How did the party of freedom, individual responsibility and limited government become the party of censorship, Big Brother and government control?

Republican legislators in North Carolina, like their colleagues in other states and like Republican governors Ron DeSantis in Florida and Greg Abbott in Texas, want to control many things in our lives.

Control what books can be in public libraries.

Control what schoolchildren can be taught, whether it’s what parents want or not.

Control what public colleges and universities – like the UNC campuses – can teach, regardless of facts and history.

Control what local governments can and can’t do.

Control what businesses – like DeSantis vs. Disney – can do. Don’t say gay!

Control the entertainment you watch. Label the entertainers as evil and wrong!

Control the outcome of elections. Voter ID, gerrymandering and suppressing Black and student voters!

Control your gender identity. They know who you are better than you do!

Control – above all – women’s decisions about pregnancy and childbirth.

Control everything but guns and AR-15s used to murder schoolchildren.

As a friend said, “They believe in limited government: limited to them.”