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 Where is the Outrage?
by Tom Campbell
August 1, 2007
Judge Donald Stephens correctly stated that former House Speaker Jim Black’s legacy is “an absolute defacing stain” on the North Carolina General Assembly. Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby masterfully built and presented his case, making it obvious that Jim Black broke the law, lied about it, and tried to cover his tracks with a lame story about the half million dollar attempt to influence him.
Here’s the part that is incomprehensible. Where is the outrage? Have we become so jaundiced that we believe all politicians and persons in power are crooked and untruthful? Is unethical and corrupt conduct just expected and accepted?
Where is the outrage from our legislators? Do they fail to understand how all of them have been sullied by Jim Black and others who have abused the public trust? Do they not know that their silence is screaming to the public that either they don’t believe anything wrong has been done or they don’t care about fixing the “defacing stain?” It would be reassuring to hear legislators, especially leadership, telling us that they are appalled and cleaning their own respective houses; that clean, open government is not just desirable, it is an imperative.
Where is the outrage over Don Beason’s actions? Why aren’t we outraged that a lobbyist made an unsecured, non-interest bearing, unwritten “loan” to a Speaker of the House while the legislature was in session? Forget whether the action was illegal. It was unethical and smacked of influence peddling, the same pay-to-play mentality in which Black already admitted to being a participant. Why aren’t professional lobbyists outraged to the point of adopting and enforcing more stringent ethical behavior within their ranks?
And where is the outrage from our news media? Shouldn’t the men and women who sit in the Capitol press room every day be incensed at what was going on under their very eyes? And why are Bob Hall, with Democracy North Carolina, and Joe Sinsheimer, neither of whom works for the news media, doing the investigative jobs of those who are paid to cover government? Why can’t political reporters cover government like reporters who cover the sporting world? There’s more outrage over Michael Vick’s dog-fight allegations than over the corruption in our state government. Instead, The News and Observer did a “puff” piece on lobbyist Beason, portraying him more like a choir boy than someone who dishonored his profession.
Where is the outrage over the money laundering chain Black identified? According to him, large corporations give money to the Democratic National Committee that, in turn, funnels these contributions to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. The DLCC then contributes to the North Carolina Democratic Party and the Party gives large in-kind contributions to candidates. These contributions avoid campaign laws forbidding corporations from contributing and limiting contributions to ,000 per election.
Are we going to continue business as usual or will something constructive come from this latest blow to good government in our state? We are ashamed, saddened, sick, and yes, outraged over what we know has happened. But we must also be emboldened, replacing our outrage with positive action. One place to begin is at the voting booth. |
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