Tuesday, October 11, 2016

The Debate for the Future of North Carolina

Tonight, Gov. Pat McCrory will defend his record in his first televised debate with Attorney General Roy Cooper. The debate will be moderated by Chuck Todd of NBC and will air live between 7 and 8 p.m. on UNC-TV.

This morning, residents whose water has been contaminated by coal ash chemicals will join local environmental groups outside UNC-TV studios to urge moderator Todd to ask McCrory about his administration’s ongoing cleanup coverup of coal ash pollution across the state, and his relationship with his former employer, Duke Energy.

Via ProgressNC, the five questions that citizens want Gov. McCrory to answer:
  1. Secret Dinner: At the height of the coal ash cleanup debate in 2015, McCrory held a secret dinner meeting at his mansion with Duke Energy executives and state environmental regulators. Shortly afterward, the McCrory administration reduced Duke Energy’s coal ash fine from $25 million to $6 million. What agreements were made during your secret dinner meeting?
     
  2. Rudo Meeting: McCrory's chief of staff held a last-minute press conference in the dead of night to accuse state toxicologist Dr. Ken Rudo of lying under oath after he testified that McCrory participated in a meeting between Dr. Rudo and McCrory's communications director to discuss water safety standards. Now McCrory's chief of staff admits that the governor did in fact call into the meeting. What did you discuss? Why did you allow your chief of staff to falsely accuse a 30-year state scientist of lying under oath?
     
  3. Water Standards: McCrory characterized his attempts to pressure state scientists to weaken water safety standards and cancel hundreds of Do Not Drink orders as a "disagreement among scientists." But not a single state scientist has gone on record agreeing with that position, and state epidemiologist Dr. Megan Davies even resigned over the administration's attempts to mislead the public. So which "scientists" are you talking about? Do they perhaps work for Duke Energy?
     
  4. Coal Ash Families: Why did McCrory have dinner with a big corporate polluter which has donated thousands of dollars to his campaign but won't take time to visit any of the hundreds of families who have struggled for over 18 months with contaminated water? Why are you more interested in protecting the corporate interests of Duke Energy than the health and safety of North Carolina families?
     
  5. Cleanup Costs: Why did McCrory sign a law allowing Duke Energy to pass the costs of coal ash cleanup on to rate-payers? Why should North Carolina families be forced to pay to clean up Duke Energy's mess?

If Ayotte Can't, Shukis Can

“I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women.”
--Kelly Ayotte, Republican Senator from New Hampshire, Saturday 
Grabbed off SnapChat: Watauga County Commission
candidate Elizabeth Shukis, performing in front of
the Women for Trump bus yesterday
in Boone











































Monday, October 10, 2016

Trump's Denial

Some of the actual transcript below from Debate # 2.

Trying to follow Trump's thought process -- let alone his syntax -- presents a challenge to any logical mind. 

Anderson Cooper honed in. Do you understand, Mr. Trump, that what you said -- mere "locker room banter," you claim -- described actions that would constitute sexual assault?

Trump's response: It was locker room banter ... and then his quick detour into the world of ISIS and terror. What's the connection in Trump's mind? "You know when we have a world where you have ISIS chopping off heads and...." If you look closely at the word salad that follows, you'll notice that the dependent clause "when you have a world where" never gets to a main clause. What was he trying to say? Was it pure deflection? "You bring up that tape, Anderson, and I'll distract everybody with the horrors of terror." Was that his ploy?

Or is he suggesting that Anderson Cooper, along with all the Republican leaders and just regular citizens who've been appalled at what the "pussy" tape revealed about the character of the presidential nominee -- was he suggesting that questioning The Star Who Is Trump about such things is giving aid and comfort to the enemy? 

But, yeah, nobody respects women more than you, Donald. You bet!
COOPER: The question from Patrice was about are you both modeling positive and appropriate behaviors for today's youth. We received a lot of questions online, Mr Trump, about the tape that was released on Friday as you can imagine. You called what you said locker room banter. You described kissing women without consent, grabbing their genitals. That is sexual assault. You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that?
TRUMP: No, I didn't say that at all. I don't think you understood what was said. This was locker room talk. I am not proud of it. I apologized to my family. I apologized to the American people. Certainly I am not proud of it. But this is locker room talk. You know when we have a world where you have Isis chopping off heads and ... frankly drowning people in steel cages. Where you have wars and horrible, horrible sights all over. Where you have so many bad things happening. This is like medieval times. We haven't seen anything like this, the carnage all over the world. And they look and they see. Can you imagine the people that are frankly doing so well against us with ISIS. And they look at our country and see what's going on. Yes I am very embarrassed by it. I hate it. But it's locker room talk and it's one of those things. I will knock the hell out of ISIS. We're going to defeat ISIS. ISIS happened a number of years ago in a vacuum that was left because of bad judgment. And I will tell you, I will take care of ISIS. And we should get on to much more important things and much bigger things.
COOPER: Just for the record though, are you saying that what you said on that bus 11 years ago, that you did not actually kiss women without consent or grope women without consent?
TRUMP: I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do.
COOPER: So for the record you're saying you never did that
TRUMP: Frankly ... You hear these things are said. And I was embarrassed by it. But I have tremendous respect for women and women have respect for me.
COOPER: Have you ever done those things?
TRUMP: No, I have not.

Sunday, October 09, 2016

Liveblogging the 2nd Presidential Debate: Scorched Earth

Or call it "The Moral Equivalency Debate," in which Donald Trump seeks to prove that at least one other person is worse than he. Yippee!

Here we go!

9:05
1st question from audience member, a woman:  Last debate could be labeled "mature audiences only." Do you think these debates are modeling good behavior for children?

Hillary: I promise you I can work with every American. I want us to heal our country and bring it together.

Trump: I agree with that. I agree with every word she said. Horrible things like Obamacare, Iran deal, all of the things I see ... (Oh no! The snot-nose is back!) He's all over the place: Law and order, the Latinos.

Anderson Cooper: Repeats the question and brings up Friday's tape: You were talking about sexual assault. Do you acknowledge that?

Trump: Not at all. Pivots to terrorists, doing "medieval" things, which, I guess, excuses sexual assault. Trump: I'm very embarrassed by the tape. It's locker room talk. We're going to beat ISIS!

Anderson Cooper: Just for the record, are you saying that you didn't grope women?

Trump tries to deflect the question, finally says, "No, I did not."

Hillary: With prior nominees, I disagreed with them. I never questioned their fitness to serve. Donald Trump isn't fit to serve. The tape represents exactly who Donald Trump is. Yes, this is who Donald Trump is. He has also targeted immigrants, African Americans, disabled people, Muslims. That's who he is. It's not who we are.

Trump: It's just words, folks, what she's saying. (It's the low-T Trump right now. He seems exhausted. And Gawd -- the nose sniffling!)

9:16
Martha Raddatz: Returns to the groping tape. Jeff from Ohio asks on Facebook. Trump says the campaign has changed him. When?

Trump: I'm not proud of the tape. But Bill Clinton is worse. (Here it is! What everyone's been waiting for.) The four women who have accusations against the Clintons become the centerpiece. Paula Jones and the others. Hillary Clinton should be ashamed of herself.

Hillary: He gets to run his campaign anyway he wants to. When I hear something like that, I think of what Michelle Obama advised us all: When they go low, we go high. If it was just one video, then maybe we could ignore it. He never apologizes to anyone about anything. (She goes through the laundry list of his bad behavior and this multiple failures to apologize.)

Trump: Accuses Hillary of starting the birther movement. Brings up "vicious" commercials that Michelle Obama did against Hillary. Whaaa? Is there a point there? Oh yes! And the 33,000 emails! You need to apologize for them. I didn't think I'd say this, but I'm going to say it: If I win, I'm going to get a special prosecutor to look into your lies.

Hillary: Everything he just said is not true. It's awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump isn't in charge of the laws in this country.

Trump: Because you'd be in jail! (Cheers and jeers from the audience.)

Raddatz: Drills in on Hillary about the email server.

Hillary: It was a mistake. After a year-long investigation, there's no evidence that anyone ever hacked those emails, and no evidence that any emails ended up in the wrong hands.

Trump: You should be ashamed of yourself, you should be ashamed of yourself, you should be ashamed of yourself. Then challenges the moderators: Why haven't you asked about the emails?

9:29:
Question from audience: a man. Affordable Care Act is not affordable.

Hillary: Donald is going to say he's going to fix it by repealing it. I'm going to fix it.

Trump: Obamacare is a disaster. It will never work. (Speaking of health care, Donald needs to do something about that snotty nose.)

Anderson Cooper: Mrs. Clinton, your husband said Obamacare is the craziest thing.

Hillary: He clarified what he meant. Medicare is a single-payer system, and it works well. 20 million now have health insurance who didn't have it before.

Anderson Cooper: How do you force insurance companies to provide coverage if you do away with Obamacare? Are you going to have mandates on the insurance companies?

Trump: Block-grant. We're going to block-grant.

9:37:
Question from Muslim woman in audience: Islamophobia.

Trump: Whether we like it or not, there's a problem with Muslims. Muslims have to report the problems they see with other Muslims. (Inform on your neighbors!) Hillary won't say "radical Islamic terrorism." (Because a catch-phrase is the most important thing in the war on terrorism!)

Hillary: There's been many dark, divisive things said about Muslims during this campaign. It's short-sighted and dangerous to engage in the kind of rhetoric that Donald uses.

Raddatz: Reminds Trump about his call to shut down Muslim visits to the U.S. Is the Muslim ban no longer your position?

Trump: Ignores the question and tries to make up with the Khan family, blames Hillary for that soldier's death.

Raddatz: Will you please explain if the Muslim ban is still your plan.

Trump: It's called extreme vetting. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims coming into our country. We know nothing about them.

Raddatz to Hillary: Tougher vetting is not a perfect system. Is it worth the risk to allow Muslim refugees into the country.

Hillary: How do you ban a religion from our country? What he's said is extremely unwise. What he has said about Muslims has been used to recruit terrorists and fighters.

Trump: We have many criminal illegal aliens. I'm going to force them right back into their countries. Hillary wants amnesty for everybody. She's got bad judgment.

9:48:
On-line question: Wikileaks release of excerpts of private speeches Hillary has made. Is it okay for politicians to have one opinion in private that's different from their public utterances.

Hillary: It is hard to get the Congress to do some things, and President Lincoln knew how to use one argument with some members of Congress and a different argument with others. Compares Wikileaks to the Russian government, both trying to hack in and influence this election. We deserve answers about that. Donald should release all of his tax returns so we can see.

Trump: I don't know Putin. I know nothing about Russia I have no loans with Russia. I pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes. (Did he really say that. Yes! He even repeated it.)

9:53:
Question from man in audience: Will you make wealthy Americans pay their fair share in taxes?

Trump: Hillary didn't change the tax code because she takes contributions from her wealthy friends who enjoy those tax breaks to run attacks on me. Hillary is going to raise your taxes. I'm going to lower them.

Hillary: Everything you just heard from Donald is not true. His plan is going to give the wealthy and corporations the biggest tax cut in history. Donald always takes care of Donald. But everyone else will be paying more. Since the great recession, all the gains have gone to the top. That is wrong.

Anderson Cooper: New York Times got some of your tax returns. Did you use that $900 million loss to avoid paying taxes?

Trump: Of course I did. All Hillary has done is talk about changing things. For 30 years she didn't change anything.

Hillary: Takes the opportunity to talk about her accomplishments in the Senate.

10:02:
Raddatz: Moving to Syria. Aleppo. Question from social media: What would you do about the disaster in Aleppo?

Hillary: The Russians aren't interested in ISIS. They're interested in eliminating the last rebels against Assad. They know who they want as president, and it's not me.

Trump: Russia is new in terms of nuclear. (Huh?) We're old in terms of nuclear. Old and tried. (What the hell is he talking about now?)

Raddatz: Let me repeat the question: What would you do about the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo? Quotes Mike Pence who said he'd strike military targets controlled by Assad.

Donald: I disagree with Mike Pence.

Raddatz can't get him to answer the question. He changes the subject to Mosul, Iraq and ISIS. Why can't our government do something secretly? Trump is deep in the weeds of foreign policy now.

Raddatz turns to Hillary for her strategy on Syria.

Hillary: I wouldn't use ground forces in Syria. And she goes on to demonstrate that she actually understands the cross currents in the Middle East.

10:14:
Question from audience, a man: Do you believe you can be a devoted president of all the people of the United States?

Trump: Of course. She calls my supporters "deplorable." I'll turn around inner cities. They talk. I'll get it done.

Hillary addresses the man who asked the question directly. Donald has stirred up a lot of fear and division.

Anderson Cooper: Brings up "basket of deplorables" statement.

Hillary: My problem is not with his supporters. It's with him. The brutal kinds of comments he's made -- not just about women, but about all kinds of Americans.

Trump: We have a divided nation. Look at Charlotte. Look at Baltimore. Increase in murder. Because of people like Hillary. She has tremendous hate in her heart. (The man swings wildly.)

Anderson Cooper, to Trump: You wrote in your book that the most important quality in a leader is self discipline. Tweeting at 3 o'clock in the morning ... is that the discipline a leader needs?

Trump: She also sent a tweet out at 3 o'clock in the morning, but I won't even mention that.

Hillary: Does Mr. Trump have the discipline to be the president? No.

10:23:
Audience question: Woman: Supreme Court justices. How would you priortize your selection?

Hillary: I want to appoint justices who know how the real world works. I'd like to see the Supremes reverse "Citizens United." Donald has put forth names of people he'd consider. Some of those people would reverse Roe v. Wade and reverse marriage equality. It was a dereliction of duty that the Senate hasn't even held hearings on Obama's appointment.

Trump: I want judges like Antonin Scalia. (Oh, say no more!)

10:29:
Man in audience: Energy question. Meet our energy needs, going sustainable, while protecting the needs of current fossil fuel energy workers.

Trump: I'll bring our fossil fuel companies back big time! (He's all about coal!)

Hillary: China is dumping steel in the United States, and Donald is buying it for his buildings. We've got to fight climate change while having a comprehensive energy plan. I don't want to walk away from coal miners.

One more question: Man in audience: Regardless of current rhetoric, would either of you name one thing you respect about one another?

Hillary: I respect his children. As a mother and a grandmother, that's something very important to me.

Trump: Hillary doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. She fights hard. That's a good trait.

Live By the Ego, Die By the Ego

"Things Will Matter When I Say They Matter"

Our inexpressible governor, Patrick Lloyd McCrory, issued a decree about HB2, the law he signed which excludes transgender citizens from equal protection:

“I’m moving on guys,” he told reporters last month. “That subject is irrelevant because the issue is now a national issue.” [Hattip: Jim Morrill]

That mole on your back is irrelevant because it's now a melanoma.

Thursday, October 06, 2016

Commissioners Blust and Yates Rewrite History

High Country Press put up videos of county commissioners David Blust and Perry Yates (and all the other commish candidates) responding to pablum questions about recreation and giving their pablum answers. As a witness said, "Yadda yadda yadda." But in the process, commissioners Blust and Yates managed to completely hide their records on the topic, and no one challenged them.

At a May 2013 commissioners meeting, Blust and Yates were the two votes against extending the Brookshire Park greenway under the New River bridge at Hwy 421. Those of us attending that meeting heard Mr. Blust diss greenway and trail projects as a potential money suck down the road. No surprise. Blust has always expressed disdain for maintaining the Brookshire greenway and the Rocky Knob bike park. So Blust and Yates voted "nay" on a procedural motion to go forward with an environmental assessment of the proposed greenway extension under Hwy 421. The Blust-Yates "no" votes would have killed the project in its infancy.

The minutes of that May commish meeting are here. Coverage of the vote didn't make the local press until June 10, in this paragraph at the end of an article titled "Vulnerable greenway projects may see reprieve":
Not everyone is as enthusiastic as others about the planned trail projects. County commissioners Perry Yates and David Blust last month voted against an environmental assessment contract for the 421 underpass. Blust expressed concerns about the future costs of maintaining the trail. The contract was approved by a 3-2 vote, however.
Another local citizen who witnessed the Blust/Yates "no" vote, and who has a vital interest in bike trails in our county, wrote me the following in an email:
Mr. Blust (and apparently Mr. Yates) seem to be concerned about the "future costs of maintaining the trail." I'd like to ask exactly what costs they are concerned about, and whether or not they consider trail maintenance money well spent, given the number of the public who make daily use of this infrastructure for recreation, wellness, and commuting? What maintenance costs scare them so? Mowing the borders? Occasional gravel backfill? This 'penny wise/pound foolish' approach to trails is difficult to understand given the over $47,000 spent on intervening in the ETJ lawsuit, which both men supported....
I ride a bike everywhere, so this stuff matters to me. When Blust in that meeting in 2013 said, 'I'm worried about saddling the taxpayers with maintenance of the trail' and voted 'Nay'-- it was one of the most monumentally stupid things I've ever witnessed.
To now witness Blust and Yates get away with appearing supportive of greenways and recreation in general, and not be called out on their past votes, is a little galling.