168 Comments
Oct 5·edited Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

North Carolina, hurricane devastation, and the down ballot:

The hurricane damage in North Carolina is devastating, and once again, a Republican controlled state legislature has contributed to untold harm. Just in the past year, it passed two laws prioritizing short-term profits over longer-term building codes. When Democratic Governor Roy Cooper vetoed those laws, the Republican supermajority overrode them. See "How the North Carolina Legislature Left Homes Vulnerable to Helene" NY Times gift article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/03/climate/north-carolina-homes-helene-building-codes.html?unlocked_article_code=1.P04.WL_m.AXB0qdlX6n73&smid=url-share

The Tending to Democracy Giving Circle has already been fundraising to break NC's supermajority for at least two other very good reasons. The right wing Republican state legislature had passed an abortion ban that severely restricts access for 2.4 million North Carolinians, and it eliminated widely popular background checks on gun sales, making communities and children less safe.

The States Project has vetted a North Carolina slate of very good Democratic state legislature candidates. NC needs them to win to break the one-seat Republican supermajority and support NC's next Governor Josh Stein. As we know from David Pepper, what happens in the states does not stay in the states.

Thank you for supporting North Carolina through the Tending to Democracy Giving Circle:

https://www.grapevine.org/giving-circle/1XQhnyD/Tending-to-Democracy

Expand full comment

The ads the Harris campaign has been running are great. We need to make sure college students register and vote.

Expand full comment

I have followed this slow drip effect on appropriation by the state legislature of local & state building codes in NC. Wetlands protections were also completely gutted last year when the legislature attached language to the state farm bill. This was weeks after the US Supreme stripped the EPA's ability to regulate non-navigable waters under the Clean Water Act (booting protection to the states).

Expand full comment
founding

What a swell idea! I love the way our state waters stop abruptly at the state line. Those state waters must be scared to death of the state laws and law makers. And if those waters dare to flow across state lines just start pummeling them with your oh-so-legal AK17s. That’ll teach them!

Expand full comment

NC was not the only one to gut their wetlands protections. Some states have strengthened them further.

Expand full comment

Even SC has better laws than NC regarding protection against bottom dragging in the bays.

Expand full comment

As a one-time NC citizen, I hear Frankom's "Even SC has better laws" as a wry echo of the long-time interstate rivalry that gave me a chuckle in these dire times. (Oh, would that we could regain a world where state and national pride could be played out with humor and wisecracks rather than the vitriol and arrogance of Trumpism.)

Expand full comment
founding

Yikes! Thanks for the info, Joe. Then we can slog this water right into our infant’s bottles. They’ll love that the water’s green.

Expand full comment

infuriating, isn't it?

GOP wants forced birth, then no aid whatsoever - no food, housing, education, health care, retirement. They intend to RULE, not to represent.

All the while, it seems they are pocketing the money...

NC DESERVES BETTER. Vote Blue the entire ballot, both sides!

Expand full comment

Re state races, please be aware of Nicole Sidman's race for the state House seat currently held by Tricia Cotham, aka "the traitor" who enabled NC's draconian abortion law by switching parties after being elected. In exchange, the Republicans gerrymandered her district but Nicole is running a very effective campaign with a real chance of winning. She is very good people and a great candidate and she's backed by a campaign manager, Anna Fiore, who impresses the hell out of me.

Expand full comment

😕😖😢

Expand full comment

thank you - this is excellent!

Expand full comment
founding
Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Thanks also for the link to the President's press conference. He remains at the top of his game. We are so lucky to have had him as President the past 4 years. Bravo!

Expand full comment
Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Thanks for highlighting Meck County and Drew Kromer, Robert. As you can tell there's lot happening here and a lot more that needs to be done in a very short time. If y'all call or email and Jeff is on the other end of the line, that's me. I'm happy to talk to all of you and hopefully help some of you come on down and/or contribute to the cause.

Expand full comment
author

Readers: Jeff is an example and inspiration to all of us. He moved Mecklenburg from out of state for the duration of the campaign. Talk about dedication!

Expand full comment

Thank you Robert.

Expand full comment
Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Fellow Meck Dem here. I am one of the many postcard writers here in Mecklenburg. (I also write GOTV letters through Vote Forward).

I have written ant-Tricia Cotham postcards (she's the party flipper who gave the GOP the super-majority), postcards for Josh Stein and Mo Green (running for Supt. of Public Education against a MAGA/Q-Anon conspiracy nut), generic GOTV postcards with Postcards to Swing States, Reclaim our Vote postcards to BIPoC voters here in Mecklenburg County, and Field Team 6 postcards to register new voters in NC.

Expand full comment

Consider this the required HIIIISSSS whenever Cotham's name is mentioned,

Expand full comment

I usually refer to her as the Treason Weasel.

Some GOP PAC has launched bizarre ads against Nicole Sidman (running against Cotham) and Dem. Woodson Bradley (running for the overlapping NC senate seat currently held by Rachel Hunt). They are claiming both women are pro-prostitution and dangerous drugs. I think the very weak link is that they were both endorsed by a progressive group that has a platform that includes decriminalizing prostitution and minor drug offenses that disproportionally effect people of color.

Here's hoping that all the canvassing and phone banking efforts by the Dems in Meck County are more effective than the attack ads. I'm not aware of any GOP door knocking going on at the local level - just yard signs (many of which blew away during Helene) and weird ads.

Expand full comment

thanks for the background.

Sometimes the attack ads (over the last 40 years and getting worse) seem to all be blatant lies that nearly make you consider if the opposite of what they claim is true. For TOO MANY people, though, if it's on TV, they take it as gospel.

Except for the Mark Robinson ads - he actually said all those heinous things, loud and proud, and now I hope the entire GOP ticket goes down with him!

Expand full comment

deservedly so! HIIIISSSSS

Expand full comment

These fake democrats are worrisome. We had one in Arizona--Kristen sinema, who ran as a Democrat. I voted for her, recommended by Democrats of the Red Rocks. She fooled us all, voted with the GOP, then flipped to Independent. Thank heaven she's retiring on her ill-gotten bribes. Now we have a chance to elect Democrat Ruben Gallego. But I think the MAGA people are so depraved there may be other traitors running as Dems. We have to vet candidates better. It's not enough to "say" you're a democrat.

Expand full comment

PLEASE elect Ruben Gallego! I'll be dancing in the streets

Expand full comment

Just donated. I envision a blue NC thanks to folks like you and Drew. Wow.

Expand full comment

Just donated, Jeff. Good luck. Sounds like you're all doing great work!

Expand full comment
founding

Done already, Jeff. So inspired by your energy.

Expand full comment

Ditto. Lived in Stanly County for three years in the 80's teaching at Pfeiffer College, now University. Lovely and lovable people and place. Would love to see Mecklenburg County and all of NC lead the country in a Democratic landslide! Teach the country what the South and the Carolinas truly value. Donating and postcarding.

Expand full comment

thank you!

Expand full comment

Just donated. Impressed with the long term perspective concurrent with current aligned boots on the ground action. Looks like a great model for all, no matter which state one lives in.

Expand full comment

That tricky "double" is exactly what we're trying to pull off and exactly what is so rare. Also difficult! But I personally have no doubt that it's the right model.

Expand full comment

Jeff, Thanks to Robert’s link and encouragement I just watched the video on what you all are doing in Meck County. It was inspiring! If I were 10-20 years younger I would pack the car and come on down from Wisconsin. Instead, I used my better judgment, just made a donation, and selected a time to try phone-banking. Keep up the good work!!

Expand full comment

🥇 Thank you, Jeff!

Expand full comment
Oct 5·edited Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

What a sorry state of affairs when the administration must create an entire new website to combat lies about a disaster effort.

Expand full comment

I thought exactly the same thing! This is what it's come to: we must spend money to continually fact check the facts!

Expand full comment

But give the Administration credit for being nimble and forceful in refuting the lies and other propaganda!

Expand full comment
Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

What Mecklenburg has accomplished is unbelievable. If you can’t go there to help you can still donate!

I voted today using my mail-in ballot. I have 100 more postcards to write. This will make my total of 800 postcards written with various groups. I feel hopeful. Harris-Walz are doing an excellent job of campaigning, while don-old when not telling lies is just rambling incoherently. We can do this, but it will take all of us working together. What are you waiting for? The time is now.

Robert, your second attempt at Pleiades is so clear. It blows my mind. Thank you for all the information you provided to get involved as well as all the latest news from Friday.

Expand full comment
Oct 5·edited Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Regarding:

"President Biden responded to comments by Senator Marco Rubio claiming that the strong jobs report was 'fake.'”

Wait, what? Wasn't Rubio elected United States Senator by the people he's to represent??

Regarding:

"Trump, Elon Musk, and Rupert Murdoch’s media outlets—are deliberately spreading lies about disaster relief for victims of Hurricane Helene."

I hope that for every MAGA these desperate, morbidly wealthy giga-donors gain, they also lose TWO former Republican voters to Harris-Walz due to the lies.

Expand full comment
Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Biden was so right today when answering a question about the upcoming election he said he knows it will be free and fair but not sure it will be peaceful .What a place Trump has put our country in

Expand full comment
Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

A friend of mine shared about how he had applied to FEMA for the first time. This was to share firsthand information to take a stand against the misinformation & lies which Robert mentions here. He lives in the middle of the destructive path of Helene in Montezuma NC. This was a pleasant and encouraging experience.

One of his FB 'buddies' (as I call friends on Big Sis Big Bro) had done some volunteer work in the area. This led him to also rant in an embrace of the misinformation.

First I commented 'Hell ya. Thank you for sharing this [my friend]. Government can have incredible positive impacts and change lives in the most understated and profound ways.

And this climate catastrophe also needs citizens and local communities to support each other. And we support them too.'

And then under this false narrative comment I shared the official FEMA link to counter this misinformation.

Others piled on to praise my friend and reject the false narrative. And most excellent Uruks (orcs) we were!

Expand full comment
Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

I've always enjoyed the mythology behind the constellations in our skies. Beautiful image shared tonight, thank you, Robert. I always look forward to the closing astronomy image(s) in your newsletters. Such a nice respite from the "news" of tffg and the GOP.

Per Wikipedia,

"The Pleiades [...] were the seven sister-nymphs, companions of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. Together with their sisters, the Hyades, they were called the Atlantides, Dodonides, or Nysiades, nursemaids and teachers of the infant Dionysus. The Pleiades were thought to have been translated to the night sky as a cluster of stars, the Pleiades, and were associated with rain."

More details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades_(Greek_mythology)

Expand full comment

JustRaven, are you familiar with Robin Williamson's masterpiece, The Five Denials on Merlyn's Grave? If not, it's a spoken-word poem, charting the mythological and factual history of the British Isles. In the 1st denial, he references the Pleiades. It's well worth taking a 15 minute break from our current troubles to listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuRUVzqAfgk

Expand full comment
Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Rubio lies? Well he used to seem sort of reasonable. But the MAGA KoolAid has infected his brain. So big surprise when "President Biden responded to comments by Senator Marco Rubio claiming that the strong jobs report was “fake.” Biden said, “Anything MAGA doesn’t like they say is fake.” BIden is right / Rubio is wrong. That's likely to be true about 100% of the time Rubio says anything. Similar to JD Vance, Tommy Tuberville, or MTG.

Expand full comment

Post election the folks you mention plus the likes of Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and many others will see their prospects tank. The corp and oligarch supporters of Trump will melt away leaving him to face criminal charges plus money issues.

Expand full comment

From your lips . . .

Expand full comment

"Trump is shameless. When caught in a baldfaced lie, he simply makes up a new lie."

That’s not the standard of leadership that NC deserves.

Expand full comment

Or any state or any person US citizen or not.

Expand full comment
Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

From Professor RIchardson's October 4 newsletter:

"Early this morning, X owner Elon Musk posted to his more than 200 million followers: “Yes, they are literally using YOUR tax dollars to import voters and disenfranchise you! It is happening right in front of your eyes. And FEMA used up its budget ferrying illegals into the country instead of saving American lives. Treason.” On Wednesday, Dana Mattioli, Joe Palazzolo, and Khadeeja Safdar of the Wall Street Journal broke the story that Musk has been financing groups with ties to Miller since 2022.

But of course, it is NOT happening in front of anyone’s eyes."

"Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post did not leave the story there. “Trump has a habit of assuming other politicians act in the same way as he would,” Kessler wrote. So he looked into why Trump would have accused Biden “of raiding the FEMA disaster fund to handle undocumented migrants. It turns out that’s because he did this.”

"In the middle of hurricane season in 2019, Kessler explains, Trump took $155 million from the FEMA disaster fund and redirected it to pay for detention space and temporary hearing locations for immigrants seeking asylum. “No, Biden didn’t take FEMA relief money to use on migrants,” the article title reads, “but Trump did.”

These malicious MAGA lies are equivalent to yelling fire in a crowded theater. This unAmerican fearmongering aimed at already devastated and terrorized storm victims should be the subject of a new political ad. If Steven Miller, Elon Musk and the Orange Stain on Democracy want to confuse and terrorize Americans during a disaster, they should get full credit for it.

Expand full comment
Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Thank you for the links to FEMA!! Just yesterday someone I know posted these ridiculous lies about FEMA sending money to Ukraine. It’s so maddening!! Now I have information I can use to combat this.

Expand full comment
Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

The conversation with Drew Kromer makes me want to get on a plane from Seattle to Mecklenburg to help out! At least I will send money. Drew should be the next national Dem party chair!!!!

Expand full comment
Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

ditto ... i am already over-budget for this month, but was so impressed with Drew and the organization he's built that i could not resist donating more than i've done this whole election season -- during which i've been dribbling out small amount. if i could click my heals together and fly there, i'd be canvassing in Mecklenburg. will look for othe volunteer options.

Expand full comment
founding
Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Thank you, Rob (and Jessica) for the Meck Dems info! Great video. I donated!

Expand full comment
Oct 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

The new Republican strategy is to lie about everything and confuse voters. The following truth needs to be circulated by you to everyone you know.

Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, wrote that the jobs report “cements my view that the economy is about as good as it gets. The economy is creating lots of jobs across many industries, consistent with robust labor force growth, and thus low and stable unemployment. The economy is at full-employment, no more and no less. Wage growth is strong, and given big productivity gains, it is consistent with low and stable inflation. One couldn’t paint a prettier picture of the job market and broader economy.” Not what you’re hearing from Republicans. We win when people vote with their feet and mail in ballots. The strategy is simple more votes happen when more people vote. Getting the youths register and vote as well as young men of color is our challenge.

Expand full comment

AND we need people to vote with their brains!

Expand full comment