Democrats need to act on Black to save own hide

If state House Democrats look the other way in the latest Jim Black scandal, every single one of them should be voted out of office.The Raleigh News & Observer uncovered the latest news about the House Speaker, and it's typical Black sleaze. The newspaper reported Friday that Ann Lassiter, Black's coordinator for teenage House pages, was having some pages room with her son, a felon with a history of drug and alcohol problems.

So how did Black discipline the woman when he found out? For starters, he waited nine months before doing anything about it at all. Then he created a new "job" -- and it's laughable to call it that -- for her with a salary of more than $50,000 a year. That's in addition to her $17,000 annual retirement pay from the state.

The new job is House "historian," a title with no counterpart in the state Senate. It's a sweet deal. She has no office, seldom goes to the Legislature, and hasn't done anything. The job runs out at the end of the year.

These days, if there's a scandal or an embarrassment in Raleigh, Black's fingerprints are probably on it. Even as he campaigns for a record fifth term as speaker, state and federal authorities are investigating his wheeling and dealing.

Black may be coated with Teflon, but those around him most certainly are not. So far, four people who have worked with him have been convicted of crimes.

But this latest one is a corker. It's unimaginable that Black excused Lassiter for putting teenagers in harm's way, but it's equally unimaginable that he created a no-duties job for her, at taxpayers' expense.

Despite one scandal after another, the House Democrats keep Black on as their leader. One gets a sense that they are stalling, waiting for Black himself to be indicted, or for the sheer weight of his collective dealings to collapse upon him.

If these latest disclosures aren't the final straw for Black, there is no hope left for integrity among Democrats in the House.