North Carolinians: What's happening to our state?

By 4 p.m., more than 1200 people had commented on the New York Times' website to its editorial, "The Decline of North Carolina." Most of commenters agreed with the Times' lament, a lament the Observer editorial board has shared. But some did not. Here is some of what North Carolinians and former North Carolinians had to say:

J. Maron, Raleigh, NC: "I'm a native Tar Heel. These days I feel as if I'm watching the death of someone I've loved intensely all my life. Such sadness."

S R Bray, Charlotte, NC: "As a resident of Charlotte, NC I can say that Pat McCrory was useless as a mayor when it came to the needs of the people....  Now he is destroying our education system and trampling on the rights of the disabled. And the whole while he sits in front of the TV cameras with an insipid grin. These are bad times in a state that is looking more foolish and bigoted every day."

Emily, Raleigh: "I'm embarrassed to live in NC right now. I'll be joining my fellow liberal North Carolinians on Monday to protest."

sandstone, NC: "Keep an eye on NC. It is an excellent model, in spite of criticism by welfare statists, of how to reverse runaway spending initiated by prior government officials that sought popularity for their generosity with NC citizen's money who then became addicted to receiving handouts. Cutting a spoiled child's allowance is never popular. The NC approach could, however, be a model for the federal government that is in the same predicament."

Gary B, Asheville: I moved to Asheville from Budapest, Hungary a few years ago because it seemed like a very progressive and forward looking place. The fact that a prominent republican labeled it a 'cesspool of sin' only strengthened that opinion. It is, indeed, a pool of progressive thinking in a cesspool of backward thinking. I have voiced my opinion, I have voted... now I have sold my business and I'm getting out of North Carolina. I will not live and work in a state that hates its citizens as NC does... 

Richard Genz, Asheville NC: "I was one of 120 arrested at the Legislative Building in Raleigh a couple of weeks ago, in a nonviolent Moral Monday protest led by Rev. Barber of the NAACP.In my city, Asheville, the GOP is in the process of seizing control of our city-owned water supply. They want to hand it over to a county board that's more developer-friendly. This high-handed move was rejected by 85.5 percent of Asheville voters in a referendum. Yet the seizure appears nearly inevitable under a state legal framework that neuters local governments. A similar assault is being launched on the City of Greenville NC. Add respect for local decision-making to the long list of Republican hypocrisies."

CA, Chapel Hill, NC : "I'm saddened by the stereotypes some are wielding to explain what's happening in NC, saying we asked for this. Current polling in NC shows that less than 20% of people in the state approve of what the legislature is doing....My state is part of the story of the demographic change that is going to force the GOP to change their spots or resign themselves to irrelevance. That's why the current Republican government is in such a hurry. They have convinced themselves that if they can just suppress the vote enough they can hang on for a few more years. I don't know if Moral Monday can make a difference, but I'm going to keep trying... "

Jim, North Carolina: "Sad to say, it is every bit as bad as you report. Moreover, In enlightened and sensible environmental protection, for which North Carolina in recent years prided itself and to which I devoted the last part of my career in North Carolina government, the current legislative and administrative policies are equally shortsighted, unwise and reactionary."

buchshot, North Carolina: Yikes! The other side has been in control just six months out of the last 150 years, and the NY Times is already announcing a decline of the Great State of North Carolina. Let's give them a chance.

sam ogilvie, wilkesboro: "A quick study of the history of North Carolina reveals that our most influential leaders, men like Archie Davis, John Medlin, Judge James B. McMillan, Harlan Boyles, Bill Friday, Terry Sanford, and James Hunt, Jr., have been social progressives who toiled for the common good, yet fiscally responsible, down-to-earth, yet strong intellectuals with vision, creative, yet unassuming and approachable. In effect, they embodied our state's motto, "To be, rather than to seem(to be). I am confident that such leaders will emerge again, and, hopefully, many of them will be females and minorities that these men worked tirelessly to clear the way for. We've come too far to go back now. Please don't count us out just yet."

Micoz, Charlotte: "Only a decade ago, North Carolina was among the most prosperous of states with a roaring economy and widespread opportunity. The deep plunge into liberalism led by its Democratic legislature and governors left it a wreck of wild spending, state debt, and government regulation. North Carolina is reversing its trend toward increased entitlements as the solution to hard economic times. It is attempting to stop wild, unaffordable spending and to reform the tax structure to encourage entrepreneurship and enterprise... Will it work? We'll see... North Carolina could become an amazing part of a Republican renaissance. We already know where the philosophy of liberal Democrats leads, don't we? To exactly the mess North Carolina is now in.

Jim Murphy, Rutherfordton, NC: "To watch my state slide so quickly into disarray pains me. Our legislators dismiss our complaints and do as they please. We are being sold off to corporate interests and no amount of outcry can stop it. The saddest part? The people hardest hit by the policies and decisions of the current crop of legislators will gladly vote for them again."

Frizbane Manley,Winchester, Virginia: "Grew Up In Hendersonville, NC. You can’t blame this on a few hundred legislators and their staffs. This travesty is the will of the citizens of the Old North State. Luther Hodges and Terry Sanford are turning over in their graves.How sad."

SJ, Arlington, VA: "As someone who grew up in North Carolina, I would argue that the state's Democratic Party, which has enjoyed the majority of governorships over the last several decades, grew complacent and ran a series of lackluster candidates, particularly the previous governor Bev Perdue. This is not to justify what the Republicans have done; their wholesale dismantling of the state government is going to be a long term disaster for the state. Yet their climb to power is less about some sort of massive ideological shift in the public and more backlash against a NC Democratic Party that has been weak in engaging the public on issues."

Ashleigh, Raleigh, NC: "I moved to Raleigh almost a year ago. At the time I didn't know much about the states politics but I knew it was beautiful and growing, and the metro areas seemed pretty progressive. Now, I'm embarrassed to say I made the decision to move here... If I hadn't found a great job here, I would be seriously considering moving again....