A fascist coup has taken place in North Carolina

[Marius25]

An extremely partisan Supreme Court in NC just guaranteed Republican control of the state indefinitely. The rulings by the judges were garbage and not based on law. It was 100% to give them absolute power.

Democrats in North Carolina now have no power to elect the people they want.

For all the whining we hear about the 2nd Amendment existing to stop tyranny, it's ironic how they let tyranny flourish without a peep.

Pretty much proves the 2nd Amendment serves no legitimate purpose.

[blm]

1. Tyranny of the minority.

[ZonkerHarris]

58. The whole nation is next on their target list

[SouthernDem4ever]

67. You mean tyranny by the minority

[blm]

68. By, of, and for

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

77. exactly

[walkingman]

2. Sadly it's not just NC.....

[DENVERPOPS]

36. Hey, you are correct!

Coming to a State near you, folks............I fear a Pandemic of this shit will sweep the nation much quicker than Covid did..........

Like someone, (Hitler?), once said, "it doesn't matter how people vote, it only matters who counts the votes"....Just like Putin and other tyrants around the world.......

[Hieronymus Phact]

65. Coming?

this already happened in Texas, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, the Mid West etc...

[csziggy]

43. Yeah, that's how it's been in Florida for, oh, about 23 years or so. nt

[dawg]

3. NC Supreme Court Justices are elected positions.

We lost those elections, probably because some Democratic voters failed to pay attention to the downballot races, and now we are seeing the consequences.

Edited to correct myself: Actually, we lost those races by similar margins to the Senate race that we also lost. They were statewide races so no gerrymandering. We just got outvoted because there was no Presidential or Governor's race on the ballot, and not enough of us showed up to vote.

[stopdiggin]

11. +1. sad truth

calling a spade a spade
There's cheating and stealing (and all manner of other nefarious, anti-democratic stuff) - and then there's times when we're just plain getting out voted. We need to know the difference.

[moose65]

15. We lost those races due to low turnout

Voter turnout in NC in 2022 was 51%. Even in the so-called "Blue Urban Areas," voters didn't turn out. Mecklenburg County, home of Charlotte and second-largest county in NC (after Wake), had 45% turnout. We can't win elections like that!

I am at a loss to explain this. I can't understand why people don't get into the habit of voting in every election, everywhere.

Voter turnout is literally the key, and it's all that matters.

[Captain Stern]

20. That's pretty much it, right there. n/t

[Mariana]

38. NC has attracted a lot of Republican-voting retired Boomers.

According to the AARP, NC is the second most popular state for retirees to move to.

https://www.aarp.org/retirement/planning-for-retirement/info-2023/most-popular-relocation-states.html

This is certainly a factor in statewide elections.

[paleotn]

49. Bingo. When people don't show up, they get the government they deserve.

On the bright side, NC is changing as more people NOT from Jebusland move into the Triad, Triangle and Charlotte. Statewide races my being to favor the Dems while the legislature remains gerrymandered to the reich.

[blm]

59. The top of the ticket is CRUCIAL to judge races.

And I will continue to be pissed at those Dem higher ups who convinced themselves that a former judge knew how to run for a senate seat in NC. Beasley is not cut out to be a political campaigner.

Jackson would have won statewide handily AND bring along the Judge races with hm.

[MarcA]

60. Gerrymandering shall be built with Non-Gerrymandering Hands. n/t

[Freethinker65]

4. People of NC can still elect Democrats for Statewide offices

Until the NC legislature changes that and says they get to appoint those offices. Legislating taking away duties of Statewide voted in Democratic officeholders will be accelerating.

[lindysalsagal]

7. I wish I could refute your post. Sadly, I cannot.

[KPN]

31. Yep. I first heard this plan from a co-worker back in about 2008.

He was an educated person working in a professional position. In a discussion we were having he was all about we aren’t a pure democracy, that the founding fathers set our federal government up as a republic under which the President would be elected directly by the Senate, not via voters in a nationwide election. …. I had never heard this before and took it at the time as his own cockamamie notion. He and I were actually friends. We worked in natural resources management for a federal agency. He was a forester by trade and had always been conservative on environmental issues — because they got in the way of timber harvest frankly. Efficiently growing and harvesting trees for wood fiber production was his vocational purpose, so that made sense. But around the same time he had also started railing about human caused global warming being a hoax. Shortly thereafter I noticed whenever I happened by his house to loan, borrow or return a tool, he was always watching Fox News — it was on constantly. …. So, yes, never put off and we have put off for quite some time. Not intentionally, but definitely by not seeing what was going on in plain site. My coworker did not concoct these ideas on his own. He is not and was not politically active beyond what was going on with forest land management. But he did and does vote. And he got those notions — we are a republic, etc — from his news sources. Fox Z news being a big one.

And Fox News did not concoct the message that we are a Republic, the people aren’t entitled to vote for our national leader either. They got it from others — the Koch’s, John Birch Society, the Heritage Foundation and other well funded white male dominated organizations and institutions that also dominate the Republican Party. Their strategy was concocted decades ago.

[KPN]

87. My theory is its part of their grand strategy to survive what they see as

natural "limits to growth" of human population and impact. The earth cannot sustain us all indefinitely so thin the herd by recruiting some of the herd to do so. Sounds wacky I know, but it fits what we are experiencing.

[Baked Potato]

62. Agreed...

[lindysalsagal]

6. If it worked there, they'll do it everywhere.

[CrispyQ]

9. Our side isn't taking this authoritarian movement seriously enough.

I used to worry about that but now I just deal with the truth of it.

on edit: And when I saw "our side" I mean all of us, not just our democratic leaders. Read post #3.

I have hope in the younger gen, but I also hope they show up to vote & that they aren't swayed by third party idealism.

[blm]

30. That's my view, as well.

[Demsrule86]

10. This is not because of an insurrection but because folks did not get out and vote for the

Democratic state Supreme court justice and it is now 4/3 against us. We have to win elections.

[PortTack]

12. Agree..gerrymandering affects the congress. If ppl vote, they can still elect dem US and state

Senators, President, governor, state SC justices and other state wide offices.

Yes, this is bad and needs to be taken seriously. All the more reason to make sure these other offices are filled by Dems.

VOTE BLUE!

[Demsrule86]

46. It was a statewide vote gerrymandering is not possible.

We need to compete in states like North Carolina...why didn't the DNC work this election...we need better people to run the DNC...Harris is a good guy but does not have the experience.

[oldsoftie]

79. as UGE as the '20 US election was, we STILL only got about 2/3 eligible voters

With all that was at stake and trump on the ballot, 1/3 STILL didnt vote. And its easy as hell and nobody has any excuses today NOT to vote. Yet millions still dont

[Marius25]

14. It's 5/2 Republican right now.

[Demsrule86]

47. It happened this year...

Did you even hear much about this election...did we fund our candidates? I called but from what I know there was no push from the DNC...states have been ignored for far too longs

"The new edition of the court, which became a Republican majority this year following the election of two GOP justices, ruled after taking the unusual step of revisiting opinions made in December by the court's previous iteration, when Democrats held a 4-3 seat advantage. The court held rehearings in March."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-carolina-supreme-court-voting-map-gerrymandering-voter-id-rulings/

[CrispyQ]

54. "...states have been ignored for far too long/"

Agree! Why did we ditch Dean's 50 State Strategy?

Looking Back at Howard Dean's 50-State Strategy
Despite opposition from national Democrats, the former Vermont governor's bid to build up party infrastructure in every state was a success in the unlikeliest of places -- at least while it lasted.
May 07, 2013 • Elizabeth Daigneau

https://www.governing.com/archive/gov-democrat-howard-deans-fifty-state-strategy.html

snip...

Here's how the Democrats fared in the reddest of red states between January 2005 and January 2009, the period when the 50-state project was in operation:

State House seats: Net gain of 39 seats, a 2 percent increase of all seats in the states analyzed

State Senate seats: Net loss of two seats

Governorships: Net loss of one

Attorney generalships: Net gain of one (elected seats only)

U.S. House seats: Net gain of three seats

U.S. Senate seats: Net gain of one seat

Presidential performance: In 15 of the 20 states, the Democratic nominee saw an increase in vote share between 2004 and 2008. In three other states, the vote share remained constant. It dropped in only two states.

more...

Now let's compare this record to the one between January 2009 and January 2013.

State House seats: Net loss of 249 seats, a decrease of 13 percent of the existing seats in those states

State Senate seats: Net loss of 84 seats, a decrease of 12 percent

Governorships: A decrease by half, from eight governors to four

Attorney generalships: A drop by two-thirds in elected AGs, from nine to three

U.S. House seats: A 40 percent drop, from 44 seats to 26

U.S. Senate seats: A drop from 11 seats to 8. (It could drop further by 2014: Of those eight remaining seats, three senators are retiring and another three face tough reelection contests.)

Presidential performance: Only two of the 20 states (Alaska and Mississippi) saw higher support for Obama in 2012 than in 2008. In most of the 20 solidly red states, Obama's 2012 vote fell back roughly to John Kerry's level from 2004.

more...

Still, Dean said he continues to believe that every state, no matter how unfriendly to his party, deserves to have a basic level of institutional, financial, technological and personnel support, which can be "relatively inexpensive."

"It would be a terrible mistake to leave even one state out of a basic package of training, IT and staffing," he said. "I don't advocate putting a zillion dollars into Alaska, but I do advocate having a competent, well-run Democratic Party in place, because you never know where lightning is going to strike."

IDK, it seems with the oceans of money flooding our political system we could afford the basics everywhere, maybe even a little bit more? Here's why we shouldn't write off red states.

[KPN]

35. Sadly it seems stirring up fears about rapist immigrants,

groomers, pedophiles, drug-addled homeless, the government taking your freedoms and money, unruly mobs (there’s some irony, eh), canceling your culture, and the list goes on is more effective at stirring up voter emotions, response and action than better wages and work conditions, health care for all, equal rights and affordable higher education.

Maybe we should be campaigning on save your children’s lives, vote democratic; save your children from serfdom, vote democratic; don’t let them put your kid in jail because the society, educational, social and health systems they promote makes them more likely to be at risk youth, vote democratic; don’t let them limit, steal or kill you or your kids future, vote democratic.

[mollie8]

13. unfortunatelly...

I live in NC and it seems nearly all the people around me, including most of my family members, are republican. I think we lost the last election because there are not enough Democrats and Democrats are too passive. I don't see anything changing in the near future.

[moose65]

17. Oh, there are plenty of Democrats

Democrats still outnumber Republicans in NC, but we act like we just can't win.... 47% or 48% just isn't going to cut it any longer.

I am hopeful that the new chair of the NC Dem Party can turn it around. It is going to take a long-term commitment, and a lot of money. Dems need to concentrate on voter turnout - turning out Dems and Dem-friendly unaffiliated voters. We should not waste time trying to "convert" Republicans.

[Sky Jewels]

53. Research Triangle needs to act like Atlanta did for Georgia.

I hope it becomes the engine that fuels progressive change in the state.

[mwooldri]

16. Unpopular take here: NC Dems are inept.

In the 2020 midterms, lots of NC House and Senate seats went uncontested. You can't win the House or Senate if you're not running in the races to be elected!

Once elected how is the party reaching out to the electorate? Do people know who their elected officials are - from city, county, state and federal? Though she's a Republican and no longer in office, Cheri Berry achieved some name recognition by having her picture in elevators. What are Democrats doing?

Someone in NC needs to adopt a 100 county strategy.

Also got to get a feels for people. The GOP have done an awful lot of damage this session. Easier to get guns. Harder to get reproductive healthcare. Book banning. Drag show restrictions. Transgender restrictions. Even dangerous cars on the road.

Democrats can win in NC at the state level. However NC Democratic leadership is disorganised, inept, relying too much on the urban vote and not working the rural areas needed to win. And also not connecting with the voters once elected to stay in office.

Need more people like Jeff Jackson. But at the local level.

[moose65]

19. Your take is spot-on

The NC Dem party has been asleep at the wheel for a decade. They have a new, young chair this year, so I am hopeful things might change.

I think you meant 2022, not 2020, in your post. And you're right - I looked on the State Board of Elections website, and there were 30 state house seats that were uncontested by Dems in 2022. A majority is 61, so we conceded half of their majority right off the bat!

As far as relying too much on the urban vote, I wish that were true! Turnout in urban counties was awful in 2022. Wake County, home of supposedly the most politically involved people in the state, had turnout of 56%. Mecklenburg County was at 45%, and Guilford County was right around 50%. Better turnout in just those three counties would have probably given us Senator Beasley and possibly could have saved the Supreme Court, too.

The NC Dems have a long way to go. They need a long-term, 100-county strategy. Voter turnout is the key to EVERYTHING.

[blm]

34. Beasley was part of the problem, unfortunately.

She was not an effective campaigner as she is not really a political force in any sense - she was a good judge, but, showed no genuine enthusiasm for political campaigning.

No Dem is going to win statewide in NC without being a powerhouse on the campaign trail. It’s just the way it is here.

Jeff Jackson would have won that 2022 Senate seat AND saved the NC Supreme Court for Dems by bringing out the new voters and dominating the swing vote. He makes you WANT to vote for him, even conservatives admit this.

Establishment Dems mistakenly saw a young guy who can run another time, instead of seeing that there was no time to waste anymore in NC.

[moose65]

56. Sadly I think you're right

I don’t know where Beasley campaigned, but it certainly wasn’t in the northwestern corner of the state. In contrast, Jackson visited all 100 counties during his brief Senate run.

Jackson is a good guy. I’m afraid the general assembly is going to try to gerrymander him out of his seat in 2024.

[uponit7771]

80. THIS !!!! ☝🏾☝🏾☝🏾

[FeelingBlue]

18. It's time for people who can be mobile...

To move into divided districts to change the balance of power. Dems need to flood some of those strongholds. Get an apartment and register to vote. Work remotely? Save NC by re-locating.

[Mariana]

39. The most mobile people are retirees.

NC has attracted a lot of retirees from other states. Unfortunately, most retirees vote Republican.

[Mariana]

64. In 2020, 59% of NC voters aged 65 and older voted for Trump.

https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/exit-polls/president/north-carolina

[Mariana]

72. I believe in recent years, NC is second only to Florida as a MAGAt magnet.

[Botany]

21. The GOP is pulling a power play in OH too.

Trying to keep an abortion rights amendment off of this fall's ballot they trying to change the law that
you will need 60% of the vote to put an amendment on the ballot instead of the current 50%.

[Marius25]

28. Florida just increased the threshold needed for their amendments too

[Botany]

51. Everybody is talking about how Trump tried to cheat in the 2020 election but he cheated with Russia

.... big time in 2016, w only got in because of the SCOTUS stopped the vote count in Florida and was
"re-elected" because of massive cheating in OH in 2004, Reagan got big time help in 1980 by cutting
a deal w/the Ayatollah and Iran, Nixon won in 1968 because he stopped LBJ's deal to end the war
in Vietnam by telling both the North and South Vietnamese they would get a better deal with him but
in the end he signed the exact same deal in 1973 after another 1 to 2 million people died, and don't
get me started about that fucking electoral college bullshit that lets the loser be declared the winner
because of deal done in order to keep slave owners happy.

Cheating it is what republicans do. They all knew that Trump was getting Russian help in 2016 and
they all know now that Tony DeVolder aka Santos is a Russian paid for Chaos Agent and they don't
care.

[Botany]

83. And with the dynamics of our population changing and the republican positions being out of step ...

... with what the vast majority of Americans want and or need "they" have already been working
on ways to keep power be it gerrymandering, the courts, the electoral college, keeping people up-
set at non issues such as trans people being some kind of threat, Christo Fascism, CRT, public
education, and so on, working with Russia (the GOP knows that Tony DeVolder aka Santos is a
Russian plant and they don't care), manipulation of the media's footprint and message, and the rat
fucking of our elections.

If republican ideas were really popular then they wouldn't have to make it so hard to vote which they
do even red states.

[Botany]

85. Way back when America had some fine republicans, such as Ray Shafer, Teddy Rosevelt, Margaret ...

.... Chase Smith, Chuck Percy, Mark Hatfield, and Ike but this current crop puts the shit back into
shitbags. BTW the Republican all knew Russia was helping Trump in 2016* and they didn't care as
a matter of fact many of the GOP Senators knowingly took Russia money via the NRA.

* https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/paul-ryan-keeps-it-family-kevin-mccarthy-russia-trump

"Things are coming to a head w global warming"

New Jersey's "ghost forests"



Thousands of acres of coastal cedar fresh water wetland forests are dying along the the east
coast as the salt water creeps inland as the sea level rises. But those think tanks you speak of
are in large part paid for by the fossil fuel industries and they have an agenda.

BTW call me But i think the House Republicans want an economic disaster by fucking
with the debt ceiling so they can blame Biden for the hurt it will cause.

[live love laugh]

23. What does the 2nd amendment have to do with the coup?

I’m confused. But interested …

[BlackSkimmer]

27. I seem to have missed that connection too.

I'm a Dem, but I don't carry.

Should I have stormed Raleigh with my walking stick?

[paleotn]

45. See below.

[uponit7771]

81. Gumpers are religious about 2a but not the 15a

[paleotn]

44. It's irony. They suppose the 2nd amendment protects THEIR freedom from tyrannical government....

YET have no problem whatsoever with tyrannical government forcing their particular brand of fascist bullshit on the rest of us.

[Traildogbob]

26. And if

The Supremacy Court rules in favor of the NC Moore case this summer, Legislatures (GQP one’s) can turn over outcomes they disagree with, this will be nationwide, Democracy is over. Trump will rule forever. All his spawn after he dies, God hurry up, and they are still breeding.
All the ballot box crap about ending the Fascist take over and throw out the MTG’s, Kevin’s, DeSatans, all wasted hopes and dreams of ending this hell.
After all North Carolina, especially the mountains is known as North Florida. They bought us. One mountain mansion at a time. Looks like DeSatan will take over our governorship. He will Pull a Putin and consume us like an Amoeba fagosynthetizing us like the Blob did it’s victims.
We need the courage of Ukraine to fight, but I do not think it exists here.
North Carolina, The Koch’s crown jewel..
North Carolina, A gun store, a church and a Dollar Store, each one in reach of the next one.
Breeding ground of Meadows and Cawthorn. Poster children for NCGQP.

[dchill]

32. The 2nd Amendment is being used to prop up tyranny. As intended.

[dchill]

57. Danger Will Robinson!

[paleotn]

37. Whatever the reich says, think the opposite. 2nd amendment guards against tyranny?

They have no problem with tyranny and don't believe in freedom or democracy. What they do believe in is fascism. They're a cancer on the Republic and must be excised in any way possible.

[electric_blue68]

41. Been voting for 51 years. I missed one Non Presidential general election. At most 2-3 primaries.

So let's rock the vote this year and next - 2024!
🎸🎸🎸🗳️🎸🗳️🎸🗳️🎸🗳️🎸🎸🎸


Not giving up! ✊ 🤞 👍

(🖕 Rethuglicans)

[BradBo]

48. Now they will start driving away minority's.

Then the businesses will follow.

[NJCher]

52. since this is such a serious thread

none of which I disagree with, I would like to throw in two elements for consideration. They are not meant to be optimistic, just something to consider because these factors do exist. They are a bit abstract, so bear with me.

The first is to consider the victim when trying to commit the perfect crime, the crime being the theft of the democratic system. My friend the criminologist talks about this when discussing the planners of the perfect murder. She says the murderer never considers the victim. They can't: they do not know what the victim will do. No one does.

In this case the victims deserve little sympathy: they didn't vote. They conceded representation by not running. So I think we can conclude there is very little interest in democratic principles. Or they are lackadaisical, taking democratic principles for granted. It could even be argued that these citizens deserve their fate.

So it appears they will have it. That is called "experiential learning." In the education field, we believe that is how adults learn best.

They will soon come to learn what republicans have to offer, something which we know all too well. It is all about corruption, and no one can support that except those profiting from it. When the voters try to overcome it, they will find out there are few options. Their only real option will be to leave the state.

So to sum up what I am saying on this first point is that they will serve as the perfect guinea pig to the rest of the states. How will the victim act out after learning of its guinea pig status? Could be interesting.

So glad I'm not you, N. Carolina!

My second point is that there's an interesting phenomenon that occurs when one's motivations come from a dark place. This phenomena can best be described by recent example: how the Tennessee republicans threw three Democrats out of the statehouse and in the process, made them national figures. National reputations. Millions, even billions of dollars could not purchase that kind of reputation.

So my point would be that yes, you can plot and you can scheme to take the reins of power but it seems like there's another player in this game, one they most certainly have not considered.

[Sky Jewels]

55. Another factor is the rise of Gen Z.

We have yet to see how much they will change the country, and how quickly. NC skews older because it is a retirement destination, so it might take longer there than some other states, but change is a-comin'...eventually.

[Mariana]

74. Almost half of Gen Z can't even vote yet.

They range in age from about 10 to 25.

[Sky Jewels]

75. Yes!

Four million turn 18 every year. Tick tock, Republicans.

[Ohioboy]

61. It all stems from Trump's big lie

Just like Putin: claim you are solving problems that don't exist, and gradually take over. Republicans are slowly destroying everything.

[Javaman]

63. You know why this is happening right?

This might be a little but I believe this is the start of a soft civil war.

They are sewing up local townships and school boards, taking over the states supremes, then gerrymandering the districts.

One day we will wake up and one of these fascist states will announce they are succeeding from the union. Then you will see others follow.

Anyone paying attention can see this happening

[blm]

69. ✔️

[The Jungle 1]

66. Fascism is way more prevalent than the nation wants to accept.

[Earth-shine]

76. I lived in relatively liberal Asheville from 2008-2019.

The Republicans were everywhere. I hardly knew any Dems.

They are literally born into it there.

[melm00se]

78. I believe this is the case

https://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=1&pdf=42280

in question.

TL/DR version: The court found that there was "no intent to discriminate" so SB 824 stands.

The thrust of this case was whether NC SB 824 (An act to implement the constitutional amendment REQUIRING PHOTOGRAPHIC identification to vote) was constitutional under the NC Constitution: Article I, Section 19:

Sec. 19. Law of the land; equal protection of the laws.

No person shall be taken, imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liberties, or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any manner deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by the law of the land. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws; nor shall any person be subjected to discrimination by the State because of race, color, religion, or national origin.

The opinion lists quite a bit of detail around SB 824 about what IDs are acceptable, exceptions, qualifiers and alternatives to getting IDs or the state providing an acceptable photo ID.

Additionally the opinion discusses the lower court's ruling as well as a concurrent federal lawsuit on this topic that went before the 4th Circuit Court which held that:

"this very law was not enacted with discriminatory intent and reversed the district court’s decision to invalidate S.B. 824".

In the Court's analysis, the plaintiffs in this case are asserting by passing SB 824, the legislature:

“at least in part to entrench itself by burdening the voting rights of reliably Democrat African-American voters.”

The Court also leans on the "presumption of constitutionality" principle and the standard which the Court uses to declare a law invalid ("beyond a reasonable doubt" ).

There is then a lot of discussion over the federal precedents with references including the above mentioned Federal appeals court ruling.

The end result and ruling is

"Plaintiffs here have failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that S.B. 824 was enacted with discriminatory intent or that the law actually produces a meaningful disparate impact along racial lines"

[uponit7771]

82. ***DOJ AND USSC SHOULD WEIGH IN !!!*** Stop allowing MAGA To take away 15a and we

... need federal level national voting standards paid for by the USG.

PERIOD !!