BIDEN'S MODEST PROPOSAL PROTECTS LIVES AND GUN RIGHTS: If the members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation want to show they REALLY stand with the American people they have a chance to do it by passing the common-sense agenda President Joe Biden outlined Thursday in his nationally televised speech. Since the start of the year there have been 233 mass shootings nationwide, resulting in 261 deaths and 1,010 injuries – 8 in North Carolina with seven deaths and 28 injured. Isn’t it about time – after Buffalo, Uvalde, and Tulsa for that gratuitous symbolism to be backed up by notions of responsibility. Isn’t it about time our members of congress sided with the overwhelming majority of their constituents? Backing responsible gun purchase and ownership regulation won’t diminish anyone’s 2nd Amendment rights -- though it may cost a politician a few bucks from the NRA. But probably not. What it will do is restore some sanity to the nation’s firearms culture and definitely save some lives. It's long past time. AR-15s are easier to purchase than handguns, and ammunition for them is easier to purchase than cold medicine. Lawmakers have shirked their responsibility for way too long, and that needs to stop.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-biden-s-modest-proposal-protects-lives-and-gun-rights/20315870/

BISHOP AND CAWTHORN'S "AMERICA FIRST" PUTS FREEDOM LAST: If anyone is seeking a credible litmus test to determine if an officeholder truly believes in freedom, justice and civility, they need look no further then how they vote on aid for the Ukrainians’ defense of their homes and nation against the unwarranted and unjust deadly aggression by Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin. Two North Carolinians – Republicans Dan Bishop of Charlotte and Madison Cawthorn of Hendersonville – fail the test miserably and in doing so, demonstrate they lack the humanity and integrity to represent the state or nation. “America First” – Donald Trump’s slogan with roots in the isolationist, anti-immigration anti-Semitic slogan of opponents of U.S. involvement in efforts to oppose the aggression of the German Nazis a century ago – does not mean freedom last. America, Cawthorn and Bishop don’t seem to realize, is the world’s beacon of freedom. Their vote is a rejection of all this nation stands for. They don’t represent the real America. Cawthorn has screwed up so many times in the last several weeks it's hard to tell which controversy sunk him. I'd like to think it was his attack on Zelenskyy and not something stupid like wearing lingerie, but we can't afford to take that for granted.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-bishop-and-cawthorn-s-america-first-puts-freedom-last/20287392/

ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY: The Republican leadership in 2022 in the legislature will remain after the general election. Some state lawmakers have essentially already won because they are totally unopposed, both in the primary and the general election. State lawmakers who are virtually guaranteed another term are Republican Senate leader Phil Berger, Republican House Speaker Tim Moore, Republican Senate Rules Chair Bill Rabon, Republican Senate Appropriations Chair Brent Jackson, Republican House Majority Leader John Bell, and Republican House Appropriations Chairs Jason Saine and Donny Lambeth. It would have been nice to see a few of these dudes get culled in the Primary, but we should not have left them unopposed in November. Hopefully we aren't sliding back to our old pragmatic habits of leaving dozens of races uncontested.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article261296432.html

WHERE DO YOU STAND? GET CANDIDATES ON THE RECORD ON SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Every legislative candidate must be on the record as to whether they will support and will work for full implementation of the Comprehensive Remedial Plan – a multi-year program worked out and agreed to by the plaintiffs and defendants in the landmark Leandro case. This plan – that a judge has ordered implemented – will provide a solid foundation to make sure the state does what it promises. The non-partisan Public School Forum of North Carolina is working to help voters and candidates know where those seeking office stand on the most crucial public education issues. Every legislative candidate has been offered the opportunity to respond – and every one should. Regardless of the answers, it will be a crucial resource to help voters – and candidates. Voters will be more fully informed when they vote and candidates will clearly let voters know where they stand. The Forum expects to start posting answers to its six key education questions later this week with early in-person voting starting Thursday, April 28 and concluding on Tuesday, May 17 – primary election day.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-where-do-you-stand-get-candidates-on-the-record-on-support-for-public...

MADISON "KINKY" CAWTHORN TRIES TO DOWNPLAY LINGERIE PHOTOS: U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn has defended photos published of him wearing women’s lingerie, saying they were taken while he was playing a game on a cruise ship before he ran for office. “I guess the left thinks goofy vacation photos during a game on a cruise (taken waaay before I ran for Congress) is going to somehow hurt me?,” Cawthorn, 26, tweeted Friday. Charlotte Clymer, an LGBTQ rights activist, tweeted Friday night: “I don’t care that Madison Cawthorn likes to wear lingerie in his free time. It doesn’t bother me, and it doesn’t affect me. If he wants to be playful with gender expression, it’s his life. I do care that Madison Cawthorn attacks trans people and shames us for living our lives.” Also, when you're 26, nothing could have happened "Waaay before" anything, in your adult life, anyway. But as Charlotte alluded to, it's the hypocrisy, not the attire, that is at issue here.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article260682662.html