I apologize to everybody for the knuckle-dragging troglodytes who control the NC legislature:

[struggle4progress]

if you haven't seen the news yet, the NC House has just passed a bill (House Substitute #2 for S514) calling for a voter referendum on an anti-gay-marriage amendment to the state constitution

The vote would be held with the first 2012 PRIMARY instead of with the general election

This is a brazen attempt to increase knuckle-dragging troglodyte turn-out in 2012

I want you all to know how embarrassed I am that these unevolved folk have control of my state's General Assembly and how very upset I am by their work to make the 2012 electoral season especially ugly

:(

[johnnypneumatic]

1. how many repukes vs dems in the legislature

did any dems vote for it?

[struggle4progress]

5. the house is 67R / 52D. i don't think the vote was roll-call, and only audio was available

so i didn't get to look at the board. the final tally was 75 / 42 so there must have been about 8 conservadems who voted to put this on the primary ballot

[johnnypneumatic]

14. so some dems voted and didn't even have to for it to pass

hate is bipartisan

Do you expect the same thing from the senate?

[struggle4progress]

19. hard for me to say. senate is barely controlled by Ds, with an handful who regularly

crossover to vote with the R aisle -- so they might have the votes, in which case there's no governor's veto, since it's a referendum

it's our second special session this year, on constitutional amendment issues, and the general view is it's a circus act

but if they don't get it this time, there's talk of a third special session this year, and they can always try again next may

[DesertFlower]

2. i feel your pain. i live in arizona.

[RKP5637]

3. In my lifetime this has become a very bizarre ugly country in many ways. n/t

[struggle4progress]

26. a climate of tolerance and good will requires constant effort to construct and maintain:

it is easily lost

the country has always been a work in progress, from the day people first started stealing the natives' land and importing slaves packed like sardines in stinking holds below deck

[RKP5637]

28. It gets soooo damn frustrating! n/t

[joeybee12]

4. assholes...

And they did it during the primary so it has a better chance of passing. Let me repeat...asholes.

[Shagbark Hickory]

6. So there is some campaigning to do.

How hard can I fuck the spelling up

[struggle4progress]

8. complainin ain't worth a pile of dry chicken bones. there's some hard organizin to do

[Shagbark Hickory]

10. I meant cAmpaigning. I typed cOmpaining.

Whoopsie

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. I have never heard of a referendum being decided on a primary date.

Wow!

[struggle4progress]

9. It's definitely one of those "hold your nose" moments

[Kber]

11. Hon - I'm from NJ

so no apology is necessary.

[struggle4progress]

12. i always liked new jersey

[Kennah]

13. I lived there for 18 months

Anytime I would start flapping my arms about the ways of the South, friend of mine who grew up there would settle me down. His words on one occasion, as I recall:
"You don't have to tell me shit about these country-assed motherfuckers. I grew up here."

Another time, when I must have really got going on a tirade, it was all he could do to keep from crying he was laughing so hard. When I was done with my rant, he barely maintained his composure as he put his arm around me and said:
"You just a Brother of another color!"

He lost his composure and laughed at me uncontrollable. I had to chuckle as well.

[struggle4progress]

17. i actually live in a very blue urban area.

[Kennah]

29. I lived in Burlington, which seemed pretty red

There were areas just a little further away which were a whole lot more red.

Had a transgender coworker there whom I counseled once or twice, "You do know there are areas around here you do NOT want to go, day or night, on foot or in a car, right?"

I rather liked Greensboro and Durham, and was job hunting in Charlotte for a while.

[DevonRex]

15. You need a hug more than anybody here needs an apology.

:hug:

We understand what you go through.

[struggle4progress]

23. i live in a blue bubble. Ds in my town kicked R butt 2:1 or 3:1 in 2010. But we didn't do well

statewide, sadly

[white_wolf]

16. Don't feel too bad. My state just had the "don't say gay bill."

So TN is just as bad. I'm waiting for what absurdly stupid thing we come up with next.

[xchrom]

18. I live here now - I'm donating to fight it - but it will pass. Nt

[struggle4progress]

21. over-pessimism is every bit as much of an enemy of ours as over-optimism:

over the years, i've won several big fights where the forces of darkness had organized the media to chant "you can't win! this is a done deal!"

hope all's well with you :toast:

[yardwork]

24. The only possible positive outcome is that it disgusts enough people to swing the state back D.

I don't think that is likely, given the really effective gerrymandering the Republicans have done.

[struggle4progress]

25. it could swing R-primary results far enough to the wacko side to produce a voter backlash

it could also serve as a hook for careful organizing to put progressive candidates forward up and down the D ballot, by motivating their supporters

but imo those are angles to explore only if this stinking load passes

still it would be my view that one ought never say die, even if one thinks the situation looks hopeless: saying "our side can't win" almost always guarantees our side won't win

[yardwork]

20. I didn't realize that you live here in North Carolina, struggle4progress

Yeah, depressing, huh. And apparently waaaaaay more important to the Republicans controlling the state legislature than today's announcement that Bank of America, based in Charlotte, NC, plans to lay off 30,000-40,000 people in the next few years.

That's 30,000 to 40,000 people to be fired by the biggest bank in the country, one that we the taxpayers bailed out.

Not to mention the thousands of people in North Carolina whose lives have been wrecked by flooding from Hurricane Irene. Not a second to think about them. It's all about the gays.

I've never felt so special.

[struggle4progress]

22. your points are excellent and would go nicely in some ltte

iirc we might even live in the same town: i think i used to send you pms for our little local du meet ups! :toast:

[mmonk]

27. It means we have to turn out.

Only around 30% support it.

[struggle4progress]

30. "... Voters' view about expanded rights for gay couples could be well described as 'complicated.'

61% think gay marriage should be illegal to only 31% who believe that it should be legal. Republicans (86/7) and independents (55/35) are both pretty strongly against it and even Democrats (47/44) are only narrowly supportive of legalized gay marriage.

However when you throw civil unions into the mix as an option 54% of voters support legally recognizing gay couples (25% for marriage, 29% for civil unions) while only 43% are opposed to any sort of legal recognition at all. Voters appear to be more hung up on appending the word 'marriage' to the relationships of gay couples than they are on actually giving those couples the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. Democrats (68/27) and independents (63/35) both strongly support extending more rights to same sex couples.

Voters say that if the election was today they would vote against the marriage amendment by a 55/30 margin. That 55% figure opposed to the amendment closely tracks the 54% of voters who support legally recognizing gay couples ..."

September 07, 2011
NC opposes marriage amendment
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2011/09/nc-opposes-marriage-amendment.html#more

[WorseBeforeBetter]

31. Kicking, sadly, for visibility.

There are a lot of good people in this state, but the hideous ones are in power.