Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

No one could have predicted…

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

“woke” is the new caravan.

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Today in Stupid (Open Thread)

Today in Stupid (Open Thread)

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I’m truly awful at reading electorates and predicting political outcomes, so no one should listen to me on those topics. Ever.

But after speculating yesterday that horrid Gov. Ron DeSantis may be courting a backlash in Florida by demonstrating every day what a hateful, nosy, fascist prick he is, a scrap of evidence that this might be happening arrived in the form a flipped mayoral seat in Jacksonville.

A few things to know about Jacksonville: It’s red because it incorporates Duval County, not just the portions of the county that could be truthfully described as “a city.” DeSantis won it by double-digits in the 2022 election. But last night, Democrat Donna Deegan beat the DeSantis-endorsed Repub to become only the second Dem mayor in the past 30 years. Also, DeSantis was born in Jacksonville.

A DeSantis-endorsed Repub gubernatorial candidate was bounced in Kentucky yesterday too. There’s further bad news for DeSantis via Florida Politics: one of his favorite billionaire donors cut a $1 million check to a potential in-state rival for the GOP 2024 nomination who is not named Donald Trump: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.

I had no idea Suarez was even thinking of running for president, but apparently he is. It’s a terrible idea — he’s likely to distinguish himself only by becoming the third-worst Florida resident seeking the presidency in 2024. But that’s $1 million that Citadel CEO Ken Griffin can’t piss away on DeSantis, and it’s further evidence billionaire donors are seeing how toxic and unelectable Ron DeSantis is. Good!

In other news, NC Repubs in the statehouse overrode North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto yesterday and banned abortion after 12 weeks. During the debate, one Democratic rep told it like it is:

“Women did not ask for your oversight. We didn’t ask for your approval,” Rep. Julie von Haefen, a Wake County Democrat, told GOP colleagues. “It’s our fundamental right to make decisions about our own bodies and our own health care.”

She’s right, but as in Florida, which enacted an even more draconian ban that most of the state’s citizens don’t support, Repub lawmakers once again affirmed that women aren’t fully competent adults and need fanatical busybodies to monitor their bodily functions and personal healthcare.

NC Repubs needed every single vote to override Cooper’s veto, and they got them all, including the vote of a turncoat former Dem, Repub Rep. Tricia Cotham. As you’ll recall, she campaigned as a Dem in a blue district and then switched parties last month, delivering the supermajority needed for the override.

Jezebel reports that Cotham ran on a pro-choice agenda for years. In a 2015 speech, Cotham told Repubs, “My womb and my uterus is not up for your political grab.”

Well, that was a big fat lie — Cotham subjected every NC woman’s uterus to her new party’s power grab. From what I read, she’ll almost certainly lose her seat over it. So why did Cotham make fools of her team and voters? Her former aide Jonathan Colby explained:

“I wish I could say that she took a giant bag of cash at an IHOP and that’s why she did this—but it’s so much dumber than that,” he said. “It’s just a deeply petty, personal thing.”

Colby provided details to Jezebel, and “deeply petty” is a great description of Cotham’s complaints:

  • Cotham felt Democrats had repeatedly slighted her since her January swearing-in—including criticizing her for using the American flag and prayer hands emojis online and supposedly not clapping for her when the Republican House Speaker recognized her on International Women’s Day as the youngest woman ever elected to the State House. (They did clap, according to local news reports.)
  • Cotham also bristled at criticism for missing a vote that let Republicans repeal a gun permit law.
  • Cotham had also been annoyed that Planned Parenthood didn’t endorse her, despite her self-described “very powerful” speech on abortion rights. (She skipped the endorsement interview.)

In short, Cotham is an overly sensitive, self-aggrandizing jackass, so the Repub Party is a much better fit for her. If half the NC population has to lose their rights to assuage Cotham’s hurt feelings, well, that’s a price she’s willing to pay. Christ, what an asshole. The end.

Reader Interactions

116Comments

  1. 1.

    CaseyL

    Thanks for the backstory on the backstabbing nitwit, Cotham.  I had heard the reason she switched was because she was in a relationship with one of the GOPers.

    (Both could be true:  her boyfriend could have spent the past however long persuading her that the Dems didn’t appreciate her enough, and that the GOP would appreciate her a lot more.)

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    In short, Cotham is an overly sensitive, self-aggrandizing jackass, so the Repub Party is a much better fit for her. If half the NC population has to lose their rights to assuage Cotham’s hurt feelings, well, that’s a price she’s willing to pay. Christ, what an asshole. The end.

     

    I still say check the bank accounts.

  4. 4.

    Geminid

    North Carolina Republicans intend to redistrict again this year, and they probably promised Cotham they’d draw her a safe district, and then support her in the primary.

  6. 6.

    Soprano2

    So, here’s a little respite if you like opera tenors – a link to a performance from the concert I went to Saturday night. Michael Spyres sings Nessa Dorma with the Springfield Symphony. The whole family that sang was AMAZING. You’d pay $200-300 in any larger city to see what I saw Saturday night for $50

    Let me know if the link works – strangely enough, I can see it on their FB page, but when I clicked the link it said it was in violation of the Web filter policy! Here’s a link to their FB page if that one doesn’t work.

  7. 7.

    Soprano2

    @rikyrah: It’s just not believable to me that someone would throw over things they’ve believed their whole life because of the reasons cited. I agree, check the bank account.

  9. 9.

    Kay

    The Jacksonville result is super interesting. GOP turnout was really good and Dem turnout was not and still they lost. They also outspent the Dem 9m to 3m

  11. 11.

    matt

    I read that list and – where’s the reason for switching parties? That’s just a bunch of micro gripes.

  12. 12.

    MattF

    My own opinion is that the RW is in denial about the likely consequences of going full-fascist on abortion. But there’s a contradiction— they chase the fanatic/mysogyny voter but somehow miss the normie/adult voter. There’s some sort of logic that I’m just missing.

  14. 14.

    piratedan

    also great news in Pa with the Dems retaining control of the State Lege and in Colorado Springs electing someone who isn’t a raving loon.

     

    in regards to Cotham, she’ll be right at home in the GOP, they do petty pretty well over there

  15. 15.

    Kay

    I’m hopijng DeSantis follows the Christie line- popular for a period, promoted by media, but fails as a national candidate and leaves office with 15% approval. Except DeSantis can’t be hired by cable because he’s a non communicative oddball.

  16. 16.

    Old School

    I read that Jacksonville had the distinction of being the largest city with a Republican mayor.  I’m not sure which city will now hold that “honor.

    Edit:  Looks like Fort Worth, TX now.

  18. 18.

    Jeffro

    @rikyrah:I still say check the bank accounts.

    absoLUTEly

    “petty” would be if Cotham started publicly slamming Dems, wavering in her votes, having lunch with the Rs, whatever.  Sinema-style stuff.

    Outright flipping like this, on an issue of this magnitude?  No way someone didn’t get to her with either a bag of cash, blackmail material, or both.

  19. 19.

    Geminid

    @Baud: They’ll probably keep their word on a good district, but they can’t guarantee she’ll win her primary.

    I’m assuming here that North Carolina’s Republicans will proceed with redistricting. Karl Kondyk of the Miller Center at U. Va. thinks they will, and he rated several Democratic seats as tossups because of that prospect.

  20. 20.

    Jeffro

    @MattF: they think their side is larger than our/normie side.

    That’s it.  They’re convinced there’s actually more of them than us (and half the time, due to gerrymandering, voter suppression, etc, it sure looks that way).

    PLUS they have god on their side, of course (eyeroll)

  21. 21.

    Jeffro

    @Kay:Except DeSantis can’t be hired by cable because he’s a non communicative oddball.

    Thanks, Kay.  Just trying to picture DeSantis on a “panel” of CNN “experts” and offering anything like “commentary” gave me a good case of the LOLs.  =)

  22. 22.

    Hoodie

    @rikyrah: She had an unsuccessful run for Congress in 2016, lost in the Dem primary.   I wonder if she’s angling to try again as a Republican, probably aided by new, even more gerrymandered maps the GOP legislature will generate after they turned the NC Supreme Court.   That could be an implied promise she got from the NCGOP.   Hard to overstate how much insipid careerism infects politics.

  23. 23.

    Central Planning

    I can’t wait to hear TFG start complaining about DeSantis’ culture of losing.

  25. 25.

    Kay

    @MattF:

    They’re controlled by their base. Louisiana Republicans are right now opposing an abortion exception for women who have cancer and need to receive chemotherapy. 

    Anti abortion groups opposed the exception, so GOP’ers folded to the demands. They’re just openly killing women now.

  26. 26.

    OverTwistWillie

    Another one bites the dust:

    Key Trump attorney says he’s departing legal team…

    Parlatore if anyone cares.

  27. 27.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: I thought so too! I don’t know much about Jax. Maybe the DeSantis endorsee was even more of an odious, personality-free prick than the governor and Deegan is a genuine political talent? I’d welcome insight from a local!

  28. 28.

    Kay

    @Jeffro:

    Some if it so fixable! Can no one tell him to stop opening his mouth so wide? He must have no friends. Every photo you see his entire gross tongue. Normal people don’t smile like that!

  30. 30.

    Roger Moore

    @Soprano2:

    It’s just not believable to me that someone would throw over things they’ve believed their whole life because of the reasons cited.

    I agree that people won’t toss their lifelong beliefs for trivial reasons, but that makes me think in a different direction.  To me, the most likely explanation is that her lifelong beliefs weren’t; they were positions of convenience.  Once she had a better offer, she was willing to toss them aside because she never really believed in anything but her own advancement.

  31. 31.

    Betty Cracker

    Regarding Cotham’s motives, I wouldn’t discount bribery or blackmail either, but the dude who worked with her seems convinced she’s just a petty asshole and that’s all there is to it. Again, I’d love to hear a local’s take.

  32. 32.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    I followed a FL person of some kind on Twitter and he announced it was over for the D early last night based on GOP turnout. He had to eat crow obviously, but wtf happened there? Dems will have to figure it out.

  34. 34.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: Hahaha, so true! Tacky O is a former local Fox News anchorwoman, so you’d think she could coach him…

  36. 36.

    JWR

    Jim, Foolish Literalist posted a link about Cotham in yesterday’s Tuesday Evening Open Thread, asking, “the ghost of Sinemas yet to come?” Magic 8 Ball says yeah, pretty much. Oh, here’s the link:

    N.C. Rep. Tricia Cotham, a Mecklenburg County Republican and former Democrat, mouths the words “I see you,” as protesters are escorted from the House gallery by police after a party-line vote to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of an abortion restriction bill. #ncpol #sb20 pic.twitter.com/0ej8u3VpEP
    — Travis Long (@vizjourno) May 17, 2023

  37. 37.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: That was probably Graham Gallagher, who I also follow, and I give him credit for eating crow! If I had seen the turnout numbers, I would have written the Dem off too. I hope Nikki Fried is all over that election trying to figure out what went right…

  38. 38.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    So, with this redistricting predicted to happen and with the NC Supreme Court falling to the Republicans, what does this mean politically for Dems going forward in the state? Will it remain a purple state trending blue or will it backslide to red?

    ETA: I know that gerrymanders can be broken in a strong enough wave election

  43. 43.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Old School:

    Woah! That’s not going to help their ratings vs Newsmax. Their higher recent viewership has been attributed to RW viewers boycotting Fox due to Carlson’s firing

    ETA: I’m not seeing anything with a quick Google search

  44. 44.

    Geminid

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): The redistricting could make the legislature and possibly the Congressional delegation redder. It should not affect underlying demographic and political trends in the population at large. The real test will be next year’s contest for Governor, and the Presidential race.

  46. 46.

    Betty

    @CaseyL: I can’t accept that a change of that significance can be based on that level of pettiness. I did read that her ex-husband is a big Dem leader so that kind of personal animosity would be at least a little understandable, even if still deplorable.

  48. 48.

    Jeffro

    @Kay: for all we know, they HAVE told him…and he still can’t get it right. 0_0

    But that’s ok!  It’s either him or trumpov, GOP!  Y’all couldn’t possibly rouse yourself to demand better, so I guess this is what y’all want…grin away, Ron!

  49. 49.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Geminid:

    Thanks. Dems need every seat they can get for the House, so that’s disappointing to hear. Hopefully next year there will be a big enough wave to overwhelm the gerrymander

  52. 52.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Betty: Deplorable is right. Just because someone has a D after their name, doesn’t make them automatically trustworthy. As convenient as that might be.

    The R however, almost certainly untrustworthy.

  54. 54.

    jonas

    @Kay: women who have cancer and need to receive chemotherapy. 

    FFS. At some point, they’re just going to start advocating that all girls be euthanized, Logan’s Run-style, as soon as they reach puberty. That would assure no abortions in the future.

  55. 55.

    Alison Rose

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Yeah, nothing firm yet. This seems to be what people are basing it on

    Laura Ingraham OUT at Fox?

    Drudge is reporting that in a major shakeup, the right-wing propaganda network has shifted its schedule, moving Hannity to Tucker’s former 8p timeslot, Jesse Watters to 9p, and Greg Gutfeld to 10p.

    There is no word as to how Ingraham fits in with the… pic.twitter.com/xvzeftJx07
    — MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) May 17, 2023

    (Rest of the tweet: There is no word as to how Ingraham fits in with the new purported primetime lineup — and the news could mean that she is following Tucker out the door.

    Fox has responded to the report, stating, “No decision has been made on a new primetime lineup and there are multiple scenarios under consideration.”

    Story developing…)

  56. 56.

    Gravenstone

    @jonas: That would assure no abortions in the future.

    That would assure no future generations, either. But details, details…

  57. 57.

    sdhays

    Originally, there was also a rumor that Cotham was dating a Republican colleague.

    I’m still stunned at the depth and totality of her betrayal of her constituents. Most people, even people will no core principles, would balk at so publicly and brazenly fucking over millions of people who thought she was their champion, even if for no other reason than they would be nervous at generating such widespread incandescent rage toward themselves. Clearly, Cotham isn’t worried about that.

    I hope the electoral backlash against Republicans shocks them next year.

  61. 61.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Speaking of DeSantis, he signed a raft of anti-LGB and especially T bills today expanding “don’t say gay” — including enabling teachers to intentionally misgender their students — further criminalizes drag shows, bans trans athletes from sports, bans trans-related healthcare for trans kids. The last includes enabling Florida courts to intervene and halt procedures for out-of-state trans kids. He also signed a bathroom bill urinary leash law (it’s hard to be out in public if you’re criminalized for peeing)

    Last week, DeSantis signed a number of anti-LBG and especially T bills, including one that enables doctors and insurers to refuse to treat/cover anything they find morally objectionable [wink, wink], and effectively banned trans healthcare for trans adults.

  62. 62.

    sab

    @Soprano2: I love Nessa Dorma even though I am not much of an opera fan.

    The first time I ever heard it was on KNPR in Las Vegas. They had a Saturday afternoon show where a visiting celebrity would play a favorite classical hit from KNPR’s record collection. Usually it was something from Carmina Burana because that week’s celebrity didn’t know much about classical music.

    Then one week it was Richie Havens, and Nessa Dorma was his selection.

  63. 63.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Betty: Some tweets suggest a long (and sociopathic, IMO) game by Cotham, saying that she used to be a lobbyist for charter shools, ran as a Democrat to win, switched after winning, and will now continue the crushing of public education for the NC GOP at every level. Apparently the abortion vote was just a bonus. And on top of all that, she’s been promised a gerrymandered district to avoid having her former voters vote her out in 2024.

  66. 66.

    Baud

    @Barbara: The pregnancy gambit never worked in her case, but I think it’s now become urban Internet legend that it did.

  68. 68.

    JWR

    Here’s a bit of good news:

    Oxford University wipes the Sackler name from its buildings

    London CNN — Oxford University will remove the Sackler name from its buildings following a review of its relationship with the family that recently expressed regret for its role in the US opioid crisis.

    The 900-year old university said in a statement that it would remove the Sackler name from some of its most prominent landmarks, including parts of the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology and the Bodleian Library. It will also remove the family name from the title of a professorship.

  69. 69.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @sab: Not an opera fan, but funnily enough, I spent several days last week immersed in vocal music, especially opera selections.

    My wife’s music school, which is famous for its vocal program and sends many students on to opera careers, had a multi-day alumni event. It’s pretty amazing to be immersed in a whole roomful of people of that caliber of talent.

    And then we came home to the farewell concert given by a friend of ours to celebrate his retirement from 35 years at his church. He chose to bring in a bunch of amazing soloists who did an evening of Mozart opera and choral music.

  70. 70.

    JaySinWA

    @Baud: As I am sure you know, it’s an attempt at conversion therapy, turning non-voters into voters. It’s probably a lot easier than changing a voter’s mind.

  72. 72.

    trollhattan

    @Jackie: Yeah, they’re squeezing Jesse Watters into the nighttime lineup (which I had {cough} predicted) and that indicates to me their bench is really thin and that only white guys yelling can draw in the ratings, so here’s one more.

    He got his start doing ambush “interviews” for O’Reilly. A real peach.

  77. 77.

    cain

    Does she think she’ll be treated better on the GOP side? Maybe she will now that she’s switched allowing the GOP to do whatever the fuck they want.

  78. 78.

    Rusty

    I stopped being surprised at Cotham when I got to the line in the article mentioning that she was a lobbyist for charter schools.  What the hell is a serious democrat doing pushing charter schools, that is a serious right wing issue now.  Later in the article it mentions the Dems wouldn’t put her on the education committee.  Well no surprise, why would you want a former lobbyist for charter schools on that committee where she could continue to undermine public schools.  There as a period very early in the charter school movement where there was at least some idealism that maybe they could be a different path to a good education.  But balanced studies showed that adjusted for the students (compare students of similar backgrounds, etc. between charter and public schools), they didn’t deliver anything better.  The right wing loves them though because they undermine the public schools, taking away money and focus.  The simple answer is she is an opportunist.  There was a better offer, attention, prestige, fawning, and she took it.  Pretty much the same story as Sinema in Arizona.

  79. 79.

    JWR

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    Some tweets suggest a long (and sociopathic, IMO) game by Cotham

    That was my first thought, that her entire career has been as a deep-fake Dem. This party switch, 5 months after winning as a Dem, is deeply weird.

  80. 80.

    JMG

    @sdhays: Not just a Republican colleague. Rumor I saw online, from a North Carolinian of I don’t know what level of credibility, she was going with the Republican Speaker of the House.

  81. 81.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    It was him. I loved your Keep Florida Weird post, btw. We used to go to Cocoa Beach when our children were small and that’s what I liked about it- the surfers mixed with the buttoned-up engineers from the space programs. It was like oddball haven. So much more interesting than the ordinary FL political commentary, which is all demographics.

  82. 82.

    Hoodie

    @Chief Oshkosh: The NCGOP is truly trying to dismantle public education in NC.  They’ve introduced bills to provide expanded vouchers for basically any type of private school using funds beggared from public schools.    They want to break teachers organizations, which probably stems from years of the NCAE being solidly behind the Democratic Party.   The defunding by expanded vouchers will likely add to the mass exodus of teachers from the public schools that is already occurring because of years of lagging pay and declining working conditions.  The exodus is particularly bad in the urban areas where better-paying jobs are more available, e.g., here in the Triangle there are a lot of unfilled teaching positions.    Of course, most of these GOP reps are from rural areas where teachers have fewer options.

  83. 83.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Jackie: And the Christofascists ignore the fact they God is pissed, and she’s smiting Florida with hurricanes, etc.

    (The Christofascists are quick to claim any natural disaster in California is God’s punishment, but are oddly silent when natural disasters hit Red States, especially those who passed forced birth laws and anti-LGBTQ+ laws.)

  84. 84.

    Tom Q

    @Betty Cracker: I’ve read that Deegan was a local TV anchor.  Never underestimate the power of celebrity to impact a political race.  (Thankfully, Kari Lake still fell just short.)

    It’s hard to know what the Dems’ main takeaway from the Jacksonville race should be.  Happiness over the win, of course.  And really happy about the crossover vote (almost surely from GOP women) continuing to be a factor.  But maybe also frustration that it could have been a blowout if Dem voters had turned out at even just the same rate as GOPers.

  86. 86.

    MagdaInBlack

    Oh Betty. I forgot you now have our lovely Ken Griffin, who couldn’t buy his very own Illinois governor, so up-stakes and scuttled off to Florida to buy one there. I’m sorry.

  87. 87.

    CindyH

    @Betty Cracker: from NC and my take is that she is petty and has no beliefs – just ambition.  Running as a Dem worked for her in her district, but after the NC Supremes gave the repugs  the redistricting win, she saw the handwriting on the wall so to speak

    And supporting a woman’s right to choose worked as a Dem, but not as a repug.

  88. 88.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: Thank you! Upon reflection, Make Florida Weird Again might be a better slogan. ;-)

    @Sister Golden Bear: Was just reading the CNN story about that, and it confirmed something I thought I remembered but wasn’t sure about, i.e., when DeSantis first ran in 2018, he really downplayed the anti-LGB-and-especially-T stuff:

    As a candidate for governor in 2018, DeSantis dismissed battles to legislate transgender people as a distraction he would avoid if elected.

    “Getting into bathroom wars, I don’t think that’s a good use of our time,” he said at the time during a GOP primary forum hosted by the Florida Family Policy Council, a Christian right organization.

    I hope this all blows up in his stupid face, but in the meantime, he is destroying people’s lives. It sucks.

  89. 89.

    Jackie

    Because I still can’t believe Scarborough actually said it, reposting from earlier dead thread.

    I literally choked on my coffee watching it!

    “By the way, you want to meet some gay people… go to the Republican caucus meeting in the United States Senate… I am just saying, they are throughout the Republican Party in South Carolina.”

    — Joe Scarborough, on Morning Joe.

    Video at the above link

  90. 90.

    CindyH

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I am in NC and started with working for Obama’s campaign and then with Democratic party for Hillary and Gov. Cooper (and now Josh Stein).  I think NC is trending red.  The redistricting will seal the deal.  UNLESS a ton of young people come out.  NC used to be deep purple, but I don’t see that after the state went for trump in 2020.

  91. 91.

    Ksmiami

    @sdhays: the Dems of NC need to protest at her house every day and include a body count as more women are denied health care… she’s a goddamn traitor whore.

  93. 93.

    CindyH

    @Betty: that may help!  After working with OFA, I was very disappointed when I started working with NC’s Democratic party – too many of them were old fixtures who didn’t bring any fresh air and thought they knew better than anyone else.  They were wrong.

  94. 94.

    UncleEbeneezer

    But then she blew off the actual endorsement interview for the group multiple times. A PPSAT spokesperson told Jezebel, “Rep. Cotham’s campaign scheduled numerous candidate interviews with our board (the board endorses candidates), but she did not attend any of the interviews,” which is why they didn’t endorse her.

    Sounds like she wasn’t really all that passionate about abortion. If you really care strongly about it you sure as hell don’t skip out on meetings with Planned Parenthood.

  95. 95.

    Geminid

    @CindyH: It seems to me that North Carolina is still hovering in the purple zone for major statewide races. Obama lost by 90,000 votes in 2012, Clinton lost by by 173,000 in 3016, and Biden lost by 74,000 in 2020. That was out of around 5 million votes cast.

    Roy Cooper won the Governor race in 2026 by a little under 11,000 votes in 2018. He was reelected by around 250,000 in 2020.

  96. 96.

    Barbara

    @Roger Moore: Evidently she wasn’t treated differently, according to Baud.  I would actually be surprised if she were kept out of jail as a result of being pregnant.  Federal judges sentence a lot of people to prison and they are very aware of the impact it has on families.  She isn’t unique.

  97. 97.

    AM in NC

    @CindyH: We are VERY excited about the new blood in the Dem Party at the state level.  Seems like there is finally the fire to fight across the entire state (rural, urban, suburban), to engage young people and engage in better group outreach, and to be working year-round, not just the 2 months before elections.

    We can be Wisconsin or Michigan, rather than South Carolina or Alabama, but we are going to have to win the state Supreme Court back before anything can change in the legislature. The gerrymandering is just too strong for Democrats to win without districts that more accurately represent the people of NC.

  99. 99.

    Roger Moore

    @Rusty:

    The right wing loves them though because they undermine the public schools, taking away money and focus.

    They’re a step on the path to public funding of racially segregated, explicitly religious private schools.  This has been a major goal of the right wing since Brown.

  100. 100.

    Roger Moore

    @Barbara:

    I don’t think she was kept out of prison by being pregnant, but she used the pregnancy as an argument for why she shouldn’t be sent to prison right away.

  101. 101.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’m in a book club with about 70% R women – although only two MAGAS – and one of The Ladies went to coastal Alabama for spring break, to a beach resort. She complained that the whole place is MAGA central now, Trump flags, the whole works. Says it’s ruined. It had been kind of friendly andd quirky -now it’s all Rigt wing rage. They were sniffing “why do people make things POLITICAL” but I thought “MAGAS are ruining their resort vacations now- look out” :)

  102. 102.

    Miss Bianca

    @Kay:

    “MAGAS are ruining their resort vacations now- look out” :)

    Whatever it takes, Kay, whatever it takes…

    yeah, MAGA has ruined a lot of the nice areas of the Mountain West, too.

  103. 103.

    Roger Moore

    @Kay:

    They were sniffing “why do people make things POLITICAL” but I thought “MAGAS are ruining their resort vacations now- look out”

    “Why do people make things POLITICAL” is such a common response among normies of all stripes.  It’s not just the standard thing where them expressing their opinion is just stating the facts while you disagreeing is making things political.  For them, politics is not blood sport; they want to be able to shut the politics off sometimes and get on with the rest of their lives.  Being reminded of politics when they’re on vacation and trying to relax is exactly the kind of thing they don’t want.  It’s what gave a lot of power to the “Make Politics Boring Again” attitude Biden had.  I sincerely think a lot of people would vote for any candidate who promised that if they were elected, people could forget about politics until the next election.

  104. 104.

    Jinchi

    Cotham had also been annoyed that Planned Parenthood didn’t endorse her, despite her self-described “very powerful” speech on abortion rights. (She skipped the endorsement interview.)

    None of those points are even slightly believable. The woman who would be the deciding vote restricting abortion was mad that Planned Parenthood didn’t like her…..?

    I don’t believe for a second that she switched her entire ideology for that reason. She seems clearly to be someone who ran as a Democrat for this exact purpose. It wouldn’t be the first time someone has done it.

  105. 105.

    Soprano2

    @Barbara: She’s used pregnancy and being the mom of a baby twice now to try to stay out of prison. I guess that works better for wealthy white women than for anyone else.

  107. 107.

    Soprano2

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:  It’s pretty amazing to be immersed in a whole roomful of people of that caliber of talent.

    It is. That’s how I feel when I’m singing with Grand Chorus, so many of those young people have amazing voices! I attended the memorial for one of my former choir directors where they had the audience sing a piece, and it was beautiful because so many of the people in attendance had sung in one of his choirs. I had a friend there who wasn’t a singer who said she was blown away listening to how it sounded when you were surrounded by so many beautiful voices. I told her I didn’t even think about it because I’ve been doing that almost my whole life!

    I’m jealous of that concert, it sounds amazing. I’m not a big opera fan either, but that concert I heard Saturday night was AMAZING. Those people all have fantastic talents, and they used them to full effect. It was easily the most popular concert of the past two seasons, at least.

  110. 110.

    Roger Moore

    @Soprano2:

    I think the argument is that it’s not the pregnancy that’s kept her out of prison.  It’s not uncommon for recent convicts, especially ones who are guilty of non-violent crimes and thus unlikely to reoffend, to be allowed to stay out of prison for a while while some obvious, quick appeals are denied.  That’s mostly likely what happened to Holmes, and the pregnancy wasn’t the main reason.  Now that the easy, quick stuff is settled and the judge has said she has to go to prison even if she wants to continue her appeal, she’s going to have to go even if she gets pregnant again.

  111. 111.

    TriassicSands

    Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump in a titanic battle to determine which one is the absolute worst human being. I’ve never been able identify a single, even relatively insignificant positive quality about Trump. Now, DeSantis appears on the scene to challenge Trump, not only for the Republican presidential nomination, but to raise the question: Is it possible to be an even worse human being than Donald Trump? It may be too early to tell for sure, but as with TFG, I haven’t been able to identify anything remotely praiseworthy about DeSantis. He’s clearly a moral and ethical zero

  112. 112.

    brantl

    @trollhattan: He wrote a book where his fantasy of beating up a liberal is presented as fact. That wimpy little shit couldn’t be up invertebrates.

  113. 113.

    brantl

    @Rusty: Nope, they love charter schools because their rich little kids won’t have to go to school with THEM.

  114. 114.

    Rebels Dad

    Colby provided details to Jezebel, and “deeply petty” is a great description of Cotham’s complaints:

    As a person whose nickname is Peppermint Petty because I can be very trifling, I am deeply offended to be compared to Ms. Cotham.

  115. 115.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @trollhattan:

    He got his start doing ambush “interviews” for O’Reilly.

    For which he should have gotten his ass kicked (not metaphorically) on more than one occasion.

  116. 116.

    Juju

    @Kay: The Video of DeSantis laughing at whatever campaign event it was, reminded me of Dude in the movie “Free Guy”.

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