For those of us Floridians with thinking caps at the ready (not made of tin foil), the whole legislative pre-emption fracas brought on by backroom dealings over mahogany tables a few years back makes for an interesting echo in regard to the North Carolina hate bill called HB2. By now, you’re aware that Bruce Springsteen, Cirque de Soleil and Bryan Adams among others have canceled their shows in that state, and others, like Duran Duran and Against Me! have chosen to fulfill their civic duties more vocally by openly and proudly asking ticketholders to sign petitions against North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s law during their performances. It’s bigotry at its worst, and the governor, at least on Meet the Press, has yet to realize the needling damage he’s done.
“I do believe in our high schools, in our middle schools, in our universities, we should continue to have the tradition that we’ve been having in this country for years,” McCrory told NBC’s Chuck Todd on his weekend parade.“And we have a women’s facility and a men’s facility. You know, it’s worked out pretty well. And I don’t think we need any further government interference.”
When further grilled about his position on the law – said position has involved a lot of backpedalling in the last week – McCrory took what he might describe as the high road when he refused to politically address discrimination in the private sector, calling the attempt at a trans-specific bathroom ordinance in Charlotte a “government overreach.”
“As we have learned in Florida, as soon as corporations feel threatened by people-powered politics, they do everything possible to take that power away from the people and local communities,” Organize Now director Stephanie Porta says. “Preemption laws are spearheaded by Republicans [who are] controlled by corporations. Corporations can control many state legislators and legislatures, but it’s hard to control the will of the people in every single city.”
She should know. Florida – and Orange County, specifically – threw that notorious preemption tantrum over Organize Now’s earned sick-time campaign into overdrive in 2013 when the legislature forbade local governments from dictating employment necessities from private businesses. The litigious mess of “textgate,” wherein it was made clear that county commissioners were taking their marching orders from the Republican Party and the Chamber of Commerce, remains a stain on government transparency and a threat to citizens. The National Rifle Association has achieved similar goals in its suicidal pursuit of arming everyone publicly, municipality be damned. We are being bought and sold.
What we’re talking about here is bullying, no matter how many traditions and warm fuzzies you want to wrap it in. When local control is lost in our municipalities, it’s typically because corporate or socially conservative interests are involved. Wouldn’t want to lose that vote, would you, Sister Christian? Gotta watch that NRA/Christian rating.
What’s most disheartening about this whole fiasco is that, in areas where individuals are threatened enough to take their issues to the various halls of government, they are now muted by a series of laws put in place by our corporate or socially pernicious overlords (looking at you, John Stemberger) and hung out to dry. Charlotte made a move toward fairness; North Carolina’s legislature and governor fought back with an “overreach” that extends beyond trans issues and into LGBT welfare full stop. Worse, they did it in a special session under the deepest of shade.
If marriage was our victory, then the aftermath is our anthill. This is life now.
Grayson and Jolly
Everybody’s lovable exclamation point Congressman Alan Grayson of Orlando announced on April 19 that he and Republican Congressman David Jolly of Indian Shores would have a debate-style duel on April 25 in Orlando for Marco Rubio’s Senate seat. What makes this battle interesting – beyond the fact that anything Grayson says in interesting – is that Democratic Party loverboy Patrick Murphy is not going to be present for the debate. We did reach out to the Murphy campaign, but got an odd phone transference noise.
However, from what we’re hearing, he doesn’t want to be involved in all of the noise of a Grayson bloviation from the genius station. That kind of sucks, because Grayson and Murphy are the Clinton and Sanders of the zeitgeist, or whatever. And though the moderation of said debate – which will be broadcast on opendebate.com at 7 p.m. on April 25 –involves Young Turks and the Independent Journal Review – it still feels strange not having Murphy there. At any rate, new media platforms!
Justice is served
Hey, do remember when several couples were kind enough to explain their lives in front of the public in order to achieve same-sex marriage in Florida? So do we. Also, so do the federal courts. On April 15, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle turned Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s smile upside down when he ordered that the ACLU, private attorneys and their clients in the case were due the more than $500,000 that was spent on the case, according to the News Service of Florida.
“We are grateful for Judge Hinkle’s order recognizing the work our legal team did in arguing that Floridians have a right to marry the person they love and that denying them that right was unconstitutional,” ACLU of Florida spokesman Baylor Johnson said in an email, according to the News Service of Florida.Bondi’s office had been using workarounds to try to avoid the fees, but eventually conceded.
Redistrict this
There aren’t many less engaging topics that redistricting congressional districts, but some topics – or arguments – never seem to go away. You may recall that Congresswoman Corrine Brown made quite the fuss over the redrawing of her insanely drawn serpentine district that stretched from Jacksonville to Orlando. Papers flew, lawsuits grew and life would never be the same again. Well, last week, the courts struck down Brown’s final appeal, leaving a mixed bag for Democrats in the congressional field. The more things change, the more they stay the same. U.S. Rep Gwen Graham, D-Tallahassee, seems to have been handed the short straw, with her district cut in half to make room for Brown’s new map.
“I’m disappointed the second congressional District will be transformed from a fair, moderate district into two extreme partisan districts. Dividing Tallahassee hurts north Florida and our community,” Graham said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. “Now that the lengthy legal challenges to the maps have been completed, I will make a decision as to what’s next as soon as possible. Though the maps may have changed, my commitment to public service has not.”
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