I may have voted for Bev Perdue a bit reluctantly in 2008, but man, I’m starting to like this governor more and more. Confronted by a legislature that was taken over by the far-right of the GOP, she has done what politicians used to do more frequently: she’s shown that she has principles and has stood by them. Yesterday, she slapped a veto on an incredibly intrusive abortion bill that is the religious right’s top priority. Officially known as the Women’s Right To Know Act, it should have more correctly been named the We Know What’s Best for Women Act. As Gov. Perdue correctly pointed out, the law would be “a dangerous intrusion into the confidential relationship that exists between women and their doctors. The bill contains provisions that are the most extreme in the nation in terms of interfering with that relationship.” It will only take one vote in both the Senate and House to override Perdue’s veto, so the battle’s not over yet. All Republicans in the General Assembly from Mecklenburg County voted for the bill, and all Democrats voted "no."

The abortion bill was the latest in a nationwide onslaught against women’s reproductive rights by state-level Republicans. The big difference for N.C., of course, is that our governor is a Democrat, a woman, and a supporter of women’s rights. Like some other states’ bills, the N.C. bill would set up regulations for women who want an abortion. It was sponsored by Charlotte’s own Ruth Samuelson who, as we wrote before, seems to think that women who have chosen to have an abortion don't have enough problems already. Either that or she thinks women who want an abortion haven’t thought their options through well enough, i.e., they’re stupid. The bill would mandate a 24-hour “waiting period,” and the woman and her doctor would have to jump through a series of very specific, government-mandated hoops, designed to change the woman’s mind (although bill supporters will never admit this obvious, simple truth about the bill’s intent). The most intrusive measure would make doctors perform an ultrasound on the woman and describe it to her (the cost of the ultrasound, of course, would be added to the woman’s bill); she then would be forced to sign a certification saying that she has seen the ultrasound and heard the doctor’s spiel.

If you had to pick anything that this session of the General Assembly has done to be the grandest example of the majority party’s hypocrisy and repugnant pandering to the religious right, it’s the egregious abortion bill Gov. Perdue vetoed yesterday. What I want to know is how in hell GOP legislators plan to keep a straight face the next time they describe themselves to voters as the party that “trusts people to make their own informed decisions without government intervention."

• The Amazing Rep. Ruth Samuelson of Charlotte: She knows better than you what to do with your own body!

Last night, City Council reprimanded the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, but still agreed to give it one-fourth of the $10 million needed for the upcoming fiscal year. Council went through a coded dance, in which they told CRVA that it is still on the Council's shit list ... but well, here, take this anyway. Earlier in the day, CRVA finally came up with an actual written report from a consultant (see CL's story on the subject, published this week), thus giving the appearance that they respect Council’s authority; that effectively blocked any move to cut off funding completely, since according to the code, CRVA had done what council requested in its last meeting.

Council members who are up in arms about CRVA management — specifically, the board's lackadaisical approach toward the increasingly well-documented ethical lapses of Tim Newman, the group’s CEO — let the organization have it last night. As expected, Councilman Warren Cooksey, the former head of CRVA’s predecessor organization, defended CRVA, saying Council was overstepping its bounds (Huh? By controlling city government’s purse strings? That’s their — your — job, Warren). Cooksey, indicating that he has apparently missed the whole point of the public’s ire over Newman’s oily glad-handing, declared, "Everyone who relies on that tax says the CRVA is doing a fantastic job." Sometimes, you gotta laugh at these guys’ sense of entitlement. Yeah, I bet they think that, Warren — especially when they can line up for all the freebies doled out by Tim the Walking House Party.

Cooksey also complained that Council hasn’t given CRVA “a clear indication” of what it’s looking for. Cooksey is being disingenuous here, since he and CRVA can ostensibly pick up the code as well as any outside observer. For the record, Warren, here’s precisely what Council and Foxx want: Tim Newman’s head on a plate. The real problem here, as I see it, is that they won’t just come out and say it. Sure, Council is in a bind because it can’t fire Newman; it only appoints the CRVA board. And it's true, too, that CRVA has the support of the Uptown money crowd. But still, it should be perfectly OK in a city this size for the mayor and Council members to come out and openly say that Newman has to go. The leftover mannerisms of Old Charlotte gentility, however, prevent it, which results in Foxx having to go around his ass to get to his elbow, winding up in the endless discussions we’re seeing now, where the parties go around and around, never saying precisely what they mean. CRVA is showing that it's willing to push back against the mayor and Council, so it’s going to be interesting to see what the board decides “within the week” about re-upping Newman’s contract. They’ve been floating the idea of letting Newman continue as CEO, but without a contract. Heaven knows how Foxx and Council would respond to that. If they have enough courage, though, they’re talking to CRVA  board members right now, demanding Newman’s resignation. But that is a big “if.”