Play to win, Tar Heels

I’m a Wolfpack fan, but I’m pulling for Carolina to win this game. I just hope the Heels know what game they’re in. It’s hardball politics.

Since the 2010 election, my UNC friends have griped and grumbled about how the Republican legislature treats their beloved school. Now there’s a crisis. Boss Berger & Co. are running the place. They’ve loaded up the Board of Governors with right-wingers and lobbyists who take orders from the legislature. Just look at Bill Roper’s “transition committee.”

Margaret Spellings is leaving. Carol Folt is out. She’s going out in a blaze of glory, getting standing ovations in the Smith Center for banishing Silent Sam to the dustbin of history where it so richly deserves to be. Still, they’re both out. (Like Trump, the boys on the BOG seem to have trouble dealing with strong women.)

The UNC-haters are winning. They’re close to realizing Jesse Helms’s dream of building a fence around Chapel Hill, dousing the lamp of liberalism and making all those lefty academics toe the line drawn by the forces of wealth, privilege and reaction.

Since 2010, concerned UNC alums have tried to be polite and accommodating. They tried to work with the barbarians. They tried to schmooze with them and win their favor with game tickets.

Some of them thought Speaker Tim Moore would come to their rescue. But, with both the FBI and Dan Kane of the N&O on his trail, Moore has his hands full rescuing himself.

So here’s a suggestion for my friends in Carolina blue. Go to war. Fight to win. You and your fellow alums have the money it will take to win this game where it counts – in the 2020 elections. Start raising money now. Organize a Super PAC. Help Governor Cooper flip the majority in both the House and Senate. Elect a legislature and reelect a Governor who will build up the University, not tear it down.

Ask yourselves: What would Dean Smith do?

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Gary Pearce

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Play to win, Tar Heels

I’m a Wolfpack fan, but I’m pulling for Carolina to win this game. I just hope the Heels know what game they’re in. It’s hardball politics.

Since the 2010 election, my UNC friends have griped and grumbled about how the Republican legislature treats their beloved school. Now there’s a crisis. Boss Berger & Co. are running the place. They’ve loaded up the Board of Governors with right-wingers and lobbyists who take orders from the legislature. Just look at Bill Roper’s “transition committee.”

Margaret Spellings is leaving. Carol Folt is out. She’s going out in a blaze of glory, getting standing ovations in the Smith Center for banishing Silent Sam to the dustbin of history where it so richly deserves to be. Still, they’re both out. (Like Trump, the boys on the BOG seem to have trouble dealing with strong women.)

The UNC-haters are winning. They’re close to realizing Jesse Helms’s dream of building a fence around Chapel Hill, dousing the lamp of liberalism and making all those lefty academics toe the line drawn by the forces of wealth, privilege and reaction.

Since 2010, concerned UNC alums have tried to be polite and accommodating. They tried to work with the barbarians. They tried to schmooze with them and win their favor with game tickets.

Some of them thought Speaker Tim Moore would come to their rescue. But, with both the FBI and Dan Kane of the N&O on his trail, Moore has his hands full rescuing himself.

So here’s a suggestion for my friends in Carolina blue. Go to war. Fight to win. You and your fellow alums have the money it will take to win this game where it counts – in the 2020 elections. Start raising money now. Organize a Super PAC. Help Governor Cooper flip the majority in both the House and Senate. Elect a legislature and reelect a Governor who will build up the University, not tear it down.

Ask yourselves: What would Dean Smith do?

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Gary Pearce

Categories

Archives