Black: Spoke Too Soon
Posted February 14th, 2007 at 8:54 AM by Jeff A. TaylorScratch that. The Jim Black era is not over. Not as long as he still has defenders.
Check out what Mecklenburg County commissioner Parks Helms has to say:
It’s a disappointment, I think, to all of us. I still express my support for Jim Black. When you’re involved in the kind of major league politics that take place in Raleigh, oftentimes the temptations are great and he’s meant a lot to Charlotte and Mecklenburg County during his tenure in the House.
I still express my support for Jim Black. Why? He’s a crook. How many other crooks do you support, Parks?
When you’re involved in the kind of major league politics that take place in Raleigh, oftentimes the temptations are great. Now that’s some classic, slick talk from Parks. Let’s unpack what he is really saying.
First, it is a Raleigh thing. That Raleigh just causes people to be corrupt. Not that corrupt people go to Raleigh to gain and hold political power. Oh, no.
Second, by implication, if Raleigh has “major league” politics, Mecklenburg must be the minors. There are no high-powered politics in Mecklenburg, oh no. Just simple, straight-forward folks like Parks Helms. You can trust ol’ Parks, no temptations in these parts. No overpaying for a church or selling out Spirit Square to developers or secretly buying a cable franchise. Just simple Parks Helms-style good government.
Third, Black has meant a lot to Parks Helms while Black was in office. Parks is Mecklenburg County, you see, so that makes sense.
But if Helms wasn’t bad enough, check out the drivel flowing from Democratic activist and fundraiser Pat Cotham, head of the Uptown Democratic Forum:
It’s a sad day for Mecklenburg. He has been a major contributor, but if he’s guilty of a crime he’s got to pay for it. I don’t think his motivation was avarice or self-aggrandizement. In his view he was doing what’s good for Mecklenburg. But what he did was wrong and he’s got to pay for it.
It’s a sad day for Mecklenburg. How’s that? Everyday Black was in office was sad day, this should be a flippin’ holiday. He has been a major contributor. To what, exactly? Besides other Democratic candidates? I don’t think his motivation was avarice or self-aggrandizement. In his view he was doing what’s good for Mecklenburg. Just stunning. Words fail me. Does Cotham really think everyone is stupid? Even Tommy Tomlinson figured out Jim Black served only Jim Black.
In sum, some powerful local Democrats seem to think that the only thing that Jim Black did wrong was get caught. That is downright scary. Jim Black may be gone, but the era of corrupt, crony politics evidently lives on in Mecklenburg.
Update: They are positively broken up about Black’s fall from power up in Raleigh. A “quiet titan,” you see.
February 14th, 2007 at 10:55 am
With Hugh Holliman’s statement, I suggest they might want to look at him next. Since he’s stated his knowledge that it’s been going on for years, I think he just confessed to being an accessory if not a co-conspirator.
February 14th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Yes, especially considering we don’t know exactly what Black is pleading guilty to — yet Holliman seems to know. Hmmmmmmmmm…………
As long as prosecutors keep talking to Michael Decker and, soon, Jim Black, there are going to be lots of sleepness night among officeholders……
February 14th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
For Parks Helms, Jim Black was a near-perfect Democrat, and very effective in promoting socialism!
February 15th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
[...] Only now, in February 2007, do the people of North Carolina find out this major change in health care regulation was made because someone was handing a sack of cash to Jim Black in a restaurant bathroom. This happened on multiple occasions between February 2002 and December 2005. Black did not just make a single slip-up in the high-pressure world of Raleigh politics, as Parks Helms laughably suggested. [...]
February 20th, 2007 at 9:21 am
[...] Just days after hearing Uptown Democratic Forum chair Pat Cotham apologize for Jim Black we find out her daughter, Tricia, would like to replace Jim Black. Tricia is currently an assistant principle at East Meck. In 2002 she was named CMS’ Most Oustanding First Year Teacher while at Northeast Middle. [...]