Monday, August 11, 2014

North Carolina's Progressive Underworld



The Democratic Party doesn’t run the “progressive” show in North Carolina.  Shadow organizations with tax exempt status do.  The Godfather of all-things liberal is the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.  They have set up and funded fronts like Blueprint North Carolina, which acts as its underboss.


Blueprint North Carolina was ensnared in political RICO violations.  Tax exempt organizations, by law, are not supposed to target politicians.  They were exposed none-the-less by the Charlotte Observer.  Go Figure.  CRC reported the following:


 Just a few weeks ago the Charlotte Observer broke the story of the leaked strategy memo that described the game plan that “progressive” groups should use to attack the Republican Governor and leaders in the Republican-majority House and Senate. The memo would not be so unusual, if it had been written by and for a political party.


But a political party didn’t write it. Instead, it was circulated by a nonprofit organization, Blueprint North Carolina, that acts as a coordinating group for the state’s Left. The strategy memo was presented to a group of left-wing nonprofits at a Blueprint North Carolina meeting, and to the best of our knowledge was developed and written by at least one of those nonprofits.


The strategy memo was notable for four reasons: (1) It clearly indicated that the Democratic Party was no longer in charge of “progressive” politics in North Carolina. (2) It showed coordination between left-wing advocacy groups and Democrats in the legislature. (3) It used overtly aggressive language to describe the tactics the Left would employ. (4) It took explicit aim at high-profile Republican targets.


Here are a few of the memo’s recommendations:

* “Crippling their leaders ([Gov.] McCrory, [House Speaker] Tillis, [Senate President Pro Tem] Berger etc.).”

* “Eviscerate the leadership and weaken their ability to govern.”

* “Pressure McCrory at every public event.”

* “Private investigators and investigative reporting, especially in the executive branch.…”

* “Organizers focus on year round voter registration….”


It’s surprising the media reported on it at all.  The transgressions by Blueprint North Carolina were so egregious they really didn’t have a choice.  But they left something out.  Something that compromises the unbiased integrity of North Carolina’s media:


“The WRAL-TV reporter left out the very deep connections WRAL has with Blueprint NC through its owner, Jim Goodmon, donations and former employees,” the article said.

In 2010 alone, the A.J. Fletcher Foundation gave $35,000 to Blueprint NC and $380,000 to the NC Justice Center, which initially housed Blueprint NC when it was formed. (The Foundation’s 990 IRS reports are not current so there may be other donations.) The Goodmon family, which owns WRAL, has four family members on the board of the Fletcher Foundation, including Barbara, the President, and Jim, the chairman of the board. The Executive Director was formerly the head of the North Carolina Center for Voter Education, one of the original members of Blueprint NC. In addition, Chris Fitzsimon, former WRAL-TV reporter, is head of the liberal NC Policy Watch, the original lead attack group in the Blueprint coalition. Fitzsimon is also provided free airtime on Goodmon-owned WRAL-FM, from which he launches daily attacks on political opponents.


De Luca added that the news department of supposedly neutral WRAL-TV is actually carrying out one of the major projects listed in the strategy memo. Under the heading “Relentless Earned Media Efforts,” the memo calls for “some kind of tracking site” that would keep track of McCrory ”Campaign Promises” and then “slam him when he contradicts his promise.” WRAL appears to be cooperating. The “News” section of the WRAL-TV website has created a “Pat McCrory Promise Tracker” page, complete with skull and crossbones flags


.I’m reminded of a scene in the Naked Gun:  Nothing to see here.  Move along.  Nothing to see here




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