Rep. Jake Johnson Has a New Plan for Public School Teachers

 

Justin Parmenter, a 7th grade language arts teacher in Charlotte whose Twitter feed is a daily must-read for me, published an editorial today in the News and Observer that takes a bite out of the youngest punk Republican in the General Assembly, Jake Johnson, for the bill he wrote that would force every public school teacher in the state to post online their lesson plans -- just the public school teachers, mind you, not the private school teachers whose private enterprises are getting lots more money in the form of vouchers and a free ride on accountability.

The purpose of Johnson's "punching down" on public school teachers appears to be nothing more than an attempt to "out" any "socialist indoctrination" going on in these here parts and thereby intimidate teachers and let them know that the state of North Carolina really has total contempt for what they do. No wonder, as Parmenter points out, the state is losing teachers at an alarming rate ("1 in 9 resigned last school year").

I wrote about Jake Johnson extensively when he was appointed to his seat in the NC House in 2019 to replace that other disgraced young punk Cody Henson, and I think the facts still stand:

Jake Johnson claimed that he went to college to get a degree in business administration but that Barack Obama in the White House was the straw that broke his business back. He switched to political science out of revenge for Obama and became an avowed partisan warrior against what America was becoming under a president who might have been -- probably was -- born in Kenya. I found on-line where he was scheduled to speak to the Asheville Tea Party back last January on the "steps we are going to have to take to get younger people into conservative politics." (I wish I'd heard that rap!)

Here's the passage in Johnson's biography that's almost forgotten: He says he served as "field director" for the successful congressional campaign of Mark Harris. That would be the Reverend Mark Harris, whose winning campaign against Democrat Dan McCready in November of 2018 was called back to be redone because of massive ballot fraud committed -- wait for it -- in the field operation.

This is the guy who now has a plan to drive even more public school teachers out of the profession. 

The NC Voter ID Law Goes To Trial (Again)

 

At 9:30 tomorrow morning in the federal courthouse in Winston-Salem, federal District Judge Loretta Biggs will begin hearing evidence in the latest challenge to North Carolina's voter ID law. The newest version of that law has been in effect since before the March primary, but its history is twisted (in the truest sense of that word), and for its long string of court challenges you almost need a roadmap.

The case has the potential to block the state’s voter ID requirement before the 2024 election — though an appeal is likely regardless of which way Biggs rules. 

The North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP first sued the state over its voter ID requirement in 2018, setting in motion a case that has now lasted over five years, ricocheting between appellate courts and conflicting with a similar case at the state level. 

In its trial brief, the NAACP argues that the voter ID requirement “was enacted with discriminatory intent” in violation of the U.S. Constitution and “has already had a discriminatory impact on the right of Black and Latino citizens in North Carolina to participate in the political process.” [Kyle Ingram]

If You Lose the Ground Game, You Lose

 

Came across some news from The Dispatch while I was traveling last week (or the week before ... who remembers?) that may be the best news for Democratic prospects this year: The ground game plan of former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel was totally scrapped when the new Trump-obeisant team of Michael Whatley and Lara Trump took over the reins of the party, and now ... "few if any regional and local campaign headquarters; little to no deployed field staff; and little to no traditional voter turnout activities, such as door-knocking, phone banking, or volunteer organizing."

Why? Because all Donald Trump -- that genius political theorizer -- thinks about is "election integrity" and the fairy tale that somewhere, someone is stealing the election from him.

Trump repeatedly told McDaniel in conversations before he pushed her out of the chairmanship that he did not need the RNC to focus on “get-out-the-vote” activities. Rather, knowledgeable Republican sources told us, the former president informed McDaniel he wanted the committee to prioritize “election integrity” efforts .... "I’m not worried about turning out the vote, I just want to catch the cheaters."

Proving once again that you can't out-think a man who ain't thinking.

Don Blankenship, At It Again

 

Photo Luke Sharrett, New York Times

In 2018, a notorious West Virginia coal baron named Don Blankenship ran for the US Senate as a Republican, and I, along with at least 150 other bloggers and major news outlets, wrote about him. He sued all of us for defamation. You can confirm that here. The suit was eventually dismissed. At least I was dismissed from the suit. I don't believe Mr. Blankenship collected the large sum in damages he was suing for.

A friend yesterday sent me this update on the new political activities of Mr. Blankenship, which are interesting primarily for his trying to involve John F. Kennedy Jr. in his campaign. The following is taken directly from dKos:

• WV-Sen: In case you weren't already aware that Don Blankenship, the ex-Republican ex-con who now purports to be running for Senate as a Democrat, is batshit crazy, please check out his new batch of TV ads, courtesy of Medium Buying. In case you're scared to click (you should be) because you don't want to alarm anyone who might be in earshot, here's a transcript of the first spot:

Blankenship: I'm Don Blankenship, candidate for the United States Senate, and I paid for this ad.

Narrator: Don Blankenship will tell you the honest truth!

RFK Jr.: Don Blankenship … he's the most honest CEO in America!

Narrator: Unfortunately, our government is not honest. Even the truth about the murders of Mr. Kennedy's dad and uncle are kept hidden. They even refused to keep Mr. Kennedy safe because he left the party. Your choice is simple: You could vote for more lies, or you could vote for …

RFK Jr.: Most honest CEO in America!

Blankenship: If they tell you I fell off the bed and hung myself, I didn't.

The old grainy footage of Kennedy, by the way, is from a strange public debate he and Blankenship staged in 2010 over the merits of mountaintop removal mining. Just months later, a fatal accident at a coal mine run by Blankenship led to the deaths of 29 miners, the worst such disaster on American soil in 40 years. The man Kennedy praised as "the most honest CEO in America" would later serve a year in federal prison for conspiring to violate federal mine safety rules.

 

The Uprising on College Campuses

 

My friend and lead Substacker Thomas Mills recently posted an essay saying he doesn't think the pro-Palestinian campus movement on college campuses has "legs" that will ultimately hurt Joe Biden. I'm not so sure about that, and I'm deeply troubled by so much of the resulting violence, including the spectacle of Congresswoman Virginia Foxx's making political hay out of claiming that there's rampant anti-semitism on college campuses and grilling poor inept college presidents, when it's rampant anti-Israeli militarism and anti-Netanyahu politics that have stirred up the college students. Foxx wants to tar college students, and college administrations, not stand up for Jews.

But I fervently hope Thomas Mills is right, that once summer sets in and college students go home or disperse to summer jobs or summer fun, the anti-Biden fervor over the Israeli campaign against Gaza will die down or go away altogether. I've seen it happen before, the reformist fever of April and May dissipate when summer sets in. Come fall semester there's a whole new freshman class not clued in to what was the hot topic last spring. But I'm not so sure this protest movement is as ephemeral as that. I know a lot of principled college students, and it's perhaps a different breed from what we've been used to. And good for them!

Was Ray Pickett Drunk and Rude at a Bourbon-Fueled Event in Kentucky?

 

Ray Pickett

Anderson Alerts very recently publicized an outraged comment on Reddit about a group of North Carolina legislators, including Watauga County Rep. Ray Pickett, who allegedly behaved very badly at a Louisville event celebrating Bourbon, "conservative business values," and the Kentucky Derby.

A Reddit user who identified as a bourbon distillery representative posted over last weekend that 33 North Carolina officials behaved poorly as guests at a recent event. “Their arrival was marked by loud, unruly conduct that disrupted other guests and tarnished the atmosphere we work hard to maintain,” wrote the Reddit user ItIsCroy. “What was perhaps most disturbing was their lack of accountability for their actions. Despite being extremely rude, disruptive, not tipping the bartenders and tour guides, and even VOMITING in our bathroom sinks, not a single apology was offered.”

Bryan Anderson identified Blowing Rock Rep. Ray Pickett as probably attending, but Pickett refused to comment to Anderson.

Sen. Tillis Clutches His Pearls

 

"She is dragging our brand down."

--Sen. Thom Tillis, about Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

Oh please! Your "brand," Senator? You've already promised to support your party's nominee this November, which in this present case [checks notes] is Donald J.Trump. Trump has BRANDED you all, which includes you and Marjorie Taylor Greene and any number of other substantial lunatics including the current lunatics who are running to take over the state of North Carolina (Mark Robinson), its justice department (Dan Bishop), its school system (Michele Morrow), and protections for its labor force (Luke Farley). Farley ran in your branded Republican primary in March on the slogan "Let's make elevators great again!" because he promises to put his picture in every one of them should he win in November. 

If this were Texas, the branding iron for the Republican Party would be a curliqued Low T.

There have been moments during the last few months when Tillis showed encouraging signs of independence from the Trump brand, but like most cowed Republicans afraid of the rabble that's taken over their party, he'll fall in line come November, especially if the partisans on the US Supreme Court decide that Trump has limited immunity which will need to be argued and litigated past any chance that he'll be on trial before November.

I don't know what to tell you, Senator, but Marjorie Taylor Greene is not your problem.

Graig Meyer, A Democrat With Some Guts

 

NC Senator Graig Meyer is noticeable as per the headline above, because Democrats are so predictably and eternally gutless in so many ways. Meyer posted and shared a powerful video about the inequities in the endorcement of marijuana laws -- and pinned it at the top of his Twitter feed -- to try to move his fellow members of the North Carolina General Assembly to lead on the issue of decriminalization of marijuana and its legalization in NC and stop being silently in support but publicly gutless.

Good for him!

The leading proponent of a medical marijuana bill in the General Assembly is a Republican. Democrats remain essentially and timidly quiet. Like ... what if Great Aunt Tilly finds out I'm soft on drugs!

The Judge Gets It

 

RALEIGH -- A federal judge on Monday struck down a North Carolina law that criminalized voting for people with felony convictions. 

In a 25-page order, U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs wrote that the law, which was originally passed in 1877, “was enacted with discriminatory intent, has not been cleansed of its discriminatory taint, and continues to disproportionately impact Black voters.” 

Biggs’ ruling does not affect the rules regarding voter eligibility for people with felony convictions. North Carolinians convicted of felonies are still ineligible to vote until they have completed their sentences. 

The case dealt with a separate law that made it a Class I felony for anyone with a felony conviction to vote before their citizenship rights had been restored.

[Kyle Ingram]