MEADOWS USE OF BLACK “PROP”
TO HELP TRUMP FAILS MISERABLY
By Cash Michaels
A North Carolina conservative congressman who once urged voters to send Pres. Obama “…home to Kenya,” won few, if any, friends in the black community last week when he had a former employee of President Trump’s - a black female Republican - to come stand next to him, during the House Oversight Committee hearings focusing on former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen’s contention that the president was a racist.
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC- 11) , known to be close to and protective of Trump, justified having Lynne Patton, a HUD employee and former Trump associate who once worked as an event planner, to stand by him because “…she would never work for a racist.”
Meadows added that Patton was the daughter of a black man born in Birmingham, Alabama, signifying that she knew racism, and would not countenance it.
The conservative congressman became irate to the point of tears when a Democratic freshman congresswoman publicly accused him of a ‘racist act” for using Patton as a “prop.” She later backed off when pressed by committee Chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings.
In his opening statement, Cohen, who has been convicted of lying to Congress during previous testimony, and tax evasion, maintained that his former client Trump, was a racist, as well as a “…con man and cheat.”
While Cohen drew plenty of fire from Republican lawmakers on the panel, African-American North Carolinians and others on social media, especially Facebook, had a field day going Meadows for his use of Patton to prove that Trump was not a racist.
Patton, being a black woman, drew particularly nasty reviews.
“Well massa always had one that worked in the big house.....,” quipped Odessa.
"She stood there like a slave on the auction block,” quoted Carol from Black Twitter.
“ As a white woman, I resent anyone being used this way,” wrote Ann. “It is sexist and racist. Why didn’t he use a black male? She sold herself, but might have lost her job if she didn’t cooperate. He has insulted women and black women especially. Jesus does not foster these things!”
A poster named Regina wrote, “Her Trumpian Journey... from wedding and event planning to HUD administrator to House Chamber Jester
An outraged poster named Pebbles from Charlotte wrote in mostly caps, “THEY HAVE NO RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE. They just put anyone in the position. She looks like a "PET" ....DURING BLACK HISTORY MONTH....DISGUSTING!
“She was a token black woman being used by a political hack defending a waste of human skin-TRUMP, wrote Linda..
A white man named Tim went after Meadows, writing, “ I was disgusted by Meadow's behavior. He exploited the young African American lady. Made her a token like she was on display. What a show it was! I haven't seen this type of racism or false enlightenment. The young lady barely said anything. My mother was born in 1926. I would expect this type of behavior, prejudice, and discrimination from her generation.
Finally, a angry woman named Lillian wrote, “Working for the white whiteboy is bad enough, but when they drag you before the world and say SEE I AM NOT RACIST it’s damn embarrassing. The spook who sat by the door! Girl!
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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IN CONTROVERSIAL
VOTER ID COURT RULING?
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
A Wake County Superior Court judge has denied a motion by Republican legislative leaders to stay his Feb. 22ndorder to void a constitutional amendment, passed by North Carolina voters during the 2018 November midterm elections, to make voter photo ID law in the state.
Judge G. Bryan Collins, Jr., a Democrat, effectively refused to place a hold on his own order, thus setting up a huge legal battle over whether the state legislature was even legally constituted to place the amendment on the 2018 ballot, let alone later passing laws codifying voter ID.
The argument put forth by the NCNAACP and other groups in their lawsuit before the court, argued that because many of the state lawmakers were deemed to have been illegally elected from racially gerrymandered voting districts, they did not have the authority to act on behalf of the people, as the NC Constitution mandates.
Judge Collins original order struck down the amendment empowering the subsequent voter ID laws that were passed, not those laws themselves. That’s the argument attorneys for Republican legislative leaders now argue, that the voter ID laws, separate from the voided constitutional amendment, still exist.
Opponents have wasted no time in going after the voter ID laws.
Filed almost immediately after the Republican-led General Assembly Special Session last December, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed suit on behalf of six plaintiffs, charging that the new voter ID laws violated the NC Constitution by:
· purposefully discriminating against and disproportionately impacting African-American and American-Indian qualified voters, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause in Article 1, § 19;
· unduly burdening the fundamental right to vote, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause in Article 1, § 19;
· creating separate classes of voters, treated different with respect to their access to the fundamental right to vote, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause in Article 1, § 19;
· imposing a property requirement for voting, in violation of the Property Qualifications Clause in Article I, § 11; and,
· impeding voters’ ability to engage in political expression and speech by casting a ballot, in violation of their Right of Assembly and Petition and Freedom of Speech as afforded by Article I, §§ 12 and 14.
“It is the legislature’s duty to balance competing demands in the State Constitution. It has failed miserably in its exercise of balancing the new ID constitutional amendment, which explicitly allows for exceptions, with the numerous other state constitutional demands that have been interpreted to aggressively protect the right to vote, ” said AttorneyAllison Riggs of theSouthern Coalition for Social Justice. “Any legislative scheme that requires voters to present ID when voting must have fail-safe measures to ensure that not one single eligible voter is disenfranchised. Our State Constitution demands it. This legislation does not do that. It simply replicates a scheme that we know disenfranchised approximately 1,400 voters in the March 2016 primaries.”
Attorneys for Republican legislative leaders are now hoping to appeal Judge Collins, hoping, in the end, to overturn it.
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NO WORD ON TROOPER SHOOTING
OF WEBSTER FROM DA’S OFFICE
By Cash Michaels
Staff writer
There has been no determination announced by District Attorney Ben David by press time Tuesday as to the trooper shooting death of Brandon Lovell Webster of Shallotte .
On Tuesday, The Wilmington Journalcalled the office of D.A. David, who also oversees Brunswick County, for an update as to whether any charges were expected. According to published reports, officials were waiting for toxicology and autopsy reports before making a final determination. The State Bureau of investigation, which normally investigates shootings by law enforcement across the state, reportedly finished its initial review of the incident..
The SBI normally reports its findings to the county District Attorney for an assessment of the evidence, and final determination as to whether criminal charges are warranted.
The state Highway Patrol normally conducts its own internal review of such incidents to determine whether agency policies and procedures were followed.
Webster, 28, was fatally shot by NC State Trooper S. A. Collins on January 1stright outside the Civietown Mini Mart. He had been pulled over by Trooper Holden on Holden Beach Road at around 8:55 p.m..
Authorities allege when Collins approached Webster’s vehicle, Webster “accelerated towards the officer.”
A cellphone video, purportedly of the incident, doesn’t show the shooting, but a man’s voice can be heard yelling “Stop….,I’ll shoot!” followed by shots as white truck moves forward, and pulls away from a stationary Highway Patrol vehicle with its lights flashing.
Webster, who was reportedly with a female friend in the truck, later died of a gunshot wound later at Norvant Health Brunswick Medical Center.
Trooper Collins, who has been with the state Highway Patrol for one year, has been placed on administrative duty since the shooting, pending results of D.A. David’s determination, and the internal agency review.
Since the incident, there had been a candlelight community tribute to Brandon Webster, in addition to at least one march demanding justice in the case.
Family and friends of Webster say there was no reason for the trooper to shoot the young man, and that he could have been chased if he had committed a crime, and forced to surrender.
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 03-07-19
WILLISTON ARTS SCHOOL PROPOSAL OFFICIALLY DROPPED
[WILMINGTON] It’s official. The NHC School Board, as of Tuesday, has officially dropped it’s proposal to turn Williston Middle School into a performing arts high school. School board members credit the concern expressed by the community, urging that if Williston is to be changed all, it should become a top academic and vocational school, similar to it’s historic namesake, Williston Senior High School, which was unceremoniously closed in 1968 by the board. Members say Williston Middle will be subject to the new middle school redistricting plan once that’s developed, and efforts will be made to improve Williston Middle low-performing status.
VANDALS SPRAY PAINT RACIAL SLURS, SYMBOLS ON THE BRIDGE CHURCH
[WILMINGTON] Wilmington police are probing who is responsible for spray painting racial slurs, obscenities and symbols on the rear of the multi-ethnic The Bridge Church on Market Street last week. Authorities suspect that the some person or persons responsible for putting graffiti recently on Flytrap Downs downtown, may have vandalized The Bridge Church as well. If you have any information as to a possible suspect, please contact the Wilmington Police Dept.
YOUR VEHICLE SAFETY INSPECTION FEE IS GOING UP
[RALEIGH] Get ready to dust off another dollar from your wallet when it comes time to pay for your annual vehicle safety inspection. The state house Transportation Committee voted to approve the dollar increase Tuesday. Keep in mind that your vehicle must also pass emissions testing as well. The increase still has to be voted on in the full House, and then be sent to the state Senate before becoming law.
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