Briana Brough

Carolina on my mind.

[Acyn @Acyn]

Tillis: These people don't deserve restitution. Many of them deserve to be in prison. This is just stupid on stilts.

Reporter: Do you think you have colleagues that share the same concerns—

Tillis: They do and they need to speak up. This is beyond the pale. This is not good for my colleagues. There's not one positive thing that could be spun out of this between now and November. This is bad policy. It's bad timing, and it's bad politics

[Acyn @Acyn]

Buttigieg: And my word of warning to my own political party is that we would make a terrible mistake if we thought that our job was to just take power somehow and then put everything back the way it was. That’s not what we’re here to do.

We’re not out to go around and just find all the little bits and pieces of everything that they smashed and tape it together and say, “Here you go, I give you the world as it looked in 2023.” That’s not going to work. It’s not what we need.

So much has changed, and the truth is they are destroying things right and left. They’re destroying a lot of good, important things. They’re destroying some useless things too, because they’re destroying everything. So now we get a chance to put things together on different terms.

[Carolina Forward @ForwardCarolina]

Right now, we’re on track to spend more per student on private school vouchers than on fulfilling our constitutional obligation to public schools under Leandro. At the same time, the vast majority of NC students are in public schools, while a much smaller share receive vouchers.

And just weeks ago, the NC Supreme Court blocked key parts of the Leandro Plan, putting billions in promised education funding further out of reach.

Shoutout to our Carolina Forward friend PublicEdTay on Instagram and Substack for researching, analyzing, and presenting the data.

[Carolina Forward @ForwardCarolina]

Here's the thing: no one really expects this to happen - but mainly because the Republican gerrymander of North Carolina is so shamelessly odious. To this poster's point, you would need something close to a D+15-20 shift to break Republicans' rigging of North Carolina's election map.

We are headed into an environment in November that will likely be between D+5 to D+10. A "blue wave" is the low end estimate - a blue tsunami is more likely. And even in that environment, the Republican gerrymander of North Carolina is so efficient that it will likely insulate many of their seats to be effectively immune from voter accountability at all.

This is really the root of so many of our challenges.

[The Tennessee Holler @TheTNHoller]

🔥🔥 @IAmPoliticsGirl ate @NoahCRothman up

“Can you let me speak for 1 frickin’ second, bro? - $50 billion, thousands of civilians, 13 🇺🇸 soldiers… People hate us now. He said we'd destroy an entire civilization. That doesn’t make you a good negotiator. It makes you psychotic.”

[Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 @cmclymer]

The debate over James Talarico calling God "nonbinary" is silly because it shouldn't be a debate. It is scripturally true.

God is everything. God is everyone. God is every gender. Case closed.

But we get into this ridiculous convo because conservatives find it Very Important to describe God as masculine. More importantly, they demand God be described as a man.

Several years ago, I did a segment on MSNBC and referred to God with "she/her" pronouns. I wasn't being political with that. I really wasn't. That's just how I refer to God, and it is scripturally sound even if conservatives swear it isn't.

So, this rightwing reporter reaches out to me on LinkedIn because he watched the segment, and he was quite upset with me for using she/her pronouns in reference to God.

I asked him: "What is your scientific argument that God is male? Do we know anything about his anatomy?"

He responds: "No, of course not. It's because God is referred to as 'he' and 'him' all throughout Scripture."

And I said: "So, let me get this straight: you have no scientific evidence that God is male, no descriptions of God's anatomy that would support that claim, but because God identifies as male and uses he/him pronouns, you respect and honor that. What does that sound like to you?"

And he started typing and then he stopped typing and then he blocked me.

These folks are loons and we should call them loons and we should challenge them on Scripture and we shouldn't back down from that conversation.

So, yeah, I think James Talarico is spot-on and I give thanks to God, in all Her wisdom, that She inspires him to speak the truth.

[delaney vandergrift @delaneypv15]

I think the NC-04 race is a lot more nuanced than outsiders and national media understand. It’s my belief that Nida lost because of relational issues not her politics. Nida was not and is not “too left” for North Carolina.

[Zac Harmon 🌈 @Zprtr1]

Dems have outvoted the GOP by nearly 200k votes in the NC Senate race

In the 22’ Senate primary, the GOP outvoted Dems by 146k votes

[Gerry Cohen @gercohen]

I’ve been following NC elections for over 50 years, and I’ve never known a primary to end in a tie. Under a 1915 law (yes, 1915), if after canvass there is a tie in a multi county Senate race, there is NO recount, instead there is an AUTOMATIC second primary unless one of the two withdraws. If there is a tie in the SECOND primary, the primary is vacated and the party executive committee chooses the winner and is not limited to the tied candidates. GS 163-111

[Covie @covie_93]

A Fort Bragg soldier and his girlfriend, Ukrainian refugee Kateryna Tovmash, were murdered in North Carolina on Valentine's Day, but you won't hear about it from MAGA because the murderer in this case is a white man.

[Republicans against Trump @RpsAgainstTrump]

Reporter: The president called you a loser.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis: “I am thrilled about that. That makes me qualified to be homeland security secretary and senior adviser to the president.”

[Briana Brough @bribrough]

@kevinbrownnc I guess not ALL lives matter.

[Carolina Forward @ForwardCarolina]

Pretty remarkable comment from former NC House Rep. @RayESmithJr here about @RepWray.

[Tara Dublin aka Winona Spyder™️ @taradublinrocks]

“I ask questions, not permission” 🔥

Everyone in the MSM should be like Shero Megan Cassella

@mmcassella @cnbc

[Chris Boettcher @chrisboettcher9]

Retirement is one of the most nefarious carrots we’ve ever been sold.

Somehow we were convinced that if we just grind for 40+ years while neglecting our health, our family, our calling then we’ll finally earn permission to enjoy life.

It’s a manufactured idea designed to get you to trade the best years of your energy, vitality, and presence for dollars with the promise that one day, when you’re older, slower, and tired, you’ll get it all back.

But reality paints a different story.

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve watched work themselves into the ground, only to die within a couple of years of finally hitting that “retirement” milestone.

Or couples who dream for decades about traveling the world together until they retire and immediately one becomes a full-time caregiver because the other’s health collapses.

This is the dark side no one talks about:

When you push off joy, purpose, relationships, health, adventure, and meaning until the final chapter of your life you often don’t get the chapter you were promised.

But work isn’t the problem. Mindless sacrifice is.

Humans are wired for purpose, contribution, creativity, and mission.

But we were never designed to grind ourselves into dust for 40 years just to maybe, maybe, enjoy a few good ones at the end.

I don’t plan on ever giving up work. But it will be on my terms.

Work that aligns with my spiritual calling.
Work that supports my family, not replaces them.
Work that fuels my health, not destroys it.
Work that coexists with joy, presence, hobbies, faith, service, and rest.

You don’t need to wait until you’re 65 to start living.
You don’t need to earn rest through exhaustion.
You don’t need to sacrifice your health today for a future that isn’t guaranteed.

Live your life fully, intentionally, and with purpose so retirement becomes optional, not a desperate escape.

[Carolina Forward @ForwardCarolina]

This year's NC candidate filing has seen a large number of Republican primary challenges from the far-right.

Most legislative districts are gerrymandered to be non-competitive, artificially amplifying the influence of the fringes. And the fringe isn't satisfied yet.

[CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil @CBSEveningNews]

A CBS News Investigation looks at the rise of taxpayer-funded charter schools offering a “classical” education. Touting a more traditional curriculum, the schools are often pitched as a conservative alternative to regular public schools. But they also tend to operate with less oversight.

Parents in Fort Myers, Florida told us they were left scrambling when the Optima Classical Academy failed to open. Meanwhile, a CBS News review of tax filings between 2020 and 2023 shows other Optima-run schools spent millions on outside firms with ties to its CEO, Erika Donalds, a leading school choice advocate and wife of Congressman Byron Donalds.

In a statement, Donalds’ spokesperson said she is “an accomplished businesswoman with a strong record of starting successful charter schools and providing thousands of students with an excellent education.” https://t.co/6k58ULySBH

[Meidas_Charise Lee @charise_lee]

ICE IN CHARLOTTE NC‼️ This is the appropriate energy needed for this moment in history‼️

[Briana Brough @bribrough]

From your lips to God's ears.

[Ryder 🇮🇪 🇪🇺 @Ryder56004614]

This is absolutely historic. Unbelievable. Listen to what this president say. I honestly think this press meeting is the end of him.

[The Tennessee Holler @TheTNHoller]

“It’s an extreme power meant for true emergencies. What if a future president declares Christians domestic extremists? Would we have any moral ground left to stand on when those powers are turned on us?”

Wow- Republican Kirk Cameron opposes Trump using the Insurrection Act