be among the winners in this settlement, considering that he won’t have to see his propaganda exposed again in what promised to be saturation coverage.

Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro and Rupert Murdoch are among the others whose spring outlook just got a little brighter.

In its statement, Fox News demonstrated that not even a court record bulging with evidence of perfidy is enough to shame the organization into genuine contrition. “We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects FOX’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.”

(Boldface added to highlight the network’s minimization of the fact that the discovery materials exposed not just falsehoods but lies. Boldface italics added to highlight an unthinkable proposition — firm evidence that the network refuses to learn from any experience.)

After Nelson and other speakers finished addressing the media, the Erik Wemple Blog and other reporters asked whether the settlement required Fox News to publish any retractions or apologies. The lawyers turned and left without answering those questions. The Post’s Jeremy Barr reported that the network will not have to air any retractions or apologies pursuant to the settlement agreement. Which is to say, the resolution requires a great deal of something that Fox News has in wheelbarrows (money) and very little of something it has in teaspoons (editorial integrity).

That’s where the emptiness comes in.

Documents made public in the course of the litigation showed that Fox News’s relationship with its audience tortures the ideal of an America that runs on a shared set of facts. When Fox News bosses observed that its loyal viewers were fleeing to other networks peddling election lies, they grew worried that their two-decade-long ratings dominance was in jeopardy. So, they fine-tuned the coverage to indulge some conspiracy-theorizing. The upshot is that Fox News was able to keep its audience both sizable and ill-informed.

The settlement might only perpetuate that dynamic. The full depravity of the network’s 2020 election coverage will never have to be disclosed to viewers on the only cable-news outlet they trust.

The slam-dunk nature of the evidence in Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News stirred expectations — a bankrupt Fox News; abject apologies from the likes of Carlson and Murdoch — that a single lawsuit may never have been able to deliver. “This litigation cannot solve all problems,” said Nelson.

A Picture Paints A Thousand Words

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, guns, Humour, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

I often find that I can read a 1,000-word essay on a topic, but then I look at a cartoon on the same topic and understand the situation just as well from the artistic rendering as I did from the wordsmith’s version!  So, for this lazy Saturday afternoon, I thought I’d share some of the best ‘toons I’ve found over the last week or so.

Connecting The Dots

Posted on by under education, Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry

What follows is a portion of Robert Hubbell’s newsletter from yesterday, looking back at last week and connecting the dots to see the broader picture.

A Reflection On Last Week

Robert E. Hubbell

10 April 2023

Tonight, I offer a reflection on last week—and a suggestion about how we must respond. We went into last week expecting the news to be dominated by Trump’s arraignment. It was—until the GOP-controlled legislature in Tennessee expelled two young Black Representatives for protesting briefly in the well of the assembly. We then received the report of Pro Publica outlining the manifest corruption of Justice Thomas by Texas millionaire and Hitler memorabilia collector Harlan Crow. And then Judge Kacsmaryk issued a thinly disguised religious fiat banning mifepristone for women across America.

Each of the above events demonstrates the GOP’s efforts to achieve its goals by breaking the democracy that guarantees their liberties in the first instance. But we must now add to the sad litany a new item—Governor Greg Abbott’s pre-emptive announcement that he will pardon a Texas man convicted of murder after a jury trial. At trial, the defendant was able to present his argument that he acted in self-defense. The jury rejected that claim and voted unanimously to convict him of murder.

Why does Abbott believe that he is justified in pardoning the murderer even before appeals have been heard? Abbott is, after all, substituting his judgment for that of the jurors who heard the evidence first-hand. Abbot believes the defendant is innocent of murder because he killed a “BLM” protester.

That’s right: Governor Abbott has established a new rule that laws do not apply equally to people protesting police killings and right-wing extremists who are upset by the protests. In a single act, Abbott has altered the law in Texas, demoted protestors demanding justice to second-class status, and told Texas jurors that their voices do not matter when MAGA extremists are on trial. In short, “self-defense” is a MAGA “get out of jail free” card under Greg Abbott’s reign in Texas.

Together, these four instances illustrate a strategy the GOP learned from Trump: If the democratic system does not produce the result you want, then break democracy to obtain a different result.[Emphasis added] That is what the Tennessee legislators did to Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, that is what religious zealots did to all Americans, that is what monied interests did in bending the Supreme Court to do the bidding of the privileged and elite, and that is what Greg Abbott has done in summarily overturning a jury verdict that flies in the face of the facts.

We have been confronting this asymmetry from the very moment Trump announced his bid in 2016, and it has worsened over time. As Democrats toil within the system to forge compromises over competing policies, Republicans break the system to get their way. They simply ignore it (McConnell on Merrick Garland’s nomination), they deny it (outcomes of elections), they falsify it (fake electors), they rig the judicial system to guarantee assignment of cases to a sympathetic federal judge (Kacsmaryk), and they attempt to stop its operation through violence (J6).

There have been scattered calls for Democrats to employ similar tactics. Indeed, some are calling for the federal government to ignore Judge Kacsmaryk’s order if it is not stayed by the 5th Circuit or the Supreme Court. To state the obvious, to do so would amount to “breaking democracy” simply because we don’t like the result. We must not give in to the temptation to adopt the GOP’s anti-democratic tactics. We must fight our battle of resistance from within the walls and ramparts of democracy if we have any hope of saving it.

The truth is that the rule of law continues to exist in America today because one of America’s major political parties remains committed to upholding that rule—despite the efforts of the other party to destroy it. If both parties feel emboldened to ignore the rule of law, our democracy will be gone. All that will be left is a contest of brute force in which dark money will substitute for violence.

I do not believe we will reach that point. I have faith that Democrats will do the right thing despite legitimate feelings of anger, hurt, and despair. In each of the four situations described above, there is a democratic path forward to correct the result. It will not be easy, and we may not succeed entirely. But so long as we have a path forward, we should not set aside our great charter and the laws that give it life. It has endured for more than two centuries during equally trying times; we can make it through the present challenges, as well.

We need Trump – Really?

Posted on by under Economic issues, Election 2020, Election 2022, Election 2024, Environmental Issues, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Keith ponders the many, many reasons that the former guy should NEVER be given the keys to that big White House on Pennsylvania Avenue again. After 4 years in office, and another two spent attempting to subvert and destroy this nation, some people still believe he is a viable candidate for the job. I’m with Keith here … he is the WORST possible candidate! Thank you, Keith … your words need to be heard far and wide!

musingsofanoldfart

I saw a MAGA fan of the former president holding up a sign that said “We need Trump.” My response is “really?” A person voted by over 150 presidential historians as in the bottom five as one of the worst presidents ever? I am sure this poll of historians does not make many far right’ news blips.

The rationale for such a low rating, per one of the historians who so voted, is on top of his policy decisions and making America’s standing in the world fall, his poor handling of the COVID pandemic and his role in the seditious insurrection against a branch of government pull him down. It is not a surprise that his sycophants are trying to re-write history on these two issues.

But, these two issues do not stand alone. Here are a few other things to chew on:

  • His one focus his first year was…

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Another Nasty Comes Out From The Woodwork

Posted on by under education, Election 2020, Election 2024, Environmental Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Today, I want to introduce you to a man who currently holds the position of Lieutenant Governor of the state of North Carolina, Mr. Mark Keith Robinson.

Mr. Robinson has only held the office of Lieutenant Governor for just over two years, but next month, on April 22nd, he plans to announce his candidacy for the office of Governor, hoping to replace the outgoing Democratic Governor Roy Cooper.  Before I opine on Mr. Robinson, let’s take a quick look at his qualifications for the position.

After high school, Robinson served in the Army Reserve, then worked at several furniture factories, during which time he took history classes at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, with the goal of securing a degree and becoming a history teacher.  He did not finish at the University, nor did he earn a degree.  His interest in ‘conservative’ politics he credits to a book he read by … of all people … Rush Limbaugh, the ultra-bigoted conspiracy-theorist political commentator.  That said, Mr. Robinson has virtually no qualifications to be Governor of the State of North Carolina and hold the lives of some 10.55 million people in his hands.

I will let his words speak to his views:

  • “The Rainbow is the beautiful symbol of God’ s promise to man. IT IS NOT the symbol of sickening homosexual perversion!!!!”
  • “February is Black History Month. I guess the shortest month of the year is all we need to learn about the separate but equal history of a people who have achieved so little.” (You might note from Mr. Robinson’s photo above that he, himself, is Black)

  • “I don’t believe the Moon Landing was faked and I don’t believe 9/11 was an ‘inside job’ but if I found both were true…I wouldn’t be surprised.”
  • “I am SERIOUSLY skeptical of EVERYTHING I see and have seen on television. From the murder of JFK to 9/11 to Las Vegas. EVERYTHING.”

Well, you get the idea, right?  Robinson is anti-abortion, equating it to murder even though he paid for his then-girlfriend to have an abortion back in 1989.  He is a climate change denier, and has indicated that he wants to remove science and social studies from first through fifth grade curriculum, as well as abolish the State Board of Education.  He is rabidly anti-Semitic, anti-LGBTQ, and has called former President Obama “a worthless, anti-American atheist.”

Heard enough yet?  There’s plenty more where that came from1.  Mr. Robinson has declared bankruptcy three times, and has defaulted on his taxes, causing the Internal Revenue Service to place liens on him and his property more than once, most recently in 2012.

Ten years ago, I would have laughed at Mr. Robinson’s bid for the governorship, but that was before an equally nasty, unqualified ‘man’ found the path to the Oval Office in 2016, and now all bets are off.  What I found even more disturbing than Robinson’s bigotry and hate-filled rhetoric is the support he has garnered.  He won the Lieutenant Governorship by a relatively slim margin of 3.26% over Democrat Yvonne Lewis Holley in 2020 with some 2,800,655 votes.  Nearly 3 million people in the state of North Carolina like this buffoon so filled with hatred and racism!!!  One of my sources listed a link to Robinson’s Facebook page, so I went and took a look for myself.  I only viewed a handful, maybe 10 of his posts, and nothing was too terribly disgusting … until I got to the comments.  Readers telling him how much they loved him, telling him he would have their vote for Governor, and several even envisioning him as President some day!  Seriously, people, common sense has done flown out the damned window throughout this nation, not just in North Carolina!

For the sake of my own sanity, I spent only about 5 minutes perusing Mr. Robinson’s Facebook page and the comments, shot off two one-liners questioning the commenter’s sanity, then returned back to my own world!  However, if you’re interested, feel free to do a little digging of your own, using the link above.

There are 20 months remaining until the 2024 elections.  Somehow, some way, we MUST educate the people of this country, must show them the dangerous waters people like Mark Keith Robinson would lead this nation into.  I don’t know how, but … somehow.  If I believed in the power of prayer, I would fall to my knees and beg god to instill some common sense into the people of this nation.  Sadly, that is not going to happen, so We the People must work to try to open the eyes of the blind.

1  Sources include, but not limited to:  Wikipedia, Axios, Talking Points Memo (TPM), WSOC TV, Raleigh News & Observer.