I moved to North Carolina 3 1/2 months ago. I came from Georgia where people are saying "Watch out for North Carolina, they're about to eat our lunch. They got these trains coming. People love it there. They're progressive."
But I gotta tell you, North Carolina, it didn't take much looking to find out you've got a speaker of the house in prison and a governor who's probably on his way there. More recently, your state bureau of investigation has apparently screwed up 230 cases, including three where people got the death penalty.
That's enough to condemn you alone. It's so bad, you actually get some points back for having a newspaper good enough to expose it in The News & Observer.
But you've got state troopers running wild and the governor backtracking on whether she helped the head guy get his job, which he has since resigned.
That seemed like a really big story, until it came out that SBI agents were just making things up to convict people, which seems worth mentioning twice.
There are questions about how some State Board of Elections contracts were awarded and the phrase "pay to play" just seems to be part of the lexicon here.
Oh, and this guy is head of the state NAACP. You keep arresting him at Wake County School Board meetings.
I don't even know what to think about this. The governor seems to have bent the truth here, too. And the state auditor says your employee reviews were clearly "inflated."
Even UNC football, it looks like they've been cheating.
I have to tell you, North Carolina, I'm ready to call Georgia and tell them to stop worrying.
9 comments:
第一次睇你blog,鐘意!............................................................
Nice round up of NC's current political miasma. Enjoyed scanning your blog.
Sorry to have to ding you for the Puppetshow reference in your WSJ story today, but a blogger's gotta do what a blogger's gotta do.
http://bluenc.com/new-reporter-travis-fain-follows-bread-crumbs-puppetshow
No worries.
My point with that paragraph was to say that if the JL Foundation can only find $130 million in easy cuts, that in itself shows how difficult it will be for more moderate folks to find $3 billion worth.
See I told you that you wouldn't have to linger long before finding some delicious scandals to rival those of GA. Welcome to North Cack-a-lacky!!!
chandler
Thanks. It will be difficult indeed.
As I noted, your use of that particular JLF comment was on target as far as it goes. My larger point is that the Show - Art Pope's agenda setting machine - has insinuated itself so deeply into North Carolina journalism that reporters just assume that their point of view represents something worth covering. That may not be the very definition of "manipulating the media" ... but it's pretty darn close ... and it's a practice that magnifies the impact of this unelected, unaccountable group of "experts" almost every day of every week.
I'm not sure you did make that point, and it's certainly not the opinion of your anonymous commenter.
But that's OK. I'm a big boy.
Here's what I said:
"Fain's excerpt from the Puppetshow may be an interesting factoid, but to my way of thinking, it simply underscores the astounding extent to which today's political reporting establishment has been manipulated by the Puppetmaster's Multimillion Dollar Opinion Manufacturing Machine."
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Don't mind usernamehere. S/he's and old school ranter ... kind of reminds me of my younger self.
:)
In any case, let me reiterate my welcome. I've spent time today reading much of your past work, and it's clear you have a lot to contribute.
PS Any chance you know an old friend of mine named Robert Friedman? He left Macon years ago to take over the editorial page at the St. Petersburg Times. I think he's since retired, or is getting ready to.
Don't know Mr. Friedman. Must have been before my time.
Don't worry Travis.
Georgia is on the case.
We may have slipped in your pre-season poll, but I have no fear that Georgia will rise to the occasion soon after the polls close in November.
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