NYT: "gratuitous bigotry" in NC

Dear Sen. Soucek,

Thanks for getting North Carolina's name out there in the national press. We're sure this editorial in the New York Times' Sunday edition is just the thing to get CEOs around the country to take notice of North Carolina, pull out their permanent marker and put a giant black mark through our name.

Ruling with an iron fist

Asheville Citizen-Times columnist John Boyle is on a roll lately and this weekend penned a withering account of the heavy-handed, Republican-led efforts to dismantle Asheville, AKA Liberal Bastion of the Blue Ridge.
Boyle makes the connection that many miss: self-proclaimed conservatives now in control of the Legislature are all too eager to give lip service to individual liberties and limited government except when it suits their interests to rule with an iron fist. That includes meddling in purely local city and county matters to harm political foes and introducing a constitutional amendment that restricts citizens' ability to define for themselves their families and relationships.
As Chris Fitzsimon points out, it looks like more and more North Carolina voters are seeing their two-faced position for what it really is.

More evidence Tea Party has busted up Ashe GOP

It was movie night at the Ashe County Tea Party meeting earlier this week on account of the opportunity to codify discrimination into the state constitution on the May 8th ballot. The group showed the "riveting and alarming" special program "The Problem with Same-Sex Marriage: How it Will Affect Your Children" produced by Family Research Council and Tony Perkins ((and now available for the low, low suggested donation of only $14.95).

FRC has the dubious distinction of being classified as an official Hate Group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for, among other things, calling for the criminalization of homosexuality, maniacally chanting gay and pedophilia in the same sentence, and denouncing efforts to stop bullying in schools as a just another attempt by the LGBT community to redefine "our culture."

West Jefferson Republican and activist Cynthia Wadsworth gives a lively account of the movie screening in a letter to editor of the Jefferson Post:

"I asked to speak after the movie. I attempted to state why I felt like the movie was propaganda. Just after my first sentence, a woman stood up and with her hands over her head, started screaming “Oh Jesus we lift this lady up….” and from that point forward I was silenced. I did try shouting facts about the movie. I also shouted why I would be voting against Amendment One. I was told I could present my handout, which contained statements by respected N.C. Republicans who are voting against Amendment One, but I was blocked by people attending the meeting. The loud praying by some continued, along with heckling, and at that point I left."

Wadsworth goes on to say she'll vote AGAINST Amendment One and Tea Party event host County Commissioner candidate Ed McClearen who made no effort to stop the shouting/praying match:

"I am voting against amendment one because I believe amendments should be written to protect the rights of people. Amendment one takes away rights. This amendment is a way of using the majority to vote against a minority and that is wrong. The amendment includes only the first part of how Article 14 of the N.C. Constitution would be changed. There is great concern by some N.C. lawyers of how this might be interpreted legally. A vote against Amendment One will harm no one. A vote for Amendment One could harm many.
I will not be voting for Ed McClearen for county commissioner and I will not be voting for any politician that associates with We The People of Ashe, aka the Tea Party of Ashe County. They used a back room in Faith Fellowship to push anti-gay sentiments. In my opinion, WTPA have lost all credibility."

McClearen is a retired Raleigh attorney who has apparently made it his singular mission to promote the Amendment over the past few months and has been featured prominently in news accounts of recent pro-Amendment rallies held in Boone and West Jefferson.

According to what we hear on the street, the Tea Party has basically run roughshod over the old Ashe Republican Party with their radical agenda and split the Grand Ole Party wide open. For now, there's no big tent politics. Only hate-filled tent revivals.

How does that go again? One Man, One Woman, One Mistress?

Brought to you by the good pious folks in Raleigh who are hellbent on protecting marriage. Pay no attention to what they do, only what they say....

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/04/27/2027766/charles-thomas-nc-speakers-top.html