I’m sure my eyes weren’t the only ones that rolled when N&O editors complained that the divisiveness and rancor of a recent UNC Board of Governors (BOG) meeting threatened the “reputation and stability of the university.”
Please.
The over-the-top comments are a clear sign that recent actions by the BOG have clearly piqued editors. Banning the Center for Civil Rights from litigating, public disagreements with UNC Administration over communications regarding the possible removal of the “Silent Sam” confederate statue and recent proposals to lower UNC tuition and move UNC General Administration out of Chapel Hill have sent editors into orbit.
No, I don’t necessarily agree with all of these actions. But neither do I agree that they reflect what N&O editors call a board “hijacked by partisan politics.”
Such accusations are the common refrain of liberals and progressives who increasingly find themselves on the outside looking in and have a need to explain the status quo.
They also convey an important truth of such advocates: most any BOG action with which the left disagrees, it will smear as political.
Of course, liberals and progressives throughout the media, state government and the university are dumbstruck when others accuse them of politics, since they believe themselves to be above or outside politics and working for the good of the people. We should thank editors for continually reminding us that previous UNC boards didn’t engage in politics. It’s only since Republicans gained a majority that things have become so overtly political.
It’s hypocrisy of the highest order and an arrogance that blinds. But what else is new?
“Such accusations are the common refrain of liberals and progressives who increasingly find themselves on the outside looking in and have a need to explain the status quo.”
How long did we hear a common refrain from conservatives and anti-progressives when they were out of power. Pseudohistory is dear to Bob Luebke’s heart.
Scott-the difference is that local paper is the only news the area gets. The N&O never has tried to play it straight–it has been so thoroughly Democratic (when it was conservative//anti-civil rights and now “progressive”) since its founding. I’m shocked Wake County and the N&O haven’t been out there pushing for “Daniels” name to come down from Daniels Middle School.
This reminds me of the typical local school board/school administration debates. Think of your budget time, the administration asks for sky high funding and if the school board does not toe the line of the educrats then the media has a hysterical fit screaming “but it’s for the children”! Now that the BOG may not rubber stamp every wacky policy the educrats come up with and may actually have a mind of their own it is the same story. It would be nice if the media could do something other than scream the sky is falling every time a decision is made that may not follow their narrow world view.