#Josh Stein

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Mark Robinson, the extremist GOP nominee for governor in North Carolina, appeared to endorse political violence in a bizarre and extended rant he delivered on June 30 in a small-town church.

“Some folks need killing!” Robinson, the state’s lieutenant governor, shouted during a roughly half-hour-long speech in Lake Church in the tiny town of White Lake, in the southeast corner of the state. “It’s time for somebody to say it. It’s not a matter of vengeance. It’s not a matter of being mean or spiteful. It’s a matter of necessity!”

Robinson’s call for the “killing” of “some folks” came during an extended diatribe in which he attacked an extraordinary assortment of enemies. These ranged from “people who have evil intent” to “wicked people” to those doing things like “torturing and murdering and raping” to socialists and Communists. He also invoked those supposedly undermining America’s founding ideals and leftists allegedly persecuting conservatives by canceling them and doxxing them online.

In all this, Robinson appeared to endorse lethal violence against these unnamed enemies, particularly on the left, though he wasn’t exactly clear on which “folks” are the ones who “need killing.”

Robinson, a self-described “MAGA Republican,” has a long history of wildly radical and unhinged moments. He has linked homosexuality to pedophilia, called for the arrest of trans women, pushed hallucinogenic antisemitic conspiracy theories, endorsed the vile “birther” conspiracy about Barack Obama, described Michelle Obama as a man, hinted at the need to violently oppose federal law enforcement and the government, and posted memes mocking and denying the brutal, violent assault on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, among many other things.

His latest rant is yet another example of an ugly game widely played on the MAGA right, one supercharged by Donald Trump. It entails hinting that right-wing political violence is necessary and justified because a ubiquitous, all-seeing, all-powerful leftist threat—one that is pure invention—is already supposedly attacking and persecuting conservatives on a mass scale.

Here’s what Robinson said (bold mine):

“We now find ourselves struggling with people who have evil intent. You know, there’s a time when we used to meet evil on the battlefield, and guess what we did to it? We killed it! … When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, what did we do? We flew to Japan! And we killed the Japanese Army and Navy! … We didn’t argue and capitulate and talk about, well, maybe we shouldn’t fight the Nazis that hard. No, they’re bad. Kill them. Some liberal somewhere is going to say that sounds awful. Too bad. Get mad at me if you want to.

Some folks need killing! It’s time for somebody to say it. It’s not a matter of vengeance. It’s not a matter of being mean or spiteful. It’s a matter of necessity! When you have wicked people doing wicked things, torturing and murdering and raping. It’s time to call out, uh, those guys in green and go have them handled. Or those boys in blue and have them go handle it.…

We need to start handling our business again.… Don’t you feel it slipping away? … The further we start sliding into making 1776 a distant memory and the tenets of socialism and communism start coming into clearer focus. They’re watching us. They’re listening to us. They’re tracking us. They get mad at you. They cancel you. They dox you. They kick you off social media. They come in and close down your business. Folks, it’s happening … because we have forgotten who we are.”

Robinson might try to argue that he only meant that our enemies during World War II—and torturers and murderers and rapists today—deserve “killing.” But the sum total of his remarks plainly suggests otherwise. He seemed to analogize the need to kill World War II enemies to the need to kill enemies in the present, enemies who harbor “evil intent,” enemies conservatives are struggling against “now.”

What’s more, Robinson described those enemies in very broad terms. He suggested that conservatives will lose the spirit of 1776 (meaning their country) to enemies who harass them on social media and elsewhere unless they are prepared to unleash the army and cops to “handle” (i.e., kill) them. These appear to be the “folks” who “need killing.”

Indeed, when Robinson predicted that liberals will say “that sounds awful,” and “too bad,” he himself appeared to anticipate that his call for “killing” would be perceived as a call for political violence.

The Reverend Cameron McGill, the Pastor of Lake Church, confirmed to me that he and Robinson expected these remarks about “killing” to be “scrutinized,” but defended them.

“Without a doubt, those he deemed worthy of death [were] those seeking to kill us,” Pastor Cameron said in an email, adding that Robinson “certainly did not imply the taking of any innocent lives” and that the rest of his speech was “non-controversial.” There was no formal media presence during the speech, the Pastor confirmed.

Video of the speech was clipped by a Democrat, who took it off Lake Church’s video of the event on Facebook, which is still there in full. The Democrat flagged it for The New Republic. You can watch it here:

This tendency on the right to invoke an infinitely hallucinogenic and malleable leftist enemy to justify in advance the political violence that the right itself wants to unleash on its enemies is a near-daily occurrence. Another ripe example came just this week from Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, the brain trust behind Project 2025’s radical blueprint for MAGA authoritarian rule under a second Trump presidency.

“We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be,” Roberts declared.

In this, Roberts essentially said that if liberals and Democrats too vehemently resist MAGA’s intent to stock the government with corrupt loyalists to Trump and unleash mass persecution of the opposition, violence will be necessary to crush them—and if so, it will be their fault for not meekly accepting what they have coming to them. Meanwhile, Trump himself recently suggested that political violence may erupt if the presidential election isn’t conducted with “fairness” and is stolen from him, by which he really means, “if I don’t win.”

Robinson’s new comments are also notable for political reasons. They’re a reminder that the GOP nominee for governor in North Carolina is so extreme that the race to replace term-limited Governor Roy Cooper—Robinson is running against Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein—may prove competitive, even in this red-leaning state.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Daniel Villarreal at LGBTQ Nation:

North Carolina’s anti-LGBTQ+ Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) – who is currently running for governor – once said that women who get abortions are “killing” children because they “weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.” His words are now being used in a new political ad by state Attorney General Josh Stein (D) in a high-stakes governor’s race whose outcome could be decided by pro-choice voters. In Stein’s ad, entitled “Silence,” Robinson says that he supports legislation forbidding people from having an abortion for any reason. “For me there is no compromise on abortion,” Robinson says. “It makes no difference why or how a child ended up in that womb.” He adds, “Abortion in this country is not about protecting the lives of mothers. It is about killing the child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.” “It’s not your body anymore,” Robinson says at the end of the ad. Robinson has previously said that school shootings are God’s punishment for abortions. He paid for his then-girlfriend to get an abortion in 1989. He has since called that abortion “a mistake.”

Democratic North Carolina Gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein released an ad hitting his opponent’s anti-abortion and sexist statements.

Video:

[stephenist]

Mark Robinson, the controversial and socially conservative Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina, made a series of inflammatory comments on a pornography website’s message board more than a decade ago, in which he referred to himself as a “black NAZI!” and expressed support for reinstating slavery, a CNN KFile investigation found.

Despite a recent history of anti-transgender rhetoric, Robinson said he enjoyed watching transgender pornography, a review of archived messages found in which he also referred to himself as a “perv.”

[ttpd-chair]

Trump leads Biden 41% to 39% which is within the 3.5% credibility interval and Stein leads Robinson 45% to 36%.

[filosofablogger]

Unconscionable!!!

On Tuesday, we were all so focused mainly on the presidential primaries, that little was said about the other primaries … those for candidates for governors and members of Congress. I’d like to introduce you to the Republican nominee for governor of the State of North Carolina, Mark Robinson, who currently serves as Lieutenant Governor for that state.  Actually, I think I’ll let Mr. Robinson…

[politicsnc]

Reaching rural North CArolina

I recently wrote that Democrats need to stanch the bleeding in rural North Carolina. The party brand has been tarnished to the point that most rural residents see Democrats as a threat to their way of life. Reversing that trend will take decades, not a few election cycles, but addressing some of their most pressing concerns is a good start. Attorney General Josh Stein is making an effort and…

[svaartpractice]

MFA AP Students in "Sympoietic Encounters: Making With in the Sixth Great Extinction" at SVA

“Sympoietic Encounters: Making With in the Sixth Great Extinction,” co-curated by Maria Markham (AP ‘24) and SVA Curatorial Practice student Yindi Chen features work by MFA AP students Melanie Elyse Brewster, Dana Donaty, Maria Markham, Grace McCoy, Josh Stein and Jerry E. Strohkorb. The exhibition opens at the SVA Gramercy Gallery on January 26. Advance registration required.

[maureen-corpse]

As a North Carolinian, I cannot stress to you people enough that you have to vote in all the races. Look up the candidates and decide who to vote for. Do not make Mark Robinson the governor, for heaven’s sake.

[raphi-anoesies]

Bob Kennedy, staring menacingly into the distance: Don't vaccinate your kids.

Jaime Harrison: If you don't vote for Biden, you're dividing the party!

Joe Biden: I'll--I'll do my goodest.

Bernie Bros: 🥥 🌴, unburdened, context of all in which you live, we're with Mamala now 😁

500 randos on Twitter: Can I interest you in Ben--I mean Josh Shapiro? He's a perfect candidate, grown in a lab to win (don't look him up please).

😐

The Democratic Party is in chaos.

VOTE FOR JILL STEIN. IT'S TIME.

[thebowerypresents]

Fruit Bats Thrill at Music Hall of Williamsburg, on Their First Night in NYC

Fruit Bats – Music Hall of Williamsburg – July 23, 2024

Some artists need an excuse to go out on tour — a new album or, more recently, the 10th anniversary of a favorite release. Then there are those like Eric D. Johnson, the slacker showman, back on the road leading his main band, Fruit Bats, for no other reason than he revels in performing his catalog onstage. And there was no excuse necessary for the audience at Music Hall of Williamsburg, who packed the room on a Tuesday night, to revel in, sing along with and dance to their favorite Fruit Bats songs.

The set opened with “The Bottom of It,” the first track off 2019’s Gold Past Life, lead guitarist Josh Mease adding slide guitar as the band played in front of a backdrop of paintings of large, almost otherworldly flowers. It was an apt metaphor for the setlist, Johnson’s songs a vast array of earthy, organic blooms. The sound moved from a country-fied twang on tracks like “From a Soon-to-Be Ghost Town” and “My Sweet Midwest” to the raunchy groove of “Waking Up in Los Angeles” to the straight rock of “Shane” with a lightning guitar solo. 

The show hit its stride midway through, the second half filled with one “This is my favorite song” after another. Whether it be a cherished lyric to sing along to, like “Here we are, once again here / Weird in our own ways / We are floating along” of the slow-build-to-peak “The Pet Parade,” or your favorite tune to play air guitar to with the Garcia-esque licks on “The Rock Doc,” or your favorite one to dance along to, like the set-closing “When U Love Somebody,” Johnson had something for everyone. Or maybe you’re like me, who had to wait for the encore to hear his favorite, the frontman leaning into his soulful tenor on “You’re Too Weird,” a perfect song to sing and dance along to. No excuses.  —A. Stein | @Neddyo

(Fruit Bats play Racket tonight.)

Photos courtesy of Katie Dadarria | www.instagram.com/dadarria

[thepermanentrainpress]

Gallery: Be Your Own Pet @ Wise Hall - Vancouver, BC Date: November 18, 2023 Photographed by: Josh Papalia

[tomorrowusa]

About what you’d expect of a majority of GOP candidates. 

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the current Republican favorite to be the party’s nominee for governor in 2024, has a long history of remarks viciously mocking and attacking teenage survivors of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, for their advocacy for gun control measures.    

In posts after the shooting, Robinson called the students “spoiled, angry, know it all CHILDREN,” “spoiled little bastards,” and “media prosti-tots.”  

Robinson, whose political rise as a conservative Internet personality started when a clip of him speaking at a city council meeting in April 2018 went viral, as he was speaking against a proposal to cancel a local gun show after the Parkland shooting. He also began attacking the Parkland survivors after they launched the “March for Our Lives” movement that called for new gun control measures, comparing the students to communists. 

It’s a little strange that Republicans would use “communist” as an insult – considering that they just about line up to five political fellatio to a former KGB officer of the Soviet Union.

Back to the probable GOP candidate for governor...

Though the position is largely considered a ceremonial role – and the state has a Democratic governor because the jobs are elected separately – Robinson has now set his sights on the top job. Roy Cooper, the current Democratic governor, is term-limited, and Robinson would likely face Josh Stein, the state’s attorney general, a Democrat finishing out his second term.   

[ ... ]

His harshest rhetoric was saved for then-18-year-old Parkland activist David Hogg, calling the student a “commie stooge,” in a post that also mocked 18-year-old Parkland student X Gonzáles as “that bald chick,” referring to the pair as “stupid kids.”   

Republicans calling other people “stupid”. Yep.

North Carolina, don’t let your state go the way of Tennessee next year!

[yoursinharmony]

Watch "Your Man - Josh Turner (acapella) VoicePlay ft. Anthony Gargiula" on YouTube

😍😍😍

[amarenamoccha]

Ok but Kissing Jessica Stein was surprisingly cute?? Like I thought it was gonna be a gimmicky, cringey movie with bad lgbt representation, but it was pretty good actually. Especially for the time (early 2000s).