FERRY RIDE: The buck stops with the captains of the ship

By Paul O'Connor
Winston-Salem Journal

RALEIGH - Gov. Mike Easley came out with guns blazing Monday, criticizing three officials for the infamous ferry joy ride early this month in Beaufort.

Easley blasted Carl Stewart, the chairman of the State Ports Authority Board of Directors, Tom Eagar, the authority's CEO, and Lyndo Tippett, the secretary of transportation.

All involved in the event - everyone from the organizers to the invited guests - should now feel significantly disciplined, except maybe one person: Easley. He's pretty much skated by without as much as a slapped wrist.

Easley did not take the ferry ride. He didn't plan it. His staff says he didn't even know about it. So why should he be chided?

For one, because he's the captain of the ship, so to speak, that ran aground. For two, his response is misleading.