McCrory: Sweet Schadenfreude.

Pat McCrory

Pat McCrory.

There are times schadenfreude is ever so sweet, and this is one of them. Pat McCrory, that eternal bigot, is now whining that his bigotry is interfering with him finding a job. It turns out that a lot of people aren’t terribly interested in hiring an attention-pandering bigot. Who knew?

In an interview with the Raleigh News & Observer, McCrory complained that his decision to champion HB2 — the infamous “bathroom bill” that banned transgender people from using the bathrooms of their choice — was hurting his career prospects.

“People are reluctant to hire me, because, ‘oh my gosh, he’s a bigot,’” McCrory explained to the newspaper. “Which is the last thing I am.”

Unfuckingbelievable. He still clings to this insistence that he’s not a bigot, oh no, why he’s a champion superhero, protecting peeing people!

McCrory said that while he’s been considered for part-time teaching positions at some universities, campuses have been reluctant to hire him over fears that he might spark a backlash among students, who would then respond with disruptive protests.

“That’s not the way our American system should operate – having people purged due to political thought,” he complained.

Oh no, don’t be dishonest, Pat. This isn’t a case of thought crime. You did much more than have an unpopular, stupid, bigoted political thought. You drove the bigoted HB2 at any and all cost, even when your own constituents stood against it, and you were costing your state millions upon millions of dollars. That’s different from having a political thought. Our ‘American’ system should not be stuffed to the rafters with incompetent bigots, either, but it is, and people have the right to oppose them, which they did. You lost your job through your own actions, and you have not taken one step back on your draconian views.

McCrory’s complaints echo similar comments he made recently during a podcast interview in which he claimed that “if you disagree with the politically correct thought police on this new definition of gender, you’re a bigot, you’re the worst of evil.”

Oh For Fuck’s Sake! You godsdamned piece of shit masquerading as a human being! Such a fucking liar. This has absolutely nothing to do with political correctness, nor thought police, nor a ‘new’ definition of gender, and you are a fucking bigot, a terrible, toxic, venomous one, and yes, you are on the side of evil. Someone should have, at some point, taught you there are consequences to both speech and actions. There are *four* pages on Affinity, all posts about McCrory’s evil legislation, and yet all he can manage to do is whine about what a victim he is. And here I thought it was only us SJW snowflakes who did that. Tsk.

Via Raw Story.

Phobie of the Year: Pat McCrory.

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The competition for Phobie of the Year was devilish in 2016, but one man out-hated all the rest. Pat McCrory, the outgoing governor of North Carolina, even outdid Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

At least in Indiana, where Pence was governor, he backed down when business representing millions of dollars threatened to leave the state over its Religious Freedom Restoration Act — also known as a “license to discriminate.” Pence signed a fix to the law so discriminating against LGBT people wasn’t allowed under the RFRA’s protections. In North Carolina, though, even as jobs left the state and performers canceled concerts and millions piled up in lost revenue, McCrory and Republicans refused to rethink what they passed in House Bill 2.

Lawmakers hadn’t approved a RFRA exactly. Instead, they passed a law banning any locality from including LGBT people in antidiscrimination ordinances. In other words, they wanted to ensure that discrimination against LGBT people remains legal no matter where you go in North Carolina. They also barred transgender people from using the bathroom that matches their gender identity in any government building, without citing a single incident caused in North Carolina by letting transgender people use the bathroom of their choice.

There’s much more at The Advocate, including the Phobie Finalists:

[Read more…]

McCrory, Please, Just Leave.

Credit: Youtube.

Credit: Youtube.

Pat McCrory has been hanging onto his office like grim death, refusing to believe that voters want his sorry arse out of office and gone. It’s voter fraud! It’s every conspiracy in the world! I won’t leave! I’m afraid his toddler act is beyond tiresome at this point, and it’s quite clear it’s tiresome to everyone else, too.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections Monday issued an order dismissing keys election protests from Gov. Pat McCrory’s campaign, dealing a harsh blow to the incumbent governor’s hope for reelection.

ABC 11 reports the decision affects 52 counties where Republicans filed protests alleging people were ineligible to vote. The board of elections instructed those counties to dismiss any protest that “merely disputes the eligibility of a voter.”

McCrory’s challenger Roy Cooper called the decision a “devastating blow” to the incumbent governor’s campaign. Cooper currently leads McCrory by over 9,000 votes.

So, McCrory, get the bloody message already, please. Exhibit a bit of maturity for a change. No one wants a governor, not even a former governor who does nothing but have one juvenile tantrum after another. Via Raw Story.

McCrory Defeated. Updated.

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In a tiny bright spot, McCrory was defeated, and that means the rollback of HB2. Thanks to all those North Carolinians who voted their sense of right, and gave McCrory a very well deserved boot to the arse.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Democrat Roy Cooper was ahead by just a few thousand votes. Cooper has 2,280,398 votes compared to 2,276,059 for McCrory.

The Human Rights Campaign and Equality North Carolina issued a late-night news release elaborating on their win.

“We are confident that once the results are certified, Roy Cooper’s victory will be confirmed,” they wrote. “By electing Roy Cooper their next governor, North Carolinians have sent a powerful message across their state and this country that the days of anti-LGBTQ politicians targeting our community for political gain are over. While McCrory may have been surprised by the overwhelming opposition in this state and across the country to his discriminatory politics, the same will not be true for lawmakers who are considering doubling down on anti-LGBTQ extremism in the future. This is a wake-up call.”

Via The Advocate.

UPDATE: McCrory refuses to concede.

Investors Call on McCrory to Repeal.

matt-patsky

Sixty investors representing $2.1 trillion in managed assets have called on North Carolina to repeal HB2, the controversial law limiting protections for LGBT people.

Earlier this month it was estimated that HB2 has so far cost North Carolina in the region of $395 million from sporting organizations, the entertainment industry and business interests. In March, more than 80 CEOs and businesses – including Apple’s Tim Cook and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg – signed a letter urging Governor Pat McCrory to overturn HB2.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday alongside some of the investors who have signed the statement calling for repeal, Matt Patsky, chief executive officer of Trillium Asset Management, said North Carolina “appears to be headed for what I would call a state-government-inflicted recession.” According to Associated Press, Trillium – one of the organizers of the statement along with environmental research group Croatan Institute and the New York City comptroller, Scott Stringer – has more than $2 billion in assets under management. Stringer was unable to attend the press conference because of a New York ban on travel to North Carolina.

In a separate statement, Stringer said:

“As long-term investors, we can’t sit idly by as HB2 undermines fundamental human rights at our expense. For the last 25 years, New York City’s pension funds have pushed more than 100 companies to enact non-discrimination policies that protect LGBTQ individuals and ensure they attract, retain, and promote the best and the brightest. These policies are essential if we want companies – and our economy – to succeed, and we can’t let a hate-filled law get in the way.”

Bonny Moellenbrock, executive director of North Carolina-based Investors Circle, added:

“This fallout is real. It has had a devastating impact on our reputation and that has a direct impact on entrepreneurs’ ability to grow their business here.”

McCrory replied in a statement:

“This latest attack on North Carolina values is being coordinated by the same people who manage the New York City pension fund that is on the verge of an ‘operational failure,’ according to a recent report. For New York hedge fund billionaires to lecture North Carolina about how to conduct its affairs is the height of hypocrisy.”

Pat McCrory, the Asshole Bigot’s Asshole Bigot.

Via Towleroad.

McCrory: Nthing Down.

Credit: Youtube.

Credit: Youtube.

You really can’t say that McCrory is doubling down at this point. It’s gone far beyond that. He hangs onto HB 2 like it was a life preserver and he a drowning man. I don’t know why he clings so very hard to this hateful bigotry, especially in the face of so much opposition, not only from people all over the States, but from his own constituency. The majority of people in NC are not invested in this legalization of hate and fear; they don’t want this enacted. [See the full article for stats.] Surely, it must have occurred to McCrory that he could salvage at least a part of his reputation if he stepped back and killed HB 2. People might not like him, but he would at least get grudging respect for doing the right thing, for once. Unfortunately, McCrory is still McCrory, and he’s busy spreading his hate, fear, and bigotry as far as he can. Beware, there’s a major irony hazard coming up:

A new campaign ad from North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory released Wednesday defends his anti-trans bathroom bill on the basis of “privacy and safety.”

The 30-second spot is intended to answer criticisms of House Bill 2, the controversial legislation that effectively forces trans people to use public restrooms (in government buildings) that do not correspond with their gender identity; it also invalidated all municipal protections for LGBT people, and makes it impossible to pass future pro-LGBT housing and employment laws. In the ad, McCrory stands by the embattled bill, which was introduced, debated, and signed into law in a single day.

“You know, when we were raising average teacher pay, creating new jobs, and cutting taxes, other folks were actually pushing to make our schools allow boys to use the girls’ locker rooms and showers,” McCrory claims. “Are we really talking about this? Does the desire to be politically correct outweigh our children’s privacy and safety? Not on my watch. Our kids and teachers are my priority.

“This is North Carolina,” he concludes. “Let’s do what’s right.”

Wouldn’t that be something, seeing McCrory doing something right? As for his “watch”, from what I understand, there’s hardly a thing McCrory has touched that hasn’t been a major fuck up. By this time, McCrory knows about trans* peoples, and how they work, so he has zero excuses for this “oh no, boys in the girl’s locker room!” nonsense. This has been ceaselessly debunked, and yet he carries on. He is an excellent example of someone who holds up hate and bigotry as virtues, I’ll give him that much. Content Note: contains lies, bigotry, and hate.

Full Story at The Advocate.

McCrory Hits A New Low.

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Just when you thought Pat McCrory couldn’t get any lower, he goes diving straight into an isht filled sewer of lies.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) has released a fear-mongering campaign ad that paints transgender people as dangerous predators who are out to rape children.

LGBTQNation.com posted the 30-second campaign spot on Wednesday, which accuses Democratic NC Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper of willfully endangering the state’s children by not upholding the so-called “bathroom bill,” H.B. 2.

The ad begins with a woman named Gina Little of Greensboro, NC saying, “At 9, I was molested by a teenager.”

She continues, “When I heard that Pres. Obama and and Roy Cooper want to force schoolchildren to share the same locker room, shower and restroom with someone who claims to be the opposite sex, I was horrified.”

“Gov. McCrory knows this is not about discrimination, money or politics,” Little claims. “He’s standing up under intense pressure and doing what’s right. Our governor is on our side.”

The implication is clear. Little is saying that if trans men, women and children are allowed to use the facilities corresponding with their expressed gender, they will rape and molest children.

The truth, however, is that the overwhelming majority of sex crimes against children are committed by men who identify as heterosexual and the bulk of these crimes happen in the home.

Oh yes, most of these crimes do indeed happen in the home, and are most often committed by family members or close family friends. It happened to me, I was raped by a family member for six years as a child, and it had absolutely nothing to do with queer people or any sort of shared facility. I know McCrory is desperate, but this is lower than low, and he is such an immoral, evil person for doing this. Transgendered people already face high levels of violence, and this will do nothing except make that worse. McCrory is out to harm people.

Via Raw Story.

The Cost of McCrory.

Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) (nc.gov, Screengrab)

Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) (nc.gov, Screengrab)

The costs keep mounting in NC, and going by all appearances, McCrory simply doesn’t care in the least. I keep trying to figure out why there is this pig-headed obstinacy in hanging on to HB 2, and all I can come up with is that McCrory is doing this to save face. Or he thinks this is face-saving, because it seems to me that any idiot could figure out the costs far outweigh any perceived benefit.

The price tag for keeping North Carolina’s HB2 on the books just keeps getting more and more expensive.

In a review by the Associate Press, Gov. Pat McCrory and state legislative leaders have run up more than $176,000 in legal fees to defend the law, which prevents transgender people from using restrooms and changing rooms matching their gender identity.

That’s likely not the total because some firms have yet to bill the state for their work on the legal battle between the state and the Department of Justice.

State taxpayers will have to eat those real costs, in addition to the estimated $100 million in lost potential revenue after the NBA withdrew the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte over the controversial law.

There’s also that $500,000 that was pulled out of the state’s disaster relief fund a while back. Taxpayers cannot be happy with this, any more than the massive tab some Arizona taxpayers are faced with over Arpaio. I don’t know why people keep such assholes in office, but it’s time to kick them out on their arses, and get competent representation.

Via Out.

McCrory and the failure mode of clever.

pat-mccroryx750Pat McCrory saw fit to make jokes about transgender people at the RNC, still referencing his beloved HB 2, even with the latest massive cost to the state with the withdrawal of the NBA.

McCrory took the stage and immediately started acting like a flight attendant.

“All right, let’s be safe now. We’ve got a big crowd, so if you need to leave suddenly, we’ve got exits this way, exits this way and exits this way,” McCrory said, motioning straight ahead, to his right and to his left. “And if any of you need to use the restrooms …”

McCrory paused as the crowd of several thousand laughed and cheered his reference to legislation passed earlier this year that requires individuals to use the restroom that matches the gender they were born with, not the one they identify with.

[…]

As Politico reported, the backlash [to HB 2] reached the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Monday, where an executive with the Raleigh-based company Citrix, Jesse Lipson, accused McCrory of not understanding how business worked by backing the law.

“Republicans may think they’re telling people which bathroom to go into,” Lipson said. “They’re actually telling people which market to stay out of.”

The Wells Fargo Center, where the event is being held, also had at least one all-gender restroom. Buzzfeed’s Dominic Holden posted a picture:

One estimate of the NBA withdrawal of the all star game is 100 million in lost revenue, and McCrory thinks he’s being clever joking about HB 2? Seriously, I don’t know how much more NC can possibly take of this – the sheer amount of lost revenue is staggering, and people cannot be happy about watching their state’s economy plunge down a hole. Right now, McCrory is a bit player in the political scene, but outside of Trump, I can’t think of anyone else who so very badly needs to be forcibly ousted from his position. The amount of damage he has done is in the phenomenal range, and on many levels.

Via Washington Post and Raw Story.

McCrory: Dying on Bigotry Hill.

Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) (nc.gov, Screengrab)

Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) (nc.gov, Screengrab)

he North Carolina state legislature is poised to transfer $500,000 from the state’s disaster relief fund to aid in the legal defense of HB2, the heavily-criticized law restricting restroom access, WRAL-TV reported.

“The governor asked for it,” said state Senate Budget Chair Harry Brown (R).

The funding was provided as part of a “technical corrections” bill added to another measure, House Bill 805, on Thursday, following the passage of the $22.34 billion state budget.

This, in the wake of a public statement by The Charlotte Hornets, who are not in favour of HB 2, but it seems there is simply no length to which McCrory is not willing to go to defend his bigotry. What happens if there’s a flood? Those have been happening in the area. What if there’s a fire or other disaster? The people of NC can simply go screw themselves, it seems. Full story here.

Also, North Carolina lawmakers adjourned for the year on Friday night after leaving mostly intact a law restricting transgender bathroom access that has drawn condemnation and jeopardized the state’s efforts to host the NBA All-Star Game, officials said. Full story here.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

The NBA and the Charlotte Hornets announced Thursday night that they will not support the proposed fix by North Carolina lawmakers to House Bill 2, the controversial law that forces transgender people to use public restrooms (in government buildings) that do not correspond with their gender identity.

“We have been engaged in dialogue with numerous groups at the city and state levels, but we do not endorse the version of the bill that we understand is currently before the legislature,” the organizations stated in a press release. “We remain committed to our guiding principles of inclusion, mutual respect and equal protections for all. We continue to believe that constructive engagement with all sides is the right path forward.”

The legislation, forced through during an emergency session of the state’s Congress, was introduced, debated, and passed in a single day. Signed into law March 23, HB 2 has been widely criticized — with over 160 businesses threatening to boycott the state if the bill is not repealed.

North Carolina Republicans had hoped that a compromise bill would quell the backlash. The version of the bill obtained by Charlotte TV station WBTV allows transgender residents to use the public restroom that most closely corresponds with their gender identity as long as they are able to “prove” their gender. Trans people can do so, according to the bill, by furnishing a “certificate of sex reassignment,” one notarized by the physician who performed the surgery. Many transgender people, however, do not have or desire surgery.

In addition, the draft of the bill sent to legislators Wednesday clarified the penalties for using the opposite-sex facilities. “Language in the latest draft of the bill would make it a Class 2 misdemeanor — one level higher than the normal penalty for trespassing — to trespass in a multiple-occupancy bathroom or changing facility,” reports WBTV.

This goes on, as McCrory and his fellow bigots insist on finding some way to legislate open bigotry. What is the final cost of this going to be for the people of North Carolina?

Full story here.

Oh, McCrory’s Not Happy. Tsk.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory speaks to NBC's Chuck Todd (screen grab)

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory speaks to NBC’s Chuck Todd (screen grab)

A school district in North Carolina announced this week that its students can choose which bathroom to use based on their gender identity, and Gov. Pat McCrory is not happy.

The Republican governor released a statement Tuesday condemning the decision after the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District revealed its plans to buck the recently passed House Bill 2, a law that in part rolls back protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees and forces public school students to use restrooms that correspond to their biological sex, the Huffington Post reported. Starting in the fall, the 146,000 students in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg system can base the facilities they use on their identities — something McCrory does not agree with.

“Instead of providing reasonable accommodations for some students facing unique circumstances, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System made a radical change to their shower, locker room and restroom policy for all students,” McCrory’s press secretary, Graham Wilson, said in a statement to WJZY. “This curiously-timed announcement that changes the basic expectations of privacy for students comes just after school let out and defies transparency, especially for parents. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System should have waited for the courts to make a decision instead of purposely breaking state law.”

The school district’s attorney, George Battle III, told the Charlotte Observer the system wasn’t trying to fight HB2, which was passed in March. He said the district was following a precedent set by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in April that the Title IX anti-discrimination law covers transgender students’ right to choose their restrooms.

“That’s the law of the land for five states that are in the 4th Circuit, North Carolina being one of those states,” Battle told the Observer.

Full Story at Raw Story. I am seriously pleased the school district is doing right by students, but I’ll admit to some happy pleasure at seeing McCrory publicly smacked.

McCrory: I’ll Stand Firm.

Andrew Dye/Journal.

Andrew Dye/Journal.

Gov. Pat McCrory said he will continue to fight for a “respect for privacy” in the face of a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit over the state’s controversial “bathroom bill.”

McCrory was speaking at North Carolinians for Home Education’s annual conference, being held this week at the Benton Convention Center.

McCrory praised the several hundred families in the crowd for their choice to home school their children. He said it’s important for families to have choices about educating their children and for leaders to respect all of those choices.

[…]

“One other advantage of home schooling is you aren’t going to have the president, the attorney general or the mayor of Charlotte telling you what bathroom (to use),” he said, to a standing ovation.

[…]

McCrory said he would support unisex bathrooms for transgender students, saying that we should give kids with “special needs and unique needs” an option.

“But don’t change the norms that have been working for generations,” he said.

“Special needs and unique needs”? FFS, how dense can McCrory get here? This is as simple as it gets: transgender woman = woman. Transgender man = man. Transgender girl = girl. Transgender boy = boy. It’s quite interesting how McCrory thinks that unisex lavs are great…for those weird people. Not so great for actual people, eh, Pat? I have a question about these wonderful, unisex, transgender persons only lavs, Pat – who is going to police them to keep all the cis people out? Perhaps all cis people should be made to go through years of red tape to get a special identification, and absolutely must be karyotyped!

McCrory blamed the kerfuffle on Democrats, saying there were no issues with bathroom rules until the Charlotte City Council passed a nondiscrimination ordinance to provide legal protections for gay, lesbian and transgender people that included language would allow transgender individuals to use the bathroom corresponding to the gender with which they identify. HB2 was passed in a one-day special session to reverse Charlotte’s ordinance.

Tsk. You’d think those ‘norms’ that had been working great for generations wouldn’t have gotten knocked down by a bit of non-discrimination. Also, this is a “kerfuffle”? People’s lives. Legislation of hatred, fear, and bigotry. Inciting hatred and harm. Kerfuffle. Fuck you, McCrory. I hope you go down in a blaze of shame, a sad footnote on the rigid, atrophied thinking of a conservative bigot.

Via Winston-Salem Journal.

McCrory: We’ll Sue the Feds

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Facing a federal government about to crack down, Gov. Pat McCrory is suing to stop them, arguing there’s no such thing as federal protections for transgender people.

At a press conference at the state capitol in Raleigh today, McCrory repeated his earlier claims that he and his conservative colleagues in the legislature did not “seek out” this issue, placing the blame squarely on members of the Charlotte City Council, which approved a trans-inclusive public accommodations ordinance in February. The statewide law was drafted explicitly as a response to these protections, which McCrory has consistently called “government overreach.”

[…]

North Carolina’s chief legal counsel, Bob Stephens, confirmed during today’s press conference that the state’s lawsuit, seeking declaratory judgment, “is our response to that deadline” set by the DOJ. “So we’ve met the deadline and now we’ll go forward,” he added.

The lawsuit blasts the United States, in particular the federal Department of Justice, led by Attorney General Loretta Lynch, “for their radical reinterpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which would prevent plaintiffs from protecting the bodily privacy rights of state employees while accommodating the needs of transgendered state employees.”

Mischaracterizing the law as a “common sense privacy policy,” the complaint admits that House Bill 2 does not grant citizens access to public restrooms based on their gender identity. The suit continues:

“The Department [of Justice] contends that North Carolina’s common sense privacy policy constitutes a pattern or practice of discriminating against transgender employees in the terms and conditions of their employment because it does not give employees an unfettered right to use the bathroom or changing facility of their choice based on gender identity. The Department’s position is a baseless and blatant overreach.”

North Carolina’s complaint contends that there is no legal precedent affirming that transgender individuals are protected by federal employment law, but relies upon cases decided up to 16 years ago, notably failing to mention the numerous pro-trans equality rulings handed down in federal courts under the Obama administration.

At today’s press conference, Stephens told reporters that the DOJ is misunderstanding federal civil rights law, and argued that transgender people are not protected under Title VII. “The class of people that the Justice Department are referring to, are not a protected class,” Stephens told reporters, speaking about transgender employees who are now barred from using public restrooms that match their gender identity.

The Advocate has the full story. This just keeps plumbing brand new depths of stupidity and bigotry. How is it possible that holding on to bigotry is worth so much?