The "Black Nazi"

Practically an oxymoron (sans oxy)

By now you’ve heard the news about Mr. Out-Of-Context, “Black Nazi” Mark Robinson. Those who haven’t heard probably don’t read ONSN anyway, so we’ll dispense with what he is “alleged” to have “said” and “done,” and move on to some more interesting questions  regarding the whole fiasco, like:

1.     How long have people known about this?, and

2.     Why did the news drop when it did?, and

3.     Why is the NC GOP still backing this lame horse?, and

4.     In the long haul, will it even matter?

Questions, questions, so many questions. Let’s start at the beginning: How long has this story been around?

According to a post on Xwitter by conservative blatherer Eric Erickson, “Republican opposition researchers had these stories on Mark Robinson during the primary, but they decided to sit on them because they knew Trump would be endorsing. They also knew these allegations would not stop that endorsement. If I am quick to believe the story from @KFILE (CNN) it is because I stayed out of that race having heard these stories from Republican opposition researchers a long time ago.”

Similarly, the Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson quotes ex-GOP Rep. Joe Walsh as saying “The problem isn’t that Mark Robinson wasn’t vetted. The problem is that he was vetted and his bad, horrible stuff didn’t matter to Republican voters. Pretty much just like with Trump.”

Now, you and I both know that these talking head types love to lay claim to having had inside information anytime there’s a news story of interest, but I’m perfectly willing to believe that Robinson’s bad judgement doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

So, why is this all getting daylight now? Boy, that’s a tricky one. It calls for wild speculation, in which I am delighted to indulge. Probably the principle fact of interest to the “why now?” question is that the deadline for Robinson to drop out of the race was at midnight last night. Mark Twinkletoes, who knows a good metaphor when he sees one, has described the report as a “high-tech lynching” and marvels, as only he can, at how easy it is to make up digital content – extensive, compelling and from many years ago (time travel?) as it may be. (CNN has massive detail showing how the various comments by “minisolder” are correctly attributed to Robinson.) He ain’t dropping out.

Was the intent to give him one last shove out the door, or was it to spill the beans on him so late in the game he’d have no time to recover? Either way works for me. I’m delighted he’s sticking around.

A few days ago, he demanded a debate with his opponent, Josh Stein. Stein, holding an 11% lead in the race, wisely refused. If I were Stein going forward I wouldn’t even acknowledge Robinson’s existence.

I imagine the foregoing also explains why the state Republicans are still backing him – they don’t really have a choice. He’s Trump’s NC stooge, for better or God-how-much-worse? I’m all aflutter and waiting with bated breath to hear what Trump has to say about his chosen one’s fondness for “trans porn.” I imagine it will be something about steam engines and Aurora, Colorado.

Will any of this matter, in the long haul? Probably not. Stein is practically a shoo-in for the Governor’s seat, and Robinson is merely capping off what has been a parade of bad judgements and stupid remarks, mostly shouted at the top of his voice. It’s not going to faze the Teflon Don, who has his own election to steal (I realistically believe that he cannot win fair and square, but that doesn’t mean much, these days). I have to say, I haven’t enjoyed NC politics so much since Pat McCrory waited a month to concede his loss in the 2016 Governor’s race, and continued thereafter to claim the election was stolen. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.