(Permanent Musical Accompaniment To This Post)

Being our semi-regular weekly survey of what's goin' down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of governmentin' gets done, and where there's a blind horse that leads you around.

We begin in South Carolina, because the home office of American sedition has some wonderful folks who like to exercise a lot of individual liberties at the same time. From WBTV:

“For the months of October and November, Carolina ford will be giving away a Bible, an American Flag and a Smith & Wesson AR with every vehicle purchased!!!!” Carolina Fords posted. “So if you have been waiting for a great deal on a new or pre-owned vehicle then now is the time to jump on it.” The IndexJournal reports customers will get a $400 voucher for the purchase of a Smith & Wesson AR-15 from Locked-N-Loaded in Abbeville, as opposed to receiving the rifle on site.

First and Second Amendment freedoms all at once. And a new truck! Just as the Founders intended.

Pictured: two out of three. Spencer Platt Getty Images

We move on to California, where there's something of an uprising against Pacific Gas and Electric—the company, not the briefly popular blues-rock band from L.A. of the early 1970s—and the power outages the company says it's conducting as a safety precaution against wildfires. This was a confusing position considering that PG&E long has been accused of shorting safety precautions in the pursuit of profits as the danger from the climate crisis mounted.

In September, the company, which filed for bankruptcy in January, came to an $11 billion settlement with victims of the Camp Fire last year, which was sparked by the company's power lines. From USA Today:

Mark Tomey, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, a nonprofit group that advocates for PG&E customers, echoed that sentiment, placing the blame square at the utility’s feet. “PG&E is in a tough position, but it’s a position of their own making,” says Tomey. “The company knows what has to be done for a long-term solution, like tree trimming, insulating wires so they don’t spark, inspecting transmission towers, but they’re behind. So now they’re disconnecting millions of people because they can’t depend on their safety measures due to past negligence.”

PG&E has only finished about a third of the tree trimming work it had planned to tackle this year, due partly to a personnel shortage, according to a filing the company submitted to U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who is overseeing PG&E’s probation related to a 2010 gas explosion in San Bruno that killed 10 people. “This is a problem that has been years in the making,” says Tomey. “They’re a victim of their own failure.”

It's fairly plain at this point that the political systems of this country are woefully unprepared to confront the climate crisis. Capitalism should be, but clearly isn't. There will come a time when it's always Infrastructure Week.

Phil Berger wants to protect Second Amendment rights, he says. Gerry Broome/AP/Shutterstock

We move along now to the newly insane state of North Carolina, where the Raleigh News and Observer went long on the influence wielded by the NRA on that state's legislators.

Two months after Clark and Butler called for change, those who want stricter gun laws continue to blame the “gun lobby,” especially the National Rifle Association, for the lack of new laws. The NRA spends millions of dollars every year to influence Congress, primarily Republicans, and lobbies for loose gun laws. But what about at the state level? The News & Observer researched campaign finance reports to find out how much influence the NRA has in the legislature.

Measuring influence by dollars may not be the point. “Liberals continue to push this false narrative that money from gun lobbyist groups is one of the main driving forces for Republican candidates, but the reality is North Carolina is a state where many people feel very strongly about their right to bear arms, and vote for Republicans who will protect that right,” Senate leader Phil Berger said in a statement emailed to The News & Observer. Republican state lawmakers, unlike Democrats, do not necessarily see gun regulation as the best response to mass shootings. And they view the Second Amendment differently than Democrats, who generally support stricter gun laws.

“It’s that simple and it’s also understood by North Carolina’s voters that Democrats are intent on advancing policies that violate the rights of law-abiding gun owners. As elected officials, it’s our duty to protect the constitutionally provided rights of our citizens,” Berger said.

Spending may be less at the state level, but the influence being peddled legally is the same. The gun lobby, like all conservative special interest groups, saw early on the power of dominating state legislatures, as well as the fact that politicians come cheaper there. It is going to be hard for Democratic governors for a very long while.

The gun lobby, like all conservative special interest groups, saw early on the power of dominating state legislatures. DOMINICK REUTER Getty Images

We move now up to Wisconsin, where some people in the state legislature want to legalize a particularly nasty form of child abuse. From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

A bill has been introduced in the state Legislature that would require cursive writing to be taught in schools. It would mandate that students be able to write legibly in cursive by the end of fifth grade. If enacted, it's a law that would have varying effects on suburban Milwaukee school districts. Hamilton, Lake Country, Mukwonago and Wauwatosa are among the Milwaukee-area districts that already teach cursive as part of their required curriculum.

Cursive is torturous, brain-melting torment. The only C's I got in elementary school (And not counting the 'F' I got in second-grade Art. Don't ask.) were in math and what was then called "penmanship." My father was so outraged at the latter that he made me skip a Little League game and copy a chapter of Wuthering Heights out in Palmer Method longhand. That put me off cursive, and all the Brontes, for life.

Thiesfeldt said science suggests that different parts of the brain are stimulated by cursive writing, as opposed to printing. “And if you don’t learn that cursive writing, you have that part of the brain that isn’t being as stimulated, you might say exercised, as it should be,” he said. “And if that’s really true, that’s something that all students can benefit from.”

I'm all for brain stimulation, but there have to be better ways than this.

And we conclude, as is our custom, in the great state of Oklahoma, where Blog Official Mail Train Driver Friedman of the Plains brings us the tale of true love gone sideways. From Fox23 News:

The court on Wednesday suspended 34-year-old Shelley Lynn Levisay of Shawnee from practicing law. Levisay has until Oct. 21 to offer any reason to lift the suspension and until Nov. 19 to show why a final order of discipline shouldn't be imposed and offer evidence "to mitigate the severity of discipline." Levisay was given a two-year suspended sentence on Sept. 11 after pleading no contest to the felony charge in Cleveland County District Court. She was arrested in February 2018 for hiding her boyfriend, who was wanted on felony charges that included assault with a dangerous weapon and domestic abuse assault.

I honestly am beginning to wonder if they still teach law at law schools.

This is your democracy, America. Cherish it.

Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook Page here.

Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io