Are GOP leaders in NC trying to out Mississippi Mississippi? | Opinion

Donald Trump takes all the air out of our politics. It’s hard to think anything else merits attention when a former, and perhaps future, president is being tried for scheming to overthrow the American form of government. I’ll concede all political sins pale compared to those of the 45th president.

That means talking about the North Carolina General Assembly can seem to be punk, two-bit. I get that. Sometimes I think our Republican lawmakers benefit from a comparative invisibility. And perhaps from a less vicious but more effective and long-lived crusade against democracy and equality. As the legislative session begins to wind down then, maybe a few words can be forgiven.

It can be spectacularly demoralizing to contemplate our Republican legislative hegemony. Supermajorities reappear and wound. Time and again, they pile onto the disadvantaged. They seem to revel in a barbed ascendancy. And their adversaries, like me, are often incapable of meeting the challenge. Though challenge we must, if North Carolina is to have the future it deserves. One that matches its often impressive past and its stubborn, affectionate future.

Can there, in truth, be a basis for optimism? Or will we, indeed, out Mississippi Mississippi?

My reed of hope is a thin one. But at least it’s grounded in information, in the drumbeat of consistency, in repetitive performance. By 2023 there can’t be any doubt what we’re in for. Unlike me, most people aren’t obsessed with politics and policy. They’d rather ignore the ruckus and the altercation. But North Carolina’s brand of Republicanism is, these days, set in stone.

Our GOP is, by record, first and foremost, relentlessly anti-democratic. Its most consistent goal is to slant the playing field in its favor, democracy be damned. You know the list — redistricting, voter suppression, ballot manipulation, legislative process tampering, impermissible power grabs and more. They cheat to amass power. Then, they cheat again.

Next, — though it’s unpleasant to say — our nearly all-white Republican legislative caucuses repeatedly use their authorities, intentionally, to burden and disadvantage Black Tar Heels. The case reports of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals prove it to be so. Lawmakers don’t like it mentioned, but it is what it is.

Third, N.C. Republican legislators treat women and LGBTQ folks as second, or perhaps second- and third-class citizens. Think abortion restrictions, gay marriage bans, licenses to discriminate, House Bill 2, and the brutal targeting of transgender teens. Bullies show their stripes.

Fourth, our Republican lawmakers consistently target poor people via legislation. A few examples: abolishing the earned income tax credit, slashing the state’s unemployment compensation program, cutting SNAP benefits for poor kids and dramatically reducing legal aid support. They seem to be saying that impoverished folks are unworthy. So stepping on their necks is, apparently, the moral high ground. We’ve done it more self-righteously than any other state.

Fifth, Republicans have, for more than a decade, acted to decimate the public schools. They don’t admit it. They just do it. Day in, day out. They won’t stop ‘til the doors close.

Sixth, they reportedly loathe what they regard as liberal professors. Fair enough. But they carry out their antipathy by trying to destroy universities. And that crushes a commonwealth’s future. They’re doing it now. This day.

Seventh, like their apparent presidential nominee, N.C. Republican leaders work to diminish the rule of law. It gets in the way of their ever-aggrandizing quest for power. Judicial independence, by definition, cramps their style. Autocrats won’t put up with it. They never do.

Eighth, these folks are the opposite of environmentalists. They embrace extraction and bristle at regulation. Climate change is seen by some as a hoax, like a Trump indictment. Just turn up the air-conditioner. Everything will be fine. Take their word for it.

I don’t think this unpleasant octet is North Carolinian. There lies my hope.

Contributing columnist Gene Nichol is a professor of law at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.