Well, the national political media has descended on North Carolina and thank goodness some local politicos are doing all they can to dispel the impression that our state is home to a large collection of insular, uninformed rednecks.

Take Lee County conservative leader, Charles Staley…please.

According to Mr. Staley, not only is it acceptable for men to batter their wives and drive drunk in Mexico, but there are some very clear and simple explanations for the important shifts that have occurred in southern racial politics over the last several decades. As Staley told to the Los Angeles Times:

“’Lyndon Baines Johnson gets in there, there’s riots in the streets, so they decide, we need to keep these black people in their place,’ Staley said. ‘So, well, one way we can do it is to form this Great Society and make sure everybody gets some money and if they get in trouble, we’ll stop giving them money. That was the foundation of what we call social services. Up unto that point, the black  population voted Republican.’”

Sounds like this guy might be able to help one of the local right-wing groups put just the spin they’re looking for on their next historical reenactment.