How a ragtag bunch of volunteers beat a sitting governor
F. Paul Valone, “The Anti-Radical”
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I’ve had the dubious “privilege” of knowing North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper for more than 25 years. I knew him when, as chair of the NC Senate Judiciary Committee, he killed our efforts to strengthen our concealed handgun permit law.
I knew Roy Cooper as NC Attorney General, when he callously added people deemed not to be a danger to self or others to the list of “mental defectives” – prohibited persons in the National Instant Background Check System. |
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For the hearing on the bill, I sat in the front row of the committee room as he marched his entourage into the meeting, shaking hands and slapping backs.
When he got to me, despite our not having crossed paths in 10 years, his smile disappeared: “Oh. Hello, Paul.” His voice dripped with contempt. As I locked eyes with him, my reply was a hearty, “Hey, Roy.”
And finally, I knew him as governor, when he vetoed our church carry bills twice and our repeal of the Jim Crow-era pistol purchase permit relic once.
And now, I’ve had the pleasure of tangling with Cooper one more time – the time when we delivered on our promise to bring defeat to his doorstep by overriding his veto of Senate Bill 41.