In case you missed it this weekend, the Charlotte Observer’s Sunday editorial took House Speaker Thom Tillis to task for kicking peaceful protestors off the second floor of the Legislative Building last Thursday. The first paragraph says it all.

The special N.C. legislative session that convened Thursday didn’t feature another sneaky, post-midnight vote on controversial legislation, making a mockery of transparency in government and the public’s right to know. But House Speaker Thom Tillis still managed to shunt the public aside last week with another ill-advised move.

The New York Times editorial this morning explores the pernicious role the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is playing in state legislatures around the country. 

It’s based on a report from ProgressVA that found many bills in the Virginia General Assembly were lifted almost word for word from proposals from ALEC on issues like voter ID, anti-health care reform, gun rights, and for-profit virtual charter schools.

Sound familiar?

You might have missed it in all the talk about Governor Bev Perdue’s decision not to seek reelection, but the unhinging of House Speaker Thom Tills continued this weekend.

Tillis, who a few weeks ago compared the Charlotte Observer to roadkill because of its coverage of the unannounced midnight legislative session, this weekend sent out a Facebook message “resigning” himself to this:

The continued partisan and sometimes ruthless antics of the left aided by some in the mainstream press, will continue to threaten or stifle legitimate efforts to improve the situation in North Carolina for all involved

Mark Binker has the story on his Capital Beat blog, but Binker’s colleague Doug Clark, an editorial writer at the News & Record,  has the best take on the latest Tillis tirade. 

WSOC-TV in Charlotte talked with Tillis’ spokesman Jordan Shaw, who tried to explain what Tillis really meant and finally said “it’s just his personality.”

Francis De Luca at the Pope Civitas Secession Institute apparently thinks that Locke Foundation President John Hood and Republican U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers are “self-described liberals.”

Here’s what De Luca told the News & Observer about the effect on the marriage discrimination amendment of Gov. Perdue’s decision not to seek reelection.

A Democratic primary is “a mixed blessing for anti-marriage people,” De Luca said. “The only group that opposes it are self-described liberals that make up a very small part of the voting public.”

This story in the Gaston Gazette about Thursday’s town hall meeting held by U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry makes you wonder about a lot of things, like what was the question that McHenry refused to answer twice that forced the meeting to end?

Then there is this at the end of the story.

Brown said the meeting was held on “somewhat short notice.” Fortenberry said he found out about the meeting late Wednesday night. The Gazette did not receive notification of the meeting but was tipped off by a source. No other media was present.

The local paper didn’t receive a notice but was tipped off by a source? Is it really a town hall meeting if the media and the public don’t know about it?

Rob has already kicked things off  this morning about the absurd events at the General Assembly in the middle of the night and we will have plenty more to say today about the Republican shenanigans here on the Pulse and our main page www.ncpolicywatch.com

If you want to read three good summaries about the shameful display, check out Mark Binker’s account in the Greensboro News & Record, Laura Leslie’s report on WRAL.com, and John Frank’s story in the N&O and Charlotte Observer.

Two paragraphs in Frank’s piece tell a lot of the story, the first one and the last one.

Just after 1 a.m. today, in a secreted session critics called unconstitutional, Republican legislative leaders passed a bill aimed at weakening the state’s largest teachers union…

 

…As rumors brewed, Republicans refused to answer questions. Aides to Tillis held back and tried to block this reporter from asking questions at one point. Asked if the late-night escapades were as embarrassing as Democrats suggested, Tillis said no.

A secret session, the bullying of reporters and the arrogance of legislative leaders.  That’s a pretty good start on a summary of the evening.