Sayeth John Hood: The Devil Is In The Details

In the wake of the N&O's blistering investigative hammer on mental health care reform in North Carolina, John Hood has an apologist piece out.

The stories depict a system that was poorly designed, inadequately tested in local settings before expanded statewide, and mismanaged in a number of foreseen and unforeseen ways.

Well, yeah. No duh.

Privatization is a means for accomplishing an end. It is a complex process, one in which public-sector managers must be careful in their bid requests, vigilant in their oversight, and flexible in responding to problems rapidly and effectively.

The devil, Hood argues, is in the details. And nobody's really to blame . . . that's just musical chairs.

Right on point one. Wrong on point two.

The devil IS in the details. But the state of North Carolina is never interested in the details. Applying this logic to my own situation (as a physician in public service whose life and career in her own hometown were trashed by a "private" "non-profit"), broad sweeping/politically-correct generalizations & flowery rhetoric are generally the style of the idiots at the top implementing these things . . . the programs are run by politically-appointed pencil-pushers who do not have the training or front-line experience that might endow them with the foresight to anticipate problems . . . oversight is virtually non-existent once these programs are in place . . . problems are rarely dealt quickly and effectively when they are reported ("Flexible" John? Are you kidding?) . . . and no one, but no one is willing to take on the status quo anywhere.

Often, the law is simply an inconvenience to be ignored at the discretion of those who want to keep bad things buried.

Moreover, people on the front lines who might feel compelled to blow the whistle on anything have many examples to choose from of why that's not a good idea.

I agree that the blame game in this latest, very expensive healthcare fiasco will be one of he said/she said/they said . . . a chorus of "I don't recalls" . . . and several rounds "musical chairs".

But let's be real clear where the buck stops. That would be on the Governor's desk (for all that he now appears to be hiding under it).

Before he served the public all the way to a home at Southport, Mike Easley was a lawyer.

Devils and details.