McIntyre's fate might be settled long before November 2012 -- GOP payback inevitable!

Verne Strickland Blogmaster / USA DOT COM / May 27, 2011

slideshow

U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre’s bid for a ninth term in Congress might not be determined at the ballot box in November 2012, but could instead be decided in the coming weeks on an easel in Raleigh.

For the first time in almost forever, Republicans control both houses of the General Assembly, and the timing for them couldn’t be better as district lines that will be used for the next decade must be drawn to align with the 2010 census.

After being gerrymandered out of power for a century, the GOP will be looking for some retribution, and Republicans apparently covet the District 7 seat tightly held by McIntyre, a Lumberton Democrat, since he first waded into the political pool in 1996.

McIntyre never had a serious Republican opponent in the General Election until 2010, when Ilario Pantano garnered about 47 percent of the vote. Pantano, a transplanted Northerner who now claims Wilmington as his home, has already announced he will run again.

But McIntyre’s fiercest opponent might be Republicans in the General Assembly, who are unlikely to encounter a whole lot of resistance during redistricting from our local legislative delegation, which has a couple of strikes against it.

Three of the four members are Democrats, the minority party, and the local delegation doesn’t boast much seniority, with two freshmen and a sophomore among their ranks. The most senior member, state Rep. Garland Pierce, does sit on the House committee in charge of redistricting, so there’s that.

Robeson County residents know who butters their bread, which is why Democrats don’t even have to campaign here. The county supported Democrat Mike Dukakis, a Massachusetts liberal, by a two-to-one margin over George Bush the dad during the 1988 presidential election, and four years earlier, went for George McGovern, also Democrat, who suffered the worst loss in a presidential race in the nation’s history.

So our allegiance is clear, and won’t escape Republicans, who could grab the paring knife and dice up Robeson County as a way to dilute that voting power.

Your politics will dictate whether or not you believe McIntyre’s exit from Congress would be a good thing or a bad thing. But on this, Robeson County Republicans and Democrats should unite: A fractured Robeson County isn’t a good thing for our clout in Congress, because lawmakers tend to be loyal to the voters who elect them, and if this county’s role in electing a U.S. representative is negligible, expect that kind of love in return.

The redistricting process is underway in Raleigh, and while new lines haven’t been drawn, there is writing on the wall.

http://www.robesonian.com/view/full_story/13361204/article-Writing%E2%80%99s-on-the-wall?instance=secondary_opinion_left_column

Barber arrested. For giving somebody a bad haircut? Au contraire -- he "acted up" in NC House gallery. Just a show off?

---

VERNE STRICKLAND  / USA DOT COM / MAY 26, 2P011

REV. WILLIAM 'SUMO" BARBER, HE OF NAACP NOTORIETY, HIJACKED THE N.C. HOUSE GALLERY DURING THE WEEK TO CLAIM HIS TWENTY-THIRD AMENDMENT RIGHTS, WHICH STATE THAT, 'IF YOU CAN'T GET YOUR STUFF ANY OTHER WAY, MAKE A JERK OF YOURSELF'.

BARBER'S 'STUFF' SEEMS TO BE BERATING EVERYONE WHO WON'T AGREE TO HIS LOOPY DEMANDS TO RETURN TO THE PAST, WHEN LITTLE CHILDREN WERE BUSSED ALL OVER HELL AND BACK SO BLACK AND WHITE KIDS COULD SIT CLOSE TOGETHER IN SCHOOL.

A LOT OF GOOD THAT DID, AS BLACK KIDS STILL ARE LAGGING WOEFULLY BEHIND EVERYBODY ELSE -- WHITES, ASIANS, INDIANS, ESKIMOS, ILLEGAL ALIENS AND EXTRATERRESTRIAL VISITORS HUNTING FOR LAS VEGAS.

BARBER MIGHT FIND A MORE NOBLE MISSION IF HE COULD KEEP HIS YOUNG CHARGES FROM EATING THEIR WAY INTO THE FUNERAL PARLOR AT AN EARLY AGE. BUT HIS TRY AS THE POSTER BOY FOR SENSIBLE DINING WAS NOT ACCEPTED BY ANYONE WITH ANY SENSE AT ALL, SO HERE HE IS -- A DETESTED RABBLE ROUSER THROWING HIS WEIGHT AROUND TO ATTRACT ATTENTION AND SATISFY HIS CONSIDERABLE EGO.

THE WHOLE THING IS NUTS, HAS NOT WORKED, AND WON'T IN THE FUTURE. WHAT WILL WORK IS TO PUT SOME EFFORT INTO INSTILLING A BIT OF RESOLVE INTO THE 'PARENTS' OF KIDS WHO CAN'T EVEN LOCATE THE SCHOOLS WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF A BORED BUS DRIVER.

I'VE DRONED ON LONG ENOUGH. IT'S BEEN FUN. BUT GOTTA MOVE ON. HERE'S A STORY ABOUT ALL THIS POINTLESS JUNK..

State NAACP President Rev. William Barber criticizes the budget proposals drawn up by GOP lawmakers during a May 25, 2011, news conference.

The Rev. William Barber

House Speaker Thom Tillis demanded an apology from protesters who disrupted a floor session on May 24, 2011.

RALEIGH, N.C. — The president of North Carolina's NAACP said Wednesday his group will continue vigorous protests against a Republican-backed budget bill, doing whatever it takes to turn the public's attention to polices he said represent a "moral crisis" for the state.

The Rev. William Barber's comments came a day after he and six others were arrested following a vocal protest in the House gallery.

"The House budget was shamefully passed with debilitating cuts to education, health care and other vital resources," Barber said Wednesday morning after being released from jail. "We must challenge what is going on."

Some activists are unhappy with a number of legislative actions passed by the GOP majority this year, but the passage of a House budget bill most provoked their ire.

The NAACP and affiliated groups charge that cuts in the proposed spending plan will disproportionately hurt poor and middle class North Carolinians.

On Wednesday, Barber chastised legislators, especially House Speaker Thom Tillis, for cutting programs for poor residents while failing to close tax loopholes for corporations and the rich, another option for helping to balance the spending plan.

"The constitution of this state says that the only purpose of political power is for the common good and not just to cater to a few, the wealthy. The General Assembly leadership is being disrespectful to our constitution," Barber said.

"Come on, Mr. Tillis. Come on, extreme right. Come on, tea party. Embrace the future," he continued. "Let's lift our state rather than trying to tear it down. We can do better than this."

Meanwhile, Tillis said he wants Barber to apologize for disrupting lawmakers.

"I do think that Rev. Barber owes this House an apology for his disrespectful and disruptive behavior," Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, said during a news conference Wednesday.

Tillis said he would be willing to meet with members of the NAACP, but not Barber or the six arrested with him. "It would be inappropriate of me to meet with somebody that's the subject of a police investigation, I would think," he said.


Barber declined to respond directly to Tillis' request for an apology, calling it an attempt to divide the group of activists that has become more and more vocal as the legislative session wears on.

But Michelle Laws, of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP chapter, said Tillis is off base.

"How dare he ask for an apology," Laws said. "Speaking as someone who cares about the children of this state, I think he owes us an apology."

Barber said the NAACP and members of the Historic Thousands on Jones Street coalition are planning to organize across the state to fight what they call "extreme right-wing" politics in city, county and state governments. He said voter registration drives are also planned in hopes of changing the Legislature's makeup during the 2012 elections.

Members of the NAACP and other protesters have complained that legislators brushed off their concerns, ignoring phone calls and letters and refusing meetings with group members.

Tillis said he did agree to meet with Barber and his group in February, but NAACP representatives canceled.

While Tillis acknowledged that the Republican leadership is unlikely to see eye-to-eye with NAACP members, he said he is ready and willing to listen and make policy changes where warranted.

He said House members are open to working with the Legislative Black Caucus and are helping to form a new American Indian Caucus in the General Assembly.

http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/story/9643199/