ROY COOPER'S INAUGURATION IN NORTH CAROLINA GIVES DEMOCRATS HOPE

   In a year in which Democrats lost the White House and loosened their grip on governors’ mansions from 31 to 33 in Republican control, according to the New York Times (12/5/2016), the experience of one state stands out. In North Carolina in 2016, Democrat Roy Cooper defeated Republican incumbent Pat McCrory in a pivotal and closely-contested election.
   North Carolina is a divided state along partisan lines. The turnover in the Governor’s office, although not the State Legislature, shines a ray of hope for Democrats in an otherwise bleak election year. Liberals and activists fought so hard against the conservative McCrory through his entire term that inauguration day on January 7^th will mark a milestone for Democrats in North Carolina, in the larger South, and nationally. The turnover of power reminds Democrats nationally in the United States that hope for the future remains viable for their party despite the loss of the Presidency to the Republican, Donald Trump, in a bitter national election.

Democrat Roy Cooper in a campaign photo

   Writing on The Guardian website (UK: London, 12/20/2016), Richard Wolffe is wrong to discount the significance of the results in North Carolina for Democrats nationally, and in fact for Democrats’ faith in American democracy itself. He argues that due to Republicans chipping away at the appointment powers of incoming Governor Cooper in North Carolina, after the election, that somehow the basic fact of the hand-over from Republican to Democrat in that Governor’s office is substantially less meaningful. I disagree. While the Republicans are definitely being cheap in reducing some of the incoming Governor’s power, the Governor still has the authority to defend or drop state support for the voter ID law, for example, that McCrory stood behind so adamantly. Wolffe makes much hay of the voter ID laws across the South in his commentary, also, in which he disparages the state of democracy in America, centrally, after Trump’s victory via Electoral College, but not in the popular vote.
   The voter ID law probably will have its days numbered in the federal courts after Democrat Roy Cooper’s win in North Carolina. Unlike Wolffe’s view that the experience in North Carolina is insignificant, even somehow part of the bleak record for Democrats nationally in 2016, I would argue that North Carolina’s watershed moment in the State and in the broader South gives Democrats sorely-needed hope and relief in an otherwise-difficult year.
   If it is possible to have accomplished such a tremendously important triumph in North Carolina, it is still possible to accomplish the same on the national level in the future. All is not lost for Democrats since Donald Trump is taking the White House on January 20^th. Look at North Carolina. There is still hope for Democrats in the future in the United States of America, and the prospects for American democracy itself are still good, not faltering.

--Nicholas Patti

DONALD TRUMP WINS 2016 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

     I listened to the news of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election come in over my hand-held, transistor radio on WNYC, 93.9 FM, National Public Radio, in New York. Listening to the reports roll in, I grew increasingly despondent as the night continued. I voted for and supported Hillary Clinton, Democrat, and I lost. Donald Trump, Republican, won. Hillary Clinton has called to concede defeat, but has not yet delivered her concession speech. Donald Trump has addressed his supporters in his victory speech.

     At least I could enjoy the comfort of my shared office space, my dedicated desk, with wi-fi included in the rent. This is where I listened to my public radio over my early twentieth-century technology, a simple radio, that remains a useful form of media. It is on my Samsung Galaxy Tablet, over this office space wi-fi, that I write my post. I combine earlier, simple, useful low-tech with more contemporary high-tech to post this entry on my blog.

     Small comfort. I am a democratic socialist who is sitting here now in my shared office space and watching the Republican Party sweep the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Presidency. All of this conservative ascendancy is led by our new President-elect, Donald Trump.

     There is nothing I can do but grin-and-bear-it, wince, and accept the results of this legitimate, democratic election. Woe be to us on the Left in America tonight, and presumably, for the next four years.

        Donald Trump rode a wave of what one speaker on NPR termed “reactionary populism.” I think so. Trump proclaimed economic nationalism and won, hands-down, in a white backlash vote against President Obama and the political elites of Washington, DC.

     In this broad, conservative electoral turn, President-elect Trump was shown to be right about his repeated claim that we would witness a Brexit vote here in the United States. In the U.K., voters recently turned away the plans of the political and financial elites, and stood up to take back their own destiny and take back their country. That is exactly what Donald Trump said the American people would do here in the U.S. by voting for him. Most people in the media and the polls did not believe him on this claim, but tonight the American people have done exactly that.

     The popular vote and the electoral college were both close, but Donald Trump clearly won.

     In his victory speech tonight, before Hillary Clinton’s concession speech, but after her call to him conceding defeat, in Donald Trump’s victory speech, he was not combative, but welcoming and hopeful, almost conciliatory, to all of the American people and to all countries around the world. Specifically, he promised opportunity to the American people, and fairness, and the opportunity for partnership, to all other countries around the world.

     I hope the mean tone and personal attacks between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton during the campaign can be put behind them.

     Finally, although I feel disappointed that Hillary Clinton lost, I hope that we can all survive—and make the best of—this upcoming Donald Trump presidency. At this point in history, it is all that we can do.

--Nicholas Patti

New York, NY

U.S. Presidential Election, 2016

Vote!

--Nicholas Patti

THE UK VOTES TO LEAVE THE EU: MY PERSPECTIVE

Charlotte, NC—Tonight, the news from London saddens me, although I feel excited to hear it live on BBC radio, first over the BBC channel on SiriusXM satellite radio, then in the BBC broadcast on WFAE, FM public radio (NPR affiliate, Charlotte, NC). It is already early morning in London.
     People in the United Kingdom (UK) have voted to leave the European Union (EU), according to the call of the BBC. The UK government has not declared a winner or loser, officially, yet, however. According to the BBC, various major newspapers in Europe have followed the lead of the BBC and called it for the “Brexit” side, or the leave side, in their morning headlines.
     Although I supported the remain side, the side to remain in the EU, out of a spirit of internationalism, I respect and affirm the result of the democratic vote, the referendum, on this issue. As a socialist, I champion democracy, as a value, and fundamental to that principle is the necessity of accepting and respecting the outcomes and results of a vote. Also, the fate and direction of each European country, including the UK, is entirely up to the people in that country, I believe. Therefor, although I have an opinion (and my side lost), that fact does not matter. What matters is what the voting public of the UK has said in their vote.
     My internationalist opinion arises out of my identity as an American, with the politics I already described. Also, I am Catholic, who, like so many American Catholics, forms my own opinion on the subject. I do not know, actually, any official opinion or opinions from the Catholic Church on the question, but that position would not matter to me. It would have made food for thought, though. My higher point here is that my political connection to the UK supersedes any religious connection I have. We are talking politics, not religion.
     Also, I am English, Scottish, and Italian by heritage and identity. I am witnessing the Europeans in Europe being… well… European. Historically, over the longer arc of history, Europeans have differences among… ourselves. Although Britain, i.e., “Brexit,” just voted to leave the European Union, no one can deny that the English, Scottish, Northern Irish, and Guernseyians, presumably, all of whom voted in the UK referendum, no one can deny their essential European identity. Ironically enough, voting to exit the EU only highlights their quintessential European identity.
     I would be a member of the Labour Party in England and Scotland. I think they should continue to support their internationalist vision for society, as a social democratic/democratic socialist party in Europe. Obviously, like all parties in the UK, the Labour Party should accept and respect the results of the referendum.
     It is a sad day for David Cameron, British Prime Minister. They say on the radio that he is done for, politically. His future in office is probably, as they say in America, toast. His side lost on the issue. In their parliamentary democracy, that is generally what happens over there, in the UK. Not in America, of course, but we are less democratic that way.
     Over here in America, however, we vote directly for the president. In the UK, they are less democratic, in that they do not vote directly for the Prime Minister. If I am not mistaken, they vote for their local Party member-of-parliament, who in their republican form of democracy, then chooses their Prime Minister along Party lines, and with any potential coalitions. A lot of people make a lot of hey out of our winner-take-all system, in America, but we do actually have a direct democracy structure for our direct vote for our president.
     Of course, General George Washington deferred on being our King, and insisted on some other office at the time. Hence, our directly elected President. In England and Scotland, there is still a King, and/or Queen, at this time… Queen Elizabeth II. Thank God.
     I am invested, emotionally, to find out what happens next in the UK government. Will there or will there not be a new election for Parliament, will David Cameron resign, and will they or will they not form a new government, with a new Prime Minister, a new Party, or not?
     Also, what will Scotland do? I am Scottish, myself, but I am wholly in favor of remaining with England in the UK. I know Scotland also lost the referendum, in terms of the popular vote. The City of London lost, also. I hope Scotland remains with England, and does not so something silly like leave and try to re-align with the rest of Europe. In fact, I hope Scotland does not even vote again on the subject of their national alignment.
      What of Europe? Well, if England follows the example of the nation of Italy, then maybe David Cameron has a chance. There, for example, in Italy, Prime Ministers have been known to re-take office. Who knows what that could mean for Mr. Cameron? He does not own any media outlets, so far as I know, but maybe he can pull off a political comeback after this electoral loss. Goodbye Europe, hello England and Scotland and, of course, hello Italy!
     Hooray for Europe, hooray for Britain, hooray for the vote, so sad for the results. All that we can do on the remain side, all we can do is accept the outcome, and move on.

—Nicholas Patti

 

Open Letter to the Editor: Voting Rights in NC vis-a-vis NY

Charlotte, NC/New York—   I submitted the following letter to the editor to the New York Times, but it went unpublished. In the interest of balance, politically, let me weigh in on another issue in North Carolina politics, first. Although I wish to be counted against discrimination against LGBT people, I am against the bathroom law passed in the city of Charlotte, NC. On the photo-ID law in NC, however, I fall in on the mainstream, progressive side. My letter to the editor follows:

April 26, 2016

     With the ruling Monday by Judge Thomas D. Schroeder of Federal District Court in Winston-Salem, NC, the State of North Carolina fell backward from near the front of the line of the most advanced, progressive States on voting rights in the United States of America to near the end of the line, to one of the most reactionary in the country.

     New York State moved up from significantly behind North Carolina on voting rights, for example, to far ahead of it.
     North Carolina lost same-day voter registration and reduced the time for early voting, while New York has neither. On the more important policy of requiring a state photo-ID to vote, North Carolina fell far behind New York, which has no such provision. The federal judge upheld that plank of North Carolina’s 2013 law on Monday.
     New York State is not without its problems, however. 126,000 Democratic voters were purged from the rolls, reportedly, in the New York State primary election in Brooklyn last Tuesday, according to the New York City Comptroller’s Office, Scott Stringer, as cited in the New York Post (4/25/2016).
     Although North Carolina is no pariah with its softened photo-ID law, as compared and contrasted with New York State, with none, still the cause of voting rights in America would be best served by striking down the NC photo-ID provision. The NC law is next up for appeal in front of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, located in Richmond, Virginia, according to The New York Times (4/26/2016).
     Recently, North Carolina has been closely contested in U.S. Presidential elections, falling in line for President Barack Obama in 2008, and for the Republican, Mitt Romney, in 2012.
—Nicholas Patti

Poetry Open Mic & Launch of Charlotte Lit

A good poetry open mic happened on Wednesday, February 24th, at Waterbean Coffee in Huntersville, NC. Featured poets were Beth Ann Cagle and Anne Kaylor. One nice turn of phrase, from Ms. Kaylor's latest book, Unwilling to Laugh Alone, was "...waiting for life to grow." I enjoyed listening to the poems from both features. Also, I read two of my poems during the open mic section of the night.

Poet Anne Kaylor features at the open mic

In addition to this event, the launch of the Charlotte Center for Literary Arts, or Charlotte Lit, happened on Friday, February 19th, in The Light Factory gallery in Charlotte, NC. Poet Linda Pastan read her work as the feature of the night. She was the only poet to read, and I liked her work.

Good luck Charlotte Lit!

--Nick Patti
Charlotte, NC

Redraw the 12th Congressional District in NC, but Allow a Delay

            United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts did not say, “no.” He did not say, “yes.” Instead, he said, “maybe.”
            “Maybe” is what Roberts told North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory and top state Republican officials when they asked him to sideline a federal court ruling and at least grant a stay on the federal court panel’s order. In that order, the three-judge, federal court panel ruled unconstitutional the boundaries of North Carolina’s 12^th and 1^st Congressional Districts, and gave the State until Friday, Feb. 19, to draw new districts, according to reports in The Charlotte Observer (2/11/2016, 2/10/2016).
            Specifically, Chief Judge John Roberts offered no decision on the NC Republicans’ request for a stay and hearing. Instead, Roberts ruled that the plaintiffs in the Congressional re-districting case have until Tuesday, Feb. 16, to provide a response to the State’s request. That leaves only three days until the lower federal court’s original deadline for the State to redraw the districts, according to The Charlotte Observer (2/11/2016).
            Therefore, the Chief Justice did not rule, “yes.” He did not rule, “no.” He ruled “maybe,” with an unrealistic time crunch, to boot.
            Yesterday, Friday, Feb. 12^th, the NC legislature decided to move ahead with redrawing the two districts to remain in compliance with the original federal court panel’s decision, according to The Charlotte Observer (2/13/2016). That was a wise choice. All of us wait to hear, however, what Chief Justice John Roberts will rule on Tuesday or soon after on the State’s request and appeal.
            I think Justice John Roberts should grant a stay on the enforcement of the federal court panel’s ruling, but should not grant a hearing and appeal with the US Supreme Court. I hear the NC State officials’ complaint that the quick timing of the decision would throw this election into disarray, since it would force the State to move too quickly on the redrawing of the districts. Therefore, I think the Chief Justice should allow the decision to take effect immediately after the primary election: Roberts should give the State one month, until April 15^th, 2016, to redraw the districts. That would be substantially more time than the two weeks originally provided by the panel, more than the one week that the State legislature is taking and using, and would not fall in the middle of a primary election. The new districts should be in place, however, by April 15^th, I think, which would provide ample time for the general election to be held with the new district boundaries.
            The current Congresswoman for the 12^th District, Alma Adams, is running for re-election this year. She offered no opinion on the federal court decision at this time, but instead, she focused her attention on continuing to do her job as a Congresswoman and on running her re-election campaign.
            “We don’t know what the impacts of this decision will be yet, but for now I am concentrating on doing my job as the Congresswoman for the 12th District,” Alma Adams said in a statement, “and running a campaign on the basis of my strong record of doing what is right for North Carolina and my District.” Sam Spencer, campaign manager for Congresswoman Adams, provided the statement.
            Regardless of the outcome of all the current litigation, I support and endorse Congresswoman Alma Adams, a Democrat, for re-election to Congress in the 12^th District. I agree with her, and think she is good for the people of North Carolina, serving as our representative in Washington.

Congresswoman Alma Adams

            Which brings us back to the merits of the case before the Chief Justice. I think the reality is obvious, and should not need to be heard by the full Supreme Court. The current party breakdown of NC’s congressional delegation is 10 Republicans and three Democrats, according to Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer (2/10/2016). That represents a lopsided number. Part of that must be attributed to the current political climate in North Carolina, definitely trending conservative and Republican, but part of that partisan representation may be due to Congressional maps that favor exactly the breakdown and representation we currently have.
            Both the 12^th and the 1^st are represented by African-American Democrats, for example, and with the exception of one other seat held by a Democrat, all other seats are held by Republicans. That is precisely the kind of lop-sided representation that the current Congressional district maps in NC encourage.
            The numbers follow race, as well. The Democratic Party vote is weakened across districts, and the African-American vote is concentrated into these two districts, both represented by African-American officials. These results indicate the diluting of the African-American vote out of nearby districts, and into the 12^th and the 1^st.
            I think these two districts should be redrawn with sensible, obvious geography and politics as top concerns.

We should keep race in mind, however, I think, still, at this time. If it turns out that under the new maps, there are no African-Americans in the NC congressional delegation, then I think we might revisit the issue once again. Although I think we have made substantial progress in guaranteeing the right to vote to the African-American population, and in redressing their absence from political representation in Washington, still I think we are not all-the-way there on the voting rights front, as addressed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14^th Amendment to the US Constitution.

            For now, though, I think the numbers spell out an obvious case. We need to redraw these maps in a timely fashion with as little disruption to the current election as possible. I think there is no need for the full Supreme Court to explore all of these issues yet again, however, particularly for the 12^th District, which, according to Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer, has already been heard by our top court at least four times.
            Leave it alone, I would argue. Delay the federal court panel’s ruling to make it more palatable to enforce by the current NC government, and otherwise, leave it alone. Let the ruling stand without further appeal. The merits of the case are obvious. This federal court panel has the right time for North Carolina in this ruling, and its order should stand.

—Nicholas Patti

Charlotte, NC

POEM: Ash Wednesday, 2016

Ash Wednesday, 2016

Today

in church

the priest
reminded

us

in his homily

that

in order to

obtain

eternal life,

first,

we must

die.

Death,

he said,

is an inevitable

fact

of

our

lives.

He

anointed

our

foreheads

with

ash,

then

later,

gave

communion.

After

mass,

I

went out

with

my mother and

step-father

to eat

at

an Italian restaurant—

no

meat,

not

for me, not today.

Now,

I am sitting

alone

in my parents’

warm,

grey Honda Accord

in

late afternoon

on

this cold winter day,

sitting

inside

in

the early evening

sun,

with the engine

off,

sitting

and

listening

to

classical piano

by

Johann Sebastian Bach,

playing

over

the

SiriusXM

car

satellite radio,

Channel 76,

Symphony

Hall.

I was

going

into

a

café

for

coffee,

but

now,

I

cannot bring

myself

to

leave

this

music

in the

car—

so

beautiful.

Today

is

the first day

of

Lent,

the

priest

mentioned,

also,

a

season of

self-

sacrifice

and

asceticism,

as

we follow

Christ

with our lives,

and

as we lead up to

the

celebration

of

Easter.

 

—Nicholas Patti

Charlotte, NC

 

 

ARTICLE PUBLISHED:  "Former Starbucks Worker Wins Settlement, Receives Back Pay"

   I published a report in the current issue of the Industrial Worker (Fall, 2015), the quarterly magazine of the union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), about the back pay settlement awarded to a former Starbucks worker, a barista, in 2015, for his illegal firing in 2005 for labor organizing with the IWW Starbucks Workers Union (SWU), in New York. The payout amount was $50,745., before taxes. The article is on p. 11. Check it out!

   Follow this link for more information about viewing the Industrial Worker, or subscribing on-line:  IWW Starbucks Workers Union article

Photo accompanying article:

Starbucks marquee, Times Square, Manhattan. Photo: FW Nicholas Patti

   As a footnote to this notice of publication, as this blog is being posted in January, 2016, I would like to add the following comments: First, I express my condolences for the seven killed in the suicide bombing attack in Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday, January 14th, 2016, outside of a Starbucks there, and outside a police substation, luxury hotels, embassies, and offices, near the Sarinah shopping mall, according to the Daily News (New York, USA: 1/14/2016, p. 10) and WNYC, AM 820, National Public Radio (NPR), New York City, 7 am hour.

   Next, I express my condolences for a similar attack in Istanbul, Turkey, around the same time, in which, notably, citizens of Germany were killed. This news according to, also, WNYC, AM 820, National Public Radio (NPR), New York City, 7 am hour.

--FW Nicholas Patti