NC GOP

The absurd glorification of Mark Robinson by the right

Submitted by scharrison on

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Yellow journalism is still alive and kicking:

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson may be the most unique political officer ever elected in North Carolina history.

Not only is he the first person of African-American descent, male or female, to be elected lieutenant governor in North Carolina history, he may be the embodiment of the idealized notion of the “citizen-politician” as envisioned by philosophers such as Aristotle, Cicero and the founders of the American Democratic Republic in 1776.

Marcus Tullius Cicero would be aghast at this reference, and would probably reiterate his quote, "They condemn what they do not understand." That's Robinson to a "T". He's taken demagoguery to a whole new level in NC politics, weaving strawmen so fast he doesn't have time to knock them all down. Next absurd comparison: George Washington:

Charlotte NDO 2.5: This time, with GOP support?

Submitted by scharrison on

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I'll see your raise, and call. Show me your hand:

Luebke is part of a small group of republicans who've found something that didn't exist before now: republicans on city council supportive of gay rights and protections. They've been working with councilman Tariq Bokhari to put forward their own non-discrimination ordinance, based on conservative values of individual liberty and personal freedom. "I was tired of being caught flat-footed and not being brought to the table as a republican in town," Bokhari said.

Bokhari says the group is pursuing broader and more inclusive protections than the current democratic proposal. It would include protections for accommodations, employment, and housing, and it would also extend protections based on a person's natural hairstyle.

Trying to get a hold of their ordinance proposal itself before commenting further...Okay, here is the proposed ordinance:

Tuesday Twitter roundup

Submitted by scharrison on

Pope has done a lot of damage, but it's a mistake to drop everything in his lap. The NC GOP has elevated dozens of austerity-loving lawmakers to positions where they could punish the poor with shameless impunity, and we forget those henchmen at our peril. It takes a village (of assholes) to accomplish what they have done, and it will take a concerted effort to fix it.

Blueprint for a more democratic North Carolina

Submitted by scharrison on

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More than just bullet points:

The more than 20 state and national experts contributing to the report explore initiatives for North Carolina in six areas:

Improving voter registration and list maintenance;
Ensuring voting access and protecting voting rights;
Strengthening local election infrastructure;
Promoting fair redistricting and equal representation;
Heightening transparency and combating corruption;
Ensuring fair and impartial courts.

Looking at #2 & #3 in particular, the NC GOP seems to be doing the exact opposite. They are more concerned about adding vigilantes poll watchers to eyeball and intimidate voters than helping local election boards meet their needs, and now they are moving to block private donors from assisting those folks. Why? Because most of that private funding went to densely-populated areas where that money was needed the most, which just happened to also be heavily-Democratic areas. Let's dig into the report itself to look at list maintenance recommendations:

Asheville reparations program sets aside $2.1 million for funding

Submitted by scharrison on

How that money will be spent is still undecided:

The Asheville City Council approved a budget amendment on Tuesday to pull the money from city land purchased in the 1970s as part of the city’s urban renewal programs that took apart Black communities, the Asheville Citizen Times reported. The city council also adopted a proclamation declaring June 19 as Juneteenth, the date which marks the end of slavery in the U.S.

The City Council has previously said the reparations do not require direct payments but would mandate investments in areas where Black residents face disparities. City Manager Debra Campbell on Tuesday said officials have not yet determined what those investments will entail.

Where they got the money from is just as important as the money itself. It's a tacit admission that the City is responsible for actions taken over a century after the Civil War concluded, and that slavery was only one part of the systemic repression of African-Americans in our state. It's long past time we took a harsh look at redlining and other segregational aspects of the 20th Century. The City is holding a forum today (6 pm) where speakers will discuss the current challenges and take public comments (limited to 2 minutes per). Trying to set up a livestream for later down here:

Coal Ash Wednesday: 419 parts per million

Submitted by scharrison on

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Breaking all the wrong records in the climate change fight:

Scientific instruments atop the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii showed that levels of carbon dioxide in the air averaged 419 parts per million in May, the annual peak, according to two separate analyses from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Those readings are about half a percent higher than the previous high of 417 parts per million, set in May 2020. Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas driving global warming and researchers have estimated that there hasn’t been this much of it in the atmosphere for millions of years.

I think it was 11 years ago when I attended a climate change summit hosted by NC WARN, featuring former NASA scientist James Hansen. At that time, atmospheric carbon was about 378 parts per million, and Hansen was adamant that we must keep it from passing the 400 mark. That was a tipping point that would very likely trigger the dissolving and subsequent release of methane hydrates in the permafrost and ocean floor. That is no longer a theory, it is happening right now:

Tuesday Twitter roundup

Submitted by scharrison on

They don't want proper oversight, they want partisan oversight. Even if it ends up costing taxpayers millions.

NC GOP unveils "election integrity" committee to attack voting rights

Submitted by scharrison on

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Soon to be renamed "Buck's Clusterf**k":

The committee will be chaired by Buck Newton, a former state senator from Wilson who ran unsuccessfully for attorney general in 2016. Other members include GOP officials, lawyers and political consultants from across the state.

During a panel at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, Whatley said the absence of voter fraud in North Carolina last fall was due to the NCGOP’s disproportionate spending on legal resources — the party spent three-quarters of its annual operating budget on legal expenditures, he said — to scrutinize the electoral process.

And a big chunk of those legal expenditures went to arguing in the (US) Supreme Court that a deadline extension on receipt of mail-in ballots, made necessary by Louis DeJoy's relentless attacks on the US Postal Service, was unnecessary and an invitation to voting fraud. Or something along those lines. But guess what? Republican voters were strongly represented in those late mail-in ballots:

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