I'm embarrassed to live in North Carolina

I've lived in North Carolina since 1978, and from the first time I saw the area to the present, I've loved the state.  From the mountains to the Piedmont to the beach, it's a large place full of beauty.

I am now, though, actively embarrassed at living here.

Our state government has become reprehensible, a Republican-led gang of elected thugs who have gerrymandered their way into increased power and then hurt citizens all over the state.  The most recent news stories--the last-minute sessions to emasculate our Governor-elect and the failure to repeal the awful HB2--have only served to underscore how bad our government has become.

I can hope only that enough of my fellow North Carolinians become equally disgusted by the actions of our state government that they start voting out the jerks currently in power.

Sadly, I don't expect that to happen, but it's the only hope on offer right now.

Well, that's something good

Happy political news has been in scarce supply lately, so for those who don't follow North Carolina politics I am pleased to report that our reprehensible Governor, Pat McCrory, has finally conceded that he indeed lost the race he actually lost on election day.  The challenger, Roy Cooper, is now our Governor-elect.

This news is important not only because McCrory was a horrible Governor in general, but also because he was the public face of our terrible HB2 bill, about which many companies have rightly blasted North Carolina.

I'm not very optimistic that Cooper will be able to get our Republican-dominated legislature to repeal this heinous piece of legislation, but I will cling to the hope that the legislators will find the loss of revenue and public shaming enough reason to repeal the bill--and maybe use McCrory as their scapegoat on the way out.

Regardless, it's great to see McCrory leaving.

HB2 screws North Carolina--and me--again

I've written a few times about our noxious House Bill 2 (HB2), which among many awful things basically legalizes discrimination against transgender people.  I hate this bill.  Most of the North Carolinians I know hate this bill.  The Attorney General of the U.S. is suing North Carolina over this bill.

Yet our jerk of a governor and our equally awful Republican legislators continue to stand behind it.

A while back, I had tickets to a Cirque du Soleil show that Cirque cancelled in response to this bill.  I'm sorry I missed the show, but I had to support their decision to boycott the state.

Earlier tonight, I was to be sitting with Scott and others enjoying a performance of the legendary violinist, Itzhak Perlman, with the North Carolina Symphony.  We had seen Perlman perform once before and had greatly enjoyed the show, so we were looking forward to tonight's concert.

Perlman cancelled yesterday.  In a statement, he said,

As my fans know, I have spent a lifetime advocating against discrimination towards those with physical disabilities and have been a vocal advocate for treating all people equally.  As such, it is only after much deliberation that I have decided to cancel tomorrow’s concert in North Carolina as a stand against House Bill 2.

As much as I wanted to go, I once again have to support this decision.

According to Perlman's agent (read more here), Perlman was going to play the show, make a statement, and donate his proceeds to Equality North Carolina.

The NC Symphony, however, is a state-supported non-partisan organization and so could not allow the statement.  I respect their decision, in that to sustain their funding and to avoid getting in serious trouble with our state government, they had to make this decision.  Fair enough.

That stance, though, cost them a sold-out concert, a great deal of money, and probably a lot of disillusioned supporters.

If our government won't repeal this bill, we in North Carolina need to make damn sure that we replace it in November with a government that will remove the blight that is HB2 and provide equal rights to all.

Just when you think the government of North Carolina couldn't possibly get more stupid

my state's Republican governor and Republican-led legislature prove that we have yet to explore what stupid really means.

In case you've missed the recent news about NC, after our idiotic government wrote discrimination into law with the despicable HB2, I thought we had hit bottom.  I hoped we would react to the scorn we were receiving and the accompanying loss of jobs and money by repealing this awful law.

We didn't.

Apparently the U.S. government got tired of waiting, because Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the Justice Department have filed suit against North Carolina over this bill.  (For more on that story, you can start here or search easily enough.)  They threatened not just to continue the lawsuit but to take away some Federal funding programs.

At this point, I briefly hoped that our governor would use the lawsuit as a way to save face, blame the big bad Feds for making him change, and back away from the law.

Oh, no.  That would be entirely too sensible for Governor McCrory.  Instead, our state sued the Justice Department.

North Carolina is in many ways a wonderful state, and I am usually happy to live here.  We have our share of issues, of course, including plenty of poverty, underpaid teachers, and an education system that is nowhere near as good as it could be, to name but three.  Our government could be focusing its time and resources on such challenges, but instead our governor doubles down on HB2.

HB2 denies rights to transgender people.  It is thus wrong-headed, even evil.

Attorney General Lynch accurately noted, "It was not so very long ago that states, including North Carolina, had other signs above restrooms, water fountains, and on public accommodations, keeping people out based on a distinction without a difference. We've moved beyond those dark days."

I'd like to think she's right, but at least some North Carolinians, including our governor, still live in those awful times.

Lynch also said, "This action is about a great deal more than bathrooms.  This is about the dignity and the respect that we accord our fellow citizens and the laws that we as a people and as a country have enacted to protect them."

When we deny rights to any group, we open the door for additional similar actions, and so we hurt all of us.

I hope everyone in this state remembers this time come November, so we can all vote McCrory and the other ass clowns out of their offices.

If you're outside North Carolina & think all of us in the state support HB2

think again.  Many, many of us don't, and some folks are even getting arrested in protest, as you can read here.

The bill is a vile piece of legislation that is costing my state jobs and money, not to mention making North Carolina a bit of a national laughingstock.

I hope that our governor and legislature get the message and repeal this awful bill.