You have got to kidding. Otherwise the local Knight Ridder outlet has stepped through the looking glass and into blunderland.
The lead editorial on Jim Black’s performance before the state elections board still refuses to call for Black’s resignation. Even criticism is muted. Black’s blank check scheme is “nifty,” “slick,” and “mocks” the law. Oh, how rough. And Jim Black, the man, the politician, the powerful Speaker? Nada. Zippy. Zilch.
Here is the unfiltered truth: Jim Black’s brand of crony politics has been a disaster for Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Instead of attending to legitimate local needs Black has spent his time in Raleigh accumulating political power for political power’s sake. Finished Beltway? Nope, Teapot Museum. Money for courts? Nope, $30,000 for Jim Black’s lawyers to answer investigators’ questions. And on and on it goes.
It is well past time for Jim Black to go. Flee. Abscond. Vamoose. It is no longer even a close call. The very integrity and legitimacy of state and local government is at stake.
Update: Elsewhere you see Charles Winfree, a member of the state Board of Elections, compare the blank check scheme to something the Mafia or a drug cartel would do. Not in Charlotte.
