Tom Fetzer is a smart guy. I’m thinking of endorsing him for state Republican Chair. That’s because he would be good, and I don’t want a good GOP chair. I figure my endorsement would be the kiss of death.

Tom has a gimmick in his campaign: help put The News & Observer out of business. That’s a crowd-pleaser with the pachyderms in the GOP.

But Tom might feel different after reading Andy Curliss’ expose of ex-Governor Easley’s ties to Rick Hendrick in Sunday’s paper. The stories give new meaning to Easley’s reputation as a “NASCAR dad.”

It is unfathomable that Easley would have the bad judgment to get caught in this situation. He already had jeopardized his reputation before he left office. This has the potential to permanently taint him if he can’t come up with a better explanation than he had Sunday.

What I really love about reading the N&O was captured by another front-page story. Because it’s sure to inflame the other side: the fundamentalist Republicans. It was about Bart Ehrman, the UNC prof who debunks what he says are myths about the Bible.

How fast do you think we’ll see letters to the editor complaining and cancelling subscriptions?

This is why we want the N&O to go on, Tom. Like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, you never know what you’ll get. And you never know when you’ll need a good political piñata.

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