31 July 2008

Kwame Kilpatrick Assaults Detroit (Again)

I've known some pretty selfish people in my life. There was that girl in kindergarten who wouldn't let me play with her dolls . . . I mean, action figures. There was the kid in junior high who didn't want to help me mow my lawn before we swam in his pool. There was the guy in high school who didn't like me borrowing his fastback Mustang for a date. And I'm not even going to mention all of you out there who snatch the last piece of pizza (you know who your are). But I don't think I've ever encountered a display of selfish indulgence like the one we are witnessing from Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Rather than exit the Detroit political scene and save the city from further national embarrassment, he has decided to continue wearing a mask of buffoonery that inspires countless effacing jokes that begin with "What do you call a city" and end with "Detroit."


Last week was just another punchline waiting for delivery. As The Detroit News reported, Detective Brian White and his partner, Joanne Kinney, were driving around the city to serve a subpeana when they notice a Fergson Construction truck parked outside the home of Kilpatrick's sister, Ayanna. Well, since the the city was also trying to serve a subpeana to the owner of that company (Kilpatrick's buddy, Bobby Ferguson) they decided to stop in to see if he was lounging about. What followed could only happen in Detroit under Kwame's administration.

[Det.] White went to the front door of Ayanna Kilpatrick's home with his partner, Joanne Kinney, looking for Bobby Ferguson. Ayanna Kilpatrick is married to Daniel Ferguson, Bobby Ferguson's relative. "He [Mayor Kilpatrick] grabbed me and threw me," White testified, adding that Kilpatrick was irate. Under cross-examination he said he was thrown into a collision with [his partner, Joanne] Kinney.
Ah, but that's not all the city's fine mayor accomplished on that day. The mayor then shouted at Kinney, "How can a black woman be riding in a car with a man named White?" Because nothing says leadership and class like racist comments. Well, except maybe the mayor's parting remarks:

"Leave my (expletive) family alone" and "get the (expletive) out of here" and instructed other people at the home, "Don't tell those (expletive) anything."
After Kilpatrick's latest episode 36th District Judge Ronald Giles added more fodder for the nation. What do you call a city who can't send their mayor to Disney World because he might miss a court ordered random drug test?

0 comments :