Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Frankly, the governor says "frankly" a lot

Former editorial board member Lew Powell thinks we missed the bigger story with our Saturday editorial about Gov. Pat McCrory. Frankly, he might be right.
 
Here's Lew: 
 
I was shocked to read your misguided Aug. 30 editorial, “Does the governor have a truth problem?”
 
Of course, Gov. McCrory wasn’t telling the truth when he insisted his two campaign aides were given jobs that “frankly, a lot of older people applied for, too.” Nor was he telling the truth when he claimed, "Frankly, yesterday I went out and talked to several” Moral Monday protesters.
 
But we North Carolinians should be proud, not ashamed, to hear McCrory prevaricating with such earnestness. What previous governor even approaches his self-proclaimed frankly-ness? 
 
On the limits of government to solve problems:
 
“Frankly, there is no new money falling out of the sky.”
 
On his unwillingness to support teacher pay raises:
 
“Frankly, I inherited a financial mess.”
 
On the shortcomings of liberal arts:
 
"Frankly, if you want to take gender studies, that's fine. But I don't want to subsidize that if that's not going to get someone a job.”
 
On his opposition to extending unemployment benefits:
 
“Frankly, Gov. Perdue accepted over $2.6 billion in debt, which we haven't paid back to the federal government.”
 
On the elimination of pre-registration for young voters:
 
“Frankly, we think students can do that themselves, just like any other age group.”
 
And McCrory hasn’t hesitated to contend that advertising for the state lottery is “frankly annoying,” that corruption frankly has existed in North Carolina politics in the past,” that drug testing for welfare recipients “frankly can't be implemented in a consistent way,” that US Airways was “frankly, one of the parties that brought up some of the initial concerns” at the airport and that legal loopholes frankly allow people to vote once or twice or even more.”
 
OK, so maybe truthfulness isn’t our governor’s strength. But where’s the Observer’s appreciation of his mastery of frankly-ness? We’re witnessing rhetorical history in the making – and he’s only in his first year!

13 comments:

Wiley Coyote said...

Frankly my Charlotte Observer, I don't give a damn.....

Garth Vader said...

I didn't vote for McCrory, but I'd point out that quite a few people have pet words. For example the president's is "unprecedented":

The White House's unprecedented use of 'unprecedented'

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29896.html

Unknown said...

I first noticed the overuse of "frankly" by Newt Gingrich, around the time of thee government shutdown. Newt has a Clark Gable complex, I suspect. Since then, many politicians have taken it up, especially Republicans. It usually means, "Listen to me, I am about to tell a lie."

Wiley Coyote said...

I think Obama has used "fair share" 1,000 times.

Anonymous said...

I guess trivial critiques of Gov. McCrory can make the editorial page because its still meets the criteria of a critique.

Jim said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jim said...

My pet peeve: "absolutely"!

jdshaw said...

Frankly - Governor McCrory is a disaster.

misswhit said...

Frankly, I wish the editorial board, past and present, had offered as many critiques of previous administrations as they have of this one. If they had, perhaps some of the rampant corruption of those administrations might have been nipped in the bud.

Unknown said...

It's hard-hitting commentary like this that I'm glad to be paying for...oh wait...

Uncle George said...

Count how many times the Sunday morning pundits and their guests begin their remarks with"Listen!".

BiBr said...

Dear CO:

This article is stupid. Any chance you get to beat-up on McCrory you take - even a lame one.

CharlotteObserver said...

I just did a search for Frankly on the Observer website and of the 364 results only a handful mentions Pat?