POWER GRAB IN NC: One of the few bright spots on election day this year was the defeat of Republican North Carolina governor Pat McCory, a man who distinguished himself by ushering in some of the most draconian voter suppression statutes in the county, followed shortly by cruel and dehumanizing anti-gay and anti-trans legislation. The voters also elected a liberal-majority state supreme court. This week, the outgoing governor called a special legislative session dedicated to what can only be called a blatant and shocking power grab by Republicans. The gerrymandered Republican super-majority in the legislature is pushing through bills that would:
- change the structure of county election boards to prevent Democrats from controlling them (the way Republicans have controlled them during McCory’s term);
- enlarge the State Election Board and write into the rules that Republicans must control the State board in every election year;
- make state supreme court judge elections partisan; dramatically limit the state supreme court’s authority to hear appeals; and
- In perhaps the most blatant move, reduce the number of state employees who serve at the pleasure of the governor from 1500 to 300, end the governor’s ability to appoint trustees of the University of North Carolina system, and make the governor’s cabinet subject to senate confirmation.
Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern rightly calls this a “legislative coup.” The GOP in North Carolina is utterly shameless, making no bones about their intentions (after the state party literally bragged their bill had suppressed the black vote, a legislator told the Times that these newest measures were to show that the GOP would “continue to be a relevant party in governing the state”). We should not be surprised if the congressional Republicans take note and follow the footsteps of their North Carolina brethren.
How Should Democrats Resist? Last time, we checked in on the intraparty fight over “identity politics.” (One more good one on that here.) Now the party has moved on to a fighting how to fight Trump, and who should lead the charge. This week, Dahlia Lithwick and David Cohen published an op-ed in the Times urging Democrats to fight like Republicans, starting with urging the electors to refuse to vote for Trump. They lament the party’s unwillingness to, well, fight dirty, to equal the Republicans’ obstructionism and shattering of norms. I admit that this argument both appeals to me and simultaneously makes me squeamish; I (and most Dems, I presume) am an “institutionalist,” who believes in the importance of institutions and political norms. To destroy them is dangerous. Then again, I agree that we need to face the reality of the disaster that we live in now, and not pretend it is politics as normal. Jonathan Chait argues that we need to fight Trump not with supra-institutional means but through Congress and elective politics itself. I don’t think they’re really oppositional to each other; the bottom line is that we need to be AWAKE and fighting. All the time. To that end, a few ex-Congressional aides put together this incredible guide to organizing effective pressure points on officials hell bent on destroying the safety net and reversing three decades of gains made by women, minorities, gays, etc. They break down political organizing into management steps, and helpfully emphasize that we must focus on DEFENSE at this moment, rather than pushing our own affirmative agenda.
How Should Democrats Resist, Part 2: The other aspect of this dispute is who should lead the Democratic party forward. The first candidate for the post of DNC Chair is Keith Ellison, a liberal representative from Minnesota who was a vocal Bernie supporter. He has been attacked by the usual anti-Mulsim forces, and has been smeared with the anti-semitism label for questioning Israel policy and once, years ago, supporting Louis Farrakhan. Now Obama Labor Secretary Tom Perez has thrown his hat into the ring. Both men seem to be smart, progressive men with good ideas, and I can’t claim to have strong feelings about this. But to the extent that this is becoming a fight over the soul of the party, I agree with New York Magazine’s Ed Kilgore, who writes that the DNC chair should focus on building the party apparatus and infrastructure, rather than cementing the party’s ideology.
Tech Titans Woo Trump: Yesterday, figures from the tech world all kissed the ring at Trump Tower, sitting for a roundtable discussion with Trump and his three adult children. (Please note the irony that today was supposed to be the day of Trump’s press conference at which he would detail his separation from his businesses. Instead, he canceled the conference, tweeted that his children would run the business, and then had his children sit in on a policy meeting with the leaders of some of the biggest companies in the country. AAAAAHHHHH this and this!!!!!) Josh Barro points out that fully 20% of the attendees of this meeting were Trump family members -- all in keeping with our new era of kleptocracy. Also, what the hell was Sheryl Sandberg doing there?? A woman who has identified herself (and made millions doing so) with feminism sat at the side of the most openly misogynistic president perhaps ever, or at least of the modern era -- and neither confronted him on these issues to his face nor made any statement about it before or after the meeting. Indeed, she was seated next to Pence, likely intentionally to ensure that the photos of Trump at this meeting would capture her (one of the few women in attendance) as well. Why is she letting herself be used as a Trump stooge?
Apocalypse Watch: “The story can be seen as one data point in a growing list of recent examples in which explicit racism appears to be getting a pass, a platform, or even a reward in contexts where it once seemed safe to assume that this would be out of the question.”
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