Saturday, November 19, 2016

THE CASH JOURNAL FOR WEDNESDAY, NOV. 23RD, 2016

By Cash Michaels

            LAUGHINGSTOCK – Once again North Carolina is the laughingstock of the nation, this time thanks to Gov. Pat McCrory’s inability to fathom two very simple words – YOU LOST!
            Call it ego, call it shame, or call it whatever you want…Patrick Lloyd McCrory, outgoing one-term Republican governor (if nothing else shifty gets in the way) of the once great state of North Carolina (I say “once great” because McCrory and his GOP colleagues in the state legislature have done such a marvelous job of taking North Carolina so far backwards, I’m amazed Thomas Edison isn’t still listed in the phone book) is doing his best, along with his cutthroat posse of dime-a-dozen law-traitors to turn over every rock, nuk and cranny to “prove” that nothing but dead people and vote-fraud masters gave his Democratic opponent, state Attorney General Roy Cooper, a slim Election Day 5,000 vote lead (which later swelled to over 6,600 by last weekend).
            McCrory just can’t take it. Donald Trump, the loud-AND-foulmouthed sex maniac the governor backed for president won. Sen. Richard Burr hardly campaigned and even got caught wishing out loud that someone would assassinate Hillary Clinton, and he still got re-elected. Indeed, Republicans were claiming victory all over the place on Election night.
            McCrory couldn’t stand being left out of the party, especially when his opponent, Roy Cooper, got up on stage and declared victory long before anything had been officially determined. Pat decided right then and there that he wasn’t going out like that.
            So all of McCrory’s lawyers have fanned out, filing election protests in 52 counties, hoping to generate enough “evidence” of voter fraud, in predominately-black voting precincts, to “prove” that Cooper only came out on top because of “voter fraud” on a massive scale.
            So far, upon review, out of 4.6 million ballots cast, less than ten have actually proven to be questionable. There is that situation in Bladen County where folks paid to help the elderly fill out mail-in absentee ballots did not realize they had to also sign the form, but if true, that’s a mistake, not fraud.
            Still, the fact that McCrory is causing all of this ruckus just because he’s on the losing end of the people’s decision, is shameful and sets a poor example. Let’s be clear, Pat and his attorneys are manipulating the system in desperate hopes that manna will fall from the sky and just award him the election. Never mind that he is further deeply dividing the state at a time when folks are clearly in no mood.
            Never mind that Pat McCrory never has been, and never will be a strong leader, let alone a good governor. What Pat McCrory is is a snake oil salesman who masters the art of swift and slick talking, always smiling so that folks will mistake his brandishing of polished teeth for “true” grit; balling up his fists as a symbol of empty determination; and talking in low tones to convince the listener that Pat has the requisite cool needed to be a great leader.
            This may all end up in the Republican-led NC General Assembly, where state lawmakers would surely vote to install Pat for another term, only to make him pay for it by walking all over him again for the next four years.
            Now is his chance to show true leadership by taking his loss like a man, but Pat McCrory can’t do that. Without the governor’s office, what else does he have to do? Where else can he go to play pretend? Stay tuned.
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 NCNAACP BLASTS RUMORED
PLAN TO STACK HIGH COURT
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer

            Whatever credibility the Republican-led North Carolina Supreme Court currently has would be “totally eroded” if state GOP legislative leaders try to stack the state’s High Court to maintain a partisan advantage, warns the chairman of the NC NAACP’s Legal Redress Committee.
            Atty. Irving Joyner, who is also a professor of law at North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham, isn’t buying published reports that Republican legislative leaders are not considering the move to offset the Election night victory of Wake Superior Court Judge Mike Morgan, a Democrat, to the NC Supreme Court. Given how Republicans are scrambling to prove Democratic voter fraud in over 50 counties after state Attorney General Roy Cooper’s slim apparent defeat of incumbent Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, Prof. Joyner and the rest of the NCNAACP have announced that they’re gearing up for yet another legal fight in case Republican lawmakers not only attempt to stack the court with two appointees, but also try to decide the governor’s race.
            Public support for our court system is predicated on the faith and truth of the people that our justice system is fair, unbiased and impartial,” Chairman Joyner said. “That faith has been severely tested and undermined over the past ten years due to obvious political decisions which the [state] Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals have issued. The tepid support which the court system presently enjoys will be totally eroded if the Republican Legislature moves forward with a plan to add two political appointees to the composition of the Supreme Court in response to the election of Justice[-elect] Michael Morgan.”
            Morgan handily defeated incumbent Republican Justice Robert Edmunds on election night, thus giving the court a 4-3 Democratic majority when it reconvenes for another term. But it wasn’t long before press reports circulated that Republican lawmakers would use Gov. McCrory’s special session on Hurricane Matthew disaster relief planned for December to also add two more appointees to the state Supreme Court, thus changing it to 5-4 Republican, even though the court is supposed to be nonpartisan.
            “The concern is, in light of the fact that the voters have stated by their votes Tuesday that they reject the politicalization of our North Carolina Supreme Court, [they] do not want the justices to have any political leanings, and the voters want to make sure that our highest court is perceived as being fair and impartial in every decision,” Morgan said.
            NCNAACP Pres. Rev. William Barber, promising a legal fight, echoed Justice-elect Morgan’s concern, saying that adding the two court-appointees would be “wrong because it is a form of partisan scheming designed to go around the people, and a vote of the people.”
            With the McCrory-Cooper gubernatorial race still in unofficial limbo at press time Monday, there is mounting concern that the ultimate winner will be chosen by the Republican-led NC General Assembly.  No one has denied that as a possibility, even though GOP leaders have denied contemplating expanding the state Supreme Court address the Morgan victory.
            "We have never really talked about it at all," Republican Rep. David Lewis of Harnett County and chairman of the House Rules Committee, told reporters last week. Senate President Pro tem Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) said there had been “no [Republican Senate] caucus discussions” about the matter.
            But Atty. Joyner, based on previous actions by Republican lawmakers who have held surprise votes on issues without public hearings or notice in the recent past, isn’t buying their denials.
            These additions or the ill-advised effort to pack the court with Republicans will be seen for what it is: a political scheme to over-rule the vote of the voters which elected, by a large margin, Justice Morgan as the pivotal swing vote on a politically evenly divided court,” the NCNAACP Legal Redress Committee chairman said.
“Our courts should always enjoy the highest level of support from citizens because it is fair, unbiased, impartial and worthy of respect. Adding two political appointees to the court, as it is presently constituted, would totally destroy the remaining faith that African Americans and other racial minorities might have in the Courts of this State.”
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2018 MIDTERMS
NEXT ELECTION TARGET
by Cash Michaels
contributing writer

            Two months before President-elect Donald J. Trump even takes the oath of office, activists and Democrats are already looking past their election 2016 defeats towards the 2018 midterms, hoping that they have learned enough lessons to gain some ground.
            But with recent Republican victories in both the state House and Senate, as well as the US Congress, any ground not gained now will be much, much harder to get in two years thanks to redistricting, even though, theoretically, the party not in power in the White House usually does well during midterms.
In 2018, every state lawmaker and U.S. House representative just elected or reelected will be up for another two-year term. Depending on how either a Gov. McCrory or Cooper are doing here, or Pres. Trump is doing in Washington, will determine how successful the 2018 midterms will be.
            To Rev. William Barber, president of the NC NAACP, the fight for fair policies must continue seamlessly from this year to 2018. “We have to,” the civil rights leader said during a post-election day telephone conference, noting that there are key battles in Congress activist groups are seeking to win.
            “We have to fight for the Voting Rights Act to be restored. We have to remember that in our history, when we first got the VRA, we didn’t have the people elected in Congress with a plan to do it. We created a context where they had to do it, through marching, through civil disobedience and speaking out.”
            Rev. Barber continued, “ We’re going to continue to organize, to push out. We have seen what 23-24 percent of the electorate can do. We’re going to try to get that to thirty percent, plus Latinos.”
              If there is one goal Democrats have as a top priority, it is to regain majorities in the NC and US Houses by 2020, the next presidential year, in order to control redistricting. The party in power at the start of each decade redraws the voting maps in their respective states and  congressional districts, thus making it tougher for the opposing party to unseat the majority.
            Since Republicans took over the state House in 2010 and redrew North Carolina’s voting districts to essentially protect their legislative majority in 2011, the GOP has been able to confidently push its conservative agenda, reversing, many Democratic critics say, whatever social progress had been made by the Democratic majority in previous years.
            Thanks to a successful federal lawsuit against North Carolina’s 2011 redistricting plan alleging racial discrimination, the NC General Assembly will be required to redraw its map for the remainder of the decade.
            But it really all boils down to one thing, says State Senator Paul Lowe [D-Forsyth], and that’s Democrats making it their business to come out in 2018, and vote.
Unlike presidential elections, African-American and other communities of color don’t traditionally turn out in large numbers for midterm elections, and the challenge is even seen as being greater now.
            “Our people have to vote, Sen. Lowe, an African-American, says. “Our people have to turnout and vote during the midterm elections if they want to see things different. There’s no way to get away from that.”
            “Poor people, people of color, women have the most to gain if they participate in the process, and the most to lose if they don’t,” Sen. Lowe adds. “So we can’t allow midterm elections to get by, and w don’t participate, because we voting on those things that will affect us in most cases.”

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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 11-24-16

COOPER DEFIANTLY MOVES FORWARD WITH TRANSITION TEAM
            [RALEIGH] Even though the state Board of Elections and various local BOEs are still wrestling with Republican allegations of voter fraud in the 2016 governor’s race, Democratic candidate Roy Cooper is waiting for  final decision. Confident that he has a safe 6600-vote margin over incumbent Republican Gov. Pat McCrory that will hold up, Cooper has put up a “We’re hiring” on his transition website, and announced several members who will head up his transition team. Meanwhile, prominent Democrats like Congressman G. K. Butterfield are urging Gov. McCrory to conceded the race. As of Monday, 12 counties have certified their voter counts.  The McCrory campaign had file ballot protests in over fifty counties.

CHARLOTTE CITY COUNCIL MAY PROTECT HISTORICALLY BLACK CEMETERY
            [CHARLOTTE] The Charlotte City Council is considering protecting Biddleville Cemetery, a post-Civil War era  all-black cemetery founded in 1873, from development in the area. The council would designate the area with an historic designation. The city’s Historic Landmark Commission is recommending the designation.

NC CENTRAL UNIVERSITY DEFEATS RIVAL NC A&T UNIVERSITY FOR MEAC TITLE, 42-21
            [GREENSBORO]  The Eagles of North Carolina Central University are flying flying high after beating their rivals, the Aggies of North Carolina A&T University Saturday in a rout, 42-21 to claim the MEAC Championship for the third straight time in a row. The NCCU Eagles now prepare to meet whoever wins the Southwestern Athletic Conference champion on Dec. 17th for the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl at the Georgia Dome.

NO TIME OR LOCATION YET FOR THE DEC. 3RD KKK RALLY IN NORTH CAROLINA
            It’s a week away, but so far, no word on where the Saturday, Dec. 3rd Ku Klux Klan rally and march by the Loyal White Knights of the KKK out of Pelham, NC will be held. According to the white supremacist group’s website, the events will be to celebrate the election of President-elect Donald Trump. Several white supremacist leaders, including former Klan leader David duke, have hailed Trump’s election as a victory for white people.

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