An open letter to America from North Carolina

by | Dec 7, 2016 | Editor's Blog | 155 comments

Dear America,

North Carolina here. You’re in for a rough ride for the next few years. We should know.

Just a few years ago, we were the moderately progressive state known for great beaches, mountain vistas, a world-class university system, and a welcoming environment.  Then, in 2012, Republicans took control of both houses of the legislature, the Governor’s Mansion and the Supreme Court. (Sound familiar?) Now, we’re known for HB2, voter suppression laws, and extreme gerrymandering.

The Republicans in Congress are about to get brutal. Everything you think they wouldn’t dare do, they will do. They will strike quickly and broadly. By the time you understand the breadth of their destruction, they’ll be rolling and you’ll be trying to figure out how to respond.

Nothing is sacred. Expect attacks on the social safety net, including Social Security and Medicare. The third rail of American politics now has a short in it. The social contract that we built in the New Deal and Great Society is in tatters.

These aren’t Ronald Reagan Republicans. They’re Cal Coolidge folks. We’re going back to the Roaring Twenties, complete with Robber Barons and massive income inequality.

They’ll flatten the tax rate and shift the burden from the wealthy to the middle class. They’ll cut corporate taxes to almost nothing and eliminate protections that keep workers out of poverty in tough economic times.

Deregulation will be the cry of the day. Forget climate change. They’ll trade hurricanes and droughts for gas and oil profits in a New York minute. Unregulated financial industries will make bankers even richer while costing you more in fees, penalties, and interest.

Proposed social legislation will send tremors through organizations that defend women’s health, equality, and social justice. Various religious freedom bills will defend the rights of socially conservative Christians to discriminate against LGBT people. The rights of fetuses will supersede those of the adults who created them.

Expect an all-out assault on public education. They’ll force some sort of voucher program on public schools across the nation. Religious schools will get a bunch of tax dollars while poor schools will get the shaft. Privatization of our public education system is the end game here.

They’ll try to protect their gains by disenfranchising voters who disagree with them. Look for federal legislation to make voting more difficult, especially for people of color and young folks. They’ll force states to bend to their will on voting restrictions.

Oh, you thought they believe in limited government? How quaint.

No, they want power. And they’ll do what it takes to keep it. The only Amendment that counts for much anymore is the second one.

If you want a hint of what they’ll do, look at the various components of their base. Everybody will get something.

The free-marketeers will get their supply-side tax cuts and deregulation that increases environmental destruction while stripping away workers’ rights. The social conservatives will get restrictions on abortions and anti-LGBT legislation. The populists will get a crackdown on undocumented immigrants that pushes the Fourth Amendment to the breaking point.

Sure, some of their overreach will fail. In North Carolina, two guys tried to institute a state religion. Another one submitted a bill to mint our own currency. They just made us a laughingstock. They won’t be able to kill the Federal Reserve System, though somebody like Louie Gohmert will certainly suggest it.

So, what can you do? Well, you can organize. Look at the Moral Monday protests that energized the base in North Carolina. Build a campaign infrastructure that recruits candidates and supports them. And sue. Much of their legislation will be unconstitutional. Even if the GOP controls the Supreme Court, judicial consciences will come into play. A few judges will surprise you.

Be loud. They’ve empowered racists and they’ll look the other way at religious intolerance. Call them out and shame them. Our Muslim brothers and sisters will likely have an especially difficult time. Stand with them. The world needs to know that there are still people in America who won’t abide bigotry.

And, hey, if all that fails, we’re probably only six or eight years away from another economic collapse. That’s what’s happened the last two times the GOP controlled all three branches of government. Their policies caused the Great Depression in 1929 and the Great Recession in 2008. Lack of oversight and regulation encourages unsustainable corruption and greed.

After that, if you’ve held off authoritarianism, you can elect a responsible government that believes in mitigating the impact of economic hardship on the most vulnerable people in a capitalist society, protects the environment from the most egregious polluters, and stands up for the rights of minorities.

But for now, buckle up. It’s gonna be a rough ride. Welcome to the fray.

Sincerely,

North Carolina

155 Comments

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  2. Brian Brown

    THIS ENTIRE THREAD IS REALLY WHAT OUR COUNTRY LOOKS LIKE…A MESS. NO ONE IS PULLING TOGETHER…EVERYONE IS PULLING APART. IT BREAKS MY HEART TO SEE, FEEL AND READ THE AMOUNT OF ANGER THERE IS WITH AMERICANS. WE ARE ALL SO POLARIZED…WHY CAN’T WE ALL PULL TOGETHER INSTEAD? YOU KNOW I WATCHED THE WORLD SERIES GAME WITH MY REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRAT FRIENDS. IT DIDN’T MATTER WHAT PARTY YOU WERE FROM, YOU WERE JUST ROOTING FOR “YOUR TEAM”…WHATEVER TEAM THAT WAS. THERE WASN’T ANY NAME CALLING…THERE WASN’T ANY VEHEMENCE…THERE WASN’T ANYTHING NEGATIVE…EXCEPT HOPE THAT YOUR TEAM WOULD WIN. THIS WAS THE TRUE AMERICA…NOT THE AMERICA PICTURED IN THIS THREAD.

    MY ENDING STATEMENT IS THIS…AND I HOPE THAT YOU ALL PASS IT ON:

    MAKE AMERICA KIND AGAIN. I’M GONNA WRITE IT AGAIN…MAKE AMERICA KIND AGAIN.

    • Jay Ligon

      The Republicans are destroying the United States. They wrecked the economy 8 years ago and fought a needless war that got our fellow American killed. The president-elected is a lazy, uninformed, greedy incompetent who will run his hotels and businesses out of the White House. He will say otherwise, but he is a pathological liar. You should know that.

      You may have never read a history book, but this has never happened in American history. An American president has never used spies from Russia to obtain intelligence. An American president has never used the office to do business deals which benefit himself and his family. Trump president-elect is a clear and present danger to the American people. If you haven’t heard about this, you are not paying attention.

      America was already a great nation. MAGA implies that it got worse because a black man was elected. How do blacks, minorities, Muslims and Mexicans get on board and unite with your racist, bigoted party? Most of the women I know would rather not be grabbed in the pu**y, but your hero does that. He calls his daughter a “piece of ass.” How does that pass your minimum qualification test? Do you have no sense of common decency? We do and we are not on board with your pervert’s sexual aggression.

      Trump will do massive damage to the United States in a short amount of time. We’re not jumping that band wagon. How do you expect veterans, especially war veterans, to jump on your hero’s wagon? He treats us with total disdain. I know a lot of veterans, and, to a man, they are horrified with what you did. We veterans have been searching for POWs and MIAs for decades, but, you know, they were caught by the enemy so – not his kind of people. He should earn his purple heart the way the rest of the veterans did.

      You idolize and expect big things of your sexual predator, racist, fascist leader. It will take some time before you understand how much you were suckered. He is a fraud, con man and a traitor.

      If you were a patriot you would understand our concern.

  3. Proudly Unaffiliated

    Republicans in North Carolina did not go far enough fast enough to destroy progressivism and now Cooper has been elected which will set North Carolina back on its (tar) heels in terms of its economic revival. Cooper will, Make North Carolina 2nd Rate Again.

    • Troy

      Thank you for that “unaffiliated” rant.

      But on a more serious note. Just what is it about being “progressive” that makes you hate it so badly that you want to destroy it? What is it about progress, moving our people, our nation, our way of life forward that you would call for its utter destruction?

  4. Chucky Cheese

    You aren’t speaking for North Carolina. You aren’t speaking for the nmajority in North Carolina. You aren’t speaking for me. Shame on you for staking such a preposterous claim on a pitiful liberal rant. Income equality will be what Trump brings? What did we just witness the last 8 years? The largest increase in income inequality in the last century! Increasing the burden on middle class? Who brought $1,500 a month mandated health health insurance for the single mom of 2 making $80,000? The last 8 years brought the largest tax burden increase in history on middle class workers. (Counting the Obamacare induced rate increases as a tax, which it is.) What a load of crock.

    • Troy

      And who appointed you to speak for the “majority”?

      I guess the ski-ball bell ringing has damaged your ability to think clearly…or read. The last eight years, six of which were dominated by, say it with me, a R E P U B L I C A N Congress and in this State, R E P U B L I C A N legislature.

      Who makes the laws? That’s right, the L E G I S L A T U R E/C O N G R E S S. Who raised your tax burden? Right again; R E P U B L I C A N S. They needed tax cuts for all of their big buck contributors and funding sources and who picks up the slack? The M I D D L E C L A S S.

      Do they do it through that awful four letter word “Tax”. Oh no, they’re way too clever for that. They use ‘fees’ as a means of increasing revenues and of course, raising sales taxes on things that were not previously taxed at such high rates. Then they taxed labor on services rather than just products.

      C’mon back when you want to try again.

  5. Dont speack for me!

    Shouldn’t be signed North Carolina. Not everybody’s view. Don’t speak for me!

    • Janet in NC

      Amen. Well said. North Carolina’s views on all sorts of matters are way more diverse than the views presented in this man’s (divisive) letter.

    • Jean

      Donald Trump definitely doesn’t speak for me, yet he now purports to speak (make that tweet) for America!

  6. Proud Progressive

    Excellent article, Thomas.

    Many of us who have witnessed the destruction of our state’s reputation at the hands of the lunatic, the greedy, and the ignorant – yes, we’re all looking at you Republicans – since 2010 have had that gut-churning sensation that it is now about to appear on the national stage.

    I and my family have long and deep ties to this state and we’ve always been proud of its reputation as a progressive exception to the backward South. Since 2010, we have seriously considered moving to another state – we have family and friends throughout the country, many in more liberal states.

    It was a similar thought that we had about moving to another country after George W. Bush was “elected” in 2000 and again in 2004 (with a Republican Congress and Supreme Court, by the way). Of course, we stayed and witnessed tremendously wretched failures at home and abroad by the Bush administration. And worked our tails off for Barack Obama and Democrats.

    And since 2010, we stayed in NC instead of moving to another state.

    Why? Because we still love this state. And we still love this country. And we care deeply about the greater good and the future.

    Leaving only rewards those who want to strip away progress, to selfishly horde, or to punish unjustly. Leaving only abandons those who are most vulnerable to the forces of those who will abandon them further. If we care at all about those things, we must stay. We must stand. We must continue to work and to fight for the greater good.

    Democrats just won three critical statewide races – Governor, Attorney General, and NC Supreme Court. Despite Republicans’ winning the presidential race. And despite the Republican stranglehold on the electoral process. Those would not happen if progressives quit working or moved out of the state or the country – just as Barack Obama’s presidency would not have happened if we had collectively stopped fighting or caring.

    The time for whining and moping and handwringing is over. It’s time to stand and to continue the fight for the greater good and for what we believe this state and this country should and can and must be. Now more than ever.

  7. GH

    Sad that the author knows so little of history, I suspect his knowledge of current events is little better. Robber Barons were from the 19th century, not the 1920s. Coolidge was a great supporter of civil rights for blacks and Indians. He reduced taxes to the point that only the top 2% of income earners paid taxes. And he did believe in limited Federal government, observing, “government control cannot be divorced from political control.”

  8. Way

    This is one of your best Mr. Mills – and one that I will share widely with my friends across the nation who have shaken their heads in disbelief and asked me over and over, “What’s happened to North Carolina?” or “I have always thought so highly of NC and considered it as the ‘ideal’ state, but no longer!”

    What dean dibble people have learned in NC is that politics and democracy is not a spectator sport. We will have to work hard to save our democratic ideals. See you on the street!

  9. sis

    when rebel flags no longer fly openly in front yards, when KKK -carved pumpkins disappear from front porches, when KKK rallies are not held and when voting laws become totally inclusive and districting fair for both parties, then I’ll read a letter of advice from the state of NC.

  10. Susie purcell

    The elections in two years are of utmost importance…we have to, just simply HAVE TO get more Democrats in the House. WORK hard people, donate, talk about it, keep putting one foot in front of the other doing the right thing for this, OUR COUNTRY. SUsie Purcell

  11. Donnie

    This was a terrible article. Give our new President a chance and stop all the doomsday crap. Sounds a lot like sour grapes. I am sure Cooper only won due to cheating mostly in Durham County. There goes our balanced budget and teacher raises not that Cooper is the Governor. Liberals will try to destroy the progress made in NC.

    • Joanne S. Beckman

      Donnie, I agree the doomsday predictions and are over the top. However, Cooper won the election and it wasn’t due to cheating in Durham County. The votes were recounted in Durham County and very little changed in the results. Cooper likely won because people affected by I-77 toll roads did not support MCCrory this time around , according to reports of people in the Lake Norman region. The General Assembly and Council of State are dominated by Republicans, so Cooper cannot just toss out the budget or teacher raises.

    • L. Davis

      Spoken like a true Fox “news” watcher.

  12. Jan

    If you want change VOTE for it! We have two years to organize & convince people to vote.

    • Margaret Ray

      Jan, the only answer. The Democratic Party is now a toothless tiger.
      How did the Republicans steal 33 governor offices and legislatures?
      The DNC must begin to understand that we need a 50 state strategy again
      to survive. Howard Dean knows how to help build that, he did it before.
      But old timers who know some answers are considered to be passe, let
      those who let it slip away still lead. Not very smart! Strong candidates have to be put forth in 2018 no matter where we find them. Historically, the midterm elections following a presidential election
      has resulted in some housecleaning, especially if the new president makes obvious and disappointing mistakes. This one may offer us an unlimited list to work from. The DNC job is too large for one person, but the DC crowd loves to protect their turf. As each state works on its own, there needs to be a strong DNC or central clearing house for information and support.

      NC has done a fantastic job of shining a light on voter suppression, gerrymandering, etc. as 25 other states have joined NC is whittling away at the Voters Rights Act of 1965, signed into law on August 6 that year. I worked to get that law passed and I take robbing it personal.

  13. Ernest Lunsford

    You should send this letter to the New York Times, the Washington Post and every other major newspaper in the country. Seriously!

  14. Steve Porter

    This letter is 100% correct! This must be sent to every Democrat left in power in Congress and to the DNC. They must be forced to confront the truth we all see so clearly. Those in Washington live in some ‘Fairy Tail World’ where they believe the Trumptser republicans are real people that care about this nation.

  15. Kev Creech

    I have said nearly the very same thing at least 10 different times now. We in NC have been enduring this for 5.5 years, and I hope that our country has at least some of the intestinal fortitude, patience, and scrappiness that we’ve had to put forth to keep our state from going completely over the cliff. Lord, have mercy! Thanks for this letter, Thomas.

  16. Janet in NC

    While I share some (many, actually) of the concerns in this letter, the snarky tone of the letter is disappointing and I don’t believe such an approach will help the causes that Mr. Mills says he cares about. I’m particularly bothered by the following sentence, which was used when referring to people holding other views: “Call them out and shame them.” Yes, that very sentence is clearly stated within the letter above. I honestly believe that shaming people is the worst possible approach. Why? Shaming people is ugly and shaming people is simply wrong. Really really wrong. Shaming people shuts down conversations and shuts down the very dialogue that is needed right now in North Carolina. We just CAN’T be shaming people for their views. We should be seeking to engage with them, even if we strongly disagree with their views.

    • Troy

      With all the gravitas that I can muster, how far have Democrats gotten being civil and urbane? America is changing for Americans. Democrats are already behind and just struggling to be heard. They were soundly rebuffed on the National stage in November. So what was an appealing rationalized cry to be heard and engage the electorate now needs to go into siren wail mode.

      “Politics is a game. Some days you win and some days you lose.” Perhaps if you’re one of the players. But the game pieces used are peoples’ lives. The moves being made have real world consequences.

      In that regard, it’s time to put the Nerf bat down and pick up an aluminum one.

      • Janet in NC

        With all due respect, I don’t at ALL believe that (as you say above) Democrats were civil and urbane. Nor, for that matter, were Republicans. Both “sides,” in my opinion, behaved despicably throughout the election. I maintain that the letter Mr. Mills published above was divisive. I don’t believe such an approach will well serve the interests of the Democrats.

        • Troy

          And you are certainly entitled to your beliefs. Doesn’t make them right; it just makes them yours. And before you become incensed, I’m in that same boat.

          In this little game of politics however, if Democrats does as you see prudent, we’re going to continue to lose. Make no mistake, Republicans have one strategy; win. That’s win at any cost. So while you feel that both sides played dirty, why don’t you look at the tweets that went out on the Trumpiverse pre- and post-election. Then go find something comparable from Hillary.

          It isn’t up to me to provide context to his writing, but I believe Thomas is trying to stir a rallying cry. A motivation to not be an inert slug regarding politics and civic discourse. You can engage Republicans in all the conversations you choose. But it’s like trying to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig. But please, it is your time, waste it as you choose.

        • Magola

          Could you cite the despicable acts that Democrats displayed? I hate to speak in generalities. Thank you

        • Joanne S. Beckman

          Janet, Thank you for saying this. The letter was divisive and represents only the liberal point of view. It does not represent “North Carolina” as a whole and should not purport to do so.

      • kathleen cairns

        Democrats were not soundly rebuffed on the national stage. Hillary won the popular vote by nearly 3 million.

        • Troy

          Won the battle, lost the war. Any way you care to phrase it, she/we lost, she is not President-elect; regardless if the glass is half full or not.

      • Ebrun

        Your exhortation of violence is mere symbolic hyperbole, right Troy? Or are you a nascent Marxist who has decided it’s time to come out of the closet?

        • Troy

          Violence? We wage “war” on things all the time, absent armed conflict. Oh, you wanted to justify and segue your own snarky comment in to the conversation rather than recognize the metaphor.

          • Ebrun

            Pick up an “aluminum” bat? Oh, I see. That’s just a poetic “metaphor.” Kinda reminded me of the thugs that attacked Trump supporters as they tried to peacefully leave his rally in LA.

            But it must be ok for progressives to post inflammatory rhetoric and then claim it’s a benign metaphor. No doubt you and other liberals have been granted poetic license by the politically-correct thought police.

          • Troy

            Hey, that was a pretty neat trick!! Drop down a few comments and post under one then come back come back pretending you were talking about another. That’s pretty slick; even for you.

            You’re not surprised so why not drop the fake shock and awe. But you won’t; that’s all part of the game you like to play.

          • Ebrun

            Troy, my first response was to your advocacy of picking up an aluminum bat. No trick about it, there were just several comments posted before my response. Obviously, going to “war” with one’s political opponents is a metaphor, but picking up a baseball bat seems much more ominous than the benign and overused metaphor of “going to war.”

          • Troy

            And it was used in the same context as Teddy Roosevelt carrying a “big stick.” He didn’t do that either.

    • Jay Ligon

      And it is impossible to shame psychopaths.

      • Janet in NC

        True, but not all NC Republican voters are psychopaths. If you want to change their views and actually converse with them in a civil manner, you might actually have an opportunity to change the views that you say you find so repugnant. But if the starting point for a conversation is “you are a psychopath,” then the conversation, if it could be called such, certainly will not go well.

        • larry

          Janet…maybe you need to get in touch with Richard Spencer and have some of that dialog. He will certainly oblige and you will see the future and reality come very much in focus.

        • Jay Ligon

          Republicans aren’t really listening to anyone. They have their marching orders, and they are going about the business of remaking North Carolina the way their sponsors want it to be.

          They knew that poor people would get sick and die without the Medicare expansion, and their response was like Ebenezer Scrooge in the “Christmas Carol:” [If they are going to die]…” then they had better do it and decrease the surplus population, Good night, gentlemen.”

          After ACA is repealed in January by the new Congress, men, women and children all over the United States will get sick and some will die as a result. The Republicans have not offered any alternative to the problem of universal health care for decades. They still have no plan. They will repeal and replace health care with lies and empty promises. What is there to discuss? They wanted to get rid of it and voted to repeal the ACA more than 60 times. They could have improved it, but that’s not what they have to bought to do.

          They know that everyone in the state does not worship at the same altar and we all do not share the same faith. They knew that the establishment of religion is expressly unconstitutional, but they proposed the establishment of a religion here. That they knew was wrong because Thomas Jefferson told them so.

          They know that racial segregation and racial discrimination is against the law. A body of law stretching back to 1954 makes that clear. Freedom Riders were murdered in Mississippi trying to register black voters. Blood was shed all over the South and black people were hung by the neck from trees in this state over the issue of voter registration, but the NC GOP suppressed the black vote with “surgical precision.” What was there to discuss? When caught, they delayed, lied and created roadblocks to free elections. What was there to discuss?

          Republicans do not respond to the people of North Carolina. They do not respect precedent. They are radicals who are doing the will of the richest 1% whose taxes they lowered, and not the middle class whose taxes they raised. They respond to vast pools of money which they can access by delivering laws the corporations and the rich want. And they do it. The Koch brothers got fracking here and much, much more, and Duke Power got the taxpayers to clean up their toxic waste and avoided any penalties for the largest coal ash spill in history.

          As long as the NC GOP has a veto-proof majority, they don’t need to discuss anything with Democrats. They will do what they want when they want. You can talk to them until you are blue in the face.

          Go to them on bended knee if you want, but you are standing in the path of a freight train. They will run you down.

          • Kev Creech

            Spot on.

      • Susie purcell

        Thomas…..Well stated. OKlahoma is on the coat tail of your state…there’s the rich and those trying to scratch out a living where everything is based on oil/gas/pipeline..backed by our Governor, Mary Fallon…and now, Scott Pruitt, Attorney General appointed to win the EPA….we don’t eve have or are allowed an EPA office in Oklahoma…so much for saving our environment on any level…or our land, or our water, or our houses ..and all the sludge/waste water from other states brought in every day to be dumped HERE…or worse yet, pushed into the ground….thus earthquakes that ruin your house, water wells etc all….and NO ONE IS RESPONSIBLE…..not the oil/gas/pipeline, your insurance company, or anyone…and they can take nine acres of your land diagonally, 4031 feet, with the cheapest pipe over a farm that was exactly like it was 114 years ago…Ristine, beautiful with spring fed lake and creek…but, nope, eminent domain after we fought at great expense with the FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION for 20 months…sovereign Native American Land, had an appeal before the courts and our Governor gave them permission…saddest thing watching 200 year old Hackberry trees gone in 5 minutes…Hard times are just starting. BEtter know how to cook like the people in the depression because folks, it is a commitment n as they say.

    • Sharon Mills

      Yeah. That worked out so well here under McCrory. Where have you been?

      • Janet in NC

        Sharon, where I have been is right here in NC watching incredibly ugly politicking going on from both sides. The discourse is ugly, divisive, and hot helpful. I am no fan of Mr. McCrory, but the horrific, ugly, sickening names he has been called will not help the cause of those who oppose him.

    • larry

      Janet…poppy cock.

  17. Kelli Saenz

    Great piece! Thank you for writing this. We’ve lived the horror here in NC and it’s been pretty awful.

  18. Raine Lee

    Powerful and important letter. Thank you Thomas.

  19. Progressive Wing

    Thomas: Your futurescape is much akin to my own. It’s what has stirred an amalgam of emotions —mostly depression, anger, and fear— since the morning of Nov. 9th.
    The only positive thing it has sparked within me has been my even greater resolve and commitment to speak out against every instance of radical right overreach, heavyhandedness, greed, and bigotry.

  20. Mark Cable

    Well said !!!

  21. Christopher Lizak

    Marx always said that Socialism would be inevitable once Capitalism was destroyed by the unrestrained greed of the Capitalists via financialization of the economy.

    The 1% are certainly well-educated. You’d think that they would restrain themselves to avoid this outcome.

    But apparently not.

    • Ebrun

      Guess you haven’t keep abreast of recent political trends. The vast majority of America’s “1%” is in bed with the Democrats. It was the working class that led to the defeat of liberal politicians. Coastal elitists versus fly-over country. Hollywoods moguls, academic prima donnas and Silicon Valley execs versus middle America.

      Great karma for those of us fed up with the far left’s attempts to degrade American Exceptionalism and NC Democrats’ campaign to demean the state’s reputation when they lost political power. A long-overdue American political upheaval is in the works as the political pendulum swings back to the center- right. For the faint hearted on the left, it could be quite a traumatic ordeal.

      • larry

        Do you even know what you are talking about? Appears you do not.

      • Troy

        “…center-right…” Your party hasn’t been close to center since Eisenhour. Who, might I add, was the first Republican elected to the White House since the rise and fall of Herbert Hoover. And we all know what lead to his ouster, now don’t we?

        • Ebrun

          Eisen who?

          • Troy

            Ok smart guy; Eisenhower, Dwight David. If you go to the western parts of this State, you will find it spelled Icenhour.

      • Proudscalawag

        ‘Back to the center-right’?! It NEVER LEFT there!

        • Ebrun

          Troy, I live in the western part of the state and I’ve never seen it spelled that way.

          • Troy

            You need to get out more. Open up the Alexander County phone book.

      • Betty McGalliard

        Unfortunately, neither Trump nor McCrory cares anythng about the middle class. They will soon be regretting putting their faith in his false promises.

      • Joe

        Please, the pendulum never left the center-right. It’s only moved more and more right since about the ’60s. Hell, Reagan would have been moderate to liberal by today’s standards. Despite what you nutbags think, by international standards, the US is a very conservative country. We’ve never been left of center, except maybe around the New Deal Era through Kennedy. You know, that era that was one of the most prosperous in US History?

        • Proudscalawag

          Just what I said–amplified!

      • A Kotn

        Post of the day. The left is so traumatized that Trump won I fully expect many of them will harm themselves or others (Trump supporters) as they did at the rallies. I could not be happier that the political upheaval occured.

  22. Terri

    Don’t give up, don’t roll over – fight, fight, fight! I’m using my wallet – supporting Planned Parenthood, Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU, Greenpeace, etc. And boycotting any and all businesses that support right-wing bigotry, racism, and suppression of civil rights. Bringing money, guns and lawyers to quote a favorite song (well, maybe not the guns – LOL! Not yet, anyway).

    • sbl

      Don’t forget to support the Killary foundation. You might get to visit her.If you do, thank her for giving the election to Donald J. Trump buy having no plans or ideas other than bashing her opponent.

      • Margaret Ray

        There was plenty there beyond bashing her opponent. Why in heck weren’t more listening? She had plans, solid plans to keep our great country on track and build for the future. When I kept hearing, “I just don’t like her.”
        Why don’t you like her? “Oh, I just can’t put my finger on it.” Shallow thinking, my friends, got you that experienced, mature Mr. Trump.
        Funny thing about grown ups, they often hear what they want to hear.
        Now he is draining the swamp, right into his cabinet. The worst of the worst. They will dismantle
        every protective law that has been put into place for the past 60-70 years. Here comes Paul Ryan to help them steal all you’ve been able to
        save – Soc Security, Medicare, Medicare in imminent danger.

      • L. Davis

        HE did all the bashing! You must have been watching FOX “news”.

  23. The Analyst

    You are 200% correct.

    What forces the Opulent Minority, the Rentier Class, the .1%, whatever your name for this legion of demons, to disgorge some of the wealth they have Usurped from the Wealth Creators (those who toil daily in America’s high productivity work environs) and so allow the working and middle class economic engines to work again? Keynesian stimulus was considered to be tax cuts, to stimulate investment, and public works, to restore the drought of working fluid in the lower levels of the economy. If Keynes said it didn’t matter if it was productive public work or a guy digging a hole and filling it in, as my Alt-Right co-workers insist, he was wrong, because building roads, bridges, and dams leads to persistent value for all of us. Tax cuts for the wealthy, on the other hand, do not lead to the investment assumed in the classic model because the cynical wealthy in this country have no interest in raising the poor out of the pit of dispair, and in any case too many investment vehicles which only offer return without social enrichment exist. I do believe we will all suffer from the parasitic rabble that are infiltrating the Trump administration, but those bobbleheads and otherwise unreasoning Americans who voted in Trump not grasping what is to follow now will definitely suffer the most. As a most of the time lover of all humans I feel pain, my own coming pain but also an enormous welling of grief for us and our world.

    • Caroline Ervin

      This is scary. However exactly what I expect. I’m 75 and it will not effect me very much…but my children and grandchildren will suffer.

      • Proudscalawag

        Are you a relative of good old Senator Sam? One of the heroes of my youth! I don’t think he’d approve of my desire to, when the time is ripe, to brush the dust off the guillotine and have fun recording all the frantic rich trying to bribe their guards to let them escape and screaming as the blade comes down!

    • Troy

      The clock just went to 5 minutes to midnight. The die has been cast. We have no choice now but to prepare as best we can prepare and attack at every opportunity.

      The alternative is for tyranny to triumph if we do nothing.

    • commenter E

      agreed its my read that its coming sooner than later….starting late summer 2017……a financial crash that’ll be approx 1/3rd bigger than the 2008 ……and more prolonged….

      theres going to be some levels of poverty unseen since the great depression ….be ready …..

  24. ED Nelson

    Just heard this morning that McCrory is meeting with Donald Trump today in NY. Anyone know what is going on?

    • Nortley

      Apparently the dumpster wants to have a failed governor in his administration.

      • Donnie

        I sense another liberal. President Elect Trump is selecting only the best for his staffing, and McCrory happens to be a good choice. He was robbed the Governorship. Cooper will be a lame duck his whole 4 years.

        • John Kelly

          So, their strategy worked. Even though Cooper got a majority of the votes, because of the Republican accusations of voter fraud people like you believe that Cooper was not legitimately elected. Did you read what the head of the elections board in Durham county said? And he is a Republican

          • SeriouslyGOP? You nasty.

            It strikes me that you can #grabyourwallet and support those gerrymandered districts that have democratic reps and state senators. Should be easy, ‘cuz there are only 3 of them left and they are creatively abutting Republican districts… should be easy to reach. NC also relies on tourism, big time. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina's_congressional_districts#

        • D

          Donnie…Only the Best? The Best at being the biggest pieces of shit to walk this earth, you bet!

        • Tony

          The best greedy, unscrupulous assholes, you mean.

        • Bored of stupid

          Only the best? The climate change deniers who don’t know about science? the general who recirculates fake news? or the general who was actually let go for traitorous actions (govt secrets to his mistress?)? This must be a really special definition of “best” with which I’m not yet familiar.

          • L. Davis

            Filling up the swamp.

        • Walton Gang

          Hi Donnie,
          Cry me a river. You think McCrory was robbed of the governorship. I disagree with you. So please respond to this data/analysis, with your own, as to where the rob occurred:
          McCrory failed to get the votes of nearly 500,000 NC voters who voted for Trump and Burr. I think this suggests that McCrory was repudiated by his fellow republicans because of several issues, but mostly because of HB2. The HB2 backlash by otherwise GOP voters was biggest in places with functional 21st century economies (like Wilmington) who have seen business conferences pull out of their convention center, and tech firms denounce the state over HB2, just as a burgeoning tech/innovation economy is fueling traded sector jobs growth in the region.
          The GOP appointees of McCrory certified the election defeat of the soon to be ex-governor. The only reason it was so close was the bounce McCrory got from the hurricane and subsequent inland flooding. Those rising river levels lasted for weeks, and turned the failed “jobs governor” and the failed “education governor” into a capable “big-flood governor.” But such wicked floods are only supposed to happen every 100 years, right? Or is it every 17 years (Bertha)?
          Professionally, McCrory’s job as a lobbyist often found him defending coal ash as being harmless to the state’s rivers. That was his most developed skill as a businessman ….to lie and misinform on behalf of big polluters. Ironically, the coal ash spill into that river bordering VA during his term created so much harm that the state of VA sued NC for all the damages it caused to the river and their state economy. It forced McCrory to turn back all of his talking points while a lobbyist!
          So, to be honest, I think McCrory will be most helpful to Trump as the undersecretary of flooded waterways. He was accomplished reading those on-camera daily briefings as the big-flood governor. And nationally, there are enough “one hundred year floods” to keep the guy busy. After all, who knows better than McCrory that the rivers both giveth and taketh away.

    • Al Gore Won

      I don’t think Der Pumpkinfuhrer will appoint McCrory to anything. Pat is a loser. And our president-elect (who LOST the popular vote to Hillary 46.21% to 48.17%) hates losers. Recall how he said John McCain was a loser?

      • Eew, Pumpkins

        “Der Pumpkinfuhrer”!
        POINTS!

    • larry

      Who cares.

    • Jon

      Apparently with all of his extensive knowledge in disaster management his is well suited to direct FEMA.

  25. Lisbeth Evans

    Thanks Thomas!

  26. Jay Ligon

    You are more optimistic than I am. Excellent letter.

    • Fuck you

      Bitch, are you aware that the first fucking budgetary surplus in SIXTY YEARS happened in North Carolina under Republicans? No, you’re not. You’re not aware of teacher salaries going up, median income growth, home ownership growth… All you fucking idiots care about is that damn bathroom law that affected something like twelve people.

      You’re unhinged, morally deficient, and downright stupid. Take your open letter and shove it up your ignorant ass. No one asked your opinion, fuckwit.

      • Betty McGalliard

        Hey FU, you are very mistaken. Whatever money they managed to squirrel away was taken at the expense of necessary programs in our state. A few new teacher salaries went up, but overall money for education went way down. We are next to the bottom of all 50 states on the state of our public educational program. They opened up our state to fracking and oil exploration, likely to poison and destroy land and water from our beautiful coast to our magnificent mountains. The mess made by Duke Power was ignored. Only a few rich got richer. And then there WERE the millions and millions of dollars lost due to that stupid law. Check the facts sometime!

        • Lyn

          Dont respond/reply to trolls. Their main goal isnt to state facts. It is ONLY to rile people up. Don’t fall for it. They just want attention. don’t give it to them.

          • Mariah

            Who is the Troll on here?

          • Regis

            Lyn, you just described Donald the Pres Elect. Maybe we’ll wake up and realize that it was all just a nightmare about a forum troll.

            More seriously, if the Repugs take advantage of the situation to a great extent major cities better hire a lot of extra fire fighters for next summer. And it may get to the point that Repug politicians are afraid to stick up their heads.

            Would take just a spark to cause their beautiful win to go up in explosive flames. Just hope we don’t regress to things like IEDs; but, that is entirely possible.

        • Audrey

          Keep the real facts going! We need to put a stop to faults information. That’s what happen with this election.
          No matter what state a person lives in, we need to work together the best we can. The next few years are going to be hard ones, from my point of view.
          Some people need better listening skills! Reading is another thing that could help in making a wise decision! Remember when you better oneself, you can better the world, one person at a time!
          The Gal from Oregon

          • Big Daddy

            Ya can’t Believe the mainstream media wouldn’t talk about pay for play, the deleting of 30,000 emails under federal indictment with federal subpoena. Can’t believe they wouldn’t talk about all the computer geniuses that worked on Hillary Clinton’s private server and have Komi gave them the slide by toilet paper kiss. And under congressional subpoena they all plead the fifth amendment and wouldn’t even answer their name. Killing of been Ghazi lying to the public about how was by a stupid video. And we hear all this rhetoric about Trump. Come on Democrats call your big boy pants up and be a team player and let’s make this country great again. The other candidate that ran against Trump is the most corrupt politician in history of the United States….. Mr. Oregon…..

          • Logic

            Unfortunately they don’t read or listen to anyone except Fox news or their socal media.

            We know we can count on social media for accurate unbiased reporting. NOT!

            How ignorant can a people be?

      • BW Liberal

        Hello, Fuck You! For your information, teacher salaries have NOT gone up. There were limited raises for new teachers, fresh to the system, but experiences teachers? If anything, our salaries have been cut. You are the idiot. You watch the Republican political ads that are full of lies and very misleading “facts” and you drink it up and believe it all. That makes you the unhinged, morally deficient, downright stupid fuckwit. So back off.

      • John Kelly

        No one asked for your crude statement either. That kind of statement does not foster dialogue.

      • Adrian Miller

        Boy you are an intelligent one. Your stats are all wrong, as is your rationale. You better get some smarts. You are as dumb as they come. You are probably unaware of how the surplus has nothing to do with growth, and how the government really appropriates money. You display your own indecent values, insulting others just so you can feel good about yourself? I bet you got a lot of great friends, don’t you? Wise up, rich people don’t care about regular people, otherwise they wouldn’t have 92% of the total wealth in our country. Supply side is a pipe dream, scoot some of that meth you are on outta the way in the pipe, and smoke your evaporating benefits. Got kids? bundle em up to a substandard education. Cause thats what they do, cut school funding. You are as dumb as they come

      • Susan Peirce

        Ignore hateful trolls.

      • Joan weed

        Isn’t that special? Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?

        • Proudscalawag

          Gotta admit he named himself well.

      • Paul H

        Except for the profanity I give you 4 thumbs up.

      • Magnetis

        What an elegant an enlightened response. Do you know how to express yourself without profanity?

      • ArleneCook

        What a remarkable scary right on summary of our current and future state. I think the ignorant person I am responding got it wrong. The government people got it wrong. Your congress people and governor are the ones who turned the bathroom situation into a giant deal. Your fear and ignorance made the problem.

      • Ken J.

        Showing great intelligence, humility & Christian values there, buddy. Or should I call The McCrory/Trump, Koolaide Swallowing CHUMP ?

      • David Kolberg

        My, your vocabulary has improved, in spite of your mood. I respectfully refer you to EB Hall’s biography of Voltaire: “I don’t agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

      • John David White

        Attn “F*** you”

        You failed if you were trying to provide an insightful, intelligent and civil retort. Your reply only serves to promote the belief that the NC public – if indeed you’re a NC citizen – is ill-bred, unlearned, crude and mean. Even if the points your classless reply makes are “true” – the fact of a budget surplus does not mean the savings were effective or did not come without a cost in additional human suffering. You claim teacher salaries are going up – but that was only for some, not all, teachers and is trying to counter the NC’s legislature’s underfunding of NC’s public schools and its teachers in the past few years and the consequent shortage of NC public school teachers due to flight to higher paying states or higher paying jobs.

        If nothing else, try to be a bit (a lot) more civil in your future replies. Please also remember, that no one asked for your reply either.

        Thank you and Smiles.

      • John David White

        Attn “F*** you”

        You failed if you were trying to provide an insightful, intelligent and civil retort. Your reply only serves to promote the belief that the NC public – if indeed you’re a NC citizen – is ill-bred, unlearned, crude and mean. Even if the points your classless reply makes are “true” – the fact of a budget surplus does not mean the savings were effective or did not come without a cost in additional human suffering. You claim teacher salaries are going up – but that was only for some, not all, teachers and is trying to counter the NC’s legislature’s underfunding of NC’s public schools and its teachers in the past few years and the consequent shortage of NC public school teachers due to flight to higher paying states or higher paying jobs.

        If nothing else, try to be a bit (a lot) more civil in your future replies. Please also remember, that no one asked for your reply either.

        Thank you and Smiles.

      • John David White

        Attn “F*** you”

        You failed if you were trying to provide an insightful, intelligent and civil retort. Your reply only serves to promote the belief that the NC public – if indeed you’re a NC citizen – is ill-bred, unlearned, crude and mean. Even if the points your classless reply makes are “true” – the fact of a budget surplus does not mean the savings were effective or did not come without a cost in additional human suffering. You claim teacher salaries are going up – but that was only for some, not all, teachers and is trying to counter the NC’s legislature’s underfunding of NC’s public schools and its teachers in the past few years and the consequent shortage of NC public school teachers due to flight to higher paying states or higher paying jobs.

        If nothing else, try to be a bit (a lot) more civil in your future replies. Please also remember, that no one asked for your reply either.

        Thank you and Smiles.

      • Jay Ligon

        See this is the problem when the country elects a racist, sexist, con man and sexual predator. It encourages petulant, dishonest, intellectually and emotionally challenged adolescents like Adrian Miller. They are frustrated because they want attention from adults, but they do not know how to express themselves in a mature, manner. We will hear a lot of it over the next four years as young people model themselves after the pathological liar, crook and malignant narcissist the red caps chose to stand in for a real president.

        • Jay Ligon

          Oooops. Apologies to Adrian Miller. I meant to reply to FU. Please excuse the error.

      • BCR

        FU, the ONLY “ignorant jacktard fuckwit” is you…..Fake Lord ABOVE! How the HELL can people be so THICK?!!! Trolls twisting the truth…….I hope we meet on the street someday. We are gonna have a little “talk” Mijo.

      • Mike

        Hey Fuck You!

        Did your parents have any children that lived?

      • Gail Dedrick

        Classy! Spoken like a god loving Republican.

      • S. Harris

        This person is obviously incapable of stringing together a couple of sentences with obscenities…now who exactly is the ignoramus

      • Not surprised

        A graduate of the North Carolina private Christian school system I see

      • Ram

        Hey you idiot, the bathroom laws affected for people than that. Your the fucking idiot!!!

      • Clem

        Good Morning Dear Heart,
        I must commend you on your passion….. Although I think you could have done it with better words seeing as though most NORTH CAROLINIANS would stop reading after the first two”F@#%$”
        I’m going to comment just on the teacher salary comment because it has directly effected me.
        You are correct … teachers salaries have gone up. When I started teaching in 1998 my salary was 24,000 before tax. Gas was 99 cents a gallon and rent was under 450. I pursued my Masters degree to get a pay raise. I spent 30,000 on that. and got a 4000 bump in pay in 2009. So i ended up earning… 52,000 before taxes, after taxes it was something like 27,000 over 10 months because I don’t get paid in the summer 2016, that sounds great right? you would think so …. but wait …let me break this down.
        If you think about the cost of living changes since 1998 and the increased tax rate for making over 50, 000 well it’s starts to look different huh?
        We teach children what it takes to SURVIVE in the world… we not only have to keep up with the times, but we can’t say no even if we wanted. We have to renew our licenses every 5 years. Any classroom cost is ours because public schools are not a priority to the legislature. I was a science teacher teaching STEM ( Science Technology, Engineering and Math) to 6 classes ( 149) of students with no computers or items needed to make those connections so I had to buy the materials needed . 1500-3000 dollars at year. So after taxes and supplies …. oh oh wait .. food! Yes food… I kept snacks in my class because I would have students that didn’t eat ( poor white, poor black, poor hispanic….just poor ) that was roughly 300 a year. So lets add this all up. $52,000 a year minus taxes =27,000-2000 ( i’ll stay in the middle with the classroom cost) -300….dang it … I forgot Professional organization dues, staff development dues ( the state doesn’t pay for those anymore) -600 a year …. SO what am I down to? 23,000 a year before my bills are paid or any kind of living is done….
        My thoughts are this ….. Before you go off screaming and saying whatever .. KNOW the FACTS.. you were TAUGHT that in School by the TEACHERS that probably kicked you out of class for being such a JERK!
        tootles and Have a Happy Holiday!!!!!

        • mountainmom

          Thank you for your service to our state. This is heartbreaking and I apologize if I by my silence in any way allowed this to be the case for you.
          I am amazed you hung in for so long.
          Again.
          Thank you

      • Aml

        Umm. Hard to get past the ugly names calling to hear what you have to say. Can you please try again. This time be civil?

      • Reynardine

        Clean up that orifice you call a mouth, you Macedonian gutter trash.

      • Johny Williams

        FU, you don’t understand budgetary nuance very well. The budget surplus was a numbers trick. The surplus was inflated. Largely unspent funds. The sources of much of that surplus are not sustainable, year-to-do year revenue streams. Furthermore, the surplus came from cuts to education, increased taxes on small business, and the working poor. The costs of those cuts don’t appear overnight. They’re coming though.

      • School District Employee

        Teacher salaries are NOT going up by any livable means AND that $50,000 average teacher pay that they’ve all quoted? Yeah, its a lie. Why don’t you go to the NC DPI website and look up teacher salaries? Just look and see how long it will take “on average” for a teacher to make $50,000. Oh and that budgetary surplus your boasting about is about to be eaten up by the loss of revenue to our state because of that “damn bathroom law” that we didn’t need…especially since it only affected “something like twelve people”.

        YOU are the unhinged, morally deficient and downright stupid one..and obviously quite angry for someone whose political party is in charge. Get a grip.

      • Bored of stupid

        This is incredibly. There is exactly one “fact” in this post, it’s not even a fact – it’s something this guy (given the insults, I’m betting on this thing being male, though I apologize to the nice guys on this thread for assuming this) read as part of a meme and spewed out here. There’s no support for that, and moreover, FU knows it because he has to respond with insults because there’s no actual facts to support his position.

      • L. Davis

        Amazing!!! You sound EXACTLY like a republican. Ignorant and filthy-mouthed.

      • Candace

        The language you use is inexcuseable. People like you are what is wrong with this country. Show some decency or do not post.

      • Pam

        I am so sorry you are this angry. I hope someday soon you find peace . And will be open to reasonable dialogue.

      • UNC Alum

        My. You have mastered the word fuck. Bet your mother is so proud.

      • Fuck you back

        Asshole.

      • Mildred

        Typical ugly ignorant response from one so deficient in good vocabulary he/she can’t express an opinion in ordinary English without resorting to the ugliest profanity. Try saying what you mean in a logical educated way. I just tune out.

      • Chef Bruce West

        Anger and bullying will not work. Trickle down won’t work. And when the rich take it up another notch, we’re going to see a revolution in the streets. You may curse, seeth and threaten. But the people always find a way to win.

      • Jean

        You are wrong about teachers’ salaries. My sister, who has a master in speech pathology, got a small bonus. Not a “raise” that would carry from year to year. She makes way less that the $50,000 touted by the Republicans. The Republicans also did away with the bump in pay that came for teachers with a masters degree. And in case you haven’t read the news, the whole economy of the US has improved with less that 5% unemployment and a 2.5% incease in wages in this past year after years and years of stagnation. And, by the way, HB2 was more that a silly bathroom bill: it prevented progressive cities like Charlotte from passing laws to prevent discrimination against LGBTs and from raising the minimum wage for workers in Charlotte. And then there is the Duke Power coal ash pond fiasco.

      • Cathy

        Another eloquent deplorable, how charming.

      • Fox Watson

        FU’s profanity is just a mask for ‘sore loser!’

      • Gerald Pate

        You are vulgar and stupid.

      • Lindsay Dean

        The author forgot to mention the limited vocabularies of the white supremacists, et. al and how it degrades our educational system.

      • LA

        You alt-right nutters sure have a way with words.

      • A Kotn

        He so arrogantly acts as though he speaks for the entire state of NC. He’s gone right off the deep end and I hope he stays there.

      • Donald

        If only I could exercise my second amendment rights an shoot everyone of these bastards.

      • Heather

        How dare you sign your letter “North Carolina.” You do not represent me or the majority of North Carolina residents. Although I do agree with you when you said “nothing is sacred,” that is true, not even the bathroom. Who is at fault for that? I would say the mayor for not using common sense. Unless, your into that kind of thing.

    • PG

      “The rights of fetuses are going to supersede the rights of the adults who created them.” What? Are they going to start killing the adults?!

      • Proudscalawag

        They just might. There are a fair number of bitter bastards, male and female, who want to hang women for having abortions and they consider that merciful because they’re not burning these evil, unnatural whores at the stake–which would be, to these creeps, only just deserts!

        • L. Davis

          The wealthy just go right on having abortions, in the best hospitals. It’s the poor who are denied this choice.

          • Proudscalawag

            That’s so(literally) damned obvious it goes almost without saying, but none the less true ‘for a’ that’, as Robbie Burns once wrote.

      • crystal

        yes the fetus will kill the parent. If the mother is at danger of dying in child birth and denied the necessary abortion to save her life, then yes the child will kill the parent and possibly itself. Abortions are not preformed in place of birth control it is most often preformed for. the mothers life and health, the viability of suitability to survive of the fetus after birth, and the removal of fetal material after suffering a miscarriage or to remove a ectopic pregnancy. If you do not know what a ectopic pregnancy is that is when the fetus does not attach in the womb but instead in the Fallopian tubes or abdominal cavity a very dangerous situation for the mother and the child and often ends in miscarriageectopic or a death of the mother.

        • Andy Hard

          Crystal, you are completely wrong about why most abortions are performed. I don’t think many pro-lifers would have a problem with an abortion being performed to save the life of the mother. I recommend you look at the staggering number of abortions done everyday. African Americans in some cities have more abortions than live births. Your premise is way off.

          • scrmnmimi

            http://kff.org/womens-health-policy/state-indicator/abortions-by-race/?currentTimeframe=0&selectedRows=%7B%22wrapups%22:%7B%22united-states%22:%7B%7D%7D%7D
            Okay so why do you think they would want to bring children into a society that is hellbent on not feeding them, or housing them or educating them? A society that is hell bent on jailing or shooting them? Why in the world wouldn’t they chose to protect them from that fate if they can’t protect them from racists and bigots?

            When you chose to promote a society that truly embraces life by supporting it, no matter the cost instead of creating a society where there are the mega rich and the not, then you can talk about abortion.

          • Sammie

            It doesn’t matter WHY women have abortions. That’s between the woman and her doctor and is NO ONE ELSE’S business

          • Chef Bruce West

            Rascist comment. So African American women are abortion machines? Really? The Republicans say they aren’t rascist. I see they are.

    • Sammie

      Great letter..

    • Ann Quintana

      Ann Quintana

      I am also less optimistic. Nevertheless, my family has opted to suspend all but necessary spending. We also “cut the cord” on our cable TV in 2008. The biased infotainment industry had stopped providing news. It was very telling that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert won the Peabody awards in the years following. We have Internet access, but have boycotted Cable TV. It has actually been a relief. We are now going to pay off what debts we have, and not spend on anything but absolute necessities. They can only make money if we keep giving it to them. Madison Avenue learned how to brainwash us into thinking we need to buy things to make ourselves feel better. THEY ARE WRONG. Unplug and drop out.

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