Hey, NC Legislature:
Let's get one thing clear before I start: I love North Carolina. I was born in Charlotte, grew up in Red Springs, got degrees at UNC Greensboro and UNC Pembroke, got married in Lumberton, and am teaching in a public school and raising a child in Fayetteville. I love the mountains, the beaches, the barbecue. I love Ben Folds and The Avett Brothers. I believe my NC bona fides are well established. So it makes me sad--sad and angry--to see what my state is becoming. Once, NC had the reputation of being one of the more progressive southern states, the good Carolina--forward-looking, not crazy. But now...not so much. It seems that the majority of you in the state legislature is more interested in taking extreme ideological stands than you are in doing good for your constituents. Yes, that's right, your constituents: despite your wishful thinking, the people protesting your actions are doctors, clergy, teachers, voters, taxpayers in this state. Rather than writing them off as out-of-town interlopers, you would do well to listen to them. You represent them--act like it.
I hardly know where to begin with the litany of wrongheaded actions that you've undertaken, especially considering that most of you campaigned on jobs and the economy. Yet since 2010, when Republicans took control of state government for the first time in a century, our economic picture has not improved. Our unemployment rate is 47th in the nation. Good work, guys! Instead of doing anything to help, you're moving to actively make things worse. You do realize that cutting unemployment is bad for the economy, right? Every dollar spent on unemployment results in a gain of $1.61 for the economy. So people get to eat and not lose their homes, and it's good for the economy too? This seems like a win-win to me. But no, it's way more important to take a moral stand against layabouts--tell those lazy bums to get out there and get a job! Wait, our job market is terrible? Well, too bad!
But, to your credit, you aren't always actively working to further wreck the economy. Sometimes you just do batshit insane things that have nothing at all to do with jobs or the economy. Sometimes, you deal with the real problems, like the creeping specter of Sharia law being used in our state's courtrooms. This is a real problem, right? It's not just a dog whistle meant to stoke people's xenophobia, is it? No, I know you would never stoop to that level. This truly necessary piece of legislation is called the Family, Faith, and Freedom Protection Act of 2013, which immediately creeps me out. It's so Orwellian that, from beyond the grave, Orwell said, "Wow, this is a bit much. You might want to dial it back." It was the perfect bill into which to sneak abortion restrictions, because restricting freedom is the best way to ensure freedom. And thanks, you condescending turds, for letting us womenfolk know that you're really just looking out for us. Hey, why not let a woman tell us all about it? According to Tami Fitzgerald of the NC Values Coalition, “The bill today is about protecting women’s health. It’s about making abortion clinics safe. We don’t want to become the Gosnell of the South.” Boo, hiss, no. Kermit Gosnell is no more representative of abortion providers than Mary Kay LeTourneau is of teachers or Christopher Dorner is of police officers, so that's a straw man. A law that would close all but one of the state's abortion clinics is in no way about what's good for women. Anyway, since you care so much about making sure that women have access to safe abortions, what else have you done to guarantee that? Nothing. Family, faith, and freedom? You sully those words by using them to gift-wrap your chicanery.
There is more I could say, but I'm cranky and need some tea. Just one thing before I conclude: the reason that this is a blog post and not a letter to my actual legislators is that I'm fortunate enough to be represented by Marvin Lucas and Ben Clark, whose votes show that they are on the side of women, workers, teachers and students, and the poor. Sadly, Lucas, Clark, and their ilk are outnumbered by people who feel that they are on a mission to protect us from Sharia law but force their own version of it on the people of this state.
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