“Both sides”-ism at the N&O
No, Colin Campbell, “both sides” do not “share in the blame” over “the last-minute legal tussle between Gov. Roy Cooper and the legislature over proposed constitutional amendments.”
And the N&O fails its readers and its history by running Campbell’s “both sides” column where the newspaper’s editorial voice once rang clear, loud and true.
No, both sides aren’t to blame. One side, the Republican legislature, is trying to tear down the pillars of our government out of sheer lust for political power. One side, the Republican legislature, is lying to North Carolinians. The other side, Governor Cooper, is trying to stop them.
Read the extraordinary complaint filed against the amendments on behalf of Governor Cooper. It is superbly written, brilliantly reasoned and powerfully persuasive. (Thanks to Longleaf Politics for the link.)
Right from the start, the complaint dismantles the legislature’s actions, intentions and consequences:
“The General Assembly has proposed two amendments to the North Carolina Constitution that would take a wrecking ball to the separation of powers. These proposed amendments would rewrite bedrock constitutional provisions— including the Separation of Powers Clause itself. They would overrule recent decisions of the North Carolina Supreme Court. They would strip the Governor of his authority to appoint thousands of officials to hundreds of boards and commissions that execute the laws of our State. They would confer exclusive authority on the General Assembly to choose those whom the Governor can consider to fill judicial vacancies. And they ultimately threaten to consolidate control over all three branches of government in the General Assembly.
“When the people of North Carolina vote on these proposed amendments, however, the ballot will inform them of precisely none of this. Rather than allow the voters to make an intelligent decision whether to restructure their own state government, the General Assembly has adopted false and misleading ballot language that conceals the true—and truly extraordinary—nature of these proposed amendments. The General Assembly has therefore violated its duty to the people—imposed by the North Carolina Constitution in Section 4 of Article XIII and Sections 2, 3, 19, and 35 of Article I—to describe these proposed amendments on the ballot in fair and accurate terms.”
“Both sides”-ism at the N&O
No, Colin Campbell, “both sides” do not “share in the blame” over “the last-minute legal tussle between Gov. Roy Cooper and the legislature over proposed constitutional amendments.”
And the N&O fails its readers and its history by running Campbell’s “both sides” column where the newspaper’s editorial voice once rang clear, loud and true.
No, both sides aren’t to blame. One side, the Republican legislature, is trying to tear down the pillars of our government out of sheer lust for political power. One side, the Republican legislature, is lying to North Carolinians. The other side, Governor Cooper, is trying to stop them.
Read the extraordinary complaint filed against the amendments on behalf of Governor Cooper. It is superbly written, brilliantly reasoned and powerfully persuasive. (Thanks to Longleaf Politics for the link.)
Right from the start, the complaint dismantles the legislature’s actions, intentions and consequences:
“The General Assembly has proposed two amendments to the North Carolina Constitution that would take a wrecking ball to the separation of powers. These proposed amendments would rewrite bedrock constitutional provisions— including the Separation of Powers Clause itself. They would overrule recent decisions of the North Carolina Supreme Court. They would strip the Governor of his authority to appoint thousands of officials to hundreds of boards and commissions that execute the laws of our State. They would confer exclusive authority on the General Assembly to choose those whom the Governor can consider to fill judicial vacancies. And they ultimately threaten to consolidate control over all three branches of government in the General Assembly.
“When the people of North Carolina vote on these proposed amendments, however, the ballot will inform them of precisely none of this. Rather than allow the voters to make an intelligent decision whether to restructure their own state government, the General Assembly has adopted false and misleading ballot language that conceals the true—and truly extraordinary—nature of these proposed amendments. The General Assembly has therefore violated its duty to the people—imposed by the North Carolina Constitution in Section 4 of Article XIII and Sections 2, 3, 19, and 35 of Article I—to describe these proposed amendments on the ballot in fair and accurate terms.”