Goodbye to all that

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.

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

Very funny!

To my knowledge.

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.

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?

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

This eulogy is getting a bit silly.

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

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.

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

RTB -

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

cdtew

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. :)

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.

Not at all. It's a literary reference.

— RTB 

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.

RTB

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

Why?

You're a good guy.

Ryan,

You will be missed!

All best wishes in your future endeavor!

Cheers!

I am taking a new job with the Roll Call Group in Washington. I will no longer be working for the N&O.

— RTB 

Your post left something ambiguous. Is your new job still with the N&O and just not dome? Is the ambiguity purposeful? Is our venerable newspaper losing someone else?

Oh no what will we do! Good luck on your new job. Maybe now I can slip in a dirty word once in a while without your eagle eyes watching. :) Just kidding. If you ever see Joby in DC, tell him folks in NC said hello.

Ryan,

Thanks for your service and best of luck.