NC just went full banana republic....

[wildeyed]

NC General Assembly is trying to jam a bunch of crazy changes through in a special session that was supposed to be about relief for victims of hurricanes and wild fires. Most anti-democratic thing I have seen in this state, and I have seen plenty. We are headed down a hole that will be hard to dig out of if they get this through.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/12/15/north_carolina_legislative_coup_an_attack_on_democracy.html

[KittyWampus]

1. It's obvious that Republicans no longer care about the fig leaf of Democracy.

[Guilded Lilly]

2. Republicans don't care about anything outside their circle of treacherous (treasonous?) agenda

[solara]

3. They have some terrific role models

McConnell, Wilson, Cotton, Cruz, Ryan, Flake, Issa, Pence.. Geez the list goes on and on

GOP is desperate to win and they do what they feel they have to do to accomplish that end.

Since they know they are "right", the end justifies the means. Treason often begins that way

[pscot]

4. There's been nothing like this since Reconstruction.

This is a 'must read'. What these people are doing is incredibly damaging to the whole idea of democracy. It's fundamentally un-American.

What’s happening in North Carolina is not politics as usual. It is an extraordinarily disturbing legislative coup, a flagrant effort to maintain one-party rule by rejecting democratic norms and revoking the will of the voters. It is the kind of thing we might expect to see in Venezuela, not a U.S. state. It should terrify every American citizen who believes in the rule of law. This is so much more than a partisan power grab. This is an attack on democracy itself.

[wildeyed]

5. I was less upset about the Trump win than this.

I have been playing the politics game for a while in NC. This is really bad. REALLY BAD. And a preview of what the GOP has in store for the rest of the country.

[TheFrenchRazor]

8. i live a couple thousand miles from there, and i can see what a CON this is. nt

[pscot]

10. It looks likea putsch

This is scary as hell.

[wildeyed]

11. They are trying hard to do that.

Just arrested protestors and cleared press from room.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

6. Emboldened by the fact that the Trump presidency will make this

look reasonable.

[TheFrenchRazor]

7. saw that; what struck me from the NYT was this:

quote:
"Under one of the most sweeping Republican bills, which lawmakers will vote on beginning Thursday, county election boards would have two members from each party, rather than the current three-member boards with a majority from the governor’s party.

The state Board of Elections would also become a bipartisan body, with equal numbers from each party, instead of being controlled by the governor. The governor’s election, which was decided by only about 10,300 votes, or 0.2 percent, put a spotlight on North Carolina’s election boards as they examined voting challenges in dozens of counties brought by McCrory supporters, who claimed dead people and felons had voted.

The challenges stretched on for nearly a month, and it was not until last week that Mr. McCrory conceded.

Under current state law, the governor names five members to the state Elections Board, who in turn appoint the 100 county boards. Thus the governor is able to stack the boards with partisan supporters."



plus a couple more paragraphs. why is it that the GOP is so eager to remove control of elections boards from the new dem governor? you do the math. banana republic indeed.

[wildeyed]

9. The protests are already getting wild.

People are at the capitol getting arrested for refusing to clear the chambers as I type. Thousands of emails and phone calls were made today.

We are going to make it as hard as possible.

[Cha]

12. So sorry, wildeyed.. :(

[mnhtnbb]

13. There is a live feed here

http://www.wral.com/


I told my husband I'm ready to e-mail every Republican in the Legislature and wish them a long and painful death because
they've earned it as fascist shitbags. And the sooner the better for our democracy.

We got an e-mail today that the San Francisco Symphony has canceled their April 2017 tour dates here at Memorial Hall on the UNC Chapel Hill
campus because of HB 2.

I'm so sick of these bigoted, lying, cheating, Republican scum.

[wildeyed]

14. They just arrested NC Policy Watch reporter.

https://twitter.com/RaleighReporter/status/809526898736906242

Going FULL banana republic on steroids now....