Black and Wright UPDATE
Mark Binker says we should be on the look-out for a statement today from the NC Legislative Black Caucus about Thomas Wright. He speculates the Caucus is none too happy with how Mr. Wright is being treated in comparison to the contortions the House went through in deference to Jim Black. If that's true, they're absolutely right to be angry.
. . . but another caucus member who was in the meeting said the statement would basically call for "allowing the process to work." In other words, the caucus was unhappy that the Speaker so vocally called out one of its members, especially after Democrats showed a great deal of forbearance with former Speaker Jim Black.
Having spent an uncomfortable amount of time rubbing elbows with the good old boys who run our state, I haven't found many who are overtly racist. But get a bunch of them together in Raleigh with the steering wheel of governance in their hands, and they have a hell of a hard time staying between the lines of racial equity. In this case, the answer isn't for Joe Hackney to retract his call for Wright to resign. The answer is for the entire House leadership to apologize for dragging their damn feet on the many transgressions of Jim Black.
In any event, I guess you can say the "process" is working. It just isn't very pretty, or very fair.
Statement from the Black Caucus
Yesterday’s call for Representative Thomas Wright to resign was premature. The North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus urges the House Leadership and our other Colleagues to allow the appropriate processes to run their course, rather than rushing to judgment.
Failing to do so does not afford Representative Wright due process, and the same rights afforded others under the basic tenets of our constitution. Representative Wright deserves no less fairness and due process than others have been entitled to and received.
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For my part
I don't mind saying Thomas Wright should resign. And I didn't mind saying (again and again and again) that Jim Black should have resigned too. We're all still paying the price for Black's miserable failures of leadership and integrity.
No one should get a pass on corruption
Thomas Wright shouldn't, and Jim Black shouldn't have.
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The Den
It's your democracy; use it.
The difference is.....Jim Black was Speaker
and he wasn't going to speak out against himself and ask for his own resignation. Rep. Wright is not Speaker and the man who is - Mr. Hackney - has more integrity than Jim Black.....and that's an understatement.
If the House leadership is quick to judgment against Mr. Wright, I think it is more likely a reaction to the betrayal of the trust they placed in Jim Black than to Mr. Wright's skin color. Move beyond the House leadership and I guess it is a little harder to say what the motivation is.
Obviously, we don't know what the statement from the caucus will say yet. I will wait to read their statement to comment further.
There were lots of people who could have spoken out
on Jim Black, but they had other agendas. They were either afraid of repercussions or trying to get other things accomplished. Those vying to replace Black were especially prone to triangulating.
I may be imagining it, but it sure seems like black elected officials get nowhere near the benefit of the doubt or the patience that white guys get. It's similar to the old issue of "driving while black" that many of my black friends are all too familiar with.
My position is that NONE of them should get a pass.
I agree that none of them should get a pass.
I intentionally stressed the leadership part of the statement. Black was in control and I'm sure that a lot of Reps gave him the benefit of the doubt simply because of the power he wielded. If he turned out to be innocent and had remained speaker, those who had spoken out would have certainly been punished with crappy committee assignments, etc.
It was really easy for those with nothing to lose to speak out against Jim Black.
Wright does not wield that power and I imagine folks feel a little less fear at speaking out against him.
Two African American legislators - Robert Lee Holloman and Howard J. Hunter (both died last year) were called to task by the state board of elections for campaign finance irregularities back in Feb/March of last year. According to the SBOE, Holloman failed to report $23,000 in contributions and accepted corporate contributions and Hunter failed to file reports on $9,000 in contributions. Small potatoes compared to Decker, Black and Wright, but neither was pointed out, criticized or asked to resign by anyone (that I'm aware of...other than Republicans). I don't recall whether the SBOE referred either for prosecution, but their deaths stopped any further action. My fuzzy recollection is that these gentlemen were treated no better or worse than anyone else during this process. I'm sure it helped that Black and Decker were getting most of the attention.
On a federal level, there's William Jefferson. There's some pretty credible evidence out there that this man was lining his pockets and his freezer with somebody else's money and he was still re-elected last fall and took his seat - even if he was given some "lesser" committee assignments.
Now, I can't mention Jefferson without bringing up that his office was raided by the FBI for evidence and he is a Black Democrat and Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney and Tom DeLay never had their offices raided by the FBI and they are all white Republicans.
I'm not saying there isn't racism involved in some areas of these investigations/prosecutions....just that I really don't see it coming from Democratic leadership.
These are my only examples because it appears that all the other crooks lately have been white......and Republican.
You Make it So Obvious
when you put it like that.
I am the master of the obvious.......
I'd just like to come up with something really unique every now and then. Heh
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
ha!
I don't know what was better, Unique's comment that when you say it, it's obvious, or your response. LMAO.
One man with courage makes a majority.
- Andrew Jackson
Under the Dome
reports that both Easley and Perdue have added their voices. Perdues statement included praise of Hackney.
Draft Brad Miller-- NC Sen ActBlue
Now if they can be equally quick to address
the mental health parity issue with such conviction.
frankly
I dont WANT to hear Easley's view on mental health. Im not a huge fan of politicians saying things like "screw the mentally ill. I dont want them to be treated." And I am not a fan of politicians lying. He would either have to say that quote or lie. Either way, I dont want him talking about the subject.
Draft Brad Miller-- NC Sen ActBlue
He should resign, but...
It's one thing to backchannel pressure someone into doing what's right, and it's another to stand up in an open session and make the declaration. The days of assuming African Americans will automatically vote Democrat are no more...
I doubt that
Blacks who vote Democratic are Blacks who go to church. No church I know of would defend what he has done.
Draft Brad Miller-- NC Sen ActBlue
That's a pretty big assumption, Blue.
Careful.
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The Den
It's your democracy; use it.
that probably came out wrong
but overwhelmingly Blacks vote Democratic and Blacks also go to Church in huge numbers. So much so that even though amongst Whites the more you go to church the more conservative you are (on average) and the more likely you are to vote Republican, amongst Blacks the numbers are so reversed that there is almost no correlation for the population at large.
I just think that the wrongdoing that is going on with Wright, and the moral implications, will probably outweigh any perceived, but in my opinion non existent, racism.
Draft Brad Miller-- NC Sen ActBlue
Theoretically,
most people (regardless of race) would conclude from the sheer number of unreported donations and his refusal to explain himself that he had been acting indefensibly. But...think back on the opinion polls that were taken before, during and after the OJ trial, and how racially divided those opinions were.
Rational thinking doesn't always follow people into the voting booth. I'm not saying he deserves kid gloves, but banging on Wright may both alienate (some) black voters and focus more attention on "corrupt" Democrats, instead of highlighting the positive things going on.
There's a difference between banging on a man
and requesting that he resign his position.
If we alienate black voters because we point out something wrong a man did and that man happens to be black, then so be it. I'm not going to condone overlooking possible illegal or immoral actions simply because someone has a certain skin color, be it red, yellow, black, white, green, orange, purple or sparkle rainbow. I don't think that's what you're saying we should do, but you seem to be saying something close to that.
This site (me excluded) was rabid anti-Jim Black. Anglico has come out against Wright, but he hasn't been quite as...ahem...mouthy. :) The more stubborn Jim Black was, the angrier this crowd seemed to become. I imagine the same will happen with Wright.
I held back because I wanted to give Black the benefit of the doubt. I've held back so far with Wright for the same reason. I will tell you that the folks I know who didn't rush to judge Jim Black probably feel more betrayed than those who did proclaim his guilt prior to his admission. Betrayed and pissed.
Mouthy :)
Whatever Wright may have done pales in comparison to Jim Black's offenses. Less mouthiness is called for.
I did go back last night and review my history with Mr. Black. Early on, I wasn't mouthy at all. I was kind and gentle and simply asked that he step aside so as not to drag the party down with him. As you correctly note, the longer he dug in, the mouthier I (and lots of others) got.
If Wright were in and leadership positions (he has already stepped down from committee assignments), I would be beating the drum louder. Right or wrong, I hold leaders to a higher standard.
It' right....they should be held to the same high standard
I never said you were wrong to say what you said about Black when you said it....and you were more than fair - at all stages. The funny thing is, I'm probably more pissed off at Jim Black than you are b/c I chose to give him the benefit of the doubt and trusted him for way too long. Think how some members of the House must feel? I imagine there are more than a few who trusted his denials.
I don't know about Black's transgressions being a lot worse than Wright's. If Wright had the personal gain ($200,000) that is being reported, it sounds like he was in it for lots more money. Black was in it for more power. Eh...I'm disgusted either way.
Well, I gave Black the benefit of the doubt and I'll do the same for Wright. That doesn't mean I am not reading up on the facts. I have a friend feeding me all sorts of information. I just need to verify facts for myself before writing.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
I agree with Speaker Hackney
at this point, no matter what is allegation and what is fact, Wright can no longer be effective. It's got nothing to do with the benefit of the doubt, and it's got nothing to do with racism. It's got everything to do with transparency and effective leadership. Hackney obviously intends to run a tight ship in Raleigh. I give him high marks for that.
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The Den
It's your democracy; use it.
What's worse,
failing to report hundreds of donations that total a large amount, or doing the bidding (in the form of pushing legislation) of a few wealthy "patrons"?
Of course they're both wrong, and neither has a place in government. I would like to connect the dots to know just what some of that money bought from Wright, to see if he was merely continuing to "dip into the till" like he did when his business partner sued him, or if he was actually standing on the streetcorner shaking it.
But back to my original point: I know it's embarassing, and I know it pisses people off to no end, but there is a real danger of the Democratic party in this state developing a reputation of "institutional corruption", and the more this story plays in the news the more likely that will happen. Unless...more time is spent focusing on the patronage of Black in appointing Wright to committees, so it appears it's part of the same problem (that's being fixed).
I don't know.
I don't know which is worse
and I'm not sure you can put a "value" on either. I think that sooner this is off the radar screen, the better. We've got wingnuts trying to change our Constitution, for heaven's sake. They'd like nothing better than to be able to say that the Democrats are all liars and crooks, so don't listen to them. At this point, even the appearance of wrongdoing or conflict of interest puts Wright's fitness in question. It's sad, but it's true. In a court of law, you may be innocent until proven guilty, but in politics, it's a whole different ballgame, and there is more to think about than his hurt feelings.
edited to add:
Wow - that's really harsh, especially for me. I'm usually a touchy-feely kind of person.
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The Den
It's your democracy; use it.
The Difference Between -
Republicans and Democrats:
The Democrats expose their traitors and work to get rid of them.
The Republicans cover up for their traitors and express sorrow for 'what they're going through' when they are finally exposed.
Cruise the web - you can see it time after time, after time, after time - in quotes!
Since when did lying, cheating and stealing become a family value? I musta missed the memo. {and I'm glad I did}
Different Families, Different Values
I suppose it's all about framing, right? Isn't that Lakoff's thing? We're all about the nurturing parent, they're all about the dictatorial, authoritarian? Or something?
I don't get it.
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The Den
It's your democracy; use it.
Money is the new Family Value.
In today's economy, even the simple things cost more than they should. The important things, like providing a home, transportation, educating your children, etc., represent years of labor, swimming against the tides of taxation and inflation.
Freedom is a concept, and one that seems to be more elusive as time goes by.
Wow. How depressing is that? Sorry :)
It's Only Depressing if You Take it
Get Mad; Fight Back.
By any and all means necessary.