When you want to do something surreptitiously, it’s probably best not to email your intentions for others to see and forward to the press.

It’s like hiding that “Peace Frog” tattoo you got on your lower back when you and your fraternity brothers got really drunk one night, but you still went to work without even putting a shirt on.

It’s like being a 32-year-old “kid” who dyed his hair, swam really fast, got a medal, got drunk, and pissed on the side of a wall and tore down a sign but claimed that he was being robbed – all the while the whole thing was on video.

It’s like trying to circumvent the law or a ruling by a higher court by sending an email with very explicit instructions on how to break the law by not really observing it and then sending that email out to people who believe that their oath to the law is stronger than partisan politics.

That first example is just a scenario, but I do know many people with unintended tattoos. There’s even a show about it – Bad Ink.

The second example concerns Ryan Lochte’s recent Olympic-sized blunder in which he actually displayed his arrogance and right of privilege in a world too much filled with double-standards. The court of public opinion will be a harsh judge on that on.

The third example actually happened this past week with Dallas Woodhouse, the executive director of the N.C. Republican Party.

Just check out this excerpt from the Raleigh News & Observer from a report given by Colin Campbell. ( A copy of the full email can be found here – http://www.wral.com/full-email-sent-by-dallas-woodhouse/15938449/.)

NCGOP executive director Dallas Woodhouse emailed the request to Republican county board members and other party members on Sunday. The News & Observer obtained copies of the emails through a public records request.

County elections boards are developing new early voting schedules in response to a federal court ruling that threw out the state’s voter ID law. In addition to revoking North Carolina’s photo ID requirement, the ruling requires counties to offer 17 days of early voting….

“Our Republican Board members should feel empowered to make legal changes to early voting plans, that are supported by Republicans,” Woodhouse wrote in his email to board members. “Republicans can and should make party line changes to early voting.”

Woodhouse made statements like,

“We believe same-day registration is ripe with voter fraud, or the opportunity to commit it. Same-day registration is only available during early voting. We are under no obligation to offer more opportunities for voter fraud.”

“Many of our folks are angry and are opposed to Sunday voting for a host of reasons including respect for voter’s religious preferences, protection of our families and allowing the fine election staff a day off, rather than forcing them to work days on end without time off. Six days of voting in one week is enough. Period.”

“No group of people are entitled to their own early voting site, including college students, who already have more voting options than most other citizens.”

Wow! I don’t know what is more egregious – the fact that he literally instructed boards of elections across the state to disobey the court’s orders or that he thought he was powerful enough to send thi in an email and totally not expect to be caught Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article96179857.html#storylink=cpy .

If you have not read the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals reasoning for the repealing of the Voter ID Law, then do it. You can find it here – http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article92593512.html.

They pretty much said that the Voter ID law was passed to specifically limit votes by minorities and poorer people. It was a sharp indictment against the GOP-led NC General Assembly and Gov. McCrory.

But Woodhouse did this? Whether or not a law was broken is up for the courts and people above my pay grade, but what it really shows me is one very, very strong motivating factor driving Mr. Woodhouse.

That is FEAR.

What separates the North Carolina of 2012 (and to a lesser degree, 2014) from the North Carolina of 2016 is a huge influx of new voters. NC is growing fast and many of these new North Carolinians are moving in because of the change in the economy – from rural manufacturing and agriculture to urban and suburban banking, finance, technology, and other 21st century “industries”. And these people are not necessarily die-hard republicans. Charlotte is much bigger. The Triad area (Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point) and the Triangle (Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh) areas are growing. Even Asheville is growing. They also have major public college campuses.

These new Old North Staters may see HB2, the Voter ID law, the Duke Energy coal ash spills, and other legislative initiatives as backwards and regressive. And they may want to do something about it.

Furthermore, there is a “YUGE” presidential election. There is no doubt that Donald Trump is a polarizing figure. So is Clinton. But I do not see democratic heavyweights not supporting their candidate. That is not the case for republicans. Many top members have openly said they would not vote for Trump. Now, if you are a Richard Burr, or Pat McCrory, or any state lawmaker who is running for reelection as a republican, you must make a choice, and an openly vocal one, to either support or not support Trump.

Deciding to support him has repercussions. Deciding not to support him has repercussions. Not making an open decision has repercussions. The only thing that some of these people could hope for is to not have more democratic leaning people vote. Repealing the Voter ID law allows such people to vote.

Hence, Woodhouse’s email.

It does make one scratch his head to think of how unintelligent sending an email like that could be. It will fall into someone’s inbox who views it as an attempt to bypass laws, and the press will obtain a copy of it – the very same press that many in the GOP rail against.

Furthermore, Woodhouse did all but guarantee that the board of elections in each county will be under a little more scrutiny, or at least have more hypervigilant eyes upon them. When they were instructed to “make things easier for the republicans” and that was made public, you simply placed a large media target on the process.

Hell, it may ensure that more people come to the polls.