North Carolina – Republicans
A Lesson From John Wilson
John Wilson went from teaching school in Raleigh to leading the NCAE and then the NEA. He went from leading teacher protests against Governor Hunt in 1984 to working with Hunt 10 years later to raise North Carolina’s teachers’ pay above the national average. He wrote a recent blog in Education Week (“The Most…
Read MoreD.G. and the GOP
D.G. Martin – TV-radio host, newspaper columnist and finalist for Most Interesting Man in the World – riled up the Republican Party with a recent column. State GOP Chair Claude Pope accused D.G. of comparing Republicans to Nazis. “Inexcusable, disgusting and shameful,” Pope fumed. He called on UNC-TV to suspend D.G.’s show “Book Watch,”…
Read MoreDevilment
An old friend who now lives in Maryland wrote the other day and asked, What in blazes is going on in the North Carolina legislature? Well, right now, thankfully, nothing. The legislators have decamped. But what kind of devilment went on in the legislature before the peace of August southern afternoons was restored?…
Read MoreNew State Seal
Translation: “To be backward, rather than to seem backward.”
Read MoreCookies
It was a frozen moment in time, a sort of thirty-second epiphany revealing the compounded double griefs of fading courtliness and ascending Yankeedom (I say Yankeedom because most Yankees never experienced the good fortune of having a maiden aunt whose sole purpose in life was to indoctrinate – by force if necessary – wayward nieces…
Read MoreMad Men
“You have a Republican majority that is doing exactly what they were elected to do.” – Claude Pope, state GOP chairman “They really messed up when they screwed with the mothers, the teachers and the women.” – Shannon Shanks, Wilmington teacher Well, in 2014 and 2016 we’ll find out who’s right. Republicans may…
Read MoreThe New Chief
No sooner did the state legislators vamoose out of town than the pundits begin publishing post-mortems and obituaries. Republicans, they opined, had a ‘breathtaking session,’ marched right off the right end of the earth, passed bills that hurt everyone from the poor to the lame, halt and maimed, and got pounded for their wicked…
Read MoreCookies, Governor?
The absurdly awkward photo says it all: Governor McCrory turning away from a stunned protester left holding his plate of cookies. Next time, Governor, give them hush puppies. In truth, McCrory didn’t want the abortion bill. He didn’t want to sign it. He certainly didn’t want this WRAL headline: “Abortion law breaks McCrory…
Read MoreIs McCrory Over His Head?
Maybe Kieran Shanahan quit because Governor McCrory still hadn’t learned his name. The Governor called him “Sharon” and “Karen” at a press conference. Whatever caused Shanahan’s abrupt and rumor-spawning resignation, it punctuates a rough start to McCrory’s administration. He claimed he got 20 of his 22 legislative priorities. But he clearly was the…
Read MoreOne Thing’s for Sure…
One reason politics (and state legislatures in particular) are fascinating is they put an endless parade of foibles in a fallen world on display every day. There’s probably no place on earth better to study sin or foolishness than a state legislature. Since way back when, political wheel-horses in Raleigh have been quietly rewarding…
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