Half empty

The mood in North Carolina is mixed these days. While polls show high levels of citizen satisfaction with Governor Perdue, they also show continuing support by half of all North Carolinians for bigotry and state-sponsored killing.

None of this is surprising, in my view, given the top dog we elected. Instead of seeing policies that reflect a deep understanding of complex policy issues, we get tough-gal rhetoric, short on evidence of expertise.

On the death penalty, Perdue, a long-standing supporter of capital punishment, has famously said: "I think we should make it painful and torturous."

On our North Carolina's position regarding the role of medical marijuana, the Governor had these unintelligible words: "Every child I look at who's had a problem getting off pot ... I worry about things like that."

On our passion for putting people in prison: Perdue told the News & Observer recently that she was not ready to support adjusting the length of sentences that helped create the prison crisis and wants to see what other states are doing first.

On protecting our precious water resources: Governor Perdue has cut a $100 million appropriation to the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund to help balance the state budget.

On mental health, the Governor's budget would close special schools for mentally ill and emotionally disturbed children in Durham and Butner.

Meanwhile, we get a six-figure executive to promote all the goodness of the Department of Transportation, a raid on the lock-box of the North Carolina Education Lottery, and no sign of "green" anything when it comes to transportation policy. And then there's Cliffside.

What does it all mean? If you happen to be a white, middle-class conservative who hates government and wants to see the systematic dismantling of regulatory frameworks that protect the common good, you're a happy camper. But if you happen to be poor, mentally ill, a drug addict, a black person who has committed murder, a person who values clean water, a person concerned about climate change, or a citizen who believes government should use honest taxes to pay for public education, well, you're basically shit out of luck.

I don't envy Beverly Perdue on the challenge of dealing with the budget. In fact, I give her decent marks in a couple of areas. But when it comes to thoughtful assessment of the big picture, I'm looking for visionary leadership and a willingness to tackle tough problems over the long haul. On that front, the glass is more than half empty.