WaPo rates NC the "swingiest" of swing states:

Former state senator and Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran Cal Cunningham is the Democrats’ nominee (despite Republican interference to boost another candidate). In the first three months of this year, he doubled Tillis’s fundraising hauls. Tillis has tried at points to display some independence from Trump, pushing a bill to prevent the firing of Robert S. Mueller III and opposing Trump’s method of paying for the border wall. But he embraced the wall and during impeachment, he was all-in for the president.

We don't call him Two-Faced Tillis for nothing. He has never been exceptionally popular among Republicans, but that OpEd he wrote had them sharpening the long knives. Let's see what Thommy said back then:

His personal ambition has clouded what little judgment he ever had:

Fetzer, a member of the UNC Board of Governors, inserted himself into yet another leadership decision about the school last week, during a university governance committee meeting. This time it was the question of Van Isley’s appointment to the ECU Board of Trustees. Fetzer sought to delay a vote, arguing the board should vet Isley more thoroughly than the average trustee candidate.

In interviews with Policy Watch this week, three members of the UNC Board of Governors and two members of the ECU Board of Trustees said they no longer believe Fetzer can be objective about leadership decisions at ECU, and he should recuse himself from issues related to the school.

Fetzer is like the proverbial bad penny: he just keeps turning up. He was an empty suit as Raleigh Mayor (forgot about that, did you?), a shit-stirrer as NC GOP Chairman, and a back-room deal-maker as a lobbyist. Of course he believes he has "earned" the position as Chancellor for East Carolina, and that belief will drive him to continue to meddle in the school's affairs until he gets it. He already thinks he's the Decider of the Board of Governors:

Jordan Green of Triad City Beat was on location:

“If you saw your father or your son breathing their last breath — we’re the ones there holding their hands,” Cynthia J. said. “If you had a family member who was sick with COVID-19, you’d think more about how your actions affected the whole.” Across the street, Stephen Wagner called out sarcastically: “Appreciate you nurses coming out to support us,” throwing in a caustic aside about financial challenges hospitals have faced by as they’ve canceled elective surgeries to free up beds and protective gear for COVID-19 patients.

“Too many people died for our freedoms for us to give them up for germs and lack of toilet paper,” he said. He had another pithy declaration: “It’s normal for humans to get sick. Of the sick ones, the weak ones die. That’s just life.”

Not surprised this idiot doesn't know the difference between a germ and a virus, just as I'm not surprised he fails to grasp the irony of his backhand reference to evolution. But he was (by far) not the only idiot in attendance, Dan Bishop was there too:

Women's rights are Trumped these days:

The Alliance Defending Freedom said Saturday it filed the lawsuit in federal court in Charlotte on behalf of protester David Benham and two antiabortion groups.

Benham is one of several protesters who were arrested April 4 outside A Preferred Women's Health Center in Charlotte after authorities say the protest exceeded the 10-person limit imposed under a joint proclamation by the city and Mecklenburg County.

David is one of the unholy offspring of Flip Benham, who tried to get abortion doctors killed by vigilantes ten years ago:

And there's no room for Trump's false bravado in that mission:

Defense Department restrictions barring troops, their families and civilian workers from nearly all official travel will not be lifted May 11 when the initial orders were set to expire, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday.

The worldwide travel halt has stopped thousands of military moves and has forced some deployed units to remain overseas longer than expected. Esper did not announce immediately how long he expected the stop-movement order to last. But a new target date to end the restrictions meant to help thwart the coronavirus spread could be announced this week, he said.

I've had some feedback from active duty folks who say mid-June is the likely new target. Understand, this is not something the DoD would do unless they were very concerned. PCS moves (Permanent Change of Station) are not about service members going where they want; they are mission-critical re-assignments to keep the myriad of units at capable staffing levels. And freezing deployed units in place (wherever they are) is an expensive and often dangerous nightmare. It's a stark contrast to Trump's push to "get back in business," and we should look at this military stance as a bellwether on the COVID 19 threat level. And in case you were wondering about the ship Captain Crozier sacrificed his career over: