Yesterday, Pat McCrory gave a plate of cookies to a group of women protesting in front of the governor’s mansion. It angered the protesters and lit up traditional and social media sites. The women sent the cookies back and considered the gesture condescending, according the News & Observer.
I think they got it wrong, though. The episode aptly defines Pat McCrory. He wasn’t trying to be condescending. He was trying to be nice.
Pat McCrory just wants to be liked. His effort was sincere but full of the same naivety that he’s shown throughout his term. Essentially, he used cookies as an olive branch. Pathetic, but not mean.
After seven months in office, McCrory still doesn’t understand the world in which he’s operating. State politics is more bruising than Charlotte politics in the best of times. But he’s thrown his lot with a group of people who are stripping away rights and dismantling successful institutions that took years, even decades, to build. Unfortunately, he’s not bright enough to understand what they are doing or the impact on the people who oppose it. In the fight for the soul of our state, McCrory is a hapless spectator who still doesn’t understand the rules of the game or what’s ultimately at stake.
In Charlotte, McCrory listened to his handlers in the business community and they generally steered him in the right direction. They had their own quality of life to protect. He did what they wanted, the city flourished and McCrory was generally well liked, even respected.
In Raleigh, McCrory’s handlers have made him the patsy. They’ve turned his campaign promises into lies and made him one of the most conservative governors in the country. If he understood political ideology, he’d be pissed. If he understood the damage they’ve done, he’d understand the outrage. But he doesn’t.
He simply sees people outside his house waving signs and chanting slogans who are obviously mad at him. His response? Give ‘em cookies. That’s his way of saying, “No hard feelings.” Bless his heart.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
No kidding Susan, I’m not buying the Gomer bit either.
When approached by Bob Etheridge and protesters wanting to petition their Governor he lied about being in a meeting then got caught playing catch just around the corner from them.
His staff responded to this embarrassment by slamming critics for playing silly ‘gotcha’ political games and making much ado about nothing.
Then McCrory and his people quickly released a video of McCrory playing catch with himself in his office, smiling like the Cheshire cat, saying how much he loves baseball, slipping in a couple of cryptic and dismissive references to the incident, and commending the success of the NCSU and UNC baseball teams The video used the pretext of praising NC State and Carolina in order to make fun of his detractors and critics.
McCrory’s delivering cookies to a group of WOMEN feminists protesting his reneging on his promise to veto restrictive abortion legislation is NOT a friendly gesture. It was an act of public mockery under the pretext of acting like a nice and friendly guy. His staff knows it, and McCrory knows it – they’ve done it before.
I think one of his aides saw an episode of House of Cards. Kevin Spacey disarms a protest crowd by bringing them a plate of pork ribs and steaks.
We all (in the south) know what ‘bless his heart’ means…for the rest of the country, just think of the equivalent to a rude hand gesture generally utilizing a middle finger.
Marie Antoinette was not being hateful or unkind either when, told the peasants were rioting because thy had no bread, she suggested they eat brioches. it’s tone-deafness, ignorance, and downright cluelesness that McCrory’s act displays. If he can’t outsmart his handlers, well, Marie Antoinette’s husband just wanted to be liked, too, but still lost his head. And if you don’t want to go as far back as the French Revolution–remember Hillary’s comment that she was not going to stay home and bake cookies and have teas? So he also insults activist women everywhere by his cookie and cake-peddling. Bless his heart.
True Southern manners, cookies in one hand and a knife in the other, so I don’t buy the Gomer scenario. He’s imitating the Bush waltz—disarm your detractors with your “duh-ness” while you plot and plan. Clever lad.