The News & Observer‘s coverage of Jim Black’s impending guilty plea to a felony reads like a eulogy to a great and beloved statesman. The N&O’s sadness at Black’s passing as a political leader is palpable. Rather than seek comment from people understandably outraged at Black’s glee for corruption for all those years, they go to Democratic Party operatives to get their tears on record:
“It’s unfortunate that this is the ending that comes to a man who has spent so much of his career serving the people of North Carolina,” N.C. Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Meek said Tuesday night.
Boo hoo. Such a great man. What an unfortunate ending. What a list of accomplishments:
During his tenure as speaker, Black presided over budgets that steadily boosted education funding and engineered a crucial vote to pass the state lottery.
Read Rob Christensen’s column for more eulogizing of Black’s great career. To Christensen, Black was “a quiet titan” who was a victim of “the system”:
Jim Black was an unlikely power broker, a mild-mannered optometrist more likely to pat your arm than twist it.
The downfall of the former House speaker might say as much about a political system veering out of control as it does about human frailties.
Oh, please. If you want to read a more dispassionate and accurate description of Black’s career and crimes, read Jeff Taylor’s post, The Black Stain.
