Did you ever play a game with a child who wanted to change the rules after something didn’t go his way?  As a child matures, parents and others teach him fair play and we expect him to accept fairness, honesty and basic decency as guiding principles by about the age of 10.

The few who don’t learn those lessons generally become known as whiners, bullies or both.  They typically get their next lessons in places lacking adult supervision.  The bullies get put in their place by somebody who stands up to them and the whiners are ignored until they figure out how to socialize. Most eventually learn to succeed without getting their own way every time.

A few folks never learn the lesson, and as big people (I’m reluctant to characterize them as adults) they are still bullies or whiners.  Their behavior puts the leaders of North Carolina’s Legislature in these categories.  (Please excuse the all-male characterizations in this column.  I don’t know what else to do when all of the Republican leaders are boys.)

Phil Berger, Tim Moore and his predecessor Thom Tillis, as leaders of the House and Senate, changed the rules to enable Republican Governor Pat McCrory to politicize state employment.  Specifically, they passed a law allowing him to hire up to 1500 political appointees into various positions in state government.

When Roy Cooper defeated McCrory for Governor, the bullies decided to change the rules again.  The easiest way to do that was to revise state laws before the inauguration so that Cooper could not veto changes.  They arranged a sneak attack at the end of a special session for flood relief by announcing plans to adjourn and re-assemble on the same day for another special session.  It became obvious that they had been gathering signatures to authorize the session for some time.  They allowed about five hours for introduction of legislation.  In that brief time, carefully crafted legislation increasing the power of Republican leadership and drastically reducing the Governor’s authority was introduced.  The plan was conceived well in advance.

Republicans have the votes to pass these bills.  Given their history with HB-2, they may do it before this column is published.  They can do it without serious debate and without time for consideration by the public.  That’s how they passed HB-2, and North Carolina has paid a heavy price for it.

Here is some of what they want to do.

• Reduce the number of political appointments by the new governor from 1500 to 300. This would also make about 1200 McCrory political appointees into permanent state employees.
• Eliminate the Governor’s two appointment slots to the boards of state universities.
• Remove the state’s Chief Information Officer (responsible for information technology across all state offices) from appointment by the governor and have that position appointed and supervised by the Lieutenant Governor (a Republican).
• Re-organize and merge the State Boards of Elections and Ethics in ways that reduce the Governor’s appointments and guarantee Republican chairmanship during election years.
• Make the Superintendent of Public Instruction (Republican) independent of supervision by the Board of Education
• Require that all of the Governor’s cabinet appointments be confirmed by the Senate.

There is a lot more in these bills and there is no way that anyone can adequately understand their implications without time for consideration and debate.  Much like HB-2, there will be unforeseen consequences in addition to the apparent self-serving intent.

There are two ways to prevent this impending train wreck.  One is for enough Republican legislators to stand up to the bullies leading their party by refusing to pass the bills in a special session.  They can insist on adequate consideration by the public and the legislature.  If they fail, Governor McCrory could grow a spine and veto the bills.  Taking such firm action might even create the possibility of resurrecting a political future for him.

Are there enough Republican legislators who value fairness, honesty and decency and who have the courage to stand up to bullies?  Is Governor McCrory, who no longer needs the support of the bullies, willing to stand up and be counted?  If these bills pass, is there any form of cheating that should be off limits to whoever has power?

I’ll close with a quote from one legislator.  “This is why people hate us.”  He’s right.

For those who are interested, here are links to the as-filed versions of some of the bills submitted for the special session as posted on the website of the North Carolina General Assembly

SB 4 :   http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2015E4/Bills/Senate/PDF/S4v0.pdf  Ethics, elections and court reform bill creates Republican advantage and control of elections Board

HB 17:  http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2015E4/Bills/House/PDF/H17v0.pdf changes public instruction, UNC and department head appointments and authority of Superintendent of Public Instruction

HB 6:  http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2015E4&BillID=H6 creates independent CIO nominated by Lt Gov

Link to all 21 house bills submitted for the special session:  http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/lastaction/todaysaction.pl?Biennium=2015E4&ActionChamber=H&DateReport=12%2F14%2F2016

Link to all 7 senate bills for special session:  http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/lastaction/todaysaction.pl?Biennium=2015E4&ActionChamber=H&DateReport=12%2F14%2F2016