UnAmerican Scheme -- Renaming Dulles for Jethro

 

Addison McDowell

Addison McDowell, one of NC's newest Republican spotted calves elected to Congress -- the Zyn 'n' Pitchfork Master -- introduced the bill to rename Dulles International Airport for Donald Jethro Trump, currying favor the old-fashioned way, by slobbering all over the dictator's ass.

Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby published the reasons McDowell's bill is a really terrible, horrible, no-good, unprecedented (because it's totally outside what this Republic has always believed) attempt to glorify a man whose criminal career is just getting fully started:

...it is unseemly in a democratic republic for the government to glorify active members of society by imposing their names on buildings, roads, and programs in which all citizens have an interest. In our system, all citizens are meant to be equal before the law. The Constitution flatly bars hereditary privilege and titles of nobility. Naming public facilities after living persons amounts to a de facto ennobling of those persons, exalting them as a class above the rest of us. It is a form of veneration that undermines the (small-d, small-r) democratic and republican ideals of equality, modesty, and restraint in governance. It should discomfit us all.

Evidently some MAGA-adjacent activists agreed fully with Jacoby's reasoning. The Patriot Post, "the nation's leading digest of conservative news and opinion," republished Jacoby's essay. That's where I saw it.

Trump Is Really the Golden Calf

 

Addison McDowell, holding pitchfork and 
a can of Zyn. 2024 campaign video

Addison McDowell, the Zyn master who used to be a lobbyist for Blue Cross Blue Shield and who beat Bo Hines for the 6th Congressional District seat with Trump's blessing, introduced a bill in the US House to rename Dulles International Airport outside DeeCee the Donald Jethro Trump International Airport.

There was a former Republican bill attempting to do this very thing in April 2024, which went nowhere. But now the Jethro cult rules everything. So they just might do this.

About the previous attempt to rename Dulles, Virginia Democrat Gerry Connolly, who represents part of Dulles, said: “Donald Trump is facing [88] felony charges. If Republicans want to name something after him, I’d suggest they find a federal prison.”

Some social media reactions to McDowell's bill were more amused than outraged: "Has McDowell ever been to Dulles? Is he trying to embarrass Trump?"

Dulles is the main terminal for foreign flights into and out of the country, was designed in the 1960s using huge, 4-wheeled "people movers" that rumble out of the terminal to the far-parked planes with hundreds of travelers standing, packed in like beef sticks. "The WORST airport in the country," according to a Reddit string. 

"Forget that the design is outdated, the airport tram is actually slower then walking in most situations, and if you have a late night international flight nothing is open after 9pm, the customs and immigration at Dulles are embarrassing."

Come to think of it -- with Jethro's disdain for immigrants -- perhaps Dulles, which admits people to DeeCee from all points on the Globe, is perfectly fit to be renamed "Trump International." Might as well let the immigrants know what they're in for in Trump's country.

The Five New Republican Congressmen From NC

 

The NCGOP is calling them "the Fab Five of 2025" (if you can imagine Tim Moore as "fab" in any universe). Their sudden fulmination as freshmen owed everything to the powers of gerrymandering. For the record, here's a brief primer on who they are:

Pat Harrigan

Addison McDowell (NC-06) -- I made fun of him in the primary. (Also here.) He had no Democratic challenger in the General.

Mark Harris (NC-08) -- I made fun of him and covered extensively the election re-do in NC-09 his campaign caused in 2018. Too many individual posts to link. Use the Search button, top left.

Pat Harrigan (NC-10) -- Harrigan was interesting to me because of his initial willingness to criticize Tim Moore, going back to Nov. 2023, and challenge him in a primary for the newly created 14th CD, a district drawn expressly as an appropriate landing pad for Moore who had grown bored with Speaker of the NC House and needed more capacious real estate on which to deal and Capitol Hill would do just fine. Moore had a magic wand with the map-makers, and the new 14th would be a breeze. Then Pat Harrigan arrived out of nowhere. Early in November, with the candidate filling period looming the first week in December, Harrigan, an ex Green Beret who manufactures guns, bared his teeth at Moore: "Harrigan put a hard finger right on the bruise: Moore's corruption, including the domestic corruption of the marriage vows, was a matter of character. Harrigan out-and-out suggested that Moore has none" (JWW). Harrigan was right, incidentally.

Harrigan's righteous anger at public corruption was refreshing, coming from a Republican candidate in the Age of Trump. Maybe he's a standup guy with a sense of ethics, I mused. But then he looked like just an opportunist when he completely abandoned his interest in the 14th CD and switched over to file in the 10th CD minutes after Patrick McHenry announced his retirement. Harrigan beat an anointed business-type Republican in the primary.

Brad Knott (NC-13) -- A blank slate for me. I'll be watching.

Tim Moore (NC-14) -- The pudge who became an improbable sex avatar and who appears to be a giant sponge when it comes to free or loose money, offered by free or loose men. Too many posts to make choices. Use the Search engine at top of page.  

 

The Humiliations Continue To Pile Up on Mark Walker

 

Trump himself announced the news that he'd completely destroyed any self-respect that Mark Walker might still cling to. Walker lost to Trump's designated patsy Addison McDowell in the 6th CD Republican primary last week by only two points, and Walker had previously talked tough about continuing to fight against McDowell in a run-off. The deadline under NC law to request a runoff was today at noon, but there will be no runoff and McDowell will be going to Congress next January because there is no Democrat in the race.

Trump himself put out the announcement: “I’ve asked Congressman Mark Walker to join my campaign team to work with faith groups and minority communities, and he has agreed to immediately do so,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.

According to Anderson Alerts, "Walker said in a statement that he spoke with Trump about the position Tuesday afternoon and plans to serve in the Trump administration if the former president wins in November.

“Yesterday afternoon, I was honored to hear from President Trump asking if I would take the lead position as the Director of Outreach for faith and minority communities effective immediately,” Walker wrote. “I’m delighted to accept this position and after the Biden administration is defeated in November, I’m grateful for the offer to continue our work with President Trump in the White House.”

What "work" will be involved in convincing the Christian Right to vote for Trump, since that group long ago started worshipping the golden ass.

Some Primary Results -- US Congressional Races

 

Pat Harrigan

US House Dist. 1 -- Republican Laurie Buckhout beat husband-beater Sandy Smith

US House Dist. 5 -- Republican incumbent Virginia Foxx beat challenger Ryan Mayberry, taking almost 68% of the vote district-wide. But almost a third of Watauga County voted for Mayberry

US House Dist. 6 -- Republican runoff coming between top vote-getter Addison McDowell, who took 26% of the vote, vs. former congressman Mark Walker, who took 24%. Bo Hines placed 4th. May be the end of his political ambitions

US House Dist. 8 -- Republican preacherman Mark Harris, the center of the 2018 ballot-harvesting scandal, won 30% against 5 other candidates and thus avoids a runoff

US House Dist. 10 -- Republican firearms manufacturer Pat Harrigan won outright over establishment pick Grey Mills (endorsed by Virginia Foxx and Tim Moore and many other big names) and 3 other candidates, taking over 41% of the vote

US House Dist. 14 -- Republican NC House Speaker Tim Moore easily won his primary in a district that was drawn especially for him

Mark Walker, Pathetic in So Many Ways

 

So which is worse: Pretending you have the endorsement of the worst person in the world, or desiring to have that endorsement?

Former Rep. Mark Walker, who's running now to get back into Congress from NC6, has been caught listing Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz as an endorsee. Donald Trump Jr. is making a big deal out of it, on behalf of his BFF Addison McDowell whom Big Daddy Trump endorsed for the job Walker is also running for.

Walker is so desperate for hard right friends that he would fake a friendship with the odious Gaetz. Sad.

Chronicles of the CD 6 Republican Primary, 2024

 

CD 6, Republican Primary Players

Lead Roles

Addison McDowell (got the Trump endorsement)

Bo Hines (thought he deserved the Trump endorsement)

Mark Walker (the preacher who can't catch a break, let alone an endorsement)

Supporting Roles

Mark Robinson (will he endorse in this race?)

Christian Castelli (Green Beret also running, ran before for the same seat in 2022) 

[A Washington super PAC, First Freedoms Foundation, recently claimed Castelli had been endorsed this year by Robinson, but that was exposed as false.]  

Trump's endorsee (because, reportedly, Addison McDowell has become a close hunting buddy with Donald Trump Jr., and Junior convinced Big Daddy to endorse Addison McDowell, which he did) -- anyway, McDowell put out a Twitter video of himself holding (no lie!) a pitchfork and wearing what's supposed to be work clothes vowing to protect guns and zyns. Zyns are nicotine pouches sold in tins and used like snuff. You can see the video here. Apparently, "They're coming for our Zyns!" and this sagging bag of new potatoes, with its pitchfort, is going to save us. He wrote a post on Twitter to accompany the video:

This might trigger a few liberals, but I won’t let them come for our #guns, our #zyns, our #bbq, or our Cheerwine. Our freedoms and our way of life are worth fighting for, and I’m ready to take the fight to Washington. #freezyn #stopchuck

Cheerwine? This ad triggered sustained laughter. And ultimately the puzzlement at the decision-making that went into this staged-in-a-barn video presentation of a slacker who likes his nicotine and can't keep the hair out of his eyes. Is this knowing self-irony -- a pitchfort? like half the duo in American Gothic. Is this self-parody or just laziness because he doesn't respect the voting public? 

Did I say Mark Walker can't catch a break? He's seeing high-level Republican endorsers either rescind their endorsements, like Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, or deny they ever made them, like Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin.

To recap the downward trajectory of Mark Walker: Was a congressman for the 6th CD (2014-2020); decided not to run for reelection when his district became heavily Democratic; ran instead for US  Senate in the Republican Primary of 2022, against Ted Budd who got the Trump endorsement; announced in 2023 for Governor, then switched to the 6th CD after the Republicans gerrymandered it back to solid Republican.

He suffers from widespread disrespect.

Trump's Man in CD 6

 

“There is no mistaking the job Addison McDowell woke up every morning to perform. He was a lobbyist fighting for the special interests of Big Insurance .… He represented the very specific, very uncompromising, very determined mission of a big insurance company.”

--Alfredo Rodriguez, Green Beret Col. Christian Castelli’s political consultant, in a written statement to McClatchy

Addison McDowell 

Okay, I'm about to beat, if not dead horse, at least a limping one in the person of Addison McDowell, the out-of-nowhere Raleigh lobbyist whom Trump also out of nowhere endorsed for Congress in the formerly Democratic 6th CD. A made man, McDowell upended the hopes of young Bo Hines, heir apparent to Madison Cawthorn who thought he was scheduled to get the Trump blessing. Trump's endorsement of McDowell also didn't exactly help poor Mark Walker, who's ping-ponged all over the higher offices sniffing for an opportunity to get back to some handhold on power, but he's becoming the Joe Btfsplk of North Carolina politics.

A fundraiser for McDowell in Raleigh last week reportedly gathered together a power base of Republican General Assembly honchos including Phil Berger and Destin Hall and the young lobbyist who until very recently tugged at their lapels and tried to urge them toward what his employer really really needed. His employer incidentally was Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. About which, opinions vary.

Interestingly, the political consultant for a rival Republican for the 6th CD seat, the obscure military man named Christian Castelli, actually blew the whistle on McDowell's milking of the whole corporate culture of big-time insurance and made those comments directly to a McClatchy reporter. The press on this probably won't hurt McDowell. He's going for a MAGA base that absolutely admires influence peddling and doesn't read newspapers any more.

Who Did Trump Endorse in CD 6?

 

Trump's new find

Donald Trump announced his endorsement on Wednesday of his favored candidate in North Carolina's 6th Congressional District. It wasn't Mark Walker, the ex-congressman who ran for US Senate last year and lost to Trump endorsee Ted Budd. And it wasn't Bo Hines, the Madison Cawthorn wannabe whom Trump endorsed in 2022 for the seat in the 13th Congressional District. Both Walker and Hines are announced candidates in CD 6.

No, Trump endorsed one Addison McDowell, who Danielle Battaglia reported wasn't even an announced candidate on Wednesday.

Born and raised in Davidson County, [McDowell] worked on Rep. Richard Hudson’s 2016 campaign and then from 2017 to 2019 in Sen. Ted Budd’s congressional office, while Budd served in the U.S. House representing the same area of the state .... McDowell currently is registered as a lobbyist for Blue Cross Blue Shield.

How Trump and McDowell got together could be an interesting love story. Did they "meet cute"? How did the romance blossom? "McDowell visited Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida to meet with the ex-president on Tuesday, campaign adviser Jonathan Felts said." 

The most devastated collateral damage of the Trump-McDowell elopement ... young Bo Hines, who was counting on getting the Trump rose himself.

Battaglia reports that McDowell has hired the hard-driving veteran operative named above, Jonathan Felts. The Felts resume is impressive. He ran the Bush-Cheney campaign in North Carolina in 2004 and then worked for Bush in the White House. In 2023 after Budd won his Senate seat, he hired Felts as his transition manager. Felts has also been a policy whisperer for Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt.

One naturally wonders if that was the conduit for getting McDowell under Trump's nose: McDowell to Felts to Budd to Trump.