State Sen. Dan Blue is far too smart not to know that his argument against making local ABC Boards abide by state ethics laws makes zero sense. Specifically:

Sen. Dan Blue, a Wake County Democrat, said the state ethics law provision would put local ABC boards on different footing from other local boards and commissions that are subject to local ethics policies.

“It doesn’t make sense to have mixed messages and mixed standards,” Blue said.

In fact, “mixed standards” make perfect sense. And an experienced Raleigh operative like Blue doubtless knows that.

ABC Boards are singularly powerful, each charged with handling thousands, if not millions of dollars, each year. There are a host of enforcement responsibilities undertaken by local ABC operations, operations which actually employ full-time staff responsible for tens of millions of dollars in inventory and fixed plant across the state. In short, no one in their right mind would mistake the Mecklenburg ABC Board for the Bicycle Advisory Committee. Yet Blue wants to pretend that we cannot possibly differentiate between the two for purposes of honest and effective government.

Crap.

Here’s a brief list of the Meck boards and committees Dan Blue evidently thinks would require exactly the same ethics rules as our booze-swillin’ and lobbyist partyin’ ABC Board:

  • Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee
  • Building Development Commission
  • Groundwater Advisory Committee
  • Juvenile Crime Prevention Council
  • Library Board of Trustees
  • Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee
  • Personnel Commission
  • Transit Services Advisory Committee
  • Waste Management Advisory Board

Even more disheartening is that state Sen. Dan Clodfelter cast the lone no vote against this sham of ABC “reform” — proof that the fix is in. We’ll get some window dressing such as soft caps on ABC exec compensation, but the proud tradition of the state’s ABC Boards functioning as primo political patronage plums for our kleptocrat class will continue unabated.