Battleground State North Carolina March 3rd Primary

By Mildred Robertson

Early voting has ended in North Carolina, but it is still not too late for your voice to be heard. The 2026 Primary Election is March 3, 2026.

As Washington D.C. swirls out of control, it is more important than ever that all those Americans who marched in the streets to decry the abuses of the current administration, march into the voting booth to put action behind their rhetoric. It seems that North Carolinians are motivated to do so, with early voting totals in Wake County topping 500,000 through Thursday, February 26.  According to Catawba College’s Center for N.C. Politics & Public Service, Early voting in North Carolina surpassed both the 2022 midterm primary and the 2024 presidential primary totals at the same point in the calendar year.

Data analysis showed that early voting through Thursday was about 24% higher than at the same point in the 2022 midterm primaries-and even surpassed the 2024 presidential primaries. For context, the 2022 midterm primaries had the highest turnout for a midterm primary in the state in 20 years.

With record numbers of voters participating in the early-voting cycle, what remains to be seen is who will turn out on election day. Democrats seem to have a strong showing in early voting among registered partisans and Unaffiliated voters. According to Old North State Politics half of Unaffiliated voters chose the Democratic ballot. This could be impactful if it carries over to the March 3^rd primary vote.  

This election marks a pivotal point in our nation’s history. Not since the civil war have Americans had such a profound decision to make about who we will be, both domestically and on the world stage. As we wrestle with an authoritarian assault on our democracy we must decide whether justice and the rule of law are the real underpinnings that hold up our democracy.

At the end of the day, it is up to the voters to confirm or deny the direction in which our country is going. That means it is up to you.

If you haven’t voted, turn out on March 3^rd and make your voice heard.

Trump Insults Nation's Only Black Governor

 By Mildred Robertson

As the sitting president continues to sow chaos throughout the political landscape, he outdid himself over the past week. First, he tweeted a racist photo of former president and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama. (He claims one of staff did it yet refuses to apologize for it or chastise whoever did.) Then he moved to disinvite Governor Wes Moore of Maryland from a bipartisan dinner for governors at the White House.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, © Francis Chung/POLITICO

This is particularly puzzling since Moore is the vice chair of the organization and the only sitting Black governor. Trump announced that only Republican governors would be invited to the bipartisan winter meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA). He specifically blocked Moore and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis from the event’s black-tie dinner. Both have publicly challenged the White House since Trump began his second term.

Moore opposes Trump’s immigration policies and his deployment of the National Guard to, supposedly, combat crime in states led by Democrats. He also supports redrawing Maryland’s voting maps in response to Trumps efforts to gerrymander districts to create GOP majorities.

Moore says the National Governors Association, known for bipartisan cooperation committed that the dinner will not be considered an official NGA event. Meetings between the president and governors typically allow direct discussion of national issues. Moore claims his exclusion from this event may be due to race and criticizes the president’s actions as unaddressed.

Trump Continues His Politics of Distraction

 By Mildred Robertson

So, Trump is at it again. Trying to distract us from the EPSTEIN FILES....

- Blowing up boats in open waters

- Kidnapping a foreign leader

- Sending troops to major sanctuary cities to war against the community

- Using babies as bait to lure immigrants to capture

- Crashing into people's cars on the streets of America as a means of apprehension

- Disbursing tear gas into neighborhoods, cars and houses

- Tear gassing people in the face

- Kidnapping American citizens and holding them unlawfully

- Killing American citizens in the streets

And now he wants to start a war with Iran for carrying out similar atrocities against its own citizens. Oh, and let's not forget that he is sending the FBI into Georgia to try to rewrite history to say he won the election against Joe Biden.

All of this deserves America's attention. But we cannot forget the Epstein files. He needs to be prosecuted for all of the above. But he, and all others who show up in the Epstein files need to be made to account for their actions and pay for any crimes they may have committed.

SHOW ME THE EPSTEIN FILES.

America Awakens to the Horrors of ICE Tactics

By Mildred Robertson

Everyone has heard of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both executed by ICE agents while peacefully protesting in Minnesota. It is horrific and sickening. It is unthinkable that those are the images I see when I turn on the morning news. Muted in the media coverage, however, are stories of black and brown people who have been abused and murdered at the hands of ICE. Extrajudicial killings of people of color is normal in America. It does not pierce the conscience of America as these killing did, though it should.

Another narrative in the media is how Renee Good and Alex Pretti were great citizens, and from all accounts they were. But that was not what made their murders wrong. No one needs to be dragged through the streets, peppered sprayed in the eyes and set upon by a hoard of jack-booted thugs and ultimately be slain.  

The brutality of this agency is unbelievable. There are at least 13 instances of immigration officers firing at or into civilian vehicles. At least eight of those resulted in gunshot wounds, with two leading to deaths. Those are just the ones we know about. And the general public does not even know their names.  Assumptions by many is that these people represent the “worst of the worse” Trump so fondly refers to in his rants about immigration.

Keith Porter, a black 43-year-old father of two was shot by an off-duty U.S. ICE agent in California on New Year’s Eve. He was not the “perfect victim” whose killing raises red flags for your average white Americans. Porter fired his gun in the air in celebration of New Year’s Eve according to his family. This tradition began in early U.S. history as a symbol of celebration and renewal, and it is occasionally still practiced in some Southern regions.  His actions were illegal but did not warrant a death sentence. And ICE agents are not police. But the media attention focused on him for a moment and then moved on.

They aimed a bright light on the murder of both Renee Good and Alex Pretti who had every right to protest. They had every right to record the violence being inflicted upon the citizens of Minneapolis. They had every right to offer a hand to a citizen violently pushed to the ground and then pepper sprayed.

Their murders were atrocious, gut wrenching, unthinkable. But so are the assaults on people who may or may not have committed a crime. So are the assaults on children, women, the elderly, the sick, many of whom have fallen victim to an overly aggressive, paramilitary force released on the streets of our cities.

No matter the circumstance, no matter what the crime, everyone residing within our borders has the right to face justice based on due process. No one deserves to be summarily executed in the streets of America, to be detained without warrant or to be expelled without adjudication of their case.

If we are going to wake up…let’s wake ALL the way up.

Stranger Things: America Living in the Upside Down

 Mildred Robertson

Every day I wake up to news of additional infractions against the constitutional rights of citizens and inhabitants in America. A nation once seen as full of promise and opportunity is now viewed as a hellscape.  

Today, America is a place where soccer moms are shot in the face and five-year-olds are used as bait to entice immigrants to surrender to masked thugs as vicious as Demogorgons; humanoid but not human. Just like these fictional monsters in the Supernatural horror series “Stranger Things,” ICE agents travel in pacts enacting the will of Trump who uses his power to manipulate, terrorize and sometimes kill his victim.  His main aim seems to be controlling the world.  

The American hellscape, just like the landscape in Stranger Things, creeps into every corner of our existence, consuming everything in its path. While ICE agents ram cars on our highways and beat and choke a 16-year-old citizen whose only mistake was travelling to school in a car driven by his immigrant father, these thugs have no respect for the rule of law. They murdered Alex Pretti, who simply attempted to protect a woman who they had viciously attacked and pepper sprayed. After the first shot, they peppered his body with up to ten shots once he was down.  It is reported that one of the agents commented their actions were just like the video game, “Call of Duty”.

This is not law enforcement, and it certainly is not a game.  This is anarchy cloaked in governmental authority. It appears that Donald Trump and his administration have unleashed a rabid group of criminals upon the streets of America, parading as law enforcement. It is alleged that many ICE agents were pulled from the ranks of the January 6^th rioters, and they seem anxious to continue their attack on the foundational rights and privileges enjoyed by Americans for well over 200 years.

They have taken to the streets kicking down doors, breaking windows dragging people from cars, beating citizens and non-citizens alike, with no regard to the constitutionality of their actions.  This administration has given them license to do as they please to those residing within our borders.

As disturbing as those actions are, it appears this administration has not seen enough violence on the streets. Trump seemingly plans to deploy the ACUTUAL military to the streets of American communities.

As new atrocities come into view daily, Congress and the courts seem stymied by the brazenness of this administration’s attacks on the rule of law. It is as though they are surprised that an elected leader of the United States would choose not to play by the rules.

Our courts and our Congress seem to be caught flat-footed in the face of an authoritarian leader whose goal is to subjugate the people and undermine the Constitution. It is amazing that they did not anticipate this upside-down world, when the Constitution itself recognized it, defined it and set up guard rails to contain it.

While our Founders clearly understood that one day someone would attempt to steal the freedoms they fought so hard to wrest from the hands of an imperialistic government, they believed that they had established a framework strong enough to repel a dictator’s rise to power. Unfortunately, those agencies empowered to balance overreach by an authoritarian administration seem to be impotent. While the courts have awarded shallow victories in this fight, our gerrymandered Congress is stymied and offers us little relief.

So, we are at a crossroad. What are American citizens to do? If our courts and our Congress cannot protect us, what are we to do? Will our world remain upside down, or will we fight to return to normalcy? It is for Americans to choose.

ICE Agents Kill American Citizen

By Mildred Robertson

On January 7, 2026 Trump’s thugs killed an American citizen in cold blood. Renee Good, a Minnesota poet and mother, is accused of intentionally trying to run over ICE officers, although video indicates she was attempting to leave the scene. ICE officer Jonathan Ross pumped three bullets into Goods car, shooting her in the head. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem then took to the airwaves to lie about it. She labeled the victim as a domestic terrorist within hours of the incident and claimed the agent is immune from prosecution. 

Since her assassination Good has been vilified by members of the Trump administration, even though her final words were "I don't hate you." Compare her character to that of the assassin who called her a f'n bitch as he shot two additional rounds into her head. Let us not forget, Good was an American citizen exercising her constitutional right to protest when she was murdered on the streets of Minneapolis, just blocks from where George Floyd had been murdered by Minneapolis police in May of 2020. 

The FBI has taken over the investigation, refusing to share case materials with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension(MBCA) that includes evidence from the scene and eyewitness testimony.  As the administration continues its public attacks on Good, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says that he fears that there will not be a fair outcome if the MBCA is not allowed access to crucial crime scene data. It appears that the MBCA will pursue a parallel investigation into the murder.

While Trump claims the ICE officer who killed Renee Good has total immunity, law seems to indicate that state prosecutors have the authority to pursue charges. The officers' qualified immunity under federal law will likely complicate the prosecution. The state is currently collecting evidence before making a decision on whether to bring charges. 

Sen. Mark Kelly Faces Death Threat

By Mildred Robertson

President Donald Trump labelled Arizona Democrat Mark Kelly and several other Democratic veterans as traitors who should be executed. Kelly and six Democrats with military or national security backgrounds appeared in an advertisement targeted to military personnel stating that they should disobey unlawful orders. The advertisement triggered a firestorm in the West Wing of the White House which caused a red-faced, white-knuckled Donald Trump to demand retribution.

It was not an outrageous thing for the Democrats to say. In fact, they simply quoted the United States Military Code of Justice which establishes the legal standards for military personnel. Under this code, military personnel are required to obey lawful orders. Likewise, military personnel HAVE a DUTY to refuse to follow unlawful orders. In fact, following such orders may expose them to criminal liability. An unlawful order is one that requires the commission of a crime, violates the Constitution, federal law or clear international law. 

It is ludicrous that Americans who use their right to free speech to voice concern over the illegal actions of this government could be threatened. We all know that those who participated in the advertisement had the right to say that soldiers DO NOT have to and SHOULD NOT follow unlawful orders. Some may even think they had the obligation to speak out. Yet this administration will spend time and the taxpayer's money to pursue this frivolous suit to detract from more pressing matters, such has the high cost of living, out of control health care costs, the destruction of our history, the dismantling of civil rights, Gestapo-styled state policing, the collapse of foreign alliances and of course, the rape of children, only to name a few.

The fact that the FBI is investigating a sitting senator for reciting the uniform code is exactly WHY we need to keep speaking up.

While Kelly is being investigated by the FBI for speaking the truth, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is accused of ordering a strike on a purported drug-smuggling vessel in international waters and then ordering a second strike to kill any survivors. As we examine the Military Code of Justice, clearly, one of these actions is not like the other.

Kelly and company exercised their right to free speech to remind military personnel of their obligation to act lawfully while carrying out their duties. Conversely, Hegseth is setting up both himself and those soldiers who carried out his orders to face war crimes and murder if he in fact issued the alleged “kill order” that resulted in the deaths of two survivors of the first strike. Trump rages about the one, and is resoundingly quiet about the other. 

Hegseth's actions have raised significant legal and ethical issues regarding the drug boat strikes. The Trump administration has carried out more than a dozen of these strikes since September 2025. More than 70 people have been killed in what may well be declared illegal operations by the American military under Hegseth’s command.

It is incredible that the FBI is investigating a sitting senator for reciting the Military Uniform Code of Justice while ignoring the highly suspect bombings in international waters that have cost the lives of these individuals without the benefit of evidence, a court or a jury. American patriots all over the country must speak up just as Kelly and his compatriots did.

We are a nation of laws. In times such as these, it is good when we are reminded.