Really, you just cannot make this stuff up. 

Artives Freeman stunned the courtroom on the first day of his murder trial. He walked in dressed in a suit and tie – and covered in his own feces.

As lawyers, court staff and deputies watched in disbelief, Superior Court Judge James Morgan questioned the 24-year-old unemployed Charlotte man.

But Freeman – who was representing himself – never said a word.

The judge ordered Freeman committed to Dorothea Dixon Hospital in Raleigh for an evaluation to determine if he’s competent to stand trial.

Ooh, ooh.  Pick me to answer if he is competent!  Pick me!  Pick me!

I’m actually posting this early Saturday evening, but I didn’t want to bump the Hillary withdrawal piece that Dan wrote.  But I just HAD to pass this along from here in the Carolinas.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

The Queen City, or “Crown Town” as PatriotPartner would say, has an infux of visitors this weekend for the big one:  The Coca-Cola 600 tomorrow at Lowes Motor Speedway.   Concord will become the third largest city in North Carolina for a few hours tomorrow.   Cool, huh?

Anyway, to all of you visiting the crown jewel of the South — welcome!   We have great restaurants, awesome attractions, and the friendliest people this side of Sydney Australia.

As for tomorrow — GO JUNIOR.   We will be at the race, pit passes in hand, and I’ll have some photos and videos later this weekend.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

The time has come as I finally get my official “say” in the 2008 election.  Tomorrow is the North Carolina Primary!  And we have a lot going on in the Tar Heel state besides that one primary race you are hearing a lot about.

So for all of you from North Carolina who read GayPatriot or have family/friends that do…. here are my official, personal endorsements.  (GP Ed. Note:  I respectfully still disagree with Dan on his support of John McCain, so these are my PERSONAL endorsements).

FOR REPUBLICAN NC GOVERNOR:  Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory.

It is about time that the largest metro area in the state have a larger say in Raleigh.  Our voice has been minimized lately because the former DEMOCRAT from our area who was the Speaker of the House is sitting his ass in jail due to massive corruption.

McCrory is the seven-term Mayor of the City of Charlotte.  He has governed with, what I would call, a conservative pragmatism.  Not perfect, but just right for being a Republican mayor in the second largest city in the South. (Yes, that’s right Atlanta!)   He has made job growth, fighting crime and cracking down on illegal immigration the cornerstones of his campaign.   I think he is the best GOP candidate to win back the Governor’s Mansion for conservative governing this year.

DISCLOSURE:  I am a proud financial contributor to McCrory for Governor.

FOR DEMOCRAT PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION:  Senator Hillary Clinton

As a proud footsoldier of Operation Chaos, it is my duty to urge unaffiliated and switched-Republicans in North Carolina to VOTE HILLARY!!! (I think a little vomit just came up…)   

Ahem, anyway… if we have to have a Democrat in the White House I’d much rather have the devil we know than the silver-tongued devil we don’t know.   

Oh yeah….and on gay rights — Hillary, Obama & McCain are all the same; why waste my breath on that topic?

FOR REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION:  “NONE OF THE ABOVE”

We have a cool option on the North Carolina ballot that I plan to use tomorrow:  None Of The Above (NOTA); technically the spot on the ballot reads: No Preference - Republican.

I cannot in good conscience vote for John McCain who, without the pantsuit and cackle, looks to be a lot like Hillary Clinton rather than Ronald Reagan to me.  I fear the unchecked President McCain (with support/acquiensence) of the Democratic Congress) will roll the clock back on securing the border, ensuring economic growth and may allow millions of Americans to be vaporized because he doesn’t want to even consider the Jack Bauer-treatment of terror suspects.  Don’t even get me started about the threat as President he poses due to his blatant disregard to the freedom of speech guaranteed under the First Amendment (McCain-Feingold).

Sorry John…. you may have won over others in the Republican Party — but you have a LONG way to go with me.   I can at least let you know how I feel … with my vote for ‘NOTA’ tomorrow in North Carolina.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

I just finished up a podcast with Kevin Naff, the Editor of the Washington Blade. Primarily I wanted to talk to Kevin about the horrible execution-style murder of those college kids last August in Newark, NJ. Lou Chibarro of the Blade has the latest details.

On the podcast, Kevin tells me that the mainstream media is proactively covering up the fact that at least one of the murder victims was openly gay. In addition, all three victims were on their way to a Gay Pride event before they were murdered. Kevin has been trying for nearly a year to lift the veil of secrecy and get some national attention to this angle. He also says police have confided that the details of the murder were much more gruesome than at first reported.

I promised Kevin we would follow the story here at GayPatriot, and help as we can.

Also on our show today, Kevin and I discussed Pansy-gate. Kevin’s take mirrored my own. Who knew that a top echelon member of the Gay Media Mafia was so smart! (Just razzing you, Kevin!)

And we wrapped up with an overall look at Hillary vs. Obama vs. McCain.

Feel free to listen to GayPatriot’s America at BlogTalkRadio…. or just push play below!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

In my pro-McCrory for NC Governor posting on Thursday, I made the following sweeping statement….

None of the other GOP candidates can make the same claims since they don’t have executive experience and have not made illegal immigration a priority like McCrory has.

At the time I wrote it, I nearly didn’t because I thought it was too sweeping and I admittedly haven’t studied every piece of the other GOP candidates’ platforms in their campaigns for NC Governor.

So, I’m happy to present another side (and a correction-of-sorts) from an email I received from a Fred Smith for NC Governor supporter.

Fred Smith has been campaigning all over the state and since August has visited all 100 counties at least once. He has set out specific things he would do as governor. He has talked at length in every county he has visited about the problems caused by illegal immigration, what it costs the state and what the governor could do to address the problem. He has the support of sheriffs all over the state and has talked with them at length asking them what they need to address the problem.

This reader also referred me to a speech given by Smith which includes strong words against illegal immigration.

We believe that we are, as our national motto says, one nation under God. And we believe we ought to speak the English language. And the problem we have today is we have illegal aliens coming to this country with such velocity that they’re overwhelming our melting pot and the reason for that is the federal government has let us down on border security. The federal government has let us down on upholding the rule of law and that’s going to leave it to the states and the state of North Carolina to put a Band-Aid on this problem.

And as governor I would do four things. The first is I would try to make sure that every sheriff’s department had a chance to be a part of the 287(g) program to catch, detain, and deport illegal aliens violating our laws. Second, if you get a driver’s license you be legally entitled to get a driver’s license in this state. Common sense says if that’s what they do in Mexico that’s what we ought to be able to do here in North Carolina. The third thing, we need to pass illegal immigration reform like the states of Georgia, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Colorado, have to say if a government agency or institution is going to give a benefit they must enforce federal law which they ask are you legally entitled to this benefit. And fourth we need to have a voter ID card to protect the integrity of our voting system.

Sounds good to me. I’m still a staunch McCrory supporter, but I’m happy that Smith is taking a strong stand on illegal immigration, too!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Republican NC gubernatorial candidate (and Charlotte Mayor) Pat McCrory has a new ad up touting his success in cracking down on illegal immigrants. None of the other GOP candidates can make the same claims since they don’t have executive experience and have not made illegal immigration a priority like McCrory has.

Primary Election day is May 6. Go, Pat, go!

DISCLAIMER: I have personally contributed to the McCrory for Governor campaign

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory seems to have vaulted into front-runner status in his bid to become North Carolina’s next Governor.  He clearly is the GOP frontrunner….

In a survey of 500 likely voters conducted Tuesday by polling firm Rasmussen Reports, only Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory’s name registered with a majority of people asked about GOP candidates. McCrory entered the race two weeks ago, but 36 percent of respondents had a favorable impression about him while another 19 percent had a negative impression.

Meanwhile, 63 percent of those surveyed said they had never heard of or weren’t sure they knew the name of Salisbury attorney Bill Graham, even though he led a very public campaign to lower the state’s gas tax a few years ago.

Seventy-two percent weren’t sure they knew Robert Orr’s name, despite his two successful statewide campaigns for a seat on the Supreme Court, and 74 percent didn’t recognize the name of longtime state Sen. Fred Smith of Johnston County, who has run an extensive television advertising campaign in recent months.

And it looks like McCrory is fairing quite well in a hypothetical matchup with the two likely Democratic opponents:

The two Democratic front-runners, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore, have name recognition on a par with McCrory. Both registered favorable impressions among 35 percent of those surveyed. Twelve percent said they had an unfavorable impression of Moore, and 27 percent said that of Perdue.

In possible head-to-head match-ups, McCrory is in virtual dead heats with Moore or Perdue. Moore’s 4 percentage point lead and Perdue’s 3-point lead are both within the poll’s 4.5-point margin of error.

This should be an interesting race… and with my choices in the GOP North Carolina Presidential Primary (May 6) looking like foul meat in the summer sun, at least I will have one candidate I can aggressively support!

McCrory for Governor!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Will Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory run for Governor?

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory has been contacting top Republicans to gauge whether they would support him in a potential campaign for N.C. governor.

State legislators, businesspeople and fundraisers told the Observer on Wednesday that McCrory has called them within the past week. They said he got mixed responses because many key activists have already committed to one of the three people already running for the GOP nomination, or to one of the two Democrats.

McCrory sent an e-mail to supporters Dec. 13 with results from a statewide poll he commissioned. The poll showed him “in the lead” in the GOP primary, according to the e-mail, though McCrory did not give details.

As a resident of Charlotte, I’m praying our Mayor decides to get into the 2008 North Carolina Governor’s race… though the clock is ticking!   I have been a supporter of McCrory since we moved to Charlotte in 2005.  We need a Western North Carolina voice and presence like McCrory in the Governor’s Office.   Our part of the state has been ripped out of our share of tax money paid… especially for infrastructure.

I was opposed to McCrory’s too eager support of our light rail project… but overall our Mayor is a visionary, a great communicator, and most importantly would be a strong advocate for a state-wide balanced approach to governing.

RUN, PAT, RUN!

-Bruce (GayPatriot) 

 
(Photo courtesy of Charlotte Observer)

We are in the midst of the big racing weekend of the NASCAR Nextel Cup in Charlotte at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.  House Democrats believe this is a setting more like Colombia, rather than Concord.  More like North Korea than North Carolina, according to House Democrats.  

What a pity and what ignorance.

So now NASCAR has cooties?

I don’t know about you, but I usually keep some syringes in my moonshine jar, out back by the ol’ still that grandpappy tends when we’re not all runnin’ from the police. Maybe we can help some of y’all visitors out with a different kind of medicine.

Said LMS president and general manager Humpy Wheeler: “The very idea of immunization is laughable. It’s like taping your ankles to go to the mailbox. This is not some third- or fourth-world country. As a matter of fact, never in the 50-plus years of NASCAR has there been an outbreak of any kind at an event, other than a few headaches because somebody’s driver ran out of gas, or maybe a morning hangover.”

In fact, this is one of the best places to live and visit in the USA… and I’ve been to many.  Our people are friendly, welcoming, open and honest.  We have a wide mix of diverse culture here in Charlotte and throughout North Carolina — but our heritage is firmly rooted in Southern and American values.

Racing Fans…. welcome to Charlotte and enjoy the Bank of America 500 tonight!  The only disease you might pick up is if you had to fly through Washington, DC.  Unfortunately, there’s no immunization for bigotry.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Since every single hurricane forecast for the past two years has been completely wrong…. I’m going to appeal to our favorite (and most sinister) villain of our times:  Global Warming (his black cape flowing behind).

Please… please, Global Warming.   Do what you can to steer Tropical Storm Dean to the Carolinas.   No need for Category Five or anything like that.   But damn, we need the rain.  All of our hurricane forecasters said that, because of you, we’d be drenched in hurricanes by now… and perhaps life as we know it would be over.   So give us some slack in our dry weather condition, would ya?

And Pat Robertson.. listen here:  You just stay out of this!   This is between me and Global Warming.  None of your fancy hurricane-deflecting tricks, you hear?    I just simply do not want to hear another weatherprop person on my TV say the word “drought” anymore!

[Related Story:  Red Faces at NASA Over Climate Change Blunder.   According to the figures released last week, four of America's 10 warmest years are now in the 1930s, during the Dust Bowl era.  Just three years from the past decade remain among the top 10, with 2001 having fallen out entirely.      Oh...just an inconvenient truth.]

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Last night when I went to bed, I was a resident of Mecklenberg County, North Carolina.

This morning I wake up as a newly absorbed citizen of the city of Charlotte, North Carolina.

I’ve been annexed!

By the way, I never had a say in the matter.  No vote.  Just absorption.

And what do I get as a new resident of Charlotte?   As far as I can tell the only thing new is an increase of $30 per month of taxes.

Isn’t this Annexation Without Representation?

Government, 1
We, The People, 0

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

**WELCOME TIM BLAIR READERS!** 

Would you believe that a North Carolina State Representative drives a Ferrari convertible?  A picture is worth a thousand words.

NC  State Rep. Larry Womble (D-Forsyth Co.) has either come into some serious money, or he needs to answer some questions.  The first one is:  how does a public servant earning $14,000 a year on my tax money afford a $200,000 car?  The second is, what kind of money does a “former educator” earn in the state of North Carolina?  I want in on that gig.

Here’s some more about the story….

Looking at Womble’s 2007 financial disclosure report, [right-click, then "save as" if you have problems viewing it] it shows his only sources of income are from rental property of a condo (of which he has a mortgage), his legislative salary (approx. $13,000), social security, and his retirement from the State of NC as an educator and assistant principal.

According to the statement and Forysth County Tax Records, he also owns four properties in Forsyth County, with assessed values ranging from $17,200 to $107,200.

I’m not saying it’s not possible, but it certainly raises questions as to how a career government employee can afford a quarter-million dollar car.

So his car cost more than his most expensive home?!?!

Interestingly, Rep. Womble is the same legislator who wants North Carolina to apologize for slavery.  More interestingly, he has sponsored legislation to raise the pay of General Assembly Members to $20,000.   Well no wonder!

He certainly takes the term “limosine liberal” to a whole new level!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

I nearly fell off my chair reading this from Jonah Goldberg at The Corner….

As several readers have noted, South Carolina is shaping up to be party central. You’ve got coke dealing Republican treasurers and daredevil rooftop fornicators falling from the sky. No wonder everyone wants to cover the South Carolina primary.

Hey, we are only 2 miles north of the SC border.  Perhaps we should rent out the house for a Conservative SC Primary Party?!?

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Disgraced Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong (D) will resign regardless of the decision of the North Carolina State Bar Association as to his future.

“It has become increasingly apparent during the course of this week, in some ways that it may not have been before, that my presence as the district attorney in Durham is not furthering the cause of justice,” Nifong said. “It is not fair that the people of my community to be representing by someone who is not held in high esteem by either the members of the community or members of the profession.

“It does not contribute to the cause of justice in Durham for me to serve as the sitting district attorney for every time I walk into the courtroom [there are] people pointing a finger at me and saying there’s the guy in the Duke Lacrosse case.”

Duke University President Richard Brodhead had the following reaction to Nifong’s announcement today:

“Mr. Nifong brought great harm to these Duke students and their families, to the Durham community, and to Duke University and all who care about it. Even though his decision to resign comes under threat of sanctions by the North Carolina State Bar, I welcome it. It sets the stage for a healing process to which we all are committed.”

However, on April 6, 2006, Brodhead seemed to forget about “innocent until proven guilty” when it came to the Duke students maliciously accused of rape.

Brodhead should be the next to resign. 

But closely far behind should be all 88 members of the Duke faculty who engaged in the most hysterical, race-baiting and disgusting efforts to convict the Duke players and the University itself in the public domain.  Here’s a sample of the so-called Group of 88’s “Listening Statement.”

We are listening to our students. We’re also listening to the Durham community, to Duke staff, and to each other.  Regardless of the results of the police investigation, what is apparent everyday now is the anger and fear of many students who know themselves to be objects of racism and sexism, who see illuminated in this moment’s extraordinary spotlight what they live with everyday. They know that it isn’t just Duke, it isn’t everybody, and it isn’t just individuals making this disaster.

But it is a disaster nonetheless.

These students are shouting and whispering about what happened to this young woman and to themselves.

. . .We want the absence of terror. But we don’t really know what that means . . . We can’t think. That’s why we’re so silent; we can’t think about what’s on the other side of this. Terror robs you of language and you need language for the healing to begin.

Unfortunately these days, America’s universities rarely do the right thing and show accountability.  One can only hope there would be 89 more resignations following Nifong’s.  It would be true justice.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

I found this story very encouraging in our times of “bad news all the time”.

UNC Mascot’s Liver Saves Life - Charlotte Observer

A New Jersey man says he’s alive today thanks to Jason Ray, the UNC Chapel Hill senior and Tar Heels mascot who died last month after he was struck by a vehicle.

Dennis Korzelius has Ray’s liver.

Ray, 21, suffered severe brain injuries when he was hit by an SUV while walking back to his hotel before an NCAA tournament game in New Jersey. He died March 26, leaving organs to five people.

“There is some comfort in knowing that even though your son is gone he’s got his organs supporting five other people’s lives,” Ray’s father, Emmitt Ray, told the Observer on Friday. “They could have all been gone by now. There is some good feeling about that.”

That’s enough to keep me going on a Monday morning!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

**UPDATE** - Dennis Miller delivers the line of the day.  He said on O’Reilly Factor tonight: “After a year we have only found out that the [Duke rape accuser] was the Louvre of DNA.”   Oh man!

Three innocent young men can finally get on with their lives after the race-baiting witchhunt led by the civil liberties-defying Republican President Democrat District Attorney ended today.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper handed these boys back their innocence.

“The result of our review and investigation shows clearly that there is insufficient evidence to proceed on any of the charges,” Cooper said. “Today we are filing notices of dismissal for all charges.”

He added: “We believe these cases were a result of a tragic rush to accuse and failure to verify serious allegations. Based on these significant inconsistencies of evidence and the various accounts given by the accusing witness, we believe these three individuals are innocent of these charges.”

Cooper said not only are the players innocent of the charges they faced, but there is “no credible evidence that an attack occurred at that house on that night.”

The AG also handed District Attorney Nifong his head.

Cooper also blasted District Attorney Mike Nifong— who originally indicted the players for rape — for overreaching his power as a district attorney, saying the “rogue” prosecutor “pushed ahead unchecked” in this case.

“There were many points in this case where caution would have served justice better than bravado,” Cooper said. “This case shows the enormous consequences of overreaching by a prosecutor. What has been learned here is the internal checks on a criminal charge — sworn statements, criminal grounds, proper suspect photo lineups, accurate discovery — all are critically important.”

I suppose I must apologize to my liberal critics.  Since September 11, we have lost some of our civil liberties.  But they have been lost due to the relentless pursuit by the American Left punishing the innocent for the sake of political correctness and criminalizing politics, free speech, and American traditions and values.

Durham-in-Wonderland has much more on the Nifong Travesty.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

That’s the buzz this morning in the Queen City.

The Donald’s name isn’t on any building in Charlotte — yet — but he’s causing quite a stir.

The Trump Organization has targeted a block of South Tryon Street for a mega-development of luxury condos, a five-star hotel, an office tower and high-end shops, setting off the real estate grapevine.

Trump’s son Donald Jr. confirmed the interest, even though the firm is still working to acquire land in the 600 block of Tryon across from the [Charlotte] Observer.

Maybe the Charlotte project will be the next “prize” on The Apprentice?  Probably not.  But amusing to consider!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

No folks, this isn’t a joke.  I just hope our glorious state elected officials in Raleigh have the sense to nip this idea in the bud. 

Latino advocates say they’ll start lobbying N.C. legislators for driver’s licenses, in-state tuition and wage enforcement for those who are undocumented, likely heating up the illegal immigration debate.

It’s the first time advocacy groups across the state have created one agenda, which was released Tuesday by El Pueblo, a Raleigh-based nonprofit.

The agency’s top priority is to push for a special driver’s license for illegal immigrants. Several states already use such an alternative.

After North Carolina started requiring a valid Social Security number or a valid visa to obtain a driver’s license, many illegal immigrants chose to drive without one because they still have to work and take their children to school, said Zulayka Santiago, El Pueblo’s executive director.

“When you have drivers on the roads not fully informed of our traffic laws, that puts all our communities in danger,” she said.

Testing 1-2-3… Hello… *taps screen* … anyone with a brain out there? 

How about the fact that people entering this country illegally are automatically breaking the law (that is kind of what “illegal” means).  And the fact that most of the reported deadly accidents on the roads these days in Charlotte are caused by undocumented aliens behind the wheel.

The American community is already in danger.  Here’s a wild idea… have the illegals learn English in order to get a job, and apply for citizenship through existing law.  That way when they are here legally, they will be fully informed of our traffic laws because they’ll be able to hear them in English, read them in English, and comprehend them in English.

This dopey concept by El Pueblo is nothing more than a license to encourage more law-breaking by illegal aliens.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

…and realizing that I’ve worn shorts all week and we were sweating today in Charlotte.

*sticking tongue out at all of my longtime friends north of Richmond, VA*

I hate to tell you, but CHARLOTTE ROCKS!  (Just don’t move here…. we don’t want anymore people!  *grin*)

PS - GP Gang — Sorry I didn’t blog a lot last week.  Just a ton of work going on in my mortgage-paying job!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

In the continuing crackdown of Nancy Pelosi’s nationwide “culture of corruption,” former North Carolina House Speaker Jim Black (DEMOCRAT-Mecklenberg Co.) is expected to plead guilty to a public corruption charge in federal court in Raleigh on Thursday, ending the career of North Carolina’s most powerful speaker of the modern political era.

Under the deal, Black is expected to plead guilty to one count of accepting illegal gratuities, according to his lawyer and an Observer source. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

The court action will end a nearly two-year-long federal and state investigation that has rattled the state’s political establishment and has led to five associates of Black being found guilty in federal or state courts.

The long-running probe forced Black, 71, from the speaker’s office in December and paraded lawmakers, legislative staffers, political contributors and public officials in front of a federal grand jury.

“If the reports are correct, Thursday will be a sad day for the House of Representatives,” said Rep. Paul Stam, the House Republican leader. “I hope that every member resolves that under new management no one in the future will ever take illegal gratuit