NC: Battle royale with Old South vs New South
Last edited Fri Aug 2, 2013, 08:46 AM - Edit history (1)
The 2 divisions are simplistic, but the fight does boil down to old vs new.
The Old South is made up of the usual suspects. They do not want to recognize the demographic changes in NC. They believe they have gerrymandered their way into perpetual power. However, NC's changes are real and steady.
The New South is made up of a solid base of Dems that will not go away. They are in the minority, but they serve as a reminder and warning to the right. This group is a core to build around. The alles are minorites, many newcomers, and people that have become fed up with the regressive laws passed.
Those who are fed up with these overreaching rules are definitely a swing group. They are neither comfortable with the RW nutjobs nor those who want to move too fast in a liberal direction. They have gone back and forth many times. Even as Republicans are claiming victory after victory, these are phyrric gains.
Gerrymandering and voting monkey business will only carry them so far. There is a building backlash now that does not portend well for them. There may not be enough change in the next election cycle, but who knows.
NC is being forced rightward by a solid group of ideologues that put their policies and needs above trying to better the state. NC has had a long history of activism for the people and it has not gone away. They are obscured now by the cloud of Republican power grabs, but clouds disapear.
I have never given up on NC during this hot mess. It is in another conservative pothole vortex in the inexorable march forward. Getting through this will take time and energy, but it will be done.
As far as South Carolina goes, the whole state is a political vortex made up of every possible ideology thrown in. That we haven't gone rapidly down the path NC is on is due to one reason. The people "running" the show are divided into groups that hate each other with a passion.
There are the following:
The Haleys- A group of Teashitters who are afraid to travel because they might fall off their flat earth.
The basic RW GOP who now look moderte in comparison to the Haleys. The have seniority, know every trick in the book, and everyone of them is meaner than a porcupine with lice.
The Assteroids- A GOP member who orbits in and out of the other groups and expresses the ideology of the planet he came from. Each is crazier than a s***house mouse.
The Dems make up a separate block that is generally in agreement. There are differences among them, but they stick together. They use flanking maneuvers and guerrilla attacks. They also form temporary pacts with devils to pass or block certain bills.
Make no mistake. There is still rightward movement. However it has been impeded by the infighting.
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[link:http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/01-2|
from the article
"The new “fusion politics” fuses together political issues that are often seen and addressed as separate concerns. This “fusion” is reflected in the 14 point agenda of the HKonJ movement, which embraced issues like public education, livable wages, health care, voting rights, environmental justice, collective bargaining and workers’ rights in the context of “liberty and justice for all.”
Republicans in North Carolina have used their supermajority to restrict women’s access to abortion, cut unemployment benefits, slash education budgets, refuse federal Medicaid funds, restrict voting rights, and even allow guns to be carried on playgrounds and college campuses. Republicans illustrated in a visceral way that “the same political forces that are against … gender rights, are often also against education, equality, environmental justice, and policies that help the poor.”
Thus the fates of all those concerned with seemingly disparate issues, under attack by the same forces, are bound together. Moral Mondays effectively broke down issue-based division between different progressive groups and constituencies. The protests were not focused on one or two issues to the exclusion of others. Each Monday focused on issues like women’s concerns and voting rights, but wrapped them all in the same context."
just in case the link doesn't show: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/01-2
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Wouldn't it be powerful if this movement spread? The article also shows how this movement is taking back Christianity - away from the polluted and perverted version the gop is offering. I feel faith can be a moral compass, but I don't feel that religion has a place in government. (I strongly support the separation of church and state)
Also, feel free to join the naacp of North Carolina Facebook page 
