It's not like we're China or anything.

When North Carolina GOP officials first began claiming the state's moral superiority by comparing it to countries with some of the world’s worst human rights records, it seemed safe to assume they would surely see the folly of their argument. The notion that the state would be a more appealing destination for companies because its government was clearly better on LGBTQ issues than that of places like Iran and Russia seemed so absurd that it would quickly be scrapped.

The first time that cagey rationale surfaced was two weeks ago, within hours of news that PayPal was pulling the plug on a 400-job project in the state. In one of the least politic responses imaginable, the state's GOP Vice-Chairman, Michele Nix, lashed out:

So after PayPal was forced to settle after violating economic sanctions on Cuba, Sudan, and Iran, and even processed payments for someone looking to buy nuclear-weapon technology on the black market, the California-based company now has a problem doing business in North Carolina?

C'mon guys, it's not like we're actively torturing people or anything. As if being based in California wasn’t wicked enough, PayPal. Nix might need a little refresher course in diplomacy. But in her defense, PayPal was a big loss and the entire state party went into an all out damage-control tailspin that day.

Then came news last Friday that Cirque Du Soleil had cancelled its North Carolina performance and the state’s GOP spin machine sputtered back into action after a week of reflection. Here's Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party: