NC stands alone in the South
Submitted by Jake Gellar-Goad on Sun, 01/01/2012 - 11:26pm
I thought I'd make my first blog entry of the new year, and my first one as a Blue NC frontpager, a look at the state of our state on two issues that I care passionately about: voting rights & LGBT equality. The first map refers to photo ID voter suppression laws, and the second map refers to marriage discrimination constitutional amendments. For both maps, gray means the bad measure has not passed. And for both maps you can see that NC stands alone in the South as we start 2012.
National Conference of State Legislatures website source for the first map.
Wikipedia entry website source for the second map.
My hope is to use this "front-pager" soapbox to shed light on the issues that these maps cover. I can't help but notice how similar the two maps are. My bet is that it has a lot to do with the kinds of legislators that are elected in these states. The same kinds of legislators that would happily make it harder for college kids, African Americans, the elderly, poor citizens, and the like to vote would happily take away rights from LGBT folks as well. Luckily, 2012 is an election year, so we will have the opportunity to fight back on these measures by voting against the amendment this May, and by casting votes for who will represent us in the General Assembly this November.
You can't take a party label as a guarantee of anything. As the election cycle heats up, make sure to ask the candidates you're considering supporting about these and other key issues whenever they are available at a public meet-and-greet, or on a call-in radio show, or doing a liveblog, or what have you. Don't end up regretting who you donate to or vote for. Do the research early on. There is no one better to find out where candidates stand than their constituents. You could even consider running for office yourself.
Right now NC not only stands alone in the South but also looks a lot more like the progressive states you'd find in New England, on the West Coast, and around the Great Lakes, rather than a Bible Belt state. Let's keep it that way.
I like to think
of North Carolina as a state that has been able rise above its racist, misogynist beginnings. Unfortunately, the Tea Party Republicans haven't been able to see that light. Then Tillis and Berger compare us to other states in the south, they aspire to being more like South Carolina and Mississippi.
Thank you again, Jake, for your generosity in joining the BlueNC frontpage team.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Protect NC families
Instead of producing more anti-equality porn, the NC Family Policy Council would be well served to help those who are really working to protect NC families.
If folks are not keeping up with Protect NC Families, they should be. This organization is a big piece of our new front fighting for fairness and equality in our state.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Nice work, Jake
and congratulations on all your accomplishments over the past few years.
Sadly, I think we pretty much screwed ourselves in 2010 and will see our state join the rest of the South. That doesn't mean we settle. We simply fight harder and smarter.
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Vote Democratic, the ass you save may be your own.
It's all up to the elections
No bad law can't be unwritten, if people who oppose bad laws are elected this fall.
This November we can get good people in office, and set things right. But if we miss this window, then its another 4 years before a big election again, and a lot more time for bad laws to sink in, and a lot more time for voter suppression laws to be passed to the point that digging ourselves out of the hole would become very difficult.
But the coming months offer a window to get good people into office, that we aren't likely to see again for along time to come, if we don't make full use of this window.
Excellent point
We need to remind voters what is at stake every chance we get.
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Vote Democratic, the ass you save may be your own.
It's really good to have you back.
I hope all is well with you and yours.
Stan Bozarth
It's great to be spouting off again
All are well here at home, but busier than ever with the girls - and one isn't even at home full time anymore! Crazy how that happens. How is it in the great kingdom of Nanistan?
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Vote Democratic, the ass you save may be your own.
We've been to Italy twice this past year, learned the language,
and continue with lessons from a local man from Turin. If anyone wants to see the devastation caused by 29% unemployment they need only go to Sicily. What a mess. We've made friends with people from Singapore, Italy, Great Britain, and elsewhere and are thinking about some more travel. On the home front, we moved Nan's parents closer and we're coping with being busy, again...since my fathers death, with dealing with the issues of the elderly and often curmudgeonly...if that's a word.
We've given up on a big garden but have done well with container gardening and Nan put up a lot of tomatoes, and nectarines from our tree. We have a "Flat Delicious" peach that we hope will produce this year. Had all the Okra, cucumbers and eggplant we could eat and give away. We're still singing in the choir at our church. Mostly, we're still enjoying being retired and not having to bolt out of the house to get to the office or operating room.
We've sort of decathected from some of our previous political activism, 'tho we still come out swinging when we feel it's worth the effort.
That's probably more than you needed to know. :-)
Stan Bozarth
Can't speak for Betsy
but I'm glad to know!
:)
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Oh wow, Stan!
I'm sorry to hear about your Dad and I know caring for older family members can be difficult no matter how much you love them. I'm glad Nan's parents are closer to make it a tad easier on you.
I took Italian in college. I remember nothing! I loved visiting Italy when I was younger. I would love to see pictures if you have an online collection.
Okra! I still have okra coming out of my ears. I put up so much frozen okra we may never eat it all. My eggplants didn't do so hot, though. I'm adding some containers closer to the house to keep lettuce going year round.
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Vote Democratic, the ass you save may be your own.
Another NC Map
where we're looking different than many of our neighbors(from MSNBC).