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North Carolina Open Thread: Christian Nationalism, Dark money, Moore vs Harper, SC "tridemic" [1]
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Date: 2022-10-30
Facing South, Chris Kromm, 10/28/2022
With less than two weeks to go until Election Day — and millions of voters already pouring into early voting centers — government officials and voting rights groups are bracing for intimidation and even potential violence at voting sites across the South and country.
This week, Politico reported that federal officials held a briefing with local law enforcement about "the potential for violence in response to the spread of false narratives about elections." According to a source familiar with the call, officials warned that "election workers, including those working at polling stations, are likely to face threats and harassment from extremists both online and offline."
While the threat of election disruption is very real, voting advocates worry that panic about these threats could end up discouraging voters, itself resulting in a form of voter suppression. They also emphasize that thousands of staff and volunteers are being deployed across the South and country to ensure poll sites operate smoothly and troubleshoot problems voters have.
NC Policy Watch, Joe Killian, 10/26/2022
Conservative pastors, political allies aim to tear down any wall between church and state
When Pastor Ken Graves took the podium at Calvary Chapel Lake Norman in Statesville last month, he cut an imposing figure.
Dressed in jeans and heavy boots, the sleeves of his work shirt rolled up to reveal the large tattoos on his massive forearms, he wore a leather holster on his belt. With Western movie gunfighter flourish, he pulled from it a Bible. The book is a great weapon, he told the crowd, a sword which must be unsheathed.
“The people have always had a tendency, even spiritual people, to have their sort of favorite thing that God does,” Graves said. “There were those, no doubt, who were all about the miracles that Christ was performing, the wonders of God that were happening right before their eyes.”
“Others of course, they said, ‘You see how he confronted religious leaders? You see him make that whip in the temple and clean house? Very John-the-Baptist-like! John-the-Baptist-like — calling people out!”
Graves is like the latter group, he said — preferring his Jesus righteously angry, flipping tables and driving the sinful and unworthy from the temple with a whip of cords. “There is a time to be whipping in his name,” Graves told the crowd to thunderous applause.
“We should weep,” Graves said. “He did. He wept. But whip, brothers! I say whip!”
Among those cheering Graves on that morning were Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
OPINION-BlueNC/WRAL, 10/30/2022
Through the first year-and-a-half of the current election cycle, 27 billionaires provided nearly half the money — $89.4 million of a total of $188.3 million — raised by the Senate Leadership Fund and the Congressional Leadership Fund – the two main super PACs trying to elect Republicans to Congress. Super PACs can raise unlimited amounts from every donor.
Club for Growth Action invested two and a half times more in Budd’s campaign than his own campaign did. For the ultra-wealthy, spending to elect candidates who will protect their tax status and gut regulations is a good investment: millions in donations can mean billions in tax savings and less public oversight of their actions. A MarketWatch analysis of campaign finance records through Oct. 23 shows massive outside spending on behalf of Republicans running in competitive Senate races has more than made up for Budd’s lack campaign fund raising. Budd’s raised $18.2 million less than his Democratic opponent former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Cherie Beasley as of the end of September. But he has gained from $55.9 million in outside spending either backing him or attacking Beasley.
There has been about $17.1 million in outside spending on behalf of Beasley or opposing Budd. Overall, Budd’s has a $20.5 million financial lead. Curbing the undue, destructive influence of billionaires on elections requires restoring effective limits on campaign spending, such as by outlawing super PACs and ending anonymity for big donors to so-called “dark money” campaign groups. Also, we are in the midst of a vicious cycle of inflation, driven by massive corporate profit-taking. Of course they can afford to spend tens of millions, they've been picking our pockets since the Pandemic started. And now they're using our own money against us. Unfortunately, the average American hasn't made that connection.
OPINION-BlueNC/The Daily Tarheel, 10/30/2022
Ian Peters, a student at Bridgeport University in Connecticut, holds a poster as he protests to defend the affirmative action during a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court April 1, 2003 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the University of Michigan affirmative action cases to see if the school can consider race in the undergraduate and law school admissions. www.nbcnews.com/...
First implemented in 1965, affirmative action policies were used to remedy the systemic racism and discriminatory practices that barred people of color from equal opportunities. The legacy of racial exclusion still impacts students of color today. Gerrymandered attendance zones and school districts have been drawn to segregate students of color from their white counterparts. According to the UCLA Civil Rights Project, schools in the South are as segregated now as they were about 50 years ago, when the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education outlawed school segregation. As a result, Black, Indigenous and other students of color are statistically more likely to attend under-resourced schools and receive lower-quality education. This puts BIPOC at a huge disadvantage when applying to post-secondary school. Eliminating all signs of race from the admissions process will only exacerbate these racial barriers.
Research findings have established that the admission rates of Black and Latinx students tend to decrease after bans on affirmative action policies, especially at highly selective universities. Universities would not be able to fully consider the personal statements, leadership experiences, recommendation letters and activities that revealed an applicant’s race. For example, a university could consider the leadership experience of an applicant who volunteered at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or participated in the Future Business Leaders of America, but they would not be able to consider the leadership experience of an applicant who was a member of the National Society of Black Engineers or volunteered with the African Methodist Episcopal Church or the Korean Presbyterian Church. In upholding “race-conscious” admissions, we can start to confront the racism and discrimination that prevents students of color from having equal access to educational opportunities that would give them a competitive edge in a selective college admissions process.
All students deserve a fair shot at going to college, regardless of their income, where they grew up or their racial and ethnic background. By joining together, no matter our race, background or zip code, we can stop the blatant efforts to segregate our education system and ensure every child has an equal opportunity. As long as primary and secondary schools continue to produce unequal outcomes for students of color, affirmative action in higher education will be needed.
NC Policy Watch, Lynn Bonner, 10/27/2022
If NC lawmakers prevail, states face the prospect of being forced to run different elections under different voting rules
National associations representing cities, counties and mayors are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject North Carolina Republicans’ claim that legislatures should be the sole state authority setting rules for federal elections.
In a friend of the court brief filed Wednesday in the case Moore vs. Harper, the local government associations said a decision in favor of North Carolina legislators would create a complicated two-tiered system of elections in some states, muck-up ballot counting, and undermine confidence in elections.
A separate brief submitted Tuesday on behalf of seven local government law professors, including Rick Su at the University of North Carolina law school, argues that a decision endorsing Republicans’ position would “wreak havoc” on local election administration and lead to more federal court cases challenging local decisions.
BlueNC, wigginsp, 10/27/2022
Americans for Contraception are rightfully calling out Ted Budd and NC's entire Republican Congressional delegation that voted against Congresswoman Kathy Manning's Right to Contraception Act in their latest ad. It was a simple bill that protects the right to condoms, IUDs, the pill, patches, emergency contraception, and the ring. With a pivotal election just around the corner, it is likely that a vote will come up again early next year. Americans overwhelmingly support the right to contraception. It's time to start talking about this and calling out representatives for voting against basic freedoms. NC spokesperson for Americans for Contraception, Vanessa Watson, said, “The threat to contraception is far from existential, it’s staring us in the face. Americans for Contraception was launched to urge people to contact Congress with the message that 90 percent of Americans support contraception, and they better vote to protect it.
WLOS, Kelsey Sanchez, 10/28/2022
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WACH) — Hospitals in South Carolina are seeing a sharp rise in patients as multiple viruses circulate at once.
Health experts explained flu cases are spiking earlier than normal and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and Covid-19 are only making it worse, which some are calling a 'tridemic,' but the key difference is children are being affected the most.
Melanie Matney, who is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) with the South Carolina Hospital Association, said 76.68% of hospitals are filled and the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is 64.27% filled state-wide. South Carolina has four pediatric hospitals, according to Matney, and all of them are slammed.
Matney said RSC cases usually happen this time of year and primarily affects children, but the issue hospitals are facing is people are getting sicker, faster.
"What we're seeing now is really what's making this worse is, you've got, of course Covid is still out there, but the flu is happening a lot more quickly than it usually does," said Matney
Thanks for reading and contributing, I hope your week is productive.
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