Standing in the bathroom door

by | Sep 21, 2016 | Editor's Blog, HB2 | 6 comments

Before the Bush administration invaded Iraq in 2003, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell warned of the “pottery barn rule”—you break it, you own it. His colleagues dismissed his warning and went marching into a war that has left us with instability in the Middle East ever since. That decision will be George Bush’s legacy.

Somebody should have reminded the North Carolina GOP about the pottery barn rule before it rushed to pass House Bill 2—not that they would have listened. Republicans control all the branches of government so they own anything that happens on their watch, whether good or bad. It’s the price of power.

Watching legislative leaders and their partisans try to blame Charlotte is comical. Governor Pat McCrory calling a special legislative session to address a local ordinance was already heavy-handed overreach, but loading up the bill with a bunch of discriminatory and unrelated goodies begged for a backlash. Now, they’re crying foul when the world blames them for their actions.

This summer, the legislature spent eight weeks in regular session and could have amended the law or tried to reach a deal with Charlotte. Instead, they thumbed their noses at businesses, entertainers, and sporting events that threatened to boycott the state over the law. The GOP almost dared them to act.

Now, the bill may cost Pat McCrory his job. Instead of looking for a solution, McCrory, House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate Leader Phil Berger demand that Charlotte repeal its ordinance and take the blame for the economic fallout. That’s no way to get to compromise, especially when the GOP is about to suffer political consequences, not Charlotte.

Of course the rest of us will pay a price in less revenue, fewer jobs, and a seriously damaged reputation. That’s of little concern to the GOP leadership in the state. They’re looking for a scapegoat, not a solution.

House Bill 2 has become our school house door. In 1963, Alabama Governor George Wallace stood in the door of the auditorium to prevent integration of the University of Alabama by African-American students. In his run for office, Wallace had pledged, “Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!” In standing by that mantra, he became a hero to reactionary forces across the country but he damaged the state’s reputation for decades.

Like Wallace, McCrory and the GOP are defiantly standing astride the wrong side of history, pointing fingers and demanding capitulation from a culture and country that has them surrounded. Unlike Wallace, though, instead of elevating McCrory, it might bring him down. Regardless, HB2 has probably damaged our state’s reputation for decades. And history will blame McCrory and the GOP because of the pottery barn rule.

6 Comments

  1. Trump!!?? Are you kidding me!

    I just love the way they rationalize their overt discrimination and bigotry to the mental midgets who make up their voter base by telling a fairy tale about how they are protecting young girls from lascivious teenage boys/men using the female locker rooms/bathrooms and committing atrocious sexual acts. Never mind the fact that the female stalls have opaque doors with locks on them. While as depicted in movies there have been a few peep holes into the ladies showers their fictional scenario is so far from the truth that it would be funny but for the fact that there seems to be an inordinate number of morons who have bought into the lie. And there is no better way to describe it. It is as big a lie as has ever been told. The NC bred Republican base is shameless, ruthless, self-righteous, and possesses the collective IQ (intelligence quotient for those of you who either didn’t graduate or barely graduated from high school) of a stack of bricks. I can say that. I am not running for office 😉 What bothers me the most is that they preach less government yet they want to tell EVERYBODY how to act. We need to show up in record numbers at the polls before these idiots run what was once the Old North State into the ground.

  2. Jay Ligon

    North Carolina is a resilient state with an economy which has become more diversified as time has passed. Our richest North Carolinian sells statistical software to the business world not cigarettes. Our businesses have adapted to the modern marketplace.

    The Research Triangle is the state of the art workplace much praised by business journals. It has transformed the Piedmont into one of the best work environments in the country. Modern facilities in a vast green park setting with affordable real estate near the workplace have become the standard. The Triangle area is considered one of the best cities to raise a family. These features of life in North Carolina are the result of bipartisan efforts to promote the good life. Republicans were not in power when these communities were being developed, but they did not obstruct the progress which would benefit everyone.

    Government is only a small part of the total economy, about 20 to 25%. The business world makes or breaks North Carolina. McCrory and the GOP cannot break North Carolina with a single bill or a series of unwise bills. The GOP can only wound it and impugn our good name. That they have done. The GOP hurts us at the margins. Tourism is an important industry, but it is only one of a number of industries. The entertainment industry including film and sports will never become the colossus it is in Los Angeles, but it was worth saving.

    The damage to North Carolina is not near the breaking point, because the schools can be repaired, our reputation can be restored, and businesses can be induced to return, but not with this governor or this legislature in power.
    The current GOP is a silly blend of hypocrisy, self-righteousness and short-sightedness. They see the November election as the only thing that matters.
    In pursuit of their short-term goal of winning elections, they introduced
    various forms of racism and bigotry in legislative form – deny the vote to blacks and marginalize LGBT people. Their short-term goals are quickly diminishing the state’s long-term well being.

    They miscalculated by a exponential amount. Caught in their ignoble venture, they deny they are doing what they are doing. The grown-ups have left the legislature and the governor’s mansion.

    Sober stable management can cure our ills. Venal, petulant racists cannot.
    It is time for a change.

  3. Lucy Davis

    Excellent article! How refreshing to read something truthful about the damage the republican party is doing to our entire country. It never ceases to amaze me why the “little man” – those who are not wealthy – continue to vote against their best interests and elect republican officials. I can well understand why the wealthy do whatever is within their power to continue with the status quo, the laws are specifically written to benefit them.

    The effects of cutting back on school funds are finally showing results – the “dumbing down” of America. Spelling and reading seem to have disappeared from today’s curriculum. People decide to vote for whomever yells the loudest, and states the most outrageous lies. Too much effort to actually read what the candidate will do to/for America.

    Goodbye America!

  4. Christopher Lizak

    You’re gonna cite the “pottery barn rule”? Too funny.

    That’s the foreign policy formulation that says that Hitler should have kept Western Europe after be broke it in 1940.

    When exactly did that rule become accepted wisdom? And not just delusional American Exceptionalism used to justify long-term occupation of oilfields?

  5. Apply Liberally

    Couldn’t have said it better, Thomas!

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