Dan Forest: Rebuilding North Carolina
For my fellow thinking Americans and me, 2020 has been a year of clear distinctions between leaders. A clear distinction between those that control, diminish and destroy and those that respect, renew and rebuild. The politicians that have a history as builders and motivators are the men and women that will have my vote in the 2020 election, local and national, as applicable.
I reside in the State of North Carolina. Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest will have my vote in his 2020 run for the Governor’s seat. He is a builder, a visionary and a man of his word. In this life, I prefer individuals that have a clarity of vision. That clarity is in opposition to individuals who communicate a distinct lack of moral courage. Those who bend to and lend support to the howling herd hold no interest for me.
Dan Forest has a vision. It is a vision that will rebuild North Carolina.
Our current North Carolina Governor, Roy Cooper, seems to operate without any vision and exercises an adherence to liberal principles that are not to the benefit of North Carolina’s citizens. His response to the COVID-19 crisis is full of vast contradictions in his application of executive orders.
North Carolina has an interesting executive structure. It is called the North Carolina Council of State. Currently, the Council of State is a ten member collective of the executive offices in the Government of North Carolina. The membership currently includes the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, Attorney General, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Commissioner of Labor, Commissioner of Agriculture, and Commissioner of Insurance.
It is a structure of North Carolina Government that was originally established in 1776. However, in regards to Cooper’s various Executive COVID Orders, the executive orders have been drafted, voted on and enacted by only two members of the Council; Namely Governor Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein.
On June 25th, Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest sent a letter indicating his intention to file a lawsuit against Governor Cooper. This was a procedural lawsuit, not a lawsuit regarding the content of the orders. It was not a campaign move in consideration of Forest’s upcoming run for the Governor’s seat. It is his responsibility as a member of the Council of State.
On August 4th, the lawsuit was heard in Judge Jim Gale’s Court. Forest’s lawyers stated that the Governor should have gone through the Council of State voting process. Cooper’s lawyers stated that the Governor has broad executive powers through the Emergency Management Act. However, those powers are not for eternity. Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest was seeking more of an inclusion by the Council of State in the execution of COVID Executive Orders.
Judge Jim Gale stated that he did not want to offer “a horseback opinion” in this matter. A decision would be forthcoming. Because the Attorney General was involved in the drafting and execution of the COVID orders is the reason that the Lieutenant Governor was seeking a decision by an Independent Council.
Judge Gale ruled on August 11, 2020, that Governor Cooper has 100% authority to enact his various COVID Executive orders.
On August 11th, Lieutenant Governor responded immediately: “Today, the court ruled that Governor has 100% of the power during a declared emergency and can act unilaterally to deny freedoms to every North Carolinian.”
“If Governor Cooper has 100% of the power, then he has 100% of the responsibility. 100% of the responsibility for the disaster handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes. 100% of the responsibility for every business that has had to permanently close because of his shutdown order. 100% of the responsibility for every child that doesn’t get a great education this year. And 100% of the responsibility for the long lines of unemployed workers still waiting to receive funds.”
As a political observer, I find it refreshing when a politician responds frankly, succinctly and without obvious rancor about an issue. Governor Cooper does have 100% of the responsibility, as do many Democrat Governors, for the masked fear, active anarchy and economic chaos that rules this state among many Democrat run states. It is not President Donald Trump’s fault, Governor Cooper, it is merely yours.
I wish Judge Jim Gale would articulate the length of time that our Governor is allowed to enact tyranny and practice his executive overreach on the people of North Carolina.
On a related note, Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest has extended two invitations to debate Governor Cooper on the issues affecting the people of our state. Governor Cooper has yet to respond. A lack of a response can sometimes be mistaken for an overabundance of cowardice.
As we return to our direct consideration of the Candidate Dan Forest I must mention, that politics does run partly in the family.
His Mother, Sue Myrick, was the first woman Mayor of Charlotte, NC. She was elected to that position in 1987 and was re-elected in 1989. She was also the first Republican female from North Carolina elected to Congress. She was the Congressional Representative, for the Charlotte NC District, from 1995 to 2013. Sue Myrick was one of our best Mayors and one of our best Congressional Representatives. It was a pleasure to be one of her constituents.
As stated, Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest is a builder with a vision for North Carolina. His history speaks for itself. Dan Forest has served as the Lieutenant Governor since 2013. Prior to that, he received two degrees in Architecture from UNCC. After college, he was an astute business leader serving as the Office Manager and Senior Partner for the state’s largest architectural firm, Little Diversified Architectural Consulting. He has been designated as an Architect Emeritus. He and his wife, Alice, have four children ranging in ages from 5 to 27. For the past 22 years, Alice has home schooled the four children.
The home schooling of his four children proves that the Lieutenant Governor cares about school choice. In May 2018, through the vision of Dan Forest, North Carolina became the first State of the United States to connect all classrooms, K-12, with high speed broadband. That is to the benefit of all school age children and remarkable considering North Carolina is the second most rural state in the country.
Like President Trump, Dan Forest knows what it is like to build a structure from plan to completion. I prefer planners and builders to attorneys, like Roy Cooper, who end up as politicians. A lawyer as a politician is an old and tedious story best reserved for insomniac sedation. If the lawyer respects the law and becomes a Governor, Congressman, Senator or President, that’s fine. But if a lawyer becomes a politician and bends or diminishes the law, than that legal knowledge is to the detriment of us all.
Lieutenant Governor Forest supports law and order and has made strong statements and demonstrated a strong stance against child trafficking. North Carolina has been alleged to be a pipeline state in human trafficking. The liberal media in this state has not covered this real human trafficking pandemic.
Forest has learned the hard lessons that half of North Carolina’s COVID-19 death have occurred in our state’s nursing homes and has pledged to immediately address that issue as Governor. The most important data to discuss about this COVID-19 virus is the very low mortality rate for healthy people and that herd immunity is happening.
As a Citizen Journalist, I would ask that Dan Forest as Governor address the homeless population in North Carolina. The HUD numbers for 2019 indicate that we were at a “counted” homeless population of over 9,300 citizens. A good portion of those homeless are Military Veterans.
Ultimately, what I like about Dan Forest is his ability to address the issues at hand in a clear and honest manner. The broadband access installation in our public school system alone demonstrates the spirit and mind of an active architect.
The best of my heroes in American Culture, which occasionally includes figures in politics, live by a simple maximum: Believe, conceive and build. Dan Forest is one of those builders.
