#ncga: Giving Dan Bishop the “business”
Business news ain’t what it used to be. One would think it would be all about the intricacies of the free market. Yet, more and more, SJW crap is displacing hard, vauable business intelligence from the ever-shrinking business sections of driveby publications. You can visit some “business news” web sites and it’s hard to tell the difference between it and Rolling Stone. Photos of the writers make them look more at home at a 90s grunge concert than a corporate conference room.
State Rep. Dan Bishop (R-Mecklenburg) knew he would draw some flak from the leftist howler monkeys when he sponsored the notorious HB2 “bathroom bill” — you know, the one that basically says things need to stay exactly the way they are NOW as far as bathrooms and locker rooms go. While they took very little interest in the activities of another Mecklenburg legislator — Mr. Black of Matthews — the drivebys are focusing like a laser beam on Bishop, who is running to replace Bob Rucho in the state Senate.
The Charlotte Business Journal took great pains to get their hands on Bishop’s emails:
[…] Last month, CBJ sought any written documents and communications to or from Bishop because he is the primary sponsor of HB 2 and he is also a member of the local General Assembly delegation.
An aide to Bishop initially declined the request for emails and records related to HB 2 asserting that ” it is the view of the General
Assembly central staff that public records law does not apply to contact between legislators and constituents.” He cited no specific exemptions from N.C. public records statutes. CBJ‘s legal counsel, Jon Buchan, a partner at Essex Richards, communicated repeatedly with Bishop beginning on May 19, citing the requirements of N.C. law regarding public access to the the records sought and asking Bishop to cite any legal authority supporting his position.
On Tuesday, Bishop forwarded 152 messages dating from Feb. 23, the day after City Council passed a local ordinance to expand non-discrimination protection for gay and transgender people. Bishop and other lawmakers responded by passing HB 2 during a one-day special session on March 23. McCrory signed the bill hours later.
“I am furnishing these voluntarily rather than pursuant to the public records law because they don’t constitute public records in that they are not ‘made or received pursuant to law or ordinance’ or are within statutory and/or common-law legislative privilege,” Bishop said in an email to Buchan.
Buchan and the CBJ are still pursuing any additional communications that were not included in Bishop’s response this week. They have again asked Bishop to cite any legal authority supporting his position that these are not public records under N.C. law. The paper has also sought records from the city of Charlotte, Sen. Rucho, Sen. Berger (R-Rockingham) and Rep. Chris Srgo (D-Guilford).
“The North Carolina Public Records Act says documents made or received in connection with the transaction of public business are ‘the property of the people,’” Buchan said. “I’m aware of no statutory exemption or legislative privilege for the records sought by the Charlotte Business Journal. I’ve asked Rep. Bishop to cite the specific legal basis for claiming these records are not required to be made available to the public, but so far he has not provided that.”
The emails offer insight into the mostly uncompromising views on both sides of the so-called bathroom bill. Though Bishop often replies to constituents with detailed explanations of why he helped write and pass the law — and why, in his view, it doesn’t hurt LGBT people or anyone else — the messages provided include scant communication with fellow lawmakers or any other politicians.[…]
(They apparently spent more time doing THIS than they did actually informing their readers of what HB2 actually says.) One of the messages they took glee in highlighting was from one of Bishop’s former law school professors:
[…] UNC Chapel Hill School of Law professor Judith Welch Wegner sent Bishop a blistering message in April in which she blamed “the state of hate that you and fellow partisans have created” for her decision to leave the university next year. Wegner, dean of the law school from 1989 to 1999, reminded Bishop that she taught him property law at UNC.
The subject line of her email includes the phrase “disowning you as a former student.”
Bishop did not respond, though he did forward the message with a cryptic remark: “On official email account no less.” […]
Cryptic? I think it’s pretty clear what he was saying. This woman — paid $211,300 per year by the taxpayers — is using taxpayer resources (state-maintained email) to level a vicious attack on the very people who pay her salary and finance the university’s operations.
And don’t you find it interesting that she shows no pride in the fact a former student is (a) a successful attorney, and (b) a rising star on Jones Street? He’s not goose-stepping along with the brownshirts, so HE SUCKS.
This woman brings back memories of another Carolina Law superstar named Gene Nichol. He was pulling down a serious six figure salary ($211,400 per year) from the taxpayers while spending most of his time writing op-eds mocking Republicans and the very legislature that finances his salary and the university. Nichol’s wife, B. Glenn George, pulls down $407,410 per year from the university. Interestingly, th
e thesis of Nichol’s rants are all about how conservatives just don’t have a clue about poverty. *You know, life is tough when you’re spending your year writing a handful of op-eds for a measly 200-grand.*
Nichol and Wegner are but TWO examples of the massive opportunity Republicans in Raleigh are missing in terms of university reform. The radical left has latched onto every aspect of academia, media, and culture like ticks on a cocker spaniel. We’re paying for their subsistence while they ridicule us and tear apart the very fabric of our culture and society.
If we want to right this ship, we need to step up the fight to balance things out and loosen the hammer-and-sickle crowd’s grip on our country.
This is a terrific post. It is also a very sad commentary on the NC Republican legislature which has allowed the Radical Left to solidify its control forever of the UNC system. This is primarily the fault of Thom Tillis who gave BOG seats to his biggest contributors, as well as Nelson Dollar and Tim Moore who simply have no political sense at all when it comes to crucial appointments. The Republican Establishment in Raleigh is every bit as corrupt as the Washington political establishment.
Excellent job of parsing this out, Haymaker!!
You just can’t help telling the truth, can you?