What happens when public figures don't tell the truth
It wasn’t surprising that James Oblinger had to resign as Chancellor at NC State University. He was a very fine man and had done a great job as Chancellor. But he forgot, as do so many, the first commandment of public figures: How will this look on the front page of the newspaper or the 6 o’clock news?
The second commandment is to fess up and tell the truth when asked questions you’d rather not answer. Too many believe they are smart enough or clever enough to prevent the truth from coming out. It always does. The third mandate is a corollary that says when you’ve dug yourself in a hole, stop digging.
We now know that Governor Easley, Chancellor Oblinger and Provost Larry Nielson all lied. It didn’t come as a surprise to many. After all, Mary Easley was the wife of a sitting Governor. And, at some level, the Governor had some control over the NC State budgets and their jobs. What would have happened if Oblinger and Nielson had come clean when the questions first started? We will never know, but we know now that the former First Lady’s hiring at NC State was politically orchestrated and the lame attempts made to convince us otherwise only piqued the interest of reporters to dig deeper when the Mike Easley scandals started surfacing for real.
The public owes a debt to News and Observer investigative reporter Andy Curliss and others who have bird-dogged this scandal. But while we praise them for sound reporting we have to ask why it took so long to begin the digging. After all, that is the role of the fifth estate isn’t it? Don Carrington with The Carolina Journal first started asking questions about some of the Easley transactions two years ago. The answers he got about the Easley Southport home remodeling, cronyism, sale of the Southport Marina, Canonsgate and other circumstances led a reasonable person to suspect cover-ups and half-truths. Carrington shared all this information with several mainstream media reporters at the time but nothing resulted from his information until federal investigators started nosing around the stories.
This is a sad chapter in
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Tags: state government Mike Easley Mary Easley North Carolina Jim Oblinger Larry Nielson NC State Governor
I have been reading the stories in Carolina Journal for many months on Easley's escapades in Southport. He and his wife are the epitome of arrogance. They have acted like royalty while in the Governor's Mansion, and the voters of this state have no one to blame but themselves. And I have little faith that come 2012 Beverly Perdue will be tossed out of office along with the Democrats in the legislature that have run this state into the ground. Why? Because the voters in North Carolina are sheep, and they allow themselves to be led about by the nose. This Easley scandal isn't over yet, it just keeps getting more and more rotten. I sincerely hope the Easleys are completely ruined by this, because they deserve it!!!
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Dear Tom- Our leaders seem to have forgotten the very first rule of public relations: "Don't get into a squabble with someone who buys ink by the barrel." I'm appauled at the ethical lapses and arrogance. I am one Democrat who is glad all of this is finally coming to light. Thanks for the blog. NEW TOPIC: When are you planning to write about the financial bankrupcy of Chowan County? I was there recently and many citizens in Edenton feel this story is being ignored by the media. How can something like this happen anymore? Regards- MJ
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At one time, I was a strong supporter of Mike Easley; mainly because I am a big proponent of the lottery and was extremely excited when it passed. I remember when Easley lobbied for the lottery in his re-election campaign in 2004. But now, things are not looking so rosy for the Easley's. I was somewhat disturbed when I heard about Mary Easley massive salary increase at NC State (amidst all these layoffs and cutbacks). And Mike Easley is far from being out of the woods. He may even end up serving some jail time. All of these high level political figures who think they are above the law; it's really out of control. Meg Scott Phipps, Jim Black, Thomas Wright and now Mike & Mary Easley. If they did the crime, they need to do the time. I'm just happy we finally got the lottery!
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When you lie to the American Public be prepared to pay the price! If they had just fessed up and been honest the situations may have been different. Not it ALL cases, but the truth goes a long way in a public office...probably because honesty doesn't happen so often.
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