Redistricting hearings are a sham
The public hearings on the new legislative maps bought for the GOP with taxpayer money are little more than a ruse. The Republicans in the House and Senate are going to pass the maps without any real discussion and without considering alternative maps. It’s so clear,...
Bouncing checks and balances
Republicans have a very clear plan to hold power in the state while reducing the checks and balances that are designed to prevent consolidation of power. Gerrymandering and voter suppression laws are key to keeping their legislative majorities. Since Roy Cooper took...
About those new districts
In drawing new maps for the North Carolina legislature, Republicans chose division over unity. They drew maps that keep the majority of districts non-competitive. That’s ironic for the party that insists competition is healthy for everything from commerce to...
Trading victories for losses
When Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he supposedly told an aide, “We (Democrats) have lost the South for a generation.” If he really said that, he missed it by a couple of generations. After 50 years, the South is still solidly Republican. That’s a...
Historical context
My great-grandfather, George Stephens, lived a remarkable life. He was born in 1873 near Summerfield in Guilford County into a family of excommunicated Quakers. His father died when he was very young and was raised by his mother. An outstanding athlete, he attended...
False equivalence
Some of the folks on the right are having a hard time distinguishing between the antifa protesters on the left and the white supremacists who marched on Charlottesville. Let me help you out. The ones with assault weapons, body armor and small arms are white...
Don’t lose the moral high-ground
Well, those Confederate statues are apparently hollow. Who knew? Makes sense but for some reason I thought they were solid. That said, while I know a lot of people are applauding the toppling of the Confederate monument in Durham, that’s not the right way to get rid...
New districts, same as the old districts?
Republicans seem to want to antagonize the court that ruled the legislative districts drawn in 2011 are unconstitutional. Yesterday, they approved criteria to draw new districts that will almost certainly miff the judges. Republicans said that they would not consider...
Poll says NCGOP starts the 2018 election cycle in a deep hole
The political environment is tough for Republicans in North Carolina right now. At the national level, Donald Trump is scaring the world with reckless tweets about nuclear war with North Korea and the Republican Congress can’t seem to pass any significant legislation....
It’s still the economy, stupid
Well, the results of 35 years of supply side economic are in. The rich have gotten vastly richer and the middle class has gotten the shaft. During the previous 35 years, 1945-80, the distribution of wealth was much more equitable. Workers saw their incomes rise with...
