Commentary

abortion pills

Celia Rivenbark: The only thing that can save us is…big pharma?!

BY: - May 27, 2023

There’s an old joke that if men were the ones who got pregnant, they’d be able to get an abortion at a 7-Eleven. I’d go a step further and say they’d also demand a Big Gulp and free taquitos from the “hot” bar before they left. Such is the entitlement of those men who talk […]

sugar cane being ground in a 19th Century windmill

We aren’t supposed to imply that the Founders (slaveholders) weren’t always paragons of virtue

BY: - May 26, 2023

LONDON – In 2022, the Prince and Princess of Wales (you know them as William and Kate) toured the Commonwealth countries of the Caribbean, former slave colonies. They made a bit of a mess. At one event the royal couple were supposed to meet a bunch of children, but found themselves separated from the kids […]

An illustration of the Boston Massacre

From my cold dead hand: Gun groups perpetuate militia myth to keep whatever arms they dream of

BY: - May 25, 2023

About the Second Amendment: I have questions. I cannot wrap my lizard-sized brain around the notion that the reason for people to keep and own guns is to protect against tyranny. Spare me the historical discourses about the establishment of the Second Amendment, because I realize a bunch of a rag-tag colonists rose up against […]

a gavel, a stethoscope and a book labeled "abortion law"

After the act, SB 20: Reflections on North Carolina’s new abortion ban

BY: - May 23, 2023

After the sun set on May 16, 2023, the North Carolina General Assembly completed their override of the Governor’s veto of a bill that will now dramatically restrict reproductive rights in our state. Before all that happened, the Council and our allies co-authored a letter to every member of the General Assembly asking them to […]

Monopoly men: GOP legislative leaders continue to extend their power in all directions

BY: - May 23, 2023

Is there any aspect of life in modern North Carolina for which the Republican majority of the General Assembly doesn’t see itself as the font of all wisdom and rightful final arbiter? That’s not a facetious question. GOP pols and their pals on the religious right and in the business and gun lobbies love to […]

Duped.

BY: - May 22, 2023

the North Carolina Legislative Building

Senate budget would take education funding to destructive new depths

BY: - May 20, 2023

“Fund students, not systems” has become the rallying cry of the country’s most extreme school choice zealots. It’s a silly motto for many reasons. Notably, private schools and public schools are both “systems,” and systems are necessary to efficiently provide students with high quality education serving the public good. Despite the motto’s obvious ridiculousness, it […]