Tag Archives: North Carolina

September 30, 2011 · 4:23 pm

Majority Oppose North Carolina Gay Marriage Ban Amendment

Well, this is mostly good news….

 

A majority of North Carolina residents oppose a proposed amendment to the North Carolina state constitution that would ban gay marriage, Raleigh-based WRAL reported.

According to an Elon University Poll released Friday, 56 percent of residents oppose the amendment lawmakers earlier this month okayed for ratification by voters in May.

Thirty-nine percent of respondents say they support the measure, a drop of 4 percentage points since March, 2009.

The survey of 594 people conducted between September 25 – 29 has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.02 percentage points.

While respondents don’t want to enshrine the state’s prohibition against marriage equality in the constitution, a majority also object to gay marriage. Only 33 percent of respondents said they support full marriage rights for gay couples, an increase of 12 percentage points since March, 2009.

“The ballot referendum that would ban same-sex marriage will be the issue to watch this year,” Mileah Kromer, assistant director of the Elon University Poll, said in a statement. “With North Carolinians so divided on this issue, expect a tough battle over the next few months as both sides attempt to sway public opinion in their favor.”

The proposed amendment would bar the state from legalizing marriage, civil unions and possibly domestic partnerships for gay and lesbian couples.

Twenty-nine percent of those surveyed said they support civil unions or domestic partnerships, but not full marriage, for gay couples.

via Majority Oppose North Carolina Gay Marriage Ban Amendment.

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September 20, 2011 · 9:22 pm

Greensboro Voter Guide from Replacements Ltd PAC

NOTE:  Please see the updated guide for today’s General Election here:

https://lostinthe21stcentury.com/2011/11/06/greensboro-voter-guide-for-general-election/

 

I want to share this with my fellow Progressives in Greensboro, NC, Jamestown and Guilford County….

Below is the list of endorsements from Replacements Pac for the October Primary elections.

These candidates are not just supportive of GLBT rights, but are good Progressive choices for City Council and Mayor.

I encourage you to consider supporting these candidates on the Primary Election on October 11th and during early voting starting September 22nd.

PLEASE VOTE!!!!  It does matter.  A lot…..

Unless you are a Republican, then I would suggest just spending the day at the Spa…..

The Candidates in Bold Red Print are the ones I know I will be personally voting for in my District or At-Large.  You may vote for 3 At-Large City Council candidates and I have wish we had the chance to vote for 4 as I really like Marikay Abuzuaiter, too…

Please do NOT vote for Bill Knight for Mayor or Mary Rakestraw in District 4

Early Voting

September 22 – October 8

Primary Election:  Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

2011 LGBT Primary Voter Guide

Guilford County

Greensboro Mayor

(R) Robbie Perkins

Greensboro City Council At-Large

(U) Nancy Barakat Vaughan

Greensboro City Council At-Large

(D) Yvonne J. Johnson

Greensboro City Council At-Large

(D) Wayne Abraham

Greensboro City Council Dist 1

No Primary

Greensboro City Council Dist 2

(D) Jim Kee

Greensboro City Council Dist 3

No Primary

Greensboro City Council Dist 4

(D) Nancy Hoffmann

Greensboro City Council Dist 5

No Endorsement

Jamestown

Jamestown Town Council

(D) Frank Gray

Jamestown Town Council

(R) Brock Thomas

Jamestown Town Council

(U) Robert Wenzel

Jamestown Town Council

(D) Tommy Walls

Our data about candidates is obtained through survey responses, conversations with candidates and a candidate’s public record. Following are primary candidates who returned surveys and are supportive of LGBT issues in varying degrees.

Greensboro

Bradford Cone

(D) Very Supportive

Tom Phillips

(R) Very Supportive

Marikay Abuzuaiter

(D) Very Supportive

Clarence Easter

(D) Very Supportive

Cyndy Hayworth

(D) Somewhat Supportive

Hayden Jesserer

(D) Very Supportive

Chris Lawyer

(R) Very Supportive

Sal Leone

(D) Very Supportive

Christopher McLaughlin

(D) Very Supportive

Dan Fisher

(U) Very Supportive

David Crawford

(D) Very Supportive

Jamestown

(R) John Regis Fete

(R) Somewhat Supportive

via Replacements Ltd PAC.

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September 13, 2011 · 10:51 pm

The Ghost of Jesse Helms

The Ghost of Jesse Helms visited the North Carolina legislature this week.  I guess we were moving too far along the Progressive path and he feared his legacy was about to be forgotten, so he had to come back for a visit.

Jesse Helms- or at least his memory and his followers- are still alive and well and living in North Carolina.  I forget that sometimes….

I remember when I moved here from Virginia years ago.  I didn’t change the tags on my car for as long as possible as I couldn’t stand the thought of North Carolina tags on my car and people seeing them and linking me to Jesse Helms.  In those days, he was a universal symbol of all that was hateful, judgmental, mean and petty.  Back then, Virginia seemed the more reasonable state.

In more recent years, the loonies have taken over again in Virginia and North Carolina seemed to be becoming a bastion of sanity.  Or at least a Purple State.  It seemed the old ways and the old days were about to be forgotten and a new era was coming.  North Carolina voters supported a Black man in the last presidential election and elected a woman as governor.  We have openly gay mayors and legislators.  We seemed to have finally put the past behind us and been ready to lead the way into the 21st Century of tolerance and peaceful, non-judgmental coexistence.

I guess it was too much for old Jesse.  We all knew he was spinning in his grave and secretly feared something would unleash his ghost.

And it did….

The Ghost of Jesse Helms visited the North Carolina Legislature this week where the remaining followers of Jesse are trying to roll back the clock and bring back legalized discrimination.

By pushing a ballot initiative to ban any sort of recognition for Gay Relationships- not just marriage, but Domestic Partnerships or Civil Unions- the legislature has taken a giant step backwards.

They are showing they are behind the times and fighting a battle that was lost long ago.  But in a region that is still fighting the Civil War, how can we expect an easy surrender to Civil Marriage.

Let’s be clear:  Marriage is a civil, legal contract.  No matter how much the Religious Right carries on, Religion has nothing to do with it.  Churches can choose who they marry, but legislators should not choose who to discriminate against.  This amendment denies equal protection under the law.

Today, North Carolina moved past a decade of healing and pulled the scab off an old, hateful wound.

My hope is that the people of North Carolina prove that they have moved on, even if their “representatives” have not.

My hope is that they will vote down this mean-spirited attempt to legislate hate, divide people and deny basic legal protection to a class of people.

My hope is the people of North Carolina truly turn out to be the open-minded and open-hearted people I have come to know and love over the past 20 years.

I think they really might surprise those legislators in Raleigh and send Jesse’s ghost away for good.

I hope so….

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June 23, 2011 · 6:36 pm

North Carolina Dem Governor Vetoes GOP Voter-ID Bill

Good.

This is nothing but an attempt by the GOP to stop legitimate voters from voting. It is specifically targeted at voters who vote for the Democrats and is really a Republican attempt to limit the electorate and stay in power.

The demographic trending is moving away from the GOP, so look for more dirty trick bills like this as they try to ensure only Rich White People vote…

From TalkingPointsMemo.com:

North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue (D) has vetoed a Voter-ID bill passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature. The proposed law was part of a wave of similar bills that have been pushed by Republican-led legislatures in the wake of the 2010 elections. Like those, it would have required voters to show certain approved forms of photo identification at their polling places, or else cast provisional ballots and then have to prove their eligibility later.

“This bill, as written, will unnecessarily and unfairly disenfranchise many eligible and legitimate voters,” Perdue wrote in her veto announcement.

She also added an allusion to North Carolina’s past as a segregated, Jim Crow state before the Civil Rights movement: “There was a time in North Carolina history when the right to vote was enjoyed only by some citizens rather than by all. That time is past, and we should not revisit it.”

Perdue’s veto is likely to succeed, rather than be overridden. The CBS affiliate in Raleigh points out that while the bill had passed the state Senate by a veto-proof margin, it had in fact only passed the state House by a margin of 62-51, short of the 72 votes that would be needed to override the veto in that chamber.

via North Carolina Dem Governor Vetoes GOP Voter-ID Bill | TPMMuckraker.

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June 21, 2011 · 8:07 pm

John Edwards’ Life in Exile: Ex-Senator Seen as ‘Snake’ and ‘Scumbag’ in Hometown Chapel Hill

The headline pretty much sums it all up for how most of us  feel here in North Carolina…

Great article from the Daily Beast about  how Edwards is seen in Chapel Hill…

Here’s an excerpt and a link to the full article by Michelle Cottle:

The first, inescapable fact on the ground is that the folks around Raleigh and Chapel Hill are not yet in a forgiving mood. While legal experts debate the merits of the Justice Department’s case against Edwards, the hometown crowd has issued its own, more personal verdict: Depending on who you ask, the man is “a snake,” “a scumbag,” or, as Betty Henderson, receptionist at the Edwardses’ longtime church home in Raleigh, eloquently put it, “a narcissist so in love with himself that he can’t see past his own desires.”

Depending on who you ask, the man is “a snake,” “a scumbag,” or…“a narcissist so in love with himself that he can’t see past his own desires.”

Home may be the place where they always have to take you in—but that doesn’t mean they have to like it.

You can’t walk a block in these parts without running into someone who has a tale of John Edwards after the fall—often secondhand and overwhelmingly unflattering. In some instances, the anecdotes revolve around Edwards’ discomfort with his new infamy. A local ABC news cameraman, for instance, was yelled at by an irate Edwards this month when the guy took a picture of the senator at one of Jack’s little league games. “Edwards sits all by himself at the games,” observes the cameraman.

Even more common is the snickering over Edwards’ nightlife. Particularly during the period when Elizabeth kicked him out of the house and he was living in an apartment near the main drag where UNC students congregate, Edwards was a fixture at area watering holes. The hipsterish Bowbarr, right next door to the Rosemary Street highrise in which Edwards lived, was a favorite spot for him to unwind and chat up the (young, pretty) clientele. But there have been sightings of the senator exercising his legendary charm at plenty of other area bars as well. “He’s not shy,” chuckles Mike, a balding, bespectacled bartender at Crooks’ Corner, one of the Edwards clan’s favorite eateries in sunnier times.

via John Edwards’ Life in Exile: Ex-Senator Seen as ‘Snake’ and ‘Scumbag’ in Hometown Chapel Hill – The Daily Beast.

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June 5, 2011 · 10:28 pm

Prison Sentence Doomed John Edwards Plea Deal

Fascinating article from the News and Observer about the behind-the-scenes negotiations relating to John Edwards’ indictment…

Just before John Edwards was indicted Friday, prosecutors made a final offer: They would accept his guilty plea to three misdemeanor campaign finance law violations in the $925,000 cover-up of his affair.With the deal, the former Democratic vice-presidential nominee would avoid a felony conviction – and almost certainly keep the law license that had made him wealthy.But there was a catch.The government wanted to dictate a sentence that would result in up to six months of prison for Edwards, even with the plea to lesser charges.Edwards and his lawyers were concerned. They wanted the ability to at least argue to a judge for alternatives, such as a halfway house, weekend releases, home arrest or some arrangement that would allow Edwards to be with his school-age children. He is a single parent after the death of his wife, Elizabeth, in December.But the way the possible plea deal was structured, the Edwards lawyers believed they would be muzzled from advocating at all about Edwards confinement before a judge, according to multiple people who were involved in the negotiations. Those sources described the plea negotiations in detail on a condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing.It was the last significant issue to be resolved for a plea. If Edwards didnt agree, he would be indicted on multiple felony charges.Edwards, 57, understood the risk. As a trial lawyer, he had sometimes spurned offers of settlements to take his chances with a jury, often winning big judgments. Would he do that again?The clock was ticking.

MORE:   Prison sentence doomed Edwards plea deal – John Edwards case – NewsObserver.com.

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May 27, 2011 · 8:32 am

Elizabeth Warren Fans Attack Patrick McHenry On Facebook Over Liar Charge

I love this!!!

If I didn’t despise Patrick McHenry so much, I would do this myself….

But I just can’t make myself “like” him under any circumstances….

I’m just going to set back and wait for his career to explode….

Like Larry Craig’s…but more loudly.

Rep. Patrick McHenry’s pants may not be on fire, but his Facebook page is getting thoroughly flamed after he called Elizabeth Warren a liar Tuesday in a subcommittee hearing.

Fans of Warren think the North Carolina Republican took some unacceptable liberties with the boss of the nascent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and they’re demanding that he get some McEtiquette and apologize.

Hundreds — and probably thousands — have flocked to McHenry’s fan page to singe him.

“I ‘like’ the fact that thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Americans are appalled by your behavior,” wrote Jill Budzynski. “You are an insult to the title of chairman of any committee. It is out of order to abuse a loyal public servant who is trying her best to accommodate your flip-flopping of schedules. How reprehensible to accuse her of lying. Apologize now.”

The dust-up Tuesday came near the end of a hearing on the CFPB when the Oversight Committee’s top Democrat, Maryland’s Elijah Cummings, noted that Warren had stayed beyond the time he had seen agreed to in internal committee communications.

But McHenry denied there was any agreement, even though the hearing time had been changed as recently as that morning to accommodate the subcommittee. “You’re making this up,” McHenry told her, to her shock and gasps from the hearing audience.

Warren and her staff had the same understanding as Cummings, and sources confirmed the previously agreed upon timing for The Huffington Post.

Warren is an extremely popular figure among people who think Wall Street and the big banks need to be reined in, and they’re expressing their displeasure on Facebook — even if it galls them to have to become a “fan” of McHenry to do so.

via Elizabeth Warren Fans Attack Patrick McHenry On Facebook Over Liar Charge [UPDATE].

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May 26, 2011 · 8:39 pm

John Edwards Plea Deal Possible As Potential Indictment Looms?

Speaking as a former supporter, he just needs to settle this and go away…

We’re all tired of him and his tacky ways.  I’ve always believed “Class will tell and the lack of it even faster”.

It took us way too long to find out the truth on Johnny Boy- he has none.

Now that we know all this, there is no possible “rehabilitation” of his image that I can see…

He just needs to go away….

From Huffington Post:

John Edwards is considering a plea deal that would allow him to avert a looming indictment in a more than two year investigation into alleged campaign finance violations, North Carolina station WRAL reports.

The AP relays background on the case:

Edwards’ mistress Rielle Hunter has sued former campaign aide Andrew Young to have a sex tape and other items returned to her. Young has said he helped cover up Edwards’ affair during the 2008 presidential campaign and worked for months to keep Hunter in hiding.

Edwards has admitted to the affair and fathering Hunter’s child. She worked as a videographer in 2006 for Edwards’ political action committee.

Edwards’ lawyer, Gregory Craig, issued a statement on Wednesday denying his client broke the law. “The government’s theory is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law. It is novel and untested. There is no civil or criminal precedent for such a prosecution,” he said.

Ben Smith at Politico reported on Thursday:

Two other sources in the Edwards camp also said that his own legal team is in deep discussions with their client — himself an almost legendary star of the North Carolina trial bar — over whether he should accept the risk and expense of a criminal trial or sacrifice his law license and possibly his freedom with a guilty plea that might nonetheless represent a real chance for reinventing his tattered public image.

ABC’s James Hill reported on Thursday night:

Multiple sources at the estate of Rachel “Bunny” Mellon confirm to ABC News that the former North Carolina senator met Mellon today for lunch at her sprawling compound in Northern Virginia.

The AP elaborates on the significance of Bunny’s role in relation to the probe into Edwards’ conduct:

According to the network, the reason for the meeting remains unknown. Young has said that Edwards agreed in 2007 to solicit money directly from Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, the 100-year-old widow of banking heir Paul Mellon. Young has said he received hundreds of thousands of dollars in checks from Mellon for his use and Hunter’s, with some of the checks hidden in boxes of chocolate.

Mellon’s attorney has said she didn’t know where the money was going but intended it as a personal gift.

via John Edwards Plea Deal Possible As Potential Indictment Looms? (VIDEO).

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May 26, 2011 · 12:12 pm

Pat McHenry (R-NC) – Sex, Lies, and Funny Videotapes

For those who may not have known all this or may have forgotten, here is a little background article from DailyKos on Patrick McHenry- the guy who was so horribly rude to Elizabeth Warren in the Congressional Hearings this week.

Keep an eye on this guy….

I don’t think we’ve heard the last from him…

Possible tax fraud, voter fraud, house mate of strapping young Republican lads, friends linked to the gay porn industry, and several murders of gay porn stars and a gay Young Republican. BlueNC pounces on McHenry’s link to the apparent killer in the Orlando apparent double murder suicide

via Daily Kos: Pat McHenry (R-NC) – Sex, Lies, and Funny Videotapes.

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May 25, 2011 · 8:40 am

John Edwards Prosecution Given Go Ahead By Justice Department

Since they are canceling so many long running soap operas on television, it’s amazing that this one just keeps going on and on….

But it looks like it might be retooled into a “Judge Judy” episode….

From HuffingtonPost.com:

The U.S. Department of Justice has indicated that it will allow John Edwards to be prosecuted in an investigation into alleged campaign finance violations, North Carolina station ABC11 reports.

According to the local outlet, the 2008 presidential candidate is expected to be indicted in the case.

NBC News confirms that the Justice Department will permit prosecutors to file criminal charges against Edwards.

WRAL News reported on Tuesday that the culmination of the probe was imminent.

Sources told WRAL News on Tuesday that a major development would occur in the next two weeks. It could be an indictment or perhaps a plea deal. Sources said it’s unlikely that prosecutors would walk away from the case.

The AP relays background on the case:

Edwards’ mistress Rielle Hunter has sued former campaign aide Andrew Young to have a sex tape and other items returned to her. Young has said he helped cover up Edwards’ affair during the 2008 presidential campaign and worked for months to keep Hunter in hiding.

…

Edwards has admitted to the affair and fathering Hunter’s child. She worked as a videographer in 2006 for Edwards’ political action committee.

WRAL reports:

Former Edwards aide Andrew Young wrote in his tell-all book, “The Politician,” that heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon gave Edwards a total of $700,000 as a gift. The so-called “Bunny money” helped fund the cover-up of Edwards’ affair with video producer Rielle Hunter, who was pregnant with the former U.S. senator’s child.

Political observers have said the money was a campaign contribution and should have been noted in Edwards’ campaign finance reports.

via John Edwards Prosecution Given Go Ahead By Justice Department: Report (VIDEO).

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