NY Times: “I traveled to Alabama last month to try to understand the state of queer America today, to try to understand this unsettling whiplash I’ve been feeling lately as a queer person. The world watched a gay congressman lead the vote to codify national recognition of same-sex and interracial marriage, and the grandees of the…
“North Carolina Sheriff Who Resigned After Making Racist Comments Steps Down ― Again”
HuffPo: “A sheriff in a small North Carolina county resigned Wednesday, marking his second time stepping down from the position since making racist comments about Black deputies in his department. Jody Greene, the embattled former sheriff of Columbus County, initially resigned from his position in October after audio surfaced of him disparaging Black deputies. But he didn’t…
“FL and TX, the Far-Right Axis”
TX Observer: “At the crux of the nation’s hyperpartisan political and culture wars stand Texas and Florida, the far-right Republican axis, whose right-wing trifectas not only survived the midterms but emerged stronger, bolder, and bigger. While the widely expected GOP “red wave” fizzled in much of the nation, Texas added two seats to its predominantly…
“TX Cities Prioritize Police Over the Public”
TX Observer: “If city budgets are a reflection of what a community holds precious, one thing is glaring in Texas: Policing and incarceration are cities’ crown jewels. Texas’ five largest cities—Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, and Fort Worth—spend far more on criminal justice than on community services, and in the case of Fort Worth, more…
“Virginia abolished biased, inefficient, botched executions; more states should follow suit”
NC Policy Watch: “On Dec. 13, just as horrifying images from Iran emerged showing condemned protestors hanged publicly on street-corner construction cranes, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown followed Virginia’s lead and commuted the death sentences of 17 inmates to life imprisonment and dismantled that state’s death chamber. It is gratifying to see another state break away from the…
“AG: Meadows won’t face voter fraud charges in North Carolina”
AP: ” Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff to President Donald Trump, won’t face voter fraud charges related to his 2020 registration and absentee vote in North Carolina, the state’s attorney general announced Friday. Meadows, a former western North Carolina congressman who worked for Trump during his final months in the Oval Office,…
“A Heavily Armed Man Caused Panic at a Supermarket. But Did He Break the Law?”
NY Times: “Two days after a gunman killed 10 people at a Colorado grocery store, leaving many Americans on high alert, Rico Marley was arrested as he emerged from the bathroom at a Publix supermarket in Atlanta. He was wearing body armor and carrying six loaded weapons — four handguns in his jacket pockets, and in…
“Alabamians can now carry a gun in public without a permit”
AL Political Reporter: “A law to allow Alabamians to conceal a firearm without a permit went into effect on Sunday. As a result, the legal requirement for residents to obtain a concealed carry permit for pistols before hiding them on their person is now null and void, with the only need for a pistol permit…
“White contractors wouldn’t remove Confederate statues. So a Black man did it.”
WaPo: “As a small group of Confederate heritage defenders assembled nearby — at least one of them armed — city safety coordinator Miles Jones lectured the work crew on wearing hard hats and eye protection. And who, he asked, would be the site supervisor? A bearded man in Ray-Ban sunglasses and a Norfolk State University…
“N.C. set for first $100 million governor’s race”
Longleaf Politics: “North Carolina is used to high-dollar U.S. Senate races. The governor’s race could soon join that club. As Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson continues to lay the groundwork for a 2024 run for governor, his campaign is signaling that it will take an unprecedented amount of money to win. In a fundraising email, the…