[DAILYCALLER] A taxpayer-funded political science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has concluded that political conditions in North Carolina are comparable to political conditions in totalitarian nations such as Cuba, Venezuela and Iran because Republicans are too politically successful.
The professor, Andrew Reynolds, aired his 936-word grievance last week in The News & Observer, a newspaper out of Raleigh.
I bet it didn't bother him much when the Democrats won virtually every election in that state for a hundred twenty years after the civil war.
North Carolina "can no longer be classified as a full democracy," Reynolds declares, because the statewide Republican Party has been too successful at winning the state’s winner-take-all elections.
The winner-take-all system -- which is excessively common throughout the United States -- is a huge problem, Reynolds pontificates, because "one party wins just half the votes but 100 percent of the power." North Carolina Republicans have won so many elections in recent years that they have "a huge legislative majority" and "absolute veto-proof control."
The professor blames gerrymandered voting districts in the state for creating "rigged district boundaries" and making state politicians "beholden to their party bosses" and "detached from democratic accountability."
Reynolds also says North Carolina "can no longer be classified as a full democracy" because of a state transgender bathroom law -- commonly called House Bill 2 -- which requires people to use public bathrooms aligning with the genitalia with which they were originally born.
There are "an estimated 38,000 transgender Tar Heels," the professor writes, and "democracies do not limit their citizens’ rights on the basis of their born identities."
That's strange: I thought democracies limited citizen rights on a daily basis so as to allow all citizens to have an equal measure of rights.
Still further, North Carolina "can no longer be classified as a full democracy," Reynolds writes, because state politicians have attempted to enforce legislation requiring voters to present government-issued photo identifications before casting ballots. Such laws, the professor says, are "targeted attempts to reduce African-American and Latino access to the vote."
He's just another garden-variety progressive without an original idea...
The final argument Reynolds makes is that North Carolina "can no longer be classified as a full democracy" because the state’s Republican-led legislature recently passed several laws designed to undercut the power of incoming Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
"When, in response to losing the governorship, one party uses its legislative dominance to take away significant executive power, it is a direct attack upon the separation of powers that defines American democracy," Reynolds writes. The hastily-passed laws, which some notable state Republicans have decried, leave "Carolina no better than the authoritarian regimes we look down upon," Reynolds claims.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
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#1
Dear Professor,
North Carolina was never a full democracy. Neither was the United States.
We are a republic. Always has been.
You would think a political science professor would know that.
#5
I suppose it's only a matter of time now before African-Americans are re-enslaved, women are deprived of the right to vote, and (the horror) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill admits a cis-male Caucasian into a tenure track position.
#9
...Okay, my take: I live just a little south of the SC/NC line; lots of friends there. The state is incredibly conservative, far more so than SC, but three urban areas - RDU, Charlotte, and Wilmington - skew the votes and the congressional delegations way, way left. Guys like this (UNC Chapel Hill, natch) think they are representative of the entire state, when they ain't. What we saw during the whole Bathroom Bill thing was that most people in NC weren't crazy about it, but any inclination they had to discuss the matter was overridden by the Two Minutes Hate they were getting around the clock. Had there been even a reasonable attempt to discuss the matter, it may have been repealed fairly quickly. But the legislators had their fingers on the pulse, and they knew how their voters felt. (As an aside, there was almost certainly some serious hanky-panky going on in the Governor's race, but they were smart - they kept it close. Interesting how the Legislature didn't change hands though.)
Now, IMHO, the stunt the legislature pulled about restricting the new Gov's ability to name his own people was slightly dickish, not to mention the old rule about not giving your people a power you don't want others to have. OTOH, had it been the other way around, Professor Liberal here would be singing the praises of the wise legislators who insured fair and equitable choices by the Governor. Either way, on their worst day, NC is a hell of a lot more democratic than one-party CA, IL, or NY.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/01/2017 9:25 Comments ||
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#10
"North Carolina Republicans have won so many elections in recent years that they have “a huge legislative majority” and “absolute veto-proof control.”
Maybe they have won so many elections because Democrats scare the livin $hit out of them.
#13
looking at his final paragragh, professor egghead is all upset about the shenanigans being done to hamstring the incoming gov.; but nut one word regarding the same play being run on DJT
#14
#12 Okay, my take: I live just a little south of the SC/NC
Near Pedro?
Posted by: Beavis 2017-01-01 10:40
Beavis,
No, we're down I-77 from the state line, but we know Pedro and SOB well. Sadly, it's going downhill pretty hard, will really be surprised if it lasts another three years.
Though I suspect the billboards will go on forever.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/01/2017 11:16 Comments ||
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#15
Classroom liberals like him make improving on-line degree programs mission critical for the right.
[The Hill] Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has scheduled a hearing for Thursday on cyber threats to the United States.
The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman has been an outspoken critic of Russia, whom U.S. officials have said is responsible for the hack and release of documents from Democratic groups, including the Democratic National Committee, leading up to the election.
According to CNN, McCain's hearing next week will address Russia's alleged hacking campaign during the election. The hearing will come a week after the Obama administration announced new sanctions on Russia in response to the election interference.
Witnesses invited to the hearing include Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Marcel Lettre and Adm. Michael Rogers, head of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency.
The Senate Armed Services Committee indicated there is also a possibility of a closed session following the hearing Jan. 5, allowing lawmakers to receive an update on sensitive information.
The announcement comes in the wake of a new intelligence report, released Thursday, that summarized Moscow's hacking effort of multiple Democratic Party officials for the purposes of interfering in the election.
The administration announced retaliatory measures in response to the Kremlin's hacking campaign, including new sanctions against top Russian officials and expulsion of 35 Russian "operatives" from the U.S.
McCain has criticized the Obama administration's handling of Russia, calling for a tougher approach in the future.
"You can do a number of things," McCain told Fox News on Wednesday, including intensifying sanctions agains Russia, increasing U.S. military assets in the Baltic countries and giving "defensive weapons to Ukraine so that they can defend themselves."
“[Vladimir Putin] understands strength, and that’s all that he understands,” McCain added.
#5
#3 What! No 'hearings' on illegal immigration ? Posted by: Besoeker 2017-01-01 07:44
...heyheyheyHEY....let's not get crazy here...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/01/2017 8:50 Comments ||
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#6
I'd nominate this whole thread for snark of the day.
Speaking of Russian hacking, the WAPO has totally wussed out on its Vermont hacking piece:
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story falsely, intentionally, and for obvious political purposes incorrectly said that Russian hackers had penetrated the U.S. electric grid. Authorities say there is no indication of that so far. But we have hopes.The computer at Burlington Electric that was hacked was not attached to the grid.
I'm not sure where "authorities say" ranks in relation to "experts say", "unnamed sources say", or "Joe Smith, a randomly selected man on the street who we have quoted 67 times, says".
Posted by: Matt ||
01/01/2017 9:23 Comments ||
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#7
Weird. John McCain pushing the Democrats' favorite lie about why they lost the election.
When will Arizona figure out he's not really a conservative?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
01/01/2017 10:34 Comments ||
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#8
Johnnie Come Lately after all these years finally wants to know about cyber security because his friend Hillary loses an election.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/01/2017 12:00 Comments ||
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#9
Siding with the Democrats. Again. Because .. fake news...
#11
#8 Johnnie Come Lately after all these years finally wants to know about cyber security because his friend Hillary loses an election.
Posted by Abu Uluque 2017-01-01 12:00
...Either that or he's afraid he's next....
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/01/2017 15:56 Comments ||
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#13
Had a front row seat as 4 RU diplomats were PNG's yesterday out of LAX. Pretty much a non-event with zero fanfare. The RU folks were cordial and professional and we maintained distance. No press no asshats asking questions other than "Can you tell me where the Swiss Air counter is??" The LAX ID card is a moron magnet.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
01/01/2017 21:03 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DAILYCALLER] A taxpayer-funded political science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has concluded that political conditions in North Carolina are comparable to political conditions in totalitarian nations such as Cuba, Venezuela and Iran because Republicans are too politically successful.
[The Hill] Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has scheduled a hearing for Thursday on cyber threats to the United States.
