As a Biblical character, you know you’ve made it when even folks who’ve never read the Bible know who you are and such is the fame of King Solomon.  In his most famous judgment, Solomon was required to choose which of two women was the actual mother of a newborn baby. His solution, according to scripture of course, was to cut the baby in half. This revealed the identity of the true mother as she would do anything, even giving up her own child, before she would see it come to harm. I would love to see what the wise king could do with the current state of affairs within North Carolina politics.

According to information from the North Carolina State Board of Elections website, North Carolina has 6,760,450 registered voters.  It doesn’t say how many of them are active voters and it also doesn’t indicate how many are currently alive but it does provide some food for thought.  When broken down by party, Democrats make up 39.3% of the electorate in North Carolina while registered Republicans check in with 30.3%. Following closely behind are independents or as they are know in political party parlance, unaffiliated, with 29.8% of registered N.C. voters.

Given those numbers it is obvious that Republicans have punched far above their weight in every election since 2008.  The 2010 election saw N.C. mirror the country in a lurch back towards a more conservative bent and the N.C. GOP has capitalized on those victories.  With super majorities in both the State House and Senate, Republican leadership seems both drunk with power and desperate to hold onto it.

Bills placing extreme limitations on abortion (or reproductive rights if you prefer) and HB2 represent a social agenda far more conservative than most North Carolinians prefer.  I’m not arguing a position on these laws, necessarily, but merely pointing out that according to polling they don’t represent the wishes of the majority of North Carolinians.  Conversely, elected Democrats have lined up solidly in opposition to these extreme measures and like any army hopelessly outnumbered have resorted to the political equivalent of guerilla warfare.

The latest political imbroglio for North Carolina comes in the form of the Legislative special session where Republicans attempted to shift powers within state based apparently on the November election:  From the governor to the General Assembly, away from the Board of Education to the incoming superintendent, and the piece de resistance in the form of a complete overhaul of the Board of Elections.  Reclaiming “legislative oversight” pursuant to the state constitution many Republicans claimed while Democrats screamed “power grab”.

Cue the scenes which have become all too familiar to middle of the road North Carolinians.  Clamoring protests by the NAACP and other liberal groups and sweet grandmothers being arrested by Capitol police all while Dallas Woodhouse screeches in the background about the Christmas Massacre of 1976.  God bless us everyone, indeed.

With politically gerrymandered districts protecting many Republican officials it is unlikely that even the continual stream of negative court rulings will slow the tide of their conservative agenda.  Meanwhile, Democrats hold slim hope that Gov. Cooper will spend more time governing than fighting rearguard actions against the state legislature.  In his inaugural address Cooper said he refused “to spend the next four years engaging in political brinksmanship.”  Sorry Roy but that’s what you signed up for.

Sadly, if our elected leaders were presented with the opportunity to split the baby it appears that each would be more than willing to take a half.

Helping the refs

My oldest daughter happened to be entering the living room the other day as I screamed for a penalty to be called in favor of my beloved Manchester United. Anyone who has ever seen me coach a soccer game knows that finding passion isn’t a problem for me nor is attempting to assist the referees in making a decision. At home, watching soccer, I’m even more vociferous and helpful.

“Which team is Manchester United?”, EJ asked as I wiped my spittle from the television screen.  My first thought was how much Palmer was going to enjoy not having to split her inheritance with her sister but then it hit me.  Switch shirts.  Would I feel the same if the play had happened in the exact same way except on the other end of the field?

In my classroom, one of my main teaching tools is to encourage students to defend the position opposite of the one they hold. I’ve had Hispanic students push for border walls, evangelicals defend gay marriage, and boys still in camouflage from their morning deer hunt speak in favor of gun control. I’m not trying to make these students change sides;  I’m trying to make them see that there is another side.

Take your medicine

If I was captain of the debate team I would take my own medicine and explain why the Russian hacking (or should I say alleged hacking) of the U.S. electoral system isn’t a big deal.  Turns out that at least in this instance I’m not able to do what I ask of my students. I can’t seem to turn this situation in my head in any way to where it isn’t a big deal.

I know that Team Hillary did a poor job in some swing states where she felt victory was all but assured and therefore ignored them. I know that the emails released were not doctored in any way but were in fact the exact words of Democratic operatives. It is not my intention to question any of the facts about Hillary’s poorly run and ill fated campaign.  My point is that if the shirts had been switched and the same thing had happened to the Trump campaign I doubt he would be urging America to “move on.”

If I remember correctly the President-elect questioned the efficacy of the electoral process consistently up until election day so leaked emails potentially hacked by a foreign power should be of grave concern to him.  The question to ask is why Donald Trump is unconcerned with potential meddling by foreign powers even up to the point of casting aspersions on the intelligence community.

The answer, in my opinion, is that it is not that he is unconcerned with hacking but instead is more concerned about the perceived legitimacy of his election and therefore his presidency.  We’ve all seen how difficult it has been for an African born, Muslim to be considered a legitimate president and he won the popular vote and electoral college. Twice.  

Ironically, while I was writing this piece Manchester United beat West Ham 2-0 after the Hammers had a player red carded in the 14th minute and were forced to play the rest of the game with 10 men.  If the shirts had been switched I might be in the hospital right now and Heather would be keeping vigil bedside while searching Amazon for a new T.V.

“You’re so smart Brian and you know so much about politics and life in general. You should have your own blog”, said no one ever.

It seems that American and North Carolina politics have become more and more defined by extremism. I’m not sure if this is truly the case or if social media makes it appear that we have become more comfortable defining ourselves by our differences.

I also thought this might be a great place to bring in factual information without a political slant (as much as possible). I read news from a variety of sources/political leanings and attempt to distill it into a cohesive set of beliefs.  This blog is a way to let others behind the curtain, so to speak, to understand how I arrived at my own belief systems.

Finally, I think this blog might be a great place to bring to light some overlooked topics that may be important but have trouble making it onto our radar.

So, why a blog?

It is not my intention to write a modern-day version of The Federalist Papers nor am I so delusional as to think I may become the next Gore Vidal or Christopher Hitchens.  This blog will be, in short, a way to make me think. If I can make you think along the way so much the better.

Another reason I’ve chosen to write this blog is that most social media outlets, Facebook especially, have become a place for bumper sticker politics, propaganda, or outright false information. Facebook is a great place to be reminded of friends’ birthdays,  beat our chests about the latest victory of our favorite college team,  or discover important lifehacks like peeling an entire bag of potatoes with an electric drill in 23 seconds but it is not a place for deep thought.

Finally, I think this blog can be a voice for the independent minded, politically unaffiliated voter in an era when two-party politics controls much of the machinations of state and federal government.  But more on that later…