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Rooke villain Madison Cawthorn has had an exciting week working to make headlines as he climbs the ladder of the radicalized kid’s club. It was something new almost everyday all week. And it’s still Saturday and he’s making the morning news shows. The following are links to stories I’ve been collecting this week.
Thanks in advance for reading and contributing, the floor is yours.
DKos Asheville, Serving Local Since 2011
Peter H. Lewis, Citizen-Times, Asheville Watchdog, 9/4/2021
Congressman Madison Cawthorn, Republican representing Western North Carolina, spoke this week to Macon County Republicans in Franklin. The organizer estimated the crowd at more than 200 people. The Macon County Republican Party posted a 1-hour, 28-minute video on its Facebook page, but removed it after Cawthorn’s remarks attracted nationwide scrutiny.
A copy of the video still can be found on YouTube.
During remarks that were frequently interrupted with applause and cheers from the overwhelmingly white, unmasked crowd, Cawthorn, holding a shotgun he was asked to sign, says the Second Amendment is not for hunting or target shooting but rather for fighting tyranny. He advises the crowd to begin stockpiling ammunition for what he says is likely American-versus-American “bloodshed” over unfavorable election results.
He repeats his claims that the American election system is “rigged” and that the 2020 election was “stolen” from Donald Trump, who, he says, is still America’s legitimate president, and that North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper actually lost, despite defeating Dan Forest by nearly 250,000 votes. He says rioters arrested in the fatal attack on Congress on Jan. 6 are “political prisoners,” and discusses plans to “try and bust them out.” He tells the crowd “we are actively working on” plans for another similar protest in Washington. “When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes your duty,” he says.
WLOS staff, 9/1/2021
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., is facing more fallout about comments he made at a Macon County Republican event last weekend -- specifically about comments made about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
At one point during the event, Cawthorn called the people facing charges for the Jan. 6 insurrection “political prisoners.”
“The things that we are wanting to fight for, it doesn’t matter if our votes don’t count because you know if our election systems continue to be rigged and continue to be stolen then it’s going to lead to one place and that’s bloodshed,” the Western North Carolina representative said during one of the sections of his speech that is receiving national attention.
Sarah K. Burris, Raw Story, 9/1/2021
Rep. Madison Cawthorn's (R-NC) latest behavior has shocked and alarmed those back home in North Carolina.
The editorial board of The Charlotte Observer released a bruising column saying that it's time for Republicans in the state to rein in the freshman congressman.
"His fellow Republicans, including those in North Carolina, should respond," the paper argued. "They should join Democrats in condemning Cawthorn and, in a bipartisan effort, censuring him in the U.S. House."
The column cited "antics" from Cawthorm like his "formal request that the U.S. cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment" to remove President Joe Biden. It isn't something a member of Congress can "formally" do. The same request drew ridicule because Cawthorn couldn't even spell Vice President Kamala Harris correctly or get the address to the VP office right.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s spokesman denies that Cawthorn was threatening a repeat of January 6 when he said of the January insurrectionists that he was trying to “bust them out.” And when he said, “We are actively working on that one,” in response to the question, “When are you gonna call us to Washington again?” The big question now is whether Cawthorn’s comments will lure House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy out of his hiding hole to issue a weak condemnation, or if McCarthy will maintain his customary silence in the face of outrages from his members.
Cawthorn, according to his spokesman, was “referring to actively working on getting answers about political prisoners following January 6,” not “actively working on any ‘protest.’” Naturally, this denial came with a claim that Cawthorn was being taken out of context. But literally, an attendee at the Republican event where Cawthorn was taking questions asked, “When are you gonna call us to Washington again?” and Cawthorn kinda sorta chuckled and faltered a little and then said, “We are actively working on that one. We have a few plans in motion I can’t make public right now.” That’s it. That’s the context.
Tom Boggioni, Raw Story, 8/31/2021
Comments made by Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) about "bloodshed" and future protests in Washington, D.C., continue to draw condemnation -- which led to his spokesperson unpersuasively attempting to clarify what the lawmaker said -- led one columnist to point out that what the controversial lawmaker said exposes what deep down his party believes.
On Sunday, Cawthorn told North Carolina Republicans, "The things that we are wanting to fight for, it doesn't matter if our votes don't count. Because, you know, if our election systems continue to be rigged and continue to be stolen, then it's going to lead to one place — and it's bloodshed."
While that video was deleted from Facebook, his words have continued to haunt Republicans with The Washington Post's Greg Sargent, accusing, "The big truth captured here is that for many right-wing personalities, the lying about the left is prior and essential to their radicalization, abandonment of democracy and increasing embrace of authoritarianism."
Remarks made by U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) are being seen as so volatile and destructive some are calling for his expulsion from Congress.
The North Carolina Republican lawmaker was
warned to stop campaigning across the country and start paying attention to his own constituents. On Sunday,
The Washington Post reports, Cawthorn told his local Macon County Republican Party "that elections in the United States are 'rigged' and said there will be 'bloodshed' if the country's electoral system continues on its current path."
Immediately after holding a shotgun Cawthorn said, "I will tell you, as much as I am willing to defend our liberty at all costs, there is nothing that I would dread doing more than having to pick up arms against a fellow American. And the way that we can have recourse against that is if we all passionately demand that we have election security in all 50 states."
After urging President Joe Biden's Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, Cawthorn promised, “I will remove Joe Biden from office, and then, when Kamala Harris inevitably screws up, we will take them down, one at a time."
Matthew Chapman, Raw Story, 8/30/2021
On Monday, CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale flagged a speech Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) gave to a group of Republicans in Macon County, North Carolina in an event on Sunday, in which he not only continued to push former President Donald Trump's "big lie" that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, but suggested conservatives may need to resort to violence to prevent such elections from happening again.
"If our election systems continue to be rigged, continue to be stolen, then it's gonna lead to one place and that's bloodshed," said Cawthorn. "There's nothing I would dread doing more than having to pick up arms against a fellow American. And the way that we can have recourse against that is if we all passionately demand that we have election security in all 50 states."
Kristy Kepley-Steward & Stephanie Santostasi, WLOS, 9/2/2021
SEPTEMBER 2, 2021 - Nurses rally outside Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, citing unsafe staffing and working conditions.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — About 50 registered nurses at Mission Hospital in Asheville held a protest Thursday morning, Sept. 2, 2021, outside the hospital to highlight what they say are patient safety concerns.
A press release from National Nurses United says nurses are concerned with things such as short staffing and lack of compliance with OSHA’s recent Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for workplace safety. The ETS requires that employers must report to OSHA each work-related COVID-19 fatality within 8 hours of learning about it and each work-related COVID-19 inpatient hospitalization within 24 hours of learning about it.
The rally was a message Hannah Drummond, RN in the emergency department, said is important for the community to see.
“They need to know that someone cares about their safety when they come to this hospital," Drummond said Thursday morning. "All that HCA cares about is money, but we nurses care about patients and our community and their safety."
Thanks again. Be safe, be kind, be well.
