We are a family of veterans back to the Revolution, Civil War, WWII, Korea, Vietnam.

We are a family from the illegally overthrown Kingdom of Hawai’i.

I love the people fighting for the future and standing in line to vote and marching and kneeling, John Lewis and Elijah Cummings and RBG and Thurgood Marshall and Barack Obama. And Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and Jeff Merkley and Al Franken.

Can I love the motherfuckers like Cawthorne, 25, never held a job before and now a US Representative of NC CD11 who last night tweeted “Cry more, libs”? Not at the moment, no. He defeated Moe Davis, see bio immediately below. I bet he could use some help retiring campaign debt. I’ll give some more and I hope DU will too.

Anyway.

I am able to hold this moment in complicated duality and holding more complex multiple truths.
I am Christian but not a good enough Christian to love the cretins who are working to end our democracy just now.

But I do love you, DU. Hold fast.

Moe Davis is a retired Air Force Colonel, Director of the Air Force Judiciary and former Chief Prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay. He has been a law professor, judge, speaker, writer and national security expert for Congress.

Add to that a list of honors Davis has earned that includes the prestigious Legion of Merit, six Meritorious Service Medals, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Headquarters Air Force Judge Advocate of the Year award, among others.

If that were all he accomplished in his life, Col. Davis would already have a career unmatched by most. And yet, that is not what truly defines him. It is the decisions made and the stands he has taken in the critical gut-check moments of his life that make Col. Moe Davis the right candidate to represent North Carolina’s 11th District in Congress.

Morris D. Davis, the son of a man 100 percent disabled by an accident while in the Army preparing to serve in World War II, was born and raised in Shelby, N.C. He graduated from Appalachian State and North Carolina Central School of Law. Shortly after Davis passed the bar exam, his father died of a heart attack. In part to honor his father, Davis decided to join the Air Force, the start of a 25-year career of service in the military, eventually rising to the rank of Colonel. That service began with an oath to the Constitution.

He put his entire career on the line to take a stand for that oath.

DOWNLOAD MOE'S CV
In 2007, while serving as Chief Prosecutor for Terrorism Trials at Guantanamo Bay, Col. Davis dared to publicly take on the Bush Administration. He refused an order to use evidence obtained through torture, believing it was both immoral and illegal and the evidence unreliable. That decision came at a price; to uphold his principles and maintain his oath, Col. Davis had no choice but to resign his prestigious position as Chief Prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay.

For his stand against torture and the political pressure placed on prosecutors at Guantanamo, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) honored Col. Davis by including him in, “Those Who Dared: 30 Officials Who Stood Up For Our Country.”

That was not the last time Col. Davis stood up for what he believed was right. In 2009, after retiring from the Air Force, he was working as an assistant director and senior specialist in national security for the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress. But when he wrote an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal that was critical of the Obama Administration’s handling of prosecutions at Guantanamo Bay, Col. Davis was fired.

Davis challenged his dismissal in court, arguing that the First Amendment protected the free speech rights of government employees. Represented by the ACLU, he ultimately won a settlement in his suit. He was honored with the Justice Charles E. Whittaker Award for professional courage and integrity, and was given the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award.

Why take a stand and risk his career again and again? As Col. Davis said, borrowing from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s familiar theme, “It’s always the right time to do the right thing.”

Col. Davis went on to become a law professor at the historic Howard University and served four years as a judge with the U.S. Department of Labor before moving to Asheville, where he and his wife Lisa recently built their home. They have one daughter, Ashley, who lives in Falls Church, Virginia.

Back home in North Carolina, Davis is taking a stand once again in his life. He hopes to serve as Congressman in the 11th District and give Western North Carolina a true voice in Washington.

Experience. Leadership. Integrity.

Moe.