The unquestioned allegiance to Donald Trump by many in the nation’s evangelical movement has been one of the most astonishing and damaging consequences of his presidency.

The push to develop vaccines for COVID-19 was called Operation Warp Speed, but the delivery of two vaccines approved so far might be called Operation Hurry Up and Wait. The delay is especially pronounced in North Carolina, which late last week ranked 42nd in the nation in the percentage of its available vaccines that has been administered: 21.5 percent.

It’s unfortunate that some of North Carolina’s Republican legislators were playing along with President Trump’s runaway claims of a stolen election by voting against accepting the Electoral College results on Jan. 6. It was a cynical ploy with no chance of success, but it sure did encourage the president’s base. And it fanned the flames for the deadly insurrection that occurred that day.

Joe Biden promised to lower the temperature of America’s partisan hothouse, but some of his nominations have not lived up to that promise. One that does is his selection of Merrick Garland as Attorney General, perhaps now the most important cabinet post for domestic politics.

With the words “I just want to find 11,780 votes” ringing in our ears — President Trump’s demand of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, approved by North Carolina’s Mark Meadows, Trump’s current chief of staff — the drama of 2020 unfortunately is leaking into the new year.

The U.S. Constitution’s directive for the U.S. Senate to affirm the results of the 2020 presidential election are simple and clear:

They were fired, demoted or passed over in their jobs. Their lives and the well-being of their families were threatened. They faced harassment on the streets and savage attacks on social media.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper continues to insist that he and other state officials are unable to release a page of records related to incentives the state offered to land an Apple campus in Research Triangle Park two years ago. That’s right — 2018.

Many people have a soft spot for the unique music and accompanying history that have been generated for generations in Nashville, Tenn. It’s the home of the Grand Ole Opry and many entertainment icons — not all of them purely practitioners of the country genre. It’s also an exciting destination aside from the music — a cosmopolitan city that has seen much economic and cultural growth over the past few decades.

The biggest challenges Michael Regan, North Carolina’s secretary of Environmental Quality, faces as President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to take over the federal Environmental Protection Agency are not unfamiliar to him.