Lawmakers, vetoes and an inflatable oil rig

Former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, with his eye toward the N.C. governor's mansion, teamed up with the conservative Americans for Prosperity to urge lawmakers in special session to override Gov. Bev Perdue's, in his words, "jobs-killing" vetoes. “Governor Perdue cast a series of highly political vetoes of bi-partisan legislation designed to create jobs in North Carolina. With hundreds of thousands of North Carolina citizens out of work, Perdue vetoed job creating bills like the energy jobs act, the regulatory reform act, and medical malpractice reform,” he said.

But on Wednesday, at a rally in Raleigh, "Drill, baby, drill" could have been the mantra as a big red inflatable oil derrick took center stage at the AFP rally.

A blogger on The Progressive Pulse, a blog of the liberal N.C. Policy Watch, said "This is even better than when the group sought to cast stones at those who urge policy changes to address global climate change with a self-labeled 'Hot Air Tour.' The only thing that could have made the picture more apt is if the ralliers had taken a moment to kneel before the 'derrick' (or if, maybe, likenesses of Art Pope and the Koch brothers [conservative donors] had gushed out the top of the 'rig'). Doesn’t it feel as if the North Carolina political world grows more and more reminiscent of an episode from The Simpsons on a daily basis?"