{"id":56158,"date":"2024-10-10T06:38:49","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T10:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=56158"},"modified":"2024-10-10T06:38:49","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T10:38:49","slug":"the-darkest-hour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=56158","title":{"rendered":"The Darkest Hour"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
\nOctober 10, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/a>\u201cAnd in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea\u201d (Matthew 14:25)<\/p>\n

On Friday September 27, I flew to Charlotte, North Carolina (NC), to spend the weekend with friends and family. I was also interested in the gubernatorial and presidential races that were taking place there since it is the home of Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, one of the most notorious politicians in the US. NC is also a pivotal state in the next presidential election.
\n
\nRobinson is fighting to become the governor of the state. The Charlotte Observer wrote: \u201cRobinson was the subject of a CNN report tying him to a series of vulgar, anti-Semitic, racist and sexually explicit posts on a pornographic website that included saying he was a black Nazi and would buy enslaved people if slavery came back\u201d. (September 27). \u201cSome people,\u201d he said, \u201cneed to be slaves.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also demeaned US women. He said in a video: \u201cAbortion in this country is not about protecting the lives of mothers. It\u2019s about killing the child because you [women] weren\u2019t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.\u201d He referred to himself as a \u201cperv\u201d, admitting to \u201cpeeping on women in public gym showers when he was 14\u201d. (London Guardian, September 24).<\/p>\n

It is not surprising then that Donald Trump supports Robinson\u2019s gubernatorial ambition. Robinson is a black man. Trump called him \u201cMartin Luther King on steroids\u201d. Half of Robinson\u2019s campaign staff resigned on the day I arrived in Charlotte. He is expected to lose the gubernatorial election although Trump may win the state.<\/p>\n

Trump canvassed in the state two days before I arrived. Some polls have him leading Kamala Harris by half a percentage point, while a recent CNN poll (September 30) shows them tied. CNN reports that NC could be key to \u201ceither Harris or Trump winning the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency\u201d.<\/p>\n

I did not feel the ill effects of Hurricane Helene although it devastated large parts of western NC. Some small towns, such as Marshall with a population of 800 people, were virtually \u201cwiped off the map\u201d. Zeb Smathers, Canton\u2019s mayor, said: \u201cWestern North Carolina, hundreds of miles from the coast, is now in Hurricane Alley\u201d. (The New York Times, September 30 and October 3).<\/p>\n

Anyone who visited downtown Charlotte on Saturday was unaware of the destruction that was taking place in the mountain towns of NC. On Wednesday President Joe Biden visited the flooded areas. On Friday it was announced that over 100 people had died and more than 200 people were missing. The authorities continue their search for missing people.<\/p>\n

It was dark last Sunday morning when an Uber took me to the airport. My driver, a Pakistani Muslim, had lived in NC for 15 years.<\/p>\n

I asked him if he liked living in NC and if he was going to vote for Harris. He answered the first question in the affirmative; the second in the negative.<\/p>\n

I asked him why he would not vote for Harris.<\/p>\n

He said President Biden had totally lost his mind on Israel. \u201cHis policies on Israel are totally bad.\u201d His family always voted Democratic\u2014but they will vote for Trump this time around. There are nine votes in his family. \u201cMuslims will not vote Democratic because the Jews are killing Muslims every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMany Muslims,\u201d he said, \u201cwill not vote for Harris because she is a woman. Only a person\u2019s qualifications should matter when it comes to getting a job.\u201d He regretted that Harris\u2019s gender might be a strike against her. The election of Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico\u2019s first female president, may be a more progressive move by comparison.<\/p>\n

The Uber driver was on to something. Israel\u2019s incursion into Lebanon and the chaos that will follow will decrease Harris\u2019s election chances. James Politi and Steff Chavez pointed out: \u201cThe surging hostilities in Lebanon are a particular blow to Harris because they make it harder for her to patch up relations with parts of the Democratic coalition—including Arab Americans and young voters—who have been especially critical of the administration\u2019s handling of the war in Gaza and are threatening to stay out of the election. Even just a few thousand defections could make a difference in key battleground states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin\u201d (Financial Times, October 1). NC should have been included.<\/p>\n

Harris\u2019s chances look bleak in NC. As I departed Charlotte I took comfort that \u201cthe darkest hour of the night comes just before dawn.\u201d I hope Harris triumphs over Trump and that the people who suffered from Helene\u2019s ferocity will see brighter days after the darkness.<\/p>\n

I hope Harris\u2019s fortunes change for the better in NC. I also pray that there will be brighter days for those who withstood the waters of the storm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe October 10, 2024 \u201cAnd in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea\u201d (Matthew 14:25) On Friday September 27, I flew to Charlotte, North Carolina (NC), to spend the weekend with friends and family. I was also interested in the gubernatorial and presidential races … Continue reading The Darkest Hour<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,39],"tags":[1142,1504,1505,171],"class_list":["post-56158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-tt","category-usa","tag-donald-trump","tag-joe-biden","tag-kamala-harris","tag-selwyn-r-cudjoe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56159,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56158\/revisions\/56159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}