Opinion Roundup: Aug. 7, 2016 -- Radicalism of McCrory and Legislature, HB2, voting restrictions and more

For cause of N.C. woes, look beyond McCrory to legislature (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot) -- Gov. Pat McCrory has been taking a bit of a beating of late. That may be because he makes for an easy (and appropriate) target for criticism. He says and does things that feed the perception that his is not a steady hand on the wheel. The condemnation of McCrory is certainly justified. But he alone shouldn’t shoulder the blame for North Carolina’s descent into the political gutter. Without adoption of reckless, divisive policies by an extreme wing in the General Assembly, McCrory might be on the ascent in the national Republican Party rather than facing an uphill battle for a second term. He would not be defending an agenda so sharply partisan were these bills not cooked up and delivered by a legislature hell-bent on remaking the state as a conservative dreamland. Only rooting out extremist lawmakers will help return the state to the moderate and modest middle, where it belongs.

RAILEY: Judge's questions lay bare the lunacy of HB2 (Winston-Salem Journal column) – In the courtroom Monday, the air-conditioning system was cranking. It was cold enough to kill hogs. But the pointed questions that U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder was asking of attorneys for McCrory and the GOP legislature were enough to make the lawyers sweat — especially coming from Schroeder, who was appointed by President George W. Bush. Schroeder’s thoughtful questions, taken with the lawyers’ clumsy attempts at answers, stripped HB2 as bare as the proverbial nude emperor.

TIM WHITE: it's not about IDs; it's about Democrats (Fayetteville Observer) -- We could start over again, and we really should. What would work is telling the truth. And stopping the endless chain of lies.

Rigged election coming? GOP should prove it or pipe down (Charlotte Observer column) -- When the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals torpedoed North Carolina’s controversial voter ID law last month, House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger issued a remarkably bitter statement. They said Democrat-appointed judges were trying to “steal the election” for gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper and the hated Hillary Clinton.

Lawsuits underscore need for independent redistricting panel (Rocky Mount Telegram) -- Redistricting and lawsuits challenging the resulting new maps have gone together in North Carolina politics for what seems to be about as long as anyone can remember.

NICK TENNYSON: Project will better connect N.C. to Va. (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot column) -- The Carolina Connector would not be possible without the new data-driven funding formula implemented in 2013, which qualified the project for $100 million in state funding for track improvements and connecting infrastructure at the new facility. The Carolina Connector and future highway designations are prime examples of how the McCrory administration is successfully improving the future of travel and commerce in the Southeast.

UNC should face the NCAA music (Southern Pines Pilot) -- Suppose a child has been caught cheating in school, and his father is about to spank him. Should he be allowed to get off the hook by claiming that the whole matter is really more a part of his mother’s jurisdiction?

UNC tweaks NCAA (Greensboro News & Record) -- In the wake of an embarrassing and far-reaching academic scandal involving fraudulent “no-show classes” and contrived grades, UNC-Chapel Hill leaders are pinning their hopes on feats of legal athleticism.