disturbed by it: not only the process--tack all the abortion restrictions late the previous night onto a bill that
started out as anti-Sharia law--but the utter contempt and disregard for women. The pro-choice organizations
in the state hustled out social media postings to generate a crowd of hundreds of people--not just women--to
protest the next morning at the third reading of the bill.

In NC, the gallery is required to remain silent. It was FULL. The presiding officer of the senate warned
people in the gallery numerous times to observe the protocol--and dem senators who spoke also asked
for people's cooperation--but this graphic I think is most telling:



Thanks to gerrymandering in this state by the Repubs after the 2010 election, even though MORE people voted for
Dem rather than Repub House Reps in 2012, districts had been drawn in such a way that Repub reps could be elected over Dems by about 2 to 1.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/11/republicans-gerrymandering-house-representatives-election-chart

The same forces came into play in the elections at the state level. The manipulation, the lies, the contempt, the deceit is truly stunning. The Repubs are gonna' do what they are gonna' do. They don't give a rat's a$$ about what we think. They have taken
control and they are determined to shove whatever they want down our throats.

I am beginning to believe that civil disobedience alone will be insufficient to change the direction of things, and I'm even less
convinced that attempts to change things via the ballot box will succeed.
It makes me very sad, and very afraid, of just what might be coming down the road.