Gov Granholm, Care To Weigh In On Mayor Kilpatrick?

The Detroit City Council has spoken . . . again. Is anybody listening?

The council voted on yet another resolution concerning embattled but still nattily dressed Mayor Kwami Kilpatrick. This time the threat is twofold: 1) A request for Gov. Jennifer Granholm to use her I-can't-believe-it-exists executive authority to remove a Michigan mayor from his elected position and B) Start their own I-can't-believe-it-doesn't-exist-yet process to oust Kilpatrick. But will any of this really work? As reported in The Detroit News:

“I think it places additional pressure on the mayor to consider making a move, ” said Council President Ken Cockrel Jr., who would become mayor if Kilpatrick is forced from office. “The only way I see the mayor going out is probably if some deal is cut between him and the prosecutor or if he’s forced out in some way.”

By now any regular reader of this blog and every sentient creature in metro Detroit knows about the mayor's "eight felony charges for perjury, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and misconduct." They also know that Kenneth Cockrel and the rest of the council (well, some of the rest of the council) may have the best intentions but are essentially as impotent as mules after a gold rush bender when it comes to actually removing the mayor. That means we turn to the Governor.

[Governor] Granholm’s office was tight-lipped today about the council’s request. Granholm can’t review the matter until she receives a sworn statement from one or more council members accusing Kilpatrick of misconduct. Council’s attorney, Bill Goodman, said it would be a week before he submits the request.

The governor is tight-lipped most of the time these days . . . well, except when she vetoes partial-birth abortion bills or jibber jabbers about why we need to raise taxes in order to lure businesses back to Michigan with glittering promises of spending more to make less. But in this case I hope the Gov remains tight-lipped. It's not out of any support for Mayor Kilpatrick, who I think is treating the city with Faustian nonchalance. Rather, I don't like the thought of the state's executive branch removing an elected official, any elected official, from his position. It's a frightening concept if one buys into slippery slope conspiracy theories. And while I'm not usually in that crowd, let's just say that I don't want to test my intellectual Skully resolve when it comes to Jennifer Granholm.