State Rep. Larry Pittman gets ‘binkered’

binker rollDC has ‘borking’.  Raleigh has ‘binkering.’   Both terms relate to especially sleazy forms of smearing political opponents. The latter is named for WRAL’s Mark “Binky” Binker — the station’s alleged reporter (and man-purse carrier) who loiters around the halls of the legislative building in Raleigh. 

Binker has apparently suffered little to no damage to his, um, professional standing after the whole “Witch-gate” affair — when he managed, despite the presence of videotape, to botch a Martin Nesbitt quote and manufacture a smear on NCDHHS secretary Aldona Wos.

Now, Binky comes forward with some YouTube video produced by American Bridge a George Soros funded opposition research group targeting conservatives.  Civitas warned us these guys were descending on North Carolina to try and reverse the state’s GOP trend. 

(Personally, I think it makes quite a statement — in a bad way — that a TV station with WRAL’s resources has to rely on video produced by a shadowy leftist group.)

Binky and American Bridge’s latest victim is state Rep. Larry Pittman (R-Cabarrus) — one of the few shining lights for conservatives in the state House GOP caucus.  (I think it’s funny that video now accompanies Binker’s written copy. It’s pretty bad when you – as a print journalist – require video documentation of your published material.)

American Bridge released a 45-second clip of Pittman’s opening remarks in a recent speech.  It’s pretty common these days to get a few jokes at the opening of any speech.  The joke deals with a defense of Obama against accusations of being a traitor because of his devotion to Kenya.  Binky was not amused:

[..] The line, which earned guffaws from the crowd, echoes the discredited “birther” theory that Obama was born in the African nation rather than in Hawaii, despite documentation to the contrary.

It’s unclear whether Pittman actually believes Obama was born overseas or was just playing for laughs. A call to his house and an email to his legislative email account were not immediately answered.

After what Binky did to Nesbitt and Wos, why would anyone talk to him?  You talk to Binky and suddenly he’s got you . quoted calling somebody a witch.

Binky also throws in a few more digs at Pittman to, um, “make” his case that Pittman is a kook:

[…] This isn’t the first time Pittman has gained notice for remarks he made to a citizen group. In May, Pittman had to apologize to House Speaker Thom Tillis for suggesting Tillis’ U.S. Senate bid had caused the House leader to back off conservative policies.

Pittman has also suggested abortion doctors ought to be hanged and suggested that the state ought to amend its constitution to resist attempts by the federal government to regulate firearms. […]

if you clock on the links in Binker’s you’ll see that Pittman expressed frustration with the bureaucratic mess that has beset death sentences.  The legislator advocates reforming the process and bringing back public hangings.  He doesn’t single out abortion doctors.  He simply includes them — likely in response to a specific question from the media — in a list of people who could be sentenced to that penalty.
Pittman also DID NOT apologize to Tillis for suggesting his Senate ambitions were hampering the advancement of conservative legislation.  He DID apologize — surely after some serious behind-closed-doors browbeating on Jones Street — for portraying ol’ Thom in a bad light.

The whole firearms thing comes as part of Pittman’s devotion to the idea of nullification — basically, the states refusing to participate in or recognize federal mandates that do not align with The U.S. Constitution.

Binky is not a big fan of guns.  In fact, he stirred up some controversy — and some advertising losses for his employer — by publishing the home addresses of concealed carry permit holders. 

It’s a pretty popular thing online for leftist trolls to refer to Texas senator Ted Cruz as “Cuban-Canadian.”  I’m not hearing the same level of media outrage about that as we’ve heard in defense of Binky’s beloved Barry.

If reliance on American Bridge is going to become a trend, WRAL can save some money by canning Binky and just running American Bridge’s stuff directly.