No, GOP leaders, this isn’t business as usual

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

House Speaker Tim Moore presides over the November legislative session. (Photo: NCGA video stream)

In case you ever wondered, here’s a sure indicator that a politician has been caught doing something shady and underhanded.

When the only explanation they have for an action they’re taking is to mumble that it’s “business as usual” or something their political adversaries once did, you know they’re up to no good.

North Carolinians were reminded of this truth last week when Republican lawmakers used such an excuse to justify a massive and secretly crafted scheme to reorganize state government and seize power from offices held by Democrats, that they then rammed through the legislature as part of a hurricane relief bill in a matter of hours.

And while reporters did their best to digest the legislation as quickly as possible, many details – some of them unprecedented, hugely impactful and of questionable constitutionality — are only just now coming to be understood and reported.

The bottom line: The power grab is an example of politics at their absolute worst. And notwithstanding the absurd claims of GOP legislators and their apologists, the bill is anything but business as usual.

For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.