Sometimes I really, really wonder in exactly what world the editorialists at my hometown paper live.
In today’s lead editorial, the Greensboro News & Record wonders –with a straight face— why Gov. Pat McCrory didn’t call Attorney General Roy Cooper to consult over HB 2—the “bathroom bill”:
In better circumstances — if the governor and attorney general weren’t political foes — the trouble might have been avoided. McCrory would have called Cooper, “the state’s attorney,” and asked his opinion of the legislation — especially if he wanted Cooper to defend it.
He didn’t call. Cooper said he didn’t see HB 2 until late morning on March 23, after it had been introduced. In less than 12 hours, it was passed and signed into law by the governor.
Cooper didn’t call McCrory, either, to register objections. Cooper said he thought the best way to do that was to issue a “strong public statement.” It might have been better to try to talk sense to the governor privately.
Ultimately, though, the blame is McCrory’s. He should have left his pen on his desk and invited more input on HB 2. Instead, he signed and generated a hurricane-force blowback. And he expects the attorney general to defend the ill-considered measure? It’s not going to happen.
It’s crazy to think the governor would consult with his political opponent on controversial legislation, considering it’s not the first time Cooper has shirked his duty— remember he refused to defend the state’s Marriage Protection Amendment, and he also publicly voiced opposition to Senate Bill 2, which allowed magistrates and registers of deeds the right to recuse themselves from participating in civil unions due to their religious beliefs. Needless to say an attorney general publicly denouncing a law he is sworn to defend creates a conflict of interest.
If Cooper has such strong feelings over controversial LGBT rights, he should resign his office and focus exclusively on running for governor. And he definitely shouldn’t expect his opponent to call seeking advice, as the N&R believes.
