Charlotte Observer Endorses Roy Cooper for Governor

Less than 35 miles from where I sit is North Carolina, a state that once prided itself of being a state that was business minded and avoided issues that upset the larger business community.  Then, the North Carolina GOP won control of the state legislature and the governor's mansion and insanity set in.  Or more precisely, the North Carolina GOP decided to utterly prostitute itself to the Christofascists, in particular by enacting HB2 that not only attacked restroom use by transgender individuals bit also rolled back many civil rights protections. The irony is that the whole effort which was supposed to have guaranteed Republicans being re-elected this November has blown up in their faces.  Indeed, Gov. Pat McCrory, a incredibly craven individual may lose re-election because of the social and business fallout from HB2.  Now, the Charlotte Observer has endorsed Roy Cooper, McCrory's Democrat opponent despite its decades long history of supporting McCrory in the past. 

Here are editorial highlights:

The Charlotte Observer’s editorial board has endorsed Republican Pat McCrory in every one of his bids for office since 1991. That includes twice for City Council, seven times for mayor and twice for governor. That streak comes to an end today.

McCrory’s term as North Carolina governor is the ultimate illustration of the Peter Principle: that people are promoted based on their past performance and not the abilities needed for the new role and thus rise to the level of their incompetence. McCrory has certainly done that.

Fortunately, voters have a superior option in Democrat Roy Cooper. A Morehead Scholar at UNC, a former Senate majority leader and a four-term attorney general, Cooper has the experience, the intelligence and the policy stances needed to return the state to its stature as a progressive leader in the South.

That stature has been lost under McCrory. While the state’s and nation’s attention has rightfully been focused on HB2 since spring, McCrory’s lack of leadership and wrong-headed policies have been on display since his first year in Raleigh.

Here are four reasons we recommend a vote for Roy Cooper and against Pat McCrory:

1. HB2.
McCrory rushed to sign House Bill 2 on March 23, hours after the House and Senate rammed it through. North Carolina’s reputation has been melting ever since. McCrory adamantly defends the discriminatory measure and dismisses the NCAA, the ACC, scores of business executives and others who have condemned the legislation. It was a hateful and self-defeating bill, and it will be McCrory’s legacy.

Cooper opposes HB2 and says he would work to repeal it.

2. McCrory’s other policies.
McCrory has signed enough bad legislation to fill a library, and his administration has enacted one misguided policy after another. He supported new restrictions on abortion after promising he wouldn’t. He signed what many experts have called the nation’s most restrictive voting laws. He has been soft on his former employer, Duke Energy, after a catastrophic coal ash spill. He has been tepid in raising teacher pay, while cutting teacher assistants and other education spending. He refused to accept billions of dollars from the federal government to provide health insurance to the poor.

Under McCrory, North Carolina was the only state to cut off long-term federal unemployment benefits, the first in the Southeast and maybe the nation to decline federal money to study streams and wetlands and the only one to cut WIC benefits during the federal government shutdown.

Cooper supports the other side of every one of these issues.

3. We need a check on the legislature.McCrory has been spineless before Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speakers Thom Tillis and Tim Moore. Cooper would offer more resistance and, if Democrats pick up a handful of House seats, would use his veto to stop the legislature’s most egregious ideas.

4. Cooper’s integrity, education and experience.McCrory had no state government experience and it has shown. Cooper was a leader in the legislature and then served 16 years as attorney general. He knows the state and its history, and understands its government from different perspectives. He would not have the learning curve McCrory continues to climb.

Cooper has a clear vision of what he wants to accomplish, built largely on investing in public education and creating a well-trained workforce that will feed a growing economy and strengthen the middle class.

Applying the Observer's criteria here in Virginia, it basically comes down to a condemnation of failed GOP policies that have supported religious extremists, trampled on civil rights, and been bad for working Virginians.  Thankfully, we have had a Democrat governor who could veto the worse of the batshitery. 

Charlotte Refuses to Be Blackmailed By North Carolina GOP, NCRLA and Chamber of Commerce

LGBT North Carolinians are quickly discovering who their friends are and who is only to happy to throw them under the bus in the interest of making a buck.  As previously noted, the North Carolina restaurant and lodging workers association is only too ready to cast LGBT North Carolina citizens under the bus.  Working hand in hand with them is the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce which similarly puts money ahead of the rights of minorities.   Thankfully, the Charlotte City Council made it clear today that it will not repeal its ordinance granting LGBT individuals in exchange for the North Carolina GOP's likely disingenuous promise that HB2 will be repealed if Charlotte throws it LGBT citizens to the wolves, or more accurately Christofascists wrapping their hate and bigotry in the cloak of religiosity.  A piece in the Charlotte Observer looks at the City Council's action.  Here are highlights:

Despite pressure from business leaders, Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts said Monday that at least for now, repealing the ordinance that led to House Bill 2 is off the table.

And in a memo, the city attorney said the city doesn’t have to act in order for the General Assembly to repeal HB2. Legislative leaders had made dropping the city’s ordinance a condition for repealing HB2.

“Some people don’t realize there’s no legal reason for Charlotte to do anything, and that’s the point we want to make clear to the community,” Roberts told the Observer.

In response, Gov. Pat McCrory and Republican legislative leaders blamed Roberts – and Attorney General Roy Cooper, the Democratic candidate for governor.

House Speaker Tim Moore of Kings Mountain said city leaders want to “play politics.”

“There’s going to be discussions that occur down the road,” Moore told reporters in Raleigh. “But the first step for anything is that the Charlotte City Council, which started all of this, has to at least acknowledge and rescind what they did. … And frankly, the mayor of Charlotte could care less what happens with sports.”

The ordinance nullified by HB2 extended anti-discrimination protection to the LGBT community and would have allowed transgender people to use the bathroom or locker room of their gender identity in schools and government facilities.

Roberts’ comments came after a news conference in which State Rep. Chris Sgro, a Guilford County Democrat and executive director of gay rights group Equality NC, called HB2 “the worst anti-LGBT law in the nation.” He and other LGBT activists accused Republican leaders of “holding Charlotte hostage.”

A Cooper spokesman said the “new round of finger-pointing is ridiculous.”

“Unfortunately, Gov. McCrory just doesn’t seem to want to fix this,” said Ford Porter.

“The governor needs to stop playing politics with our economy and call a special session to end this now by repealing HB2.”

Supporters of repealing the ordinance had worked furiously over the weekend and Monday to line up votes in favor of repeal. They lobbied three at-large Democrats: James Mitchell, Vi Lyles and Julie Eiselt. It appears unlikely that there are enough votes to rescind the ordinance. Six would be needed unless Roberts vetoed the move. Then it would take seven votes to override the veto.

 Like Roberts, council member Vi Lyles said the state doesn’t legally need the city to do anything.

City Attorney Bob Hagemann agreed. In the memo to Roberts and the council, he said the council’s failure to repeal the ordinance “is in no way a legal obstacle or impediment to the General Assembly’s ability to modify or repeal House Bill 2 as it deems appropriate.”

Kimberly Reynolds, executive director of the Democratic Party, said McCrory should “quit holding our economy hostage.”  “The economic damage facing our state is being caused by HB2 – nothing else,” she said.

Let's be perfectly clear.  100% of the blame for the economic damage that North Carolina is suffering lies at the feet of the North Carolina Republican Party, not the Charlotte City Council.  HB2 was passed by the North Carolina GOP in a crude and mean spirited effort to energize the Christofascist vote.   Now, the entire state is suffering because of cynical behavior of the North Carolina GOP and, thankfully, citizens seem to be recognizing that the real solution is to vote Republicans out of office.

As for the NCRLA and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, I recommend that anyone going to North Carolina - the state should be avoided completely, if possible - do their homework and only patronize restaurants, hotels and merchants who do NOT belong to these associations.  It may take some homework, including contacting hotels and asking the question.  They have shown how little they care about LGBT rights and equality.  Do not spend your money at their members' businesses. 

North Carolina Restaurant And Hotel Association - Friend or Enemy of LGBT Citizens?

Having just returned from staying in North Carolina where the husband and I attended a family wedding, I am not sure exactly how to interpret  a resolution by the North Carolina Restaurant and Hotel Association ("NCRLA") calling for the city of Charlotte to repeal its pro-LGBT ordinance while also calling on GOP Governor Pat McCrory to convene a special session of the legislature to repeal HB2 in its entirety.  Obviously, the call for the repeal of HB2 is a positive, but repeal of Charlotte's ordinance seems to be a betrayal aimed at appeasing the hate groups that conspired with the North Carolina Republican Party to enact HB2 in the first place. Yes, the hotel industry in North Carolina has suffered, at least in some areas, but the better solution to me is to declared war in North Carolina Republicans and to see they as many as possible are voted out of office in November and in every election afterwards. Frankly, the NRLA action doesn't make me inclined to visit North Carolina again anytime soon unless I absolutely have to do so. Here are highlights from NCRLA's press release:

The unintended consequences of Charlotte City Ordinance #7056 and House Bill 2 have taken a considerable toll on our state as a whole. The hospitality industry has become collateral damage in a fight it did not start or ask for. Restaurant and lodging businesses and their employees are suffering the adverse impact of these policies though lost business and wages.

The North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association (NCRLA) urges policy makers on all sides of this issue to work together to find resolution quickly. “NCRLA has received assurances this week from legislative leadership, that if the Charlotte City Council repeals Ordinance #7056 at their meeting on Monday, the General Assembly is prepared to meet in special session as early as next week to repeal House Bill 2,” said Lynn Minges, NCRLA president and CEO. “Furthermore, Governor Pat McCrory has assured NCRLA that he is willing to call legislators into a special session next week for this purpose if both the city and legislators have the votes for repeal,” she said.

The North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association calls on Charlotte City Council to repeal ordinance #7056 immediately, on Governor McCrory to convene a special session of the NC General Assembly, and on the NC House and Senate to repeal House Bill 2 in its entirety.

We . . . . also believe all elements of the debate should be carefully, thoroughly, and deliberately considered and evaluated through the immediate formation of a study commission.

I'd love to hear readers' thoughts.  I can't help but feel that NCRLA's only concern is one of money.  The association seemingly doesn't give a rat's ass about LGBT rights and the need for non-discrimination protections. Therefore, for now, we will continue to avoid North Carolina like a toxic plague until HB2 is repealed and Charlotte's ordinance is allowed to stand.  Charoltte's ordinance isn't the problem.  Rather it is the North Carolina Republican Party and the Christofascists to which it so willing prostitutes itself.  And yes, I did send a link to this post to NCRLA.  Others who want to express their views to NCRLA can do so here.

North Carolina Already Feeling Effects of Anti-Gay Law

As noted in the prior post, a federal lawsuit has been filed challenging North Carolina's Republican backed anti-LGBT license to discriminate law.  More on this will follow.  But first, it is noteworthy to see the manner in which this special rights for Christofascists law is already harming the state.  First, New York State has banned all state employee travel to North Carolina.  Second, the High Point Furniture Market - a huge concern in the world of furniture - has felt compelled to release a press statement in the wake of the notifications it is receiving from customers who will be boycotting the Market this year.  Here are highlights:

High Point, NC, March 28, 2016 —In the last few days, dozens of customers have contacted the High Point Market Authority to inform us that they have cancelled plans to attend the Market in April due to passage of HB2. There are also several campaigns on social media calling for a boycott of the High Point Market this spring.

As leaders and organizers of the High Point Market, we feel an obligation to inform the public and our government leaders in Raleigh of the significant economic damage that HB2 is having on the High Point Market and on the North Carolina economy. Based on the reaction in just the last few days, hundreds and perhaps thousands of our customers will not attend Market this April.

We believe it is vital for them [legislators and state agencies] to be kept informed of the public’s reaction to HB2, and to the significant economic damage that this controversy is causing.

Meanwhile, the City of Charlotte is already seeing cancellation of plans for conventions and events in that city.  Here are highlights from the Charlotte Observer:

North Carolina’s new law limiting LGBT protections has already dissuaded some outside businesses and groups from planning events in Charlotte, the city’s tourism authority says.

Tom Murray, president and CEO of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, said Monday the group is “extremely concerned” about the controversial new legislation, and it continues to hear “negative feedback and potential event cancellations” from customers.

Some would-be customers have withdrawn their interest in Charlotte as a host destination, the CRVA said, though the group declined to say how many or which customers. No existing conventions have canceled yet, Murray said.

“On behalf of the visitor economy that represents one in nine jobs across the Charlotte region, we strongly urge that state and local leaders find a resolution that represents the best interests of our city and state,” Murray said. “This issue is in danger of setting us back from the progress we’ve made in positioning Charlotte as an attractive, inclusive destination,” Murray said.

Tourism and hospitality serves as the Charlotte region’s fourth largest industry, generating more than $6.3 billion a year, according to the CRVA, a public organization supported by taxes on hotel and motel rooms and restaurant and bar tabs. Those tax dollars can be used only to promote the city or for tourism projects and research.

It is important to remember what is ultimately behind this vicious law: the desire of Christofascists to feel superior to others and to punish those who fail to conform to their fear and hate based religious beliefs.  

In terms of the lawsuit filed yesterday to challenge this anti-LGBT law, The New Civil Rights Movement has details.  Here are highlights:

Two civil rights groups and three people have joined to file a lawsuit against North Carolina over HB 2, the discriminatory anti-LGBT law the General Assembly passed and Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law on March 23. 

The ACLU of North Carolina, Lambda Legal, and three individuals filed the lawsuit overnight in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, Buzzfeed's Dominic Holden and Chris Geidner first reported.

Citing the 14th Amendment and Title IX of the Education Act of 1972, the suit names Gov. Pat McCrory, Attorney General Roy Cooper, the University of North Carolina, its Board of Governors, and several UNC officials as defendants.

“By singling out LGBT people for disfavored treatment and explicitly writing discrimination against transgender people into state law, H.B. 2 violates the most basic guarantees of equal treatment and the U.S. Constitution,” the 45-page lawsuit charges.

The suit clearly notes the anti-LGBT animus that lawmakers displayed when they "rushed to convene a special session with the express purpose of passing a statewide law that would preempt Charlotte’s 'radical' move to protect its residents from discrimination."

"In a process rife with procedural irregularities, the legislature introduced and passed H.B. 2 in a matter of hours, and the governor signed the bill into law that same day," the lawsuit states. "Lawmakers made no attempt to cloak their actions in a veneer of neutrality, instead openly and virulently attacking transgender people, who were falsely portrayed as predatory and dangerous to others. While the discriminatory, stated focus of the legislature in passing H.B. 2—the use of restrooms by transgender people—is on its own illegal and unconstitutional, H.B. 2 in facts wreaks far greater damage by also prohibiting local governments in North Carolina from enacting express anti-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity."

Holden and Geidner note that in "17 states and 225 cities with laws banning LGBT discrimination, there are no known instances of the rules being used to defend or facilitate predatory behavior in bathrooms or locker rooms." 

Special Session Bill Would Ban ALL LGBT Rights In North Carolina

Anti-Gay Lt. Gov. Dan Forest (R)

As ISIS engages in terror attacks and mass murder, North Carolina Republicans are set to commit their own version of religious terrorism. As WSOCTV  and the Charlotte Observer are reporting, the Republican controlled North Carolina legislature is about to consider a bill that would not only rescind the City of Charlotte's recently passed pro-LGBT ordinance, but outlaw LGBT rights state wide.  The move sounds very similar to what was attempted in Colorado and struck down as unconstitutional by the U. S. Supreme Court in Romer v. Evans.  But then, one can never accuse today's Republicans ever learning from the past, especially if their batshitery will excite the Christofascists in the party base.   Here are story highlights:

Proposed legislation for Wednesday’s unusual special General Assembly session wasn’t released publicly Tuesday, but legislative leaders indicate the bill could go well beyond a Charlotte ordinance on transgender bathroom use.

Lt. Gov. Dan Forest posted a formal proclamation calling for the special session Tuesday afternoon. It says the legislature will meet starting at 10 a.m. to consider proposals “to provide for single-sex multiple occupancy bathroom and changing facilities and to create statewide consistency in regulation of employment and public accommodations.”

The proclamation was the first mention of employment regulations in reference to plans for the special session. Forest and House Speaker Tim Moore signed the proclamation.

Andy Munn, a spokesman for Moore, declined to provide a copy of the draft legislation and said it probably wouldn’t be made public until Wednesday – hours before it comes to a first vote. “There are still a few tweaks to be made to it,” he said.

Munn wouldn’t provide details of the proposal under consideration.  House Minority Leader Larry Hall, a Durham Democrat, called on Moore to release the bill so legislators can consider what they’ll be voting on Wednesday.

The Associated Press reported that it obtained a copy of one draft of the bill. That draft, according to The AP, “would appear to pre-empt completely what Charlotte added to its non-discrimination ordinance and prevent local governments from passing similar acts.”

Lobbyist Theresa Kostrzewa also obtained a draft version and posted sections of it on Twitter. One potential provision would ban cities and counties from regulating employment practices, including setting a higher minimum wage. Another would prevent counties from requiring government contractors to uphold specific employment practices.

The N.C. League of Municipalities and the Metropolitan Mayors Coalition said they could not comment on possible curbs to local government control until the bill is introduced.

The special session is in response to the Charlotte City Council’s recent vote to expand protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, including a provision that will allow transgender people to use the restroom and locker room facilities of the gender with which they identify. The ordinance goes into effect April 1.

Governors typically call special sessions, but Gov. Pat McCrory refused to call Wednesday’s session because he was concerned the legislature would go beyond addressing the Charlotte ordinance.

That meant legislative leaders opted for a rarely used law that allows special sessions when three-fifths of legislators in both chambers support the call. That provision in the state constitution hasn’t been used since 1981, according to Forest’s chief of staff, Hal Weatherman.

In the Senate, 31 Republicans backed the session. Only three GOP senators didn’t: Sen. Tom Apodaca of Hendersonville, Sen. Tamara Barringer of Cary and Sen. Fletcher Hartsell of Concord. All House Republicans except Rep. Charles Jeter of Mecklenburg County and Rep. Chuck McGrady of Hendersonville backed the call to session.

New Princess: Charlotte Elizabeth Diana Of Cambridge

As countless British news outlets are reporting as are royalty obsessed American news sites, Prince William and his wife, Katherine, Duchess of Cambridge have selected a name for the new royal princess born over the weekend.  The name selected is  Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.  The Daily Mail has these details:

The Princess of Cambridge has finally been revealed to the world as Charlotte Elizabeth Diana - in a touching nod to her grandfather, her grandmother and her great-grandmother. 

Kensington Palace revealed the royal baby's full name yesterday after days of speculation and close friends of Princess Diana immediately said the choice means the spirit of Prince William’s beloved mother ‘lives on’.

The Duke of Cambridge was determined to pay tribute to his mother – despite the efforts of some palace courtiers to have Diana airbrushed from royal history.

William was, however, clear that his baby girl should not have Diana as a first name. ‘It would have been a millstone around her neck,’ said one of the princess’s long-time friends.

Within minutes of the name being announced this afternoon, Diana's closest friend Rosa Monckton said: 'Diana's spirit lives on in her sons, and now her name lives on in her granddaughter #CharlotteElizabethDiana'.

As a history geek, I find it interesting but perhaps understandable why an effort was made to link the name Charlotte as the feminine version of Charles.  There have been Charlottes in Great Britain's past, perhaps most notably the wife of King George III - not the most popular of monarchs in America.  Indeed, Queen Charlotte is whom Charlottesville, Virginia - home of my alma mater - is named.  Wikipedia has this:

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was the wife of King George III. She was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland from their marriage in 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms in 1801, after which she was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until her death in 1818. She was also the Electress of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire until the promotion of her husband to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814, after which she was also queen consort of Hanover.

Charlotte, North Carolina is also named after Queen Charlotte.

 

North Carolina Catholic School: Masturbation and Poor Parenting Make You Gay

Sister Jane Dominic Laurel

Having been raised Catholic I am well aware of the bizarre obsession the Catholic Church has with all things sexual - basically the only "good sex" is for procreation, and you'd damn well better NOT enjoy it.  The batshitery is truly off the charts and it disturbs me to think of all the children in Catholic schools who will be likely emotionally and psychologically scarred for life.  Yes, some will walk away from Catholicism in time - 30% of Catholics do - but countless others will remain damaged from the experience.  Now, a Catholic school in North Carolina is under fire for teaching students that masturbation and poor parenting cause one to be gay. For those who are deluding themselves into thinking the Catholic Church is changing under Pope Francis, this should be another  wake up call. Here are highlights from the New Civil Rights Movement:

A Catholic high school in Charlotte, North Carolina is under fire after one of its regular guest instructors last week delivered a lecture that reportedly blamed poor parenting, single parenting, pornography and masturbation as the causes of homosexuality. Sister Jane Dominic Laurel is accused also of telling students at a mandatory school assembly at the Charlotte Catholic High School that gay people have have between 500 and 1000 sexual partners, and of portraying same-sex couples as child abusers.

QNotes, a North Carolina-based LGBT news outlet which is reporting and closely following the story published one student’s account:

“Then she started talking about how gays [sic] people are gay because they have an absent father figure, and therefore they have not received the masculinity they should have from their father,” reads one student’s account of the message. “Also a guy could be gay if he masterbates [sic] and so he thinks he is being turned on by other guys. And then she gave an example of one of her gay ‘friends’ who said he used to go to a shed with his friends and watch porn and thats why he was gay. … Then she talked about the statistic where gay men have had either over 500 or 1000 sexual partners and after that I got up and went to the bathroom because I should not have had to been subject to that extremely offensive talk.”

Students and parents are demanding an apology from the school.

QNotes published a letter (PDF) that accuses the school’s chaplain and Sister Jane Dominic Laurel of enabling “the dissemination of the misleading, offensive, and hateful messages,” and taking advantage of their positions “to push your own prejudices and bigotry upon the Charlotte Catholic community despite this community’s deliberate efforts to avoid it when presented as an extracurricular event.”

Using outdated or false statistics to tell children and young adults that their LGBTQ friends, family members, and colleagues are the result of their parents’ missteps is damaging. Suggesting that LGBTQ members of the very audience you were addressing owe their sexual identities to pornography and masturbation is abhorrent. Presenting these false ideas to high school students not only advocates discrimination of LGBTQ students, but also tells those individuals that they are damaged or incomplete. Consider for a moment the severe and ongoing effect this type of message has on the current LGBTQ students at Charlotte Catholic. Consider the power this message has to empower bullies of these same students.

QNotes reports that Sister Jane Dominic Laurel has previously partnered with the Ruth Institute [a designated hate group] , formerly an arm of the the National Organization For Marriage .

In a video of one of her lectures from two years ago, Sr. Dominic teaches (wrongly) that couples who regularly attend church have a 90 percent or greater chance of not divorcing, and couples who use “natural family planning” are the least-likely to divorce.

Will the DNC's Charlotte Convention Backfire for Obama?

I see many references across the blogosphere about boycotting North Carolina after the passage of Amendment One earlier this month.  I DO understand that feeling although I will be going to OBX Pridefest next month to support Dare County residents and businesses that voted against Amendment One (Dare County was the only non-metropolitan county to reject Amendment One).  The Counties surrounding Charlotte likewise voted against Amendment One, but that may not dampen the anger and animosity that is palpable in North Carolina.  Given this toxic atmosphere, some see the DNC National Convention as something that may backfire big time.  Here are excerpts from a column in The Daily Beast that suggests holding the DNC convention in Charlotte may not be a good idea: 

When the Obama campaign last year picked Charlotte, N.C., as the host city for the 2012 Democratic National Convention, they hoped to double down on the president’s historic victory four years ago, when his electoral coalition of young, black, and college-educated white voters made him the first Democrat to carry the Tar Heel State since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

But while polls show Barack Obama and Mitt Romney neck-and-neck in the state, the president's choice to hold the convention there could come back to haunt him, given the convergence of angry labor unions, an unfortunately named venue, embarrassing local political scandals, Occupy Wall Street protesters, and the voters’ decision this year to pass a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and civil unions.

That vote led more than 30,000 people to quickly sign a petition from a New York–based marriage-equality group to move the convention elsewhere, though timing and logistics alone render that functionally impossible.

[T]he economic backdrop is far from ideal for the president looking to sell voters on the Obama recovery. North Carolina’s unemployment rate has persistently been above the national average, at 9.4 percent last month, and Charlotte is the world headquarters of Bank of America, a bailed-out megabank so closely associated with the financial collapse of 2008 that Occupy Wall Street has devoted a campaign specifically to breaking it up. Protesters will be on the streets of Charlotte taking aim at the bank even as President Obama delivers his acceptance speech—at Bank of America Stadium. And labor unions are fuming that the convention is being held in a so-called right-to-work state (where union membership or dues cannot be required for employment).

Labor, which remains the bedrock organizing arm of the Democratic Party, is miffed that national Democrats chose to meet in the state with the smallest proportion of union members—just 2.9 percent of the workforce last year—to make their case for a strengthening the middle class and broadening economic prosperity. Some locals are planning to skip or even protest the convention, and labor has pointedly declined to contribute its expected share of the convention’s costs, which will be upwards of $36 million this year.

Time will tell whether or not the Charlotte choice proves to be disastrous.  Knowing wat we all know now, I cannot help but believe a different choice would be made if time permitted a change of venues.

Move the Democrat Convention from North Carolina

Click image to enlarge

Change.org has launched a petition drive to pressure the DNC to move the Democrat National Convention from Charlotte, North Carolina in light of today's vote for intolerance and bigotry.  Make North Carolina pay a fiscal price and move the convention to a venue not hostile to LGBT individuals.  Let a non-bigoted state reap the millions of dollars that the convention will generate.  Here are details on the petition effort:

On May 8th, the people of North Carolina voted in support of Amendment One, a constitutional amendment that discriminates against LGBT people, couples & their families. In protest, the Democratic National Convention Committe should MOVE its convention (September 2012) OUT of North Carolina and INTO a state that upholds values of equality/liberty and which treats ALL citizens equally. For more info: http://www.facebook.com/GayMarriageUSA

Yes,I've signed the petition.

Gun Carrying Homophobe Shoots Up Anti-Amendment One Sign

I shared with readers yesterday an abusive comment that I received that was apparently authored by someone who wasn't happy with a post I wrote in March about a foul, hate motivated, self-styled Baptist church that recently made the registered anti-gay hate group list maintained by the Southern Poverty Law Center.  As I noted, it is ALWAYS the "godly Christian" crowd that is spewing venom and hate.  Now, out of North Carolina where the Christianists are pushing for passage of the very toxic Amendment One that was described by the New York Times as "gratuitous bigotry," we see yet another proof that it is the Christianists, not the LGBT community, that are the gravest threat to the rule of law and civil behavior.  Both Towleroad and Joe.My.God are reporting on an anti-gay extremist who used a rifle to shoot up a neighbor's yard sign that opposed passage of Amendment One. First this from Andy Towle:

Says the gun owner in the video: "Right now there's this amendment trying to be passed, Amendment One. It's gonna state that marriage is between a man and a woman, which is how it ought to be. Somebody thought it'd be a good idea to put this sign near my house. They oughta know not to put stuff like that near my house."

Joe Jervis asks a pertinent question:

How is NOM going to spin THIS?  .   .   .   .   I have spoken to the Kannopolis, North Carolina police department and they are looking into what will be classified a crime if the shotgun was fired onto property that includes a home or business. Kannopolis is 20 minutes outside of Charlotte, .  .  .  

The simple truth - as the Times duly noted - is that Amendment One and similar laws are based on hate and contempt for the civil rights of others, be it in terms of freedom of religion or freedom of speech.  The far right constitute a clear and present danger to constitutional government and religious freedom for ALL citizens.  Here's a video clip of the anti-gay douche bag:

Former Charlotte, North Carolina Mayors (Including a Republican) Condemn Amendment 1

With Rick "Man On Dog" Santorum now out of the GOP presidential nomination race, the odds of large numbers of Republicans going to the polls next month in the North Carolina GOP primary are certainly reduced. That's not to say that hate groups such as NOM won't be doing their best to turn out the knuckle dragging Bible beater set like modern day examples of Pavlov's dog. Returning to good news, two former mayors of Charlotte - North Carolina's largest city - have come out strongly against the anti-gay Amendment 1. Better yet, one of the former mayors condemning the Christianist effort is a Republican. Pam's House Blend has details. Here are highlights followed by a video clip:

“[Amendment One] is unnecessary and may have serious unintended consequences,” says Vinroot. Gantt adds, “And some of those consequences may harm women, children and families throughout North Carolina.”

As former mayors of the state’s largest city and national financial hub, the advertisement also features Vinroot and Gantt pointing out the economic impact of Amendment One. “It may hurt our ability to attract business and job opportunities into North Carolina,” says Vinroot. “But we do know this: if you vote against it, it won’t harm anybody.”

Protect All NC Families underscored how this joint statement against Amendment One from representatives on both sides of the political spectrum represents a trend emerging throughout the state. “This powerful new web ad illustrates the growing consensus among North Carolinians against the dangerous harms of Amendment One,” said Jeremy Kennedy, campaign manager for Protect All NC Families. “It’s remarkable how such a divisive referendum has, in turn, brought together so many people from all political stripes, personal backgrounds, and perspectives, for one common purpose: to protect our state’s families by voting against on May 8.”

People should compare and contrast the calibre of spokespeople on the anti-Amendment side in the ad below vs. what the Vote for Marriage NC people have featured in their latest ad, covered by Alvin McEwen on the Blend (Vote for MarriageNC ad filled with misrepresentations and false views) – none other than Rev. Patrick Wooden, who said “I don’t have any animus against the gay community” but in interviews has gone on at length about gay men needing diapers and using cell phones as sex toys.

Mainstream Christians Must Stand Up to the Religious Right

I often express my frustration with the failure of what I refer to as "good Christians" to stand up to and fight the bigotry and undisguised hatred that are the hallmark of the Christian Right or Christianists as I prefer to call them. By yielding the field, these "good Christians" allow hate and intolerance to continue to exist and, in addition, are hastening the demise of Christianity in this country. Some might argue that the death of Christianity in America might be a good thing over all. I won't go that far, but I believe without a doubt that conservative Christianity and the Christianists are among the most toxic elements in the nation today. My long time activist friend Wayne Besen has a column that addresses the need of "good Christians" to grow a spine and stand up to the hate and intolerance of the Christianists:

In August, fundamentalist preacher Dr. Michael Brown organized a regimen of red shirted Bible-thumpers to infiltrate Charlotte’s gay pride event. Hundreds of zealots confronted and harassed festival attendees with their arrogant slogan “God Has A Better Way.”

The hatred and religious bigotry was appalling, but not surprising. What truly bothers me, however, was the lack of mainstream Christians standing up and speaking out against such fanatical behavior. Virtually every time I write about the Religious Right I’m reminded by the faithful that “not all Christians are like that.”

Of course, this is true and some of the most dedicated activists I have worked with are people of faith. . . . Still, the number of mainstream Christians fighting the hate campaigns of the Religious Right is disappointing. With thousands of churches, millions of members and a vested interest in fighting back against religious extremism, they have consistently underachieved and failed to reach their potential.

What would it look like if mainstream churches fought back against the Religious Right? Picture two hundred of Dr. Brown’s “Red Shirts” smugly descending on innocent families at Charlotte Pride. Out of nowhere, five hundred mainstream, mostly heterosexual Christians appear and surround the theocratic thugs with blue shirts that read: God’s Better Way – Love & Acceptance.”

This lack of coherent opposition has led to a dire situation where Religious Right backed presidential candidates are vying to eliminate or reduce social safety nets, persecute immigrants, undermine working people, shred the middle class, turn the poor into destitute beggars, and roll back minority rights.

This reluctance to stand up and speak out has created a hazardous vacuum where only the shrill and unreasonable voices of fundamentalism are heard. Instead of the dialogue that many progressives of faith claim to desire, this perceived weakness creates a lopsided right wing monologue, which is having a deleterious effect on our nation and the world.

It is time to stand up, speak out, and give voice to our values. If not now, when? Are we going to wait until it is too late and we have lost our country?

If the Religious Right can organize and mobilize to stand up for its beliefs in such a robust manner, why can’t the Religious Left? We desperately need to answer this question before Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin defile America – and permanently define Christianity.

Candidly, I find it increasingly difficult to even go to church since I cannot help but feel that my otherwise accepting fellow parishioners are part of the larger problem. Doing good works while remaining invisible and refusing to challenge evil - and I do see the Christianists as evil - is empowering the enemies of freedom and the true Gospel message.

Charlotte Area Presbyterians Vote to End Gay Ban

In perhaps yet another sign that at least parts of North Carolina may be trending progressive is a vote by the Presbyterian church leaders representing the Charlotte area for ending their denomination's longstanding ban on gays and lesbians becoming pastors and elders. While there will be further votes before the denomination wide ban can be overturned, at least a slim majority in the Charlotte area is on record that it is accepting a progressive stance and one that is in line with modern mental health and medical knowledge on sexual orientation. Here are some highlights from the Charlotte Observer:

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In past years, the Charlotte Presbytery – the fourth largest in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – had backed the prohibition [on gay clergy]. But after a spirited, civil debate in the chapel at Johnson C. Smith University, the presbytery voted 133-124, with one abstention, to reverse itself. That means that the seven-county Charlotte Presbytery is now on record as backing a proposed amendment to the denomination's constitution that would open the door to – though not automatically guarantee – ordination of homosexuals.

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For the amendment to go into effect, it will have to be endorsed by 87 of the denomination's 173 presbyteries by mid-May. Going into Saturday, the national tally was 32 presbyteries against the change and 18 for it. “It was the right thing for the presbytery to do,” said the Rev. Tom Tate of Charlotte's Plaza Presbyterian, one of four pastors – two on each side – who addressed the gathering. “While I am glad for those affected, I am sad that the close vote says the church may be so divided.”

Catholic Priest Expected to Admit Sexual Abuse of Teen

If one foolishly believed the Vatican, one would think that all of the egregious cases of sexual abuse of children and minors occurred in the distant past - in the 1950's, 1960's or maybe early 1970's. However, like so much said by the Vatican, that story line is not true. Many cases of abuse occurred much more recently and like so many others were swept under the carpet by the hierarchy or deliberately covered up. A case in point is a story out of Charlotte, North Carolina, in which the abuse occurred in the LATE 1990's. Yes, less than a decade ago not some time in the distant past. In this sad tale, the abuse was perpetrated by Robert Yurgel (pictured on the right at left), a member of the order of Capuchin Franciscan Friars, who worked in several Charlotte parishes. I realize that at times I may sound like a broken record, but unless stories of the Catholic Church's moral bankruptcy continue to be highlighted, many people will falsely believe that the Church has come clean. Here are some highlights from the Charlotte Observer:

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The Rev. Robert Yurgel, the Catholic priest accused of molesting a 14-year-old boy in Charlotte a decade ago, is expected to plead guilty today in a deal with prosecutors that will send him to prison for more than seven years. . . . Yurgel, a member of the order of Capuchin Franciscan Friars, was indicted in 2008 and charged with eight counts of taking indecent liberties with a child and six counts of statutory sex offense.

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Yurgel's case is the first involving a Catholic priest in which the alleged sexual misconduct happened in Charlotte, though the 46-county Diocese of Charlotte had such cases in the 1980s and 1990s in Boone and Salisbury. Revelations of child sexual abuse by priests – and sometimes cover-ups by their bishops – have scandalized many Catholic dioceses across the country. The dioceses of Raleigh and Charleston, for example, have paid millions to settle victims' claims.

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The alleged victim, now 24, has sued Yurgel, the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte and the Capuchin Franciscan Friars. The lawsuit says Yurgel molested him and accuses the diocese and the Franciscan Friars of covering up the sexual abuse. The lawsuit says Yurgel molested the boy in the room behind the altar at St. Matthew, now the largest church in the Charlotte diocese, and in the rectory of Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte. The lawsuit alleges that the abuse also occurred at the boy's home when his parents were away, as well as in the priest's car.

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The lawsuit also includes an e-mail the teenager allegedly sent Yurgel in October 1999. The teen professed his love for the priest in the message, which was mistakenly sent to a church employee as well, according to the lawsuit. Top church officials were informed about the e-mail, the lawsuit says. Yet instead of trying to determine if the teen had been molested or notifying law enforcement, the lawsuit alleges, Bishop William Curlin, who then headed the diocese, contacted the Franciscan Friars in New Jersey and arranged a “rush transfer.” Yurgel was reassigned to New Jersey the same month the lawsuit says the e-mail was sent.