North Carolina won't improve image by pointing fingers
Published August 3, 2016
by Patrick Gannon, The Insider, published in The Rocky Mount Telegram, August 3, 2016.
“You started it.”
“No, you started it.”
“No, you did.”
Sound like a fourth-grade playground quarrel?
Certainly.
Unfortunately, it also sounds like our state’s elected leaders over House Bill 2 and the recent federal appeals court ruling on the state’s voter ID legislation.
In recent weeks, proponents and opponents of HB2 have gone back and forth on social media, in news releases and in public statements about who started the controversy. And that same finger-pointing has begun on voting laws.
In the end, does it really matter who started the fights?
It should not. Both HB2 and the election law case have put North Carolina on the map and in the national and international spotlights in ways that no one should want.
We should be much more interested in who will end them than who started them.
Let’s assume for the sake of argument that the Charlotte City Council started the HB2 controversy with the passage of a nondiscrimination ordinance allowing transgender individuals to use the bathroom corresponding with their gender identity.
Therefore, all of the negative consequences of House Bill 2 – the foregone business expansions, the moving of the NBA All-Star Game from Charlotte and concert cancellations, among others – are the fault of Charlotte’s elected leaders for passing the ordinance in the first place.
If that is true, then would not it also follow that the N.C. General Assembly started the voting law controversy – and all of the negative publicity that is coming with it – by passing the omnibus election law back in 2013?
In case you missed it, a federal appeals court recently ruled that the voting law was passed with discriminatory intent to limit the voting rights of African-Americans in North Carolina.
Put simply, the court ruled that requiring photo identification, decreasing the number of early voting days, ending same-day voter registration and disallowing pre-registration of young voters were enacted to make it more difficult for African-American voters to cast ballots.
The state’s Republican leaders plan to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a news release reacting to the ruling, Gov. Pat McCrory, referring to the appeals court, said that “three Democratic judges are undermining the integrity of our elections also while maligning our state.”
In other words, GOP leaders want you to think that it is Charlotte’s fault that all of the economic fallout is occurring as a result of its overreach in passing the nondiscrimination ordinance in the first place. At the same time, they want you to think that the federal courts are now to blame for “maligning our state” in a ruling that claims Republican legislators acted with discriminatory intent.
Sorry, but neither side can have it both ways.
Everyone agrees – or should – that the effects of Charlotte’s transgender ordinance and the 2013’s wide-ranging election law changes are painting a bad picture of North Carolina across the country and the world, regardless of which side you are on in either case.
Does it really matter who started the controversies?
What matters is that North Carolina is routinely getting dragged through the mud. What matters is that the black eyes probably will not heal anytime soon.
Leadership is not always about getting your way, especially when the path to victory involves inflicting damage on the state as a whole. What matters is that our elected leaders on both sides of the aisle and their supporters are incapable of compromising or reaching consensus on some of today’s most pressing issues.
And that does not bode well for tomorrow.
August 3, 2016 at 9:57 am
Richard L Bunce says:
We don't have to assume anything. NC Constitution and Statute clearly states that State Chartered Municipal Corporations exist at the pleasure of the NC Legislature and have ONLY the powers explicitly granted to them by the NC Constitution and Legislature through Statute. The Legislature overreacted, it should have simply informed the Charlotte Council that it has exceeded it's State Chartered Municipal Corporation powers and if it attempts to enforce the Ordinance the Legislature will revoke it's Municipal Charter.
August 3, 2016 at 1:29 pm
Norm Kelly says:
No, let's not assume. Let's state it as the fact that it is! Charlotte City Council OVERSTEPPED their authority. Charlotte City Council created a problem where NONE EXISTED! Charlotte City Council is run by a bunch of left-wing activists hell-bent on stirring up the left-wing zealot low-information voters. Facts are facts. Libs hate facts; refuse to recognize facts; appear to be genetically disposed to recognize facts; but facts remain facts regardless of how libs FEEL about them. Kinda like Hildabeast IS a LIAR! Libs CHOOSE to ignore this fact also, but it remains a fact!
'In case you missed it, a federal appeals court recently ruled that the voting law was passed with discriminatory intent to limit the voting rights of African-Americans in North Carolina.'
Funny how libs, and the biased lib court which made the decision, choose to also ignore that more restrictive laws exist in states RULED by demons! Why do stricter laws exist in other states but not considered discriminatory towards helpless, hapless blacks? And why is it blacks, black 'leaders', and libs in general are celebrating when the court stated that blacks are inferior to non-blacks? I thought libs supported blacks and wanted blacks to be able to get ahead. If libs truly believe blacks are inferior, why do so many blacks support, endorse, and elect demon pols?
There are other states where voter ID requirements have been upheld. There are other states with voter ID where blacks have come out in greater numbers AFTER voter ID than BEFORE. Has any lib explained how this is possible? Has any lib explained how blacks are able to identify themselves in other states but are not able to in NC? Has any lib explained why the court said blacks are less capable than non-blacks? Or are libs content to let this blatantly racist statement pass because it came from fellow libs?
The voter ID law was deemed invalid by liberal biased judges NOT following either law or precedent from other states or SCOTUS. If the judges looked at more liberal states (those ruling, not based on the laws!), they would see that NC remains more open in election law. If it's good for the libs, why is it bad for NC?
It's a fact that the legislature and governor of NC are on the right track. It's a fact that our voting laws remain MORE OPEN and available than other states, including those states ruled by demons. Therefore, it's obvious that the judges used liberal talking points and schemes to make their decision, not legal standing or precedent. Facts are funny things, and usually (almost always) contradict liberal schemes. Voter ID is good for ALL voters. Voter ID just might reduce demon votes, but that's because there is corruption in the demon party and existing demon voting schemes. Remember, there are precincts in the nation where more demon votes were cast than there are registered voters in the district. Black Panthers intimidated voters at some precincts, but the racists at central planner level refused to prosecute because it would reflect poorly on the demon party as well as kill their objections to voter ID laws. Prosecuting voter fraud and intimidation would prove the corruption in the demon party. Not that we need MORE proof. We also have to recognize that the more corrupt a demon pol is, the more demon voters (low information voters) seem to prefer those pols! Which explains why the liar Hildabeast is in the position she/he is in.
What's to admire about today's libs? One word, truthful, factual answer: nothing. But it sure would be nice for some lib to explain otherwise. I won't hold my breath. Libs don't believe it necessary to ever explain themselves.
