The Raleigh News & Observer had an “Under the Dome” item
today about Jesse Helms and former UNC law school dean Gene Nichol
sitting in the same box at the N.C. Symphony on Friday evening. Here’s
how they characterized the two men:

Helms, of course, was one of the nation’s
leading conservatives, while Nichol, who was recently named president
of William and Mary, is regarded as a liberal.

To anyone who read Nichol’s op-ed pieces in the N&O over
the past few years, there is no doubt as to where he stands on the
political spectrum. But to the mainstream media there are no liberals,
only those regarded so by members of the vast right-wing
conspiracy.