Blind fury

Dear Fellow Democrat:

Just like you, I am furious. And we should be. Someone we know has betrayed us and betrayed the public trust.

For almost a year, Jim Black has personally assured me and our
fellow legislators that he’s done nothing wrong. When the Speaker of
the House looks you in the eye and tells you something, it’s hard not
to believe him.

In the past week, Jim Black pled guilty to acts that go beyond
anything that any of us anticipated. As a citizen, I’m furious that
he’s betrayed the public trust. But I’m even more furious that he
betrayed my trust and the trust of so many Democrats who knew him.

It is, therefore, with great sadness that I write you today. As bad
as the earlier press reports about Jim Black were, his recent admission
that he took personal bribes to influence legislation shocked us all.
That’s not why I’m in public service and that’s not what democracy is
all about.

Our Party believes in the power of government to do good things —
by creating opportunity, protecting freedom, and expanding the horizon
of human achievement. Whenever an official undermines the public’s
trust in government, he makes our Party’s mission all the more
difficult. And Jim Black has done lasting damage to the public’s
perception of government.

I cannot and will not apologize for what Jim Black has done. But I
will tell you that the Democratic Party remains the people’s party. As
Democrats, we will work hard to restore full confidence in state
government. Last year’s ethics reform law was a good start. But there
is more that we must do.

With the leadership of Speaker Hackney, Senator Basnight, and
Governor Easley, we will put this dark time behind us. Now is the time
to focus our energies on moving North Carolina forward.

I believe in the power of average citizens to make a difference in
our State and nation. I believe in our ability to create a city on a
hill, leaving a legacy of prosperity and security for future
generations.

In the past difficult week, I’ve taken great solace in the fact that
thousands of Democratic elected officials and local Democratic Party
leaders work every day to make North Carolina flourish. One man’s
betrayal of trust will not dissuade any of us from continuing this work.

With best wishes,

Jerry Meek,
Chair

Let’s just say belated, meaningless and pretty pathetic. What did
Joe Sinsheimer see and sense about Black that the rest of the state
Democrats — at least those with any notoriety — were blind to? In
fact, Sinsheimer was pretty unknown until he made his name over the
Black scandals. Of course, the obvious difference between Sinsheimer
and the power Dems is that he didn’t have a role in either supporting
Black or benefiting from him, whereas just about all the rest of them did.

Really, it didn’t take Sinsheimer a whole lot to figure things out.
He just looked at campaign reports, read the media stories, and checked
the legislation trails. Then he produced it in a nice package (his
former Web site) for all to see. The evidence led him to his
conclusions, rather than the bold-faced lying claims of the former
Speaker. If a crook saying “I didn’t do nothin'” when he really did,
just to mitigate the damage to himself, is something new to Democrats,
then the party is in way worse shape than I ever thought.

And if Mr. Meek is putting his faith in the leadership of the likes of Sen. Basnight and Gov. Easley, then his problems are only beginning.