newsobserver.com projects - Goodbye to all that - Comments

Re: Goodbye to all that

McCroryManager — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:39:39 -0400

Congrats, RTB. Job well done. You built this blog into the most relevant forum in NC politics. Best tribute I can make is that at one time or another you were equally criticized from the right and the left. Look me up when you get to DC.

Re: Goodbye to all that

dahedgehog — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 13:23:14 -0400

Best of luck. Just remember that your job is to inform your readers, and not just write down what various people are saying.

Beautiful

James_Protzman — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 11:13:02 -0400

Very funny!

To my knowledge.

Opie & Andy on RTB

domewatcher — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 11:01:04 -0400

Opie: Pa, I read that RTB is leaving the Dome.
Andy: Yeah, it said he is now in Washington, DC.
Opie: Gosh, that’s a fer piece.
Andy: Yeah, Op, it’s a long way all righty.
Opie: Why is he leaving? Didn’t he stay away from felonies?
Andy: No felony charges that I am aware. He’s leaving because he’s good at math. Like I always tell you, Op, you never know when you will need math later on in life.
Opie: Why is math making him move?
Andy: Well, Op, it’s like this. The rumor was that Old Man McCratchit was going to lay off 17 more people and so RTB figured it was time to go to Washington.
Opie: Do you reckon RTB thought he would be one of the 17.
Andy: Yeah, Op, ole’ RTB figured it right out. He counted up the heads at the paper. And you know what, Op?
Opie: What?, Pa.
Andy: Well, there were only 14 people left. So if you subtract 17 from 14, Op, you get a negative number.
Opie: What’s a negative number, Pa?
Andy: Well, a negative number can be a lot of things. Like an ugly girl. Some times men say she sure is “a hot number.” A negative number would be ugly. And in math a negative number is one that is below the poverty level. It’s got a minus sign in front of it and it means less than zero. It’s like buying an ice cream cone from Miss Ellie and most of the ice cream melting before you eat it. Or like the North Carolina budget.
Opie: That RTB must be a math wizard!
Andy: Op, he’s a regular Jethro Bodine!
Opie: Did he ever figure out whether or not I caught a lake trout using peanut butter?
Andy: Not to my knowledge. Not to my knowledge. Now go on up and wash up for supper.

Re: Goodbye to all that

domewatcher — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 09:14:54 -0400

Good luck in your new work. I have enjoyed your passion for the blog and your willingness to tackle some tough issues. And I particularily liked it when you made James mad.....not that that's hard to do. I guess you made everybody mad at one time or another which is a lot like being a preacher or an auto mechanic.

Could you take GOSH with you?

Re: Goodbye to all that

Proctor — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 01:19:44 -0400

Great run, Ryan!

You brought a much needed sense of balance, fairness, humor and yes congeniality to the occasionally tedious task of reporting "across the news columns" on matters of political interest relating to important stories and developments about government, press and society here in Raleigh at the state level and often beyond North Carolina's borders to political happenings and trends across the country.

You maintained a very productive and professionally adroit editing relationship with the all-important "Under the Dome" column including, when the occasion called for it, responsible and respectful dialogue with N&O readers who have enjoyed contributing their own comments to the column day in and day out.

Best wishes for fulfillment and new personal and professional opportunities in your new position in our Nation's capital. Hope you will have time to go hear that marvelous National Symphony with Leonard Slatkin conducting--the sort of great orchestral tradition that we hope the North Carolina Symphony will be able to continue right here in the Old North State.

Above all, congratulations on a job well done--a daunting assignment to be sure in which you have demonstrated how individual editors and reporters can win the grudging respect of even the harshest critics of a daily newspaper, thus giving the newspaper industry itself the hope and promise that with professionalism, mutual respect and dedication to the higher principles of the journalistic enterprise, newspapers can continue to enjoy a favorite and time-honored place in and around the roundtables of public policy debate and deliberations across this country.

David Proctor McKnight

Re: Goodbye to all that

Gosh — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:34:29 -0400

This eulogy is getting a bit silly.

Is he dead yet, or just having more fun than us in DC?

Re: Goodbye to all that

ktuscan — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:09:38 -0400

If you're the one who did those cartoons, they were hilarious! The play on the Hank Hill gang with Basnight talkin 'bout people smokin' cigarettes got to PAY. That was a knee-slapper. I hope NC gave you some good background to work from in DC. Thanks for everything.

Re: Goodbye to all that

erichsmith — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:17:07 -0400

Even though I disagreed with some of your reporting and how it has been handled in this blog you will be missed.

Re: Goodbye to all that

cdtew — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:51:19 -0400

RTB -

I have enjoyed your work for the entire two years, and I will sorely miss your humor. Best of luck.

cdtew

Re: Goodbye to all that

scharrison — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:29:48 -0400

Ryan, I would wish you the best of luck in your new job, but I'm not really sure if you'll need it. You've demonstrated a tenacity for news-gathering that is not restrained by ideological preconceptions, as well as the ability to write that news into a form that is both straightforward and easy to digest.

Don't be a stranger. :)

Re: Goodbye to all that

woodcox — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:28:35 -0400

Good luck, RTB. You, with help of you colleagues, have built something with Dome that will serve as a legacy for many years to come. Excellent work.

Re: Goodbye to all that

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:15:38 -0400

Not at all. It's a literary reference.

— RTB

Re: Goodbye to all that

Gosh — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:04:06 -0400

Good luck RTB.

With a captive audience of at least 535 and an annual subscription rate of $485, can't say you'll need it or that I blame you.

Do say hello to us advertising dependent print-reading rabble once in a while.

You put up with us and served us well.

Re: Goodbye to all that

PoliticalJunkie — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:24:53 -0400

RTB

Title of this post leads me to think you were disillusioned by your UTD job.

Why?

Goodbye to all that

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:43:36 -0400

Today is my last day at Under the Dome.

Starting Monday, I'll be working at a new job in Washington, D.C., while the rest of the Dome team — Rob Christensen, Lynn Bonner, Mark Johnson, Ben Niolet, Jane Stancill and Bill Krueger — handles the blog.

Before I go, I want to thank them for all of their help over the past two years. I also want to thank you, the people formerly known as the audience.

It's a cliché these days to talk about how you the user are now in charge. But it's no exaggeration to say that the Dome blog would not have been as successful without the hot news tips, insightful comments and helpful feedback you've provided.

Your e-mails and phone calls have led us to breaking news. Your comments have spurred follow-up questions while a press conference was still going on. And your responses to calls for help have helped us build lists of radio ads and robocalls, among other things.

We've had our differences, big and small, and I wish the tone of the comment threads was a little more restrained. But you all know more collectively about North Carolina and its politics than I ever could, and I appreciate that you come here to share it.

Come Monday, I won't be here, but you still will. It's your blog. Enjoy it.