Moral Monday: With Hundreds of Arrests, Rev. William Barber II Ups Stakes In Showdown With GOP (NC)

[marions ghost]

Source: Huffington Post

"Liberals looking to challenge Republican rule in a more sustained way may want to turn their eyes to North Carolina and the “Moral Monday” protests led by the Rev. William Barber II, who heads the state branch of the NAACP.

On 10 Mondays since late April, up to 3,000 people have gathered outside the Legislative Building in Raleigh to protest actions by the GOP-dominated General Assembly. When the demonstrators move inside and block the atrium between the House and Senate chambers, police arrest them. So far, at least 700 have been taken into custody.

The liberals’ list of grievances is long. In the last year, Republicans have eliminated the “racial justice” appeal to the death penalty, cut unemployment benefits, opted out of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, repealed the state’s earned income tax credit and put a same-sex marriage ban on the state ballot. Just last week, abortion restrictions were added to the litany, when the Senate unexpectedly passed new rules for abortion clinics. The GOP also has pushed to expand charter schools and taken steps to allow hydraulic fracturing.

The mass arrests in North Carolina, and the size and persistence of the protests, distinguish them from what has happened in other states — at least so far. But Barber says liberals in other states can use the same approach."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/09/moral-monday_n_3566691.html

---

Photos from other sources (News & Observer, WRAL, News & Record):

















Over 700 arrested as of July 8, 2013! Please kick if you support North Carolina Moral Mondays.

[frylock]

1. knr!

[northoftheborder]

2. knr from Texas

[L0oniX]

3. Why are they being framed as liberals?

[Iliyah]

5. Maybe because they can spell?

LOL

[L0oniX]

6. -

[R Merm]

12. You are right not all participants are "liberal"

Last edited Tue Jul 9, 2013, 02:06 PM - Edit history (1)

including the NARAL volunteer's, whose petition I signed, who voted for the Governor believing him to be middle of the road. Others have meet registered Republicans who are unhappy with how far they are moving the state.

[Jack Rabbit]

30. People should know better than to think the GOP is middle-of-the-road

I believe it was Senator Tower who said during a Republican platform committee in 1984 "there are no moderates in the Republican party."

That was about the time Senator Weicker, a moderate Republican, became an independent. In 1986, Weicker lost his Senate seat to a man who turned out to be a good conservative Republican, Joe Lieberman.

[ms liberty]

38. McCrony was a very moderate mayor of Charlotte..

I am not the only NC'er who is surprised and angry about his hard right turn.

[okaawhatever]

46. That's the Art Pope effect. They funded his win, not just run, but win and he sold his soul in

exchange. He was moderate in Charlotte because that's what got him elected. He did the same with the Governorship. Do what it takes, not what's right.

Did you see the two articles I posted in Gen Discussion early this morning? One is of Rev Jane Holmes the Episcopalian clergy who lost her privileges for jail ministry for getting arrested at Moral Mondays. The other is a letter from a coalition of clergy in the state telling McCrory his machinations aren't very God-like. It had Catholics, Presbyterian, pretty much all of the big churches, pretty awesome indeed.

[Iliyah]

4. These GOP governors

are something huh. People fighting back peacefully an American icon.

This is why I love being an American!

[marions ghost]

11. thanks!

Here is a great video from this past Monday, July 8--showing the protestors at the tenth Moral Monday lining up to enter the state house, and the scene inside where they are arrested for trespassing and "unlawful assembly."

[yesphan]

7. Absolutely !

K & R

[Triana]

8. KICK!

[rhett o rick]

9. I dont watch Corp-Media. Are they covering this? nm

[marions ghost]

16. MSNBC has been & deserves a big shout out for it

Melissa Harris-Perry did a good spot in June. Video at this link:

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/06/08/north-carolinas-moral-monday-protests-are-only-the-beginning/

Also the text of her "letter to Governor McCrory":

Dear Gov. Pat McCrory,

It’s me, Melissa.

Now I can only imagine that running a state can’t be easy – and when you add pesky demonstrators to the mix your job becomes harder. Harder because you have a growing group of people not willing to stand by idly and watch the erosion of their hard fought freedoms. Harder because you can’t be bothered with hearing their grievances or even meeting with them.

On Tuesday, you told reporters that you were “very pleased that it’s been non-violent.”

Say word, governor? Really? Who did you think would be posing a risk of violence? The clergy in their collars? The disabled in their wheelchairs? The elderly who were just present to observe?

Or were you expecting them to pull out knives and shank each other just because the lead organizers are from the state chapter of the NAACP and the Advancement Project? Let me remind you, governor, that your state has a long history of non-violent protests by black and brown folks, including one of the most famous by some civilized students at a lunch counter in a place called Greensboro.

Governor, if you would bother to meet with your constituents, maybe you would learn why they are gathering every week. (continued at link)

------------------------

Here's an interview Melissa Harris Perry did with Rev Barber:

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/06/10/moral-monday-protests-continue-in-north-carolina/

---------------------------
Chris Hayes did an excellent spot in June, called "You Should Know Art Pope"

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/all-in-/52211452#52211452

Chris Hayes also had Rev Dr Wm Barber on his show:

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/all-in-/52052147#52052147

THANK YOU, MSNBC and please STAY ON IT!!!

[marions ghost]

37. Forgot to say that NPR was there also

---

[appal_jack]

10. Big Tarheel k&r. n/t

[marions ghost]

41. thanks

[EC]

13. Hasn't stopped them yet...

Let's hope that the attention changes the look of the State House and Senate this time around in 2014.

[mwb970]

14. As always, conservatives are wrong about EVERYTHING.

"In the last year, Republicans have eliminated the “racial justice” appeal to the death penalty, cut unemployment benefits, opted out of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, repealed the state’s earned income tax credit and put a same-sex marriage ban on the state ballot. Just last week, abortion restrictions were added to the litany, when the Senate unexpectedly passed new rules for abortion clinics. The GOP also has pushed to expand charter schools and taken steps to allow hydraulic fracturing."

I disagree strongly with every single republican policy mentioned here. In fact, there hasn't been a republican policy I agree with in many, MANY years. It is almost eerie how, over a huge range of unrelated issues, those on the far right instinctively and unerringly locate and then fiercely fight for the most un-American, un-Christian, inhuman, lethal, illogical position on each and every issue, with no exceptions.

How is this even possible?

[LonePirate]

15. Are there any polls or proof showing these protests are persuading rank and file NC residents?

Republican legislators will never be swayed by these protests so the only hope is to generate support from the general public and sustain it until the next election.

[nolabear]

20. "Rank and file" is a difficult term to apply to NC

I have lived here (am visiting in-laws as I type) and the shock at what the GOP has done here is in part because it IS such a diverse state, filled with tech industry, research, medical research and facilities, science centers, three outstanding universities, and people from all over the world. The "rank and file" you're thinking about are old conservative farm and mountain people, small town folks who are indeed often deeply rooted in conservatism. And I think because so many people come from elsewhere it's easy for them not to think of themselves as Carolinians and not get involved. But let me tell you, that is changing with, as the sign in the OP said, Republicans in vaginas,as well as a host of other absurdities and indignities and downright horrors. I have a lot of faith in the place to go back to being a jewel, as it was becoming before the GOP freakout.

[marions ghost]

22. They don't like the legislators in general:

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2013/06/even-republicans-unhappy-with-nc-legislature.html

Only 1 in 5 North Carolinians support the current legislature's agenda. So I'm not sure how much lower they can go....

Yes, the point is for the people to be inspired to effect changes in the next election.

[Jack Rabbit]

53. "(T)he point is for the people to be inspired to effect changes in the next election."

That's why Republicans don't want the people to vote.

Corporations, yes, but not people.

[marions ghost]

54. That is their plan

The Pirate Sector has no scruples, zero, nada, none. That is clear.

They want to limit voting and stifle democracy in NC, and do the same in other swing states with enough Koch money.

They really are evil.

[riqster]

17. K&R!

[nolabear]

18. I'm visiting NC now. There's a lot of support here for Moral Mondays.

Keep the faith, people, and spread this out over all states that are trying to take away the rights we've fought so hard for.

[SaveAmerica]

23. Thinking of the history of Women's Reproductive Rights and it's disgusting

to think how fast and how far back in the past we are going.

[zeemike]

19. The problem is leadership

The liberals have none other than single issue leaders and wold reject this kind of thing because a religious leader is leading it.
The only way we will stop this is if we come together like they are doing there.

[SaveAmerica]

21. Looks like more than 3000! #s ballooned since GOP war on women

got even worse last week. Thank you Republican led Legislature! The only thing you've been good at so far is firing us up!!

[marions ghost]

24. The news outlets always

go with the most conservative estimate of numbers.

[SaveAmerica]

33. I'm in NC and pics I saw on FB this am showed a huge group on

that lawn. I think they like to take pictures as people are showing up instead of the final group.

[marions ghost]

36. Right the news outlets get pictures early

for whatever reason. Important to have the people's media on top of it to get the full picture. And they are doing a GREAT job.

[AlbertCat]

25. "You got what you voted for" "Why don't you just move"

OK...I'm sick and tired of these stupid memes. They are all over the HP site comments

1st off...we are not all college students. We cannot just throw some panties in a paper bag, borrow money from our parents and just move.

2nd... we did not get what we voted for. Elections do not mean we have a democracy here. Things are not normal here. The state is bought and paid for by Art Pope.

Unless you think a state that went blue and voted for Obama the 1st time...and almost did the 2nd time just all of a sudden turned deep red of its own accord. You think that????

Get real. This is bigger than you think. Your state is next!

[marions ghost]

26. Yep "things are NOT normal here"

There are many supportive comments on HuffPo also, to be fair--

but you are absolutely right that the state has been hijacked and other states are targeted for the same.

[blm]

29. It's the purple states that have been targeted the MOST by the GOP gerrymanderers

working to turn blue-purple states like NC into permanent red states.

[marions ghost]

40. Right exactly, the swing states, roughly:

WI, PA, FL, CO, OH, MI, MN, NV, IA, NH, VA --in addition to NC

[blackspade]

27. K&R!

[TRoN33]

28. 700 arrested for what?

That is the question. Art Pope clearly are very compared to Koch brothers' anti-America stance against us. Art Pope doesn't give any shit about this country and this world.

He need to be stopped for good.

[marions ghost]

31. Powerful speeches by Rev Barber:

&feature=c4-overview&list=UUeBaVCo1Abl6J-g5E1x080w

&list=UUeBaVCo1Abl6J-g5E1x080w

[TRoN33]

32. Liberal majority government in states...

Have ZERO protests and zero arrests. We haven't arrested the Tea Party. We haven't arrested the gun-right protesters. We haven't arrested anti-education protesters. We haven't arrested anti-tax protesters.

Evidently we are far more humble than Republic of Koch Brothers and Pope (formerly North Carolina)!

[marions ghost]

39. "Republic of Koch & Pope"

that is what it is.

http://www.charlottemagazine.com/Blogs/Poking-the-Hornets-Nest/May-2013/North-Carolina-a-Petri-Dish-for-Art-Pope-and-the-Koch-Brothers/

This weekend, Politico ran an important story that lays out why the right-wing takeover of North Carolina has ramifications far beyond the Tar Heel State. North Carolina is a pilot project for GOP dominance of state governments all over the nation — which, with a federal government crippled by one crisis after another, means effective control of the country.

It was fairly obvious early on that this was the plan. You could tell by the sheer volume and brazenness of the proposals, some of which — like the proposal to eliminate the state income tax — are radical even by Republican standards. But the Politico story is one of the first I've seen that not only rounds up all the craziness but places it in its proper context. Republicans are using North Carolina government to advance some of the most regressive policies the United States has seen in a century or more:

The hope, say conservatives, is to replicate their successes elsewhere.

“Getting dramatic economic change at the federal level is very difficult,” said Tim Phillips, president of the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity. “A few years ago, the idea we had was to create model states. North Carolina was a great opportunity to do that – more so than any other state in the region. If you could turn around a state like that, you could get real reform.”

Since November, change has come quickly …

AFP wasn’t the only outside group operating in North Carolina. Others include the Republican Governors Association, which is backed by the Kochs and Pope; Republican State Leadership Committee, which has received contributions from mega-donors such as Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson; and Real Jobs NC, which Pope co-founded, outspent left-leaning outside groups in North Carolina by more than a 2:1 margin, according to the Institute for Southern Studies... (more at link)

[47of74]

44. AFP should be designated a criminal organization

If another country did half the shot to us that AFP does to us we'd be arming for war right now.

[marions ghost]

45. The enemy within

--they have hijacked North Carolina and they plan to inflict as much damage as possible.

"These are savvy bastards, and they understand above all that they're not accountable to the public. They're accountable to their donors and their rural base, who are so warped or enfeebled by decades of conservative talk radio and Fox News Channel they'll swallow economic policies that literally take food out of their children's mouths and, pardon the pun, ask for seconds.

This is genuinely frightening stuff. With the post-2010 gerrymandering, North Carolinians can look for several more years of this. People in the 11 other states with both Republican supermajorities and locks on their governors' offices — Texas, Tennessee, Florida and Washington among them — had better start organizing, quickly and well, to push back against this political blitzkrieg."

[BlancheSplanchnik]

34. gives me goosebumps!!!! so awesome!

[Solly Mack]

35. K&R

[marions ghost]

42. Another thread on this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10692812

[classof56]

43. K&R from the Left Coast!

[marions ghost]

55. Feelin it

thanx

[hue]

47. Courage & consistency!! Thanks to All!! K&R!!

[roody]

48. Knr

[felix_numinous]

49. K&R!!

Thanks for the photos!

[marions ghost]

66. sure

[pscot]

50. K&R

Great photos.

[denbot]

51. A kick to our brave NC brethren.

A rec and a too!

[marions ghost]

52. Thanks to all who have recced & kicked

[Starry Messenger]

56. k&r

[lordsummerisle]

57. K&R

I can't believe the crap going down in that state...

[Ilsa]

58. They voted For Fracking? There's No Shale Oil plays in NC.

Not according to the maps I've seen, anyway. The closest is in TN. Why bother with that vote or line item?

[marions ghost]

59. Yes there is some:

The biggest lump on this map is in the Raleigh-Durham and Sanford Areas

Excellent webpage about NC Fracking:
http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/programs/nce/dont-frack-nc

[Ilsa]

60. Phew. Thank goodness it isn't a lot.

I'd hate to see NC with tiny white rectangles pimpled all over it like in south Texas and west of Denton. The drilling zits show up easily on Google Maps.

[marions ghost]

62. It's enough...

and it's in the piedmont, which has a problem with droughts and water scarcity already. The cities of Durham and Raleigh would be impacted. And all for only 5 years worth of natural gas.

[Ilsa]

64. That's too much risk and not enough reward.

They've already drilled enough to spoil the view in Texas. I imagine theres going to be at least one cracked and fouled casing. And it's so dry in south Texas that they'd have water problems anyway. But at least they are looking at decades of production, not a measly five years.

[marions ghost]

65. Exactly

and one of the big problems in NC is what to do with the contaminated fracking water...I'm hoping that is an impediment.

[nashville_brook]

61. k and r

[marions ghost]

63. Chris Hayes on All In (MSNBC)

just did a great segment on the abortion fights in Texas and NC and continued to do an overview of yesterday's Moral Monday--with an interview with the president of NC Planned Parenthood, & showed clips from the protest.

Excellent job Chris!!!

[mntleo2]

67. Kick!!!!!!!

[Judi Lynn]

68. Kicking, and thanks. n/t

[marions ghost]

69. {}

[Enthusiast]

70. Those people even look more

intelligent than the Teabaggers.

[marions ghost]

71. Probably but

you can't blame people for being ignorant and backward. And some of the younger ones are worth hoping for. Sometimes they grow out of their parents POV.

The hijackers of the NC legislature's stated goal is to keep NC stupid. Gutting education is a top priority. How cynical. How selfish. How backward.

[Borchkins]

72. K & R

B

[MsLeopard]

73. K&R

[ctsnowman]

74. K & R

[NCarolinawoman]

75. CBS evening News focused on this last Evening.

Scott Pelly featured what McGrory and the legislature did to unemployment insurance. The NC Republicans came off looking like uncaring idiots. They showed McGrory contradicting himself.

[marions ghost]

76. Glad to hear that

...sounds like they did a good job. McCrory is a mass of contradictions. He sold his soul to the devil.

[marions ghost]

77. New York Times yesterday: "The Decline of North Carolina"

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/opinion/the-decline-of-north-carolina.html?_r=0

Commenter on the article has these excellent words:

I'm a North Carolina native, grew up in the rural Piedmont, high school in the Triad, college at UNC-CH. I work for a home grown software company in the Research Triangle.

I'm saddened by the stereotypes some are wielding to explain what's happening in NC, saying we asked for this. Current polling in NC shows that less than 20% of people in the state approve of what the legislature is doing.

My state is part of the story of the demographic change that is going to force the GOP to change their spots or resign themselves to irrelevance. That's why the current Republican government is in such a hurry. They have convinced themselves that if they can just suppress the vote enough they can hang on for a few more years. Last year's weak Democratic lineup for governor left people thinking that maybe a pro-business Republican wouldn't be so different. Boy, were they wrong.

I don't know if Moral Monday can make a difference, but I'm going to keep trying. Every week another 100 or so people out if the rally crowd of thousands offer themselves up to be arrested. Most of them have been ministers, senior citizens, students, teachers, doctors...even a quorum of my town government! They have been arrested for failing to leave a public space, though they were peaceful, quiet, only asking to have a meeting with their elected representatives. All of us: Black, white, poor, rich, LGBT, religious, women and men we are all fighting together to stop what is being done to our state.

July 10, 2013 at 10:09 a.m.

That is the spirit that will be needed to turn this around!

[NCarolinawoman]

78. Wonderful post!

Thanks!

[marions ghost]

79. Local coverage about the NYT article:

http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/12649034/

Video: "PR exec says protests, legislation tarnishing NC image"

A Wednesday editorial in The New York Times is the latest blow to North Carolina's reputation as a progressive state.

Today - 6:19pm

[marions ghost]

80. !

[marions ghost]

81. Strong words this week from NC Policy Watch:

http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2013/07/10/befuddled-by-the-backlash/

Befuddled by the backlash
Posted on 7/10/2013 by Rob Schofield


(Excerpt):
Channeling Mitt

If there were a contest for “most preposterous and pathetic” response to the protests thus far, however, the winner has to be the latest spate of Pope-Civitas attacks in which the group has resorted to claiming that protesters and protest organizers are simply motivated by personal greed:

“When you follow the money, you see that this isn’t about morality at all. It isn’t about the high-minded virtues of justice, or equality. It’s about politics: liberal organizers have depended for years on the largess of an insolvent and bloated state bureaucracy. And as state legislators move to address rampant waste and debt in state government – something the people of North Carolina elected them to do – liberal groups fear that they are about to lose their spot at the public trough.”

Yet another broadside personally attacked NAACP president William Barber, claiming that his motivations in leading the protest are a byproduct of the connections between the church he pastors and some nonprofit service providers that administer public funds.

(snip)------
By all indications, the Pope-Civitas people are so enmeshed in the world of market fundamentalist economics – a place in which the personal acquisition and accumulation of wealth and property is endlessly celebrated and assumed as the driving human instinct and predictor of human behavior in all circumstances – that they simply can’t grasp the notion that Moral Monday protesters would be seeking to vindicate something higher – something like…wait for it, morality.

So poisoned are they by the toxic dog-eat-dog doctrines of Milton Friedman, Ayn Rand et al., that they are literally incapable of responding intelligently to a passionate, morality-based movement that’s about fighting for intentional public solutions to serve the common good.

Put simply, the Pope-Civitasers appear to have become blinded by their own propaganda. Like old Soviet-era Stalinists and modern religious theocrats they find it impossible to acknowledge the simple truth that’s painted in living color right before their eyes – namely, that millions of North Carolinians are not buying the snake oil they and their allies are selling and do not want to see the clock of state turned back a half-century or more.

Let’s hope that their dishonest and delusional words continue to meet with the widespread and dismissive derision they so richly deserve.

See more at: http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2013/07/10/befuddled-by-the-backlash
/#sthash.WdLqluha.dpuf

[laureloak]

82. Republicans counter with 'Truthful' Tuesday

The event will be followed by a reception in the Rotunda.

Read more here: http://projects.newsobserver.com/node/27945#storylink=cpy

[marions ghost]

85. mmmkay....sounds like a

little copycat rally/ photo op, followed by a "reception" in the rotunda...The Tea Party meets Barbara Bush? Who pays for that reception--us?

This should be interesting.

[RussBLib]

83. where is Michael Jordan?

Doesn't he live in NC? Isn't he a little bit left? He should speak up, big time.

[marions ghost]

84. Looked it up

Michael's in the process of moving from this "house" in Chicago--



To this "house" in Jupiter Island, Florida:



He also recently bought this relatively modest place in NC, near Charlotte:



-----------------------------
Here's a description of Michael's recent wedding in FL:

The wedding itself cost a reported $10,000,000!!! Amazing floral arrangements with tulips, roses, peonies, crystal candelbras, private cigar rooms, Usher, and of course the tent structure quickly add up. Yvette looked gorgeous in a French silk J’Aton Couture wedding dress with Swarovski crystals. Buses were brought in to drive people from the nearby church to the wedding reception. Everything was kept very hush hush for a Michael Jordan wedding. In a town with the Donald, this was one affair that Trumped Trump!

More about that here:
http://www.jeffrealty.com/blog/2013/04/michael-jordans-wedding-exclusive-photos/

------
So would a guy who "out-trump'ed Trump" in extravagance (and The Kardashians as well I'm sure)--has he got the poor and suffering of North Carolina (or anywhere else) in mind?

I hate to be cynical but....maybe if we write him a nice letter?

Thanks for your question...interesting google journey.

[laureloak]

86. Gov McMarshmallow claims he's attended the protests...

http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2013/07/11/mccrory-claims-to-have-attended-moral-monday-events/

‘I go out in the crowd all of the time,’ McCrory said. ‘Frankly, yesterday I went out and talked to several of them and they were not very respectful. They did not represent the majority of those who call themselves moral by cussing me out. But that’s the way things go some times.’”

[marions ghost]

87. Seems if that were true, some of the media would have seen him???

Rob Schofield, of N.C. Watch Policy, said if McCrory has been coming to Moral Mondays he has done it in disguise and has avoided all media attention.

The Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, said he has yet to see McCrory at any of the events either.
-----------
Looks like he's lying in that interview with the Wilson Times--lying to give a false impression -- Whether any protestors would "cuss him out"--I'd have to see that to believe it:

http://www.wilsontimes.com/News/Feature/Story/22919403---GOV--THREATENS-VETO

So Governor, show up again this coming Monday--let's get it on National media.

[marions ghost]

88. The Guardian (UK) had this story today July 11:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/11/moral-monday-protests-why-i-participated#start-of-comments

Why I participated in and got arrested at the Moral Monday protests

I am just an average North Carolina citizen, but I could not stay silent any longer about how the GOP is devastating my state.

I was arrested for the first time in my life at age 55. There are photos of me in handcuffs in my local newspaper and on local TV websites. My crime? I was with 48 other patriotic North Carolinians singing and protesting in front of the doors of our state's General Assembly.

These protests in North Carolina have come to be known as "Moral Mondays". Like me, many are fed up with our state government's actions, and we have been moved to do things we never thought we would, including getting arrested. I am proud to have played a small part in these protests which have been going on for 10 weeks now. Over 700 have been arrested. Here's why I did it.

I watched the judicial and state wide election returns last November with concern about what may happen to North Carolina if the power of money and gerrymandered districts would lead to a system of no checks and balances. Watching the legislation that has unfolded since my state's General Assemby has convened has been a horror show for many of the issues that I feel are important to my family and my larger "North Carolina family" of friends and acquaintances. I have written letters, phone banked and made phone calls, but it didn't feel like enough. This winter I saw a documentary about the power of woman and protest in Nigeria. Moral Monday felt like the obvious way for me to voice my concerns.

It's very difficult to pick just a few issues out of the many that are under assault in North Carolina, but here goes. (more at link) http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/11/moral-monday-protests-why-i-participated#start-of-comments