RALEIGH — I just returned from a couple of days on the road in Southeastern North Carolina, where I talked up Carolina Journal, “Carolina Journal Radio”, and our upcoming series of regional meetings on school choice and also spent some valuable time swapping political scuttlebutt with a number of print and broadcast journalists in the area. I’ll have more to say on this tomorrow, but in the meantime I have to express the reaction I had to an Associated Press article I ran across as I was catching up on the news.
The piece reported on Wednesday’s special session of the North Carolina General Assembly. Didn’t realize the legislature had come to Raleigh? Well, neither did most everyone else. Only a skeleton crew showed up, for one thing. And there was only one item on the agenda: referring a bill loosening some mortgage-loan regulations back to committee after Gov. Mike Easley vetoed it earlier this month.
There was no drama. Few lawmakers were willing to override Easley’s veto, even though the legislation passed fairly easily. Most seem willing to wait until the next regular session to take up the issue up again.
None of which has anything to do with my point. What I was happy about what not what lawmakers decided to do — or not do — in this case, since almost any governmental action that reduces governmental control over private contracts between individuals is praiseworthy in my book.
No, what I liked to see was the opening sentence of the AP dispatch, what the ink-stained wretches called the “lede.” (It’s an odd spelling, by the way, as most people hear the word and assume that it refers to the way the story “leads” off.) Here’s how the special-session story started:
“As expected, state lawmakers took no action. . .”
This is positively dreamy. In a perfect world, virtually every day’s coverage of the state legislature — or Congress, for that matter — would begin with the words “As expected, lawmakers took no action.”
Both parts of the sentence herald good news. In most cases, the republic is better off and its citizens sleep better when politicans take no action. The not-so-old-but-wiser adage, “Don’t just do something, stand there!” comes to mind. Plus, wouldn’t it be great if legislatures were “expected” not to monkey around with our laws, our liberties, and our livelihoods most of the time?
The AP lede got me to thinking about other story-starters I’d like to see in the North Carolina media. They would signify right off the bat that good news is about to follow. Try these on for size:
“As expected, liberal activists at the University of North Carolina staged another protest against the overwhelmingly conservative faculty’s decision . . .”
“As expected, voters exercised their newly granted constitutional authority to approve state tax increases by referendum in saying no to . . .”
“As expected, principals at several local public schools have made a number of significant changes in personnel and curriculum to stem the flow of students to competing schools under the district’s parental-choice plan . . .”
“As expected, dozens of members of the North Carolina General Assembly are choosing not to file for reelection after a bipartisan redistricting commission completed its new maps and failed to take incumbency or residency into account . . .”
“As expected, dozens of NC House members are considering challenging previously safe members of their own party in NC Senate primaries as a new term-limits law comes into effect . . .”
“As expected, mayors and city councils are backing away from plans to impose new growth control ordinances after seeing skyrocketing housing costs and plummeting economic prospects in communities already applying such regulations. . .”
“As expected, the governor’s decision to use his constitutional authority to submit a government-reorganization plan to the General Assembly for an up-or-down vote has taken lawmakers by surprise and put them on the defensive . . .”
“As expected, the underwhelming performance of the first light-rail line has prompted local officials to back off the next, more expensive stage of the project in favor of speeding up some road improvements . . .”
“As expected, liberal activists at the University of North Carolina staged another protest against the overwhelmingly conservative faculty’s decision . . .”
Sorry, I just liked that one so much I wanted to see it, again.
Hood is president of the John Locke Foundation and publisher of Carolina Journal.