You've Got To Be Kidding, Right?

Kwame Kilpatrick hasn't been in jail for a month and already his lawyer is spouting off about some other grave injustice. What could it be? Is it malnourishment? Corporal punishment? An unfair media frenzied justice system?

Nope. It's the fact that he thinks it was wrong to take away Kwame's law license.

I don't know where this guy went to school, but there were few things drilled into me in law school more than ethics about letting a witness lie and going along with it. So you'd think that lying yourself would cause a great ethical dillema.

So what is this guy's glitch? Well, apparently he thinks that Wayne County Circuit Court doesn't have the power to take away your law license. Which is kind of true in a way, but semantics aside, you can't deny the fact that KWAME MADE A DEAL WHEREBY HIS LICENSE WAS REVOKED. Complaining about that now does nothing to solve anything. His license was already suspended when he pled guilty to felonies, what does this clown think he's going to get out of this?

This is one of those times when lawyer jokes are truly appropriate.

Detroit Today: A summary

Just in case it's hard for you to keep up with the drama, here's a recap:

• Ken Cockrell Jr. met with Granholm and Worthy to discuss...well, whatever.
• Dave Bing further contemplates running for mayor
• Christine Beatty "mulls" a plea deal, somehow ignoring the fact that she's cooked if she doesn't take it
  
• And finally, Ella Bully Cummings, the soon to be retired/resigned chief of police, has an announcement to make at 5:05 p.m. Why 5:05? Honestly.

In unrelated news that doesn't deserve it's own post--Jennifer "From the Block" Granholm will stand in as the fake-Sarah Palin for Joe Biden's debate practices. Shweet gig, Jenny.

With Warm Regards, Kwame

Y'All's Boy Is Gone: Bye Bye Kwame

Right now, Kwame Kilpatrick is entering a plea to save his life...

The deal calls for Kilpatrick to plead guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice by committing perjury, agreeing to serve four months in jail, pay up to $1 million in restitution, and serve five years' probation. He also agreed not to run for office during that five-year span.

The mayor will turn over his state pension to the City of Detroit, which paid $8.4 million to settle two whistle-blower lawsuits three former cops filed against the city. The mayor was charged with eight felony counts ranging from conspiracy to perjury to misconduct in office to obstruction of justice after the Free Press revealed that the mayor lied on the witness stand during a police whistle-blower trial and gave misleading testimony about whether he intended to fire a deputy police chief investigating allegations of wrongdoing by members of his inner circle.

SEE YA

UPDATE: 11:54 A.M.--Not only is Kwame gone, but Ella Bully Cummings is resigning as police chief this afternoon. The whole damn wall is coming down.

Jenny From The Block Doing The Right Thing

She is going to hold hearings next week to determine whether to remove Kwame from office. I was afraid she was going to punt on this one (and who could blame her really--she's damned if she does or doesn't), but she came through.

Hearings start on the 3rd. Be there or be square.

Oh, Kwame. You really do move me.

But it's not in a good way.

Kwame's little Canada trip cost him a trip to jail. This is all over the national news. You can watch video of his arrival at jail here.

This all makes me wonder...what will it take for the voters of Detroit to turn on Kwame for good? I understand that they're attracted to what once appeared to be a young, charismatic, Black leader, but they've got to be disgruntled after playing the fool to this man for so long. This city's been waiting so long to exhale from this misery, it's damn near passed out and been lefrt for dead.

So what does it take Detroit? Your mayor is in jail tonight. IN JAIL. Think of this as a break...

It's time to consider a permanent break up.

HOLD THE PRESSES--Kwame is in jail!

Judge Giles didn't like the fact that Kwame went to Canada without telling him. Shame on you, Kwame!!!!

I know this isn't for long, but damn it feels nice for Slick Kwame to get a taste of what he deserves.

Breakin the Law, Breakin the Law

Kwame just can't stay away from Trouble (the capital "T" is intended). It's bad enough he's been charged with perjury and accused of having affairs left and right. It's also bad enough that he broke the law to fire police officers who, in his estimation, knew too much.

But he didn't stop there.

He can't stop, apparently.

Last night, Kwame took out his frustrations on a Wanye County Sheriff. Damn, Kwame. You picked on the WRONG people. So now a judge has ordered Kwame to post bail to avoid jail for violating the terms of his bond in his first criminal case.

The sad part is that there are people that still support this slug. The devestating part is that I really thought when he first took office that he was the breath of fresh air the city needed.

Perhaps he needs a tic tac.

Like he gets a vote

Or maybe like we give a damn.

Kwame went ahead and vetoed the City Council's resolution to remove him. The best part? He doesn't really have veto power. This whole thing is a three-ring-circus.

And the beat goes on....

Granholm is officially in charge of this part of the Kwame mess. I just can hear the foul cries now.

I don't get where they're coming from

Why in the world is the 36th district court so intent on having one of their judges try Kwame? First of all, judges just love to get rid of cases, so this goes against any normal sort of thinking (which makes me think there's something fishy going on here). But more importantly, when they are involved in politics at the city and county level, which they are as they are elected, and some of them are tight with Kwame, which they are, this should be a no-brainer.

And yet the latest appeal to have the ruling overturned so that they could not try Kwame was denied. I just pray that Kym Worthy pushes this forward.

Ugh

The almighty Peter Karmanos, who people place on a pedestal for having his company's headquarters downtown (it's great and all, but he's no saint) has stepped forward with an opinion. That opinion? Kwame should not resign.

Are you freaking serious? Really, Pete? Really?

What a moron.

Joke of the Day

Here's the punchline: Kwame enacts a city policy to limit access to text messages.

You think of the first part.

Guess JoAnn was Played

Apparently, JoAnn went to this meeting thinking Kwame was going to resign and he was trying to get her to leave the vote to change her mind. No such luck on Kwame's part. She voted to send him packing anyhow. (And probably was more vehement about it seeing as he played games with her.)

That's not cool, Kwame. Not cool. But then again, nothing you do lately comes near "cool".

Watson said that the mayor and his supporters had been lobbying her all weekend, asking her to spare him. Among them was the Rev. Wendell Anthony, a lifelong friend. But in the end, Watson said, nothing short of his leaving office would do.

"I think the people deserve an end to the drama,” she said. "He believes he needs to maintain in order to fight the charges facing him. My suggestion is that even if you’re exonerated, the city needs to operate on a different level.”

Amen, sister. A-to-tha-men.

Something tells me her impression is off

Councilwoman JoAnn Watson had a meeting with Kwame where she left with the impression that he is seriously considering resigning.

I seriously doubt it. Don't bet on it.

In other related news, somehow the Beatty and Kilpatrick preliminary exams got moved to September because there's so much information for the defense to review. I'm sorry, but don't come crying to me. Get on with it already.

Call me Cynical

But what is this going to do? At this point I've given up hope that the problem will go away.

I'm back

Vacation (aka the great Honeymoon of 2008, Part 1) was good. I was in vegas with Mr. SG for almost a week. I could have used a couple more days, but I'll take what I can get.

Of course, in my absence some big Kwame news popped up--as most of you know by now (and if you don't, you must have been on Mars for the past week), Kwame was charged on eight counts, including perjury, a felony carrying a punishment of up to 15 years. This stuff always happens when I can't blog, I swear. It's like, I've been blogging about this story for weeks now and the minute something really juicy happens I'm unavailable.

In all honesty, I was prepared for Kym Worthy to fail in doing the right thing, so mad props to her for coming through. I think it was the fact that the City destroyed documents and other evidence while she was trying to investigate that probably pushed her over the edge.

Nothing more will happen in the case until June.

Pot? Hi, it's Kwame. And he's calling you black again.

I think Kwame Kilpatrick may have taken that good ol' children's comeback "I'm rubber and you're glue" a little too seriously for far too long.

In his State of the City address last night, Kwame introduced what sounded like some decent projects (but he's done this in the past and failed to produce) and in very technical, academic terms, gave a great speech. Nonetheless, he had some idiotic things to say near the end.

This unethical, illegal lynch mob mentality has to stop.

Wow. Those words actually came out of his mouth. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried, folks. He actually said it. He also, oddly enough, played the race card in a city that's 80% African American and with largely African American foes in City Council and elsewhere. I mean, if the attacks were coming from the suburbs or from L. Brooks Patterson or whatever, I could see it. But it just rings hollow when he uses it in a situation like this.

Let's dissect this statement for a moment, shall we?

Unethical

Definition: adjectivenot conforming to approved standards of social or professional behavior; "unethical business practices" [ant: ethical]

See to me, Kwame, the only one that has been unethical around here has been you. And, of course, those that conspire with you. The easiest target is your professional license as an attorney of this state. I know for a fact that your failure to tell the truth under oath, your participation in a scheme to undermine the authority of the City Council by purposefully producing two settlement documents--one for the public and one for the few involved--and perhaps more behavior (i.e. covering up the murder of a person, for example) are more than just a hop, skip, and jump over the line between ethical and unethical--it's a goddamn plane trip to get where you're at. Like one of those plane trips where you damn near earn another ticket in frequent flyer miles along the way. So the last person that should be talking ethics is you. I suggest you step outside of your glass house, then Kwame, before you start tossing stones.

Now if he's referring to the media, it's still no better. The media in this instance actually worked to do a service for the people of Detroit. Oddly enough they worked within the system (via a legal subpoena) to get the text messages at the heart of what began this thing to uncover your unethical behavior. Talk about turning things around, Kwame. I think you pulled a Superman with that statement and turned the Earth back in time. Of course, that's assuming anyone believes you (which I pray they don't).

Illegal

Definition–adjective
1. forbidden by law or statute.
2. contrary to or forbidden by official rules, regulations, etc.: The referee ruled that it was an illegal forward pass.

Now see, again, Kwame, I believe you might have been talking about yourself. Illegal implies that someone (other than yourself) has done something that is forbidden by law or statute. And again, I'm pressed to see anyone but you doing or having done anything illegal. See a subpoena is a legal document that has the authority of the court. You do know what a court is, don't you? You testified in one a few months back, if you forgot.

What a sad state of affairs when the mayor of one of the most promising places on Earth doesn't understand the word "illegal." But the thing is, that I think you know Kwame. You know what gives me that impression? You used it earlier in your speech in the proper context ("illegal dumping"). That leads me to believe you're capable of using the word. So I suggest that next time you use it in a not-so-misleading way.

lynch mob mentality

Lynch Mob Definition: noun a mob that kills a person for some presumed offense without legal authority
Mentality Definition: the set of one's mind; view; outlook: a liberal mentality

Your use of this term demeans the hundreds or thousands of people in this country alone who have been the victims of lynch mobs. Your use of it just belittles their victimization into something akin to what you are going through. Get this Kwame--lynch mobs usually have the mentality to do something wrong (i.e. hurt or murder someone). The "lynch mob" in this case, as you refer to the media and those who distrust you for what you've done, actually has the "mentality" to do something good--namely, show your misappropriation of City resources for your own personal benefit and to the detriment of the citizens.

It's a sad state of affairs when in one breath you claim that this is based on race and in the next you demean the experience of so many victims of racial violence by using this term out of context. It makes me think that your claims of racial bigotry are nothing but comments meant to encite the people of Detroit who are mostly people of color into somehow believing that this is another attempt by the "outsiders" (i.e. white people) to take over the City and remove a good man from power just because of the color of his skin. And that, my friend, is what is sad. It discredits the civil rights of every citizen of Detroit, most of whom have experienced and continue to experience racism and bigotry on a daily basis. It serves to do nothing but further the economic, racial and social rift between those who live in the suburbs and those who live in the City, and I think we all realize that to meet our full potential we must work together. But way to pull a tactic out of the Coleman A. Young playbook and use it to the most extreme advantage of yours.

To sum it up, Kwame, telling the media and the public these lies has got to stop. It seems you've been doing that too much lately. That and scaring people into submission so that they won't tell the truth (which is quite the mob-like mentality, if you ask me).

You honestly would have been better served to keep your mouth shut on this one. You have dug yourself a hole so deep that your comments do nothing but ring hollow in the walls of your own political grave.

At least, what I hope is your political grave.

Just pack your box.

Another day, another scandal. And the sad truth is that I'm not even exaggerating. I don't think I could.

Apparently, a retired police officer saw a document where the exotic dancer at the infamous Manoogian Mansion Party claimed she was caught by the mayor's wife, Carlita, "touching" the mayor inappropriately. The mayor's wife went and got a wooden object and proceeded to beat Tammara Greene with it.

The report indictated Greene was taken to the hospital because she was injured, Rogers said. “It was clear to me as a clerk working in records that Ms. Greene wanted to press charges against Carlita Kilpatrick.”

I'm watching a press conference by the DPD Chief's spokesperson talking about it right now.

FINALLY RESIGN, KWAME. HONESTLY, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH--LET THIS CITY HEAL OVER THE CRAP YOU'VE PULLED ON IT AND MOVE THE HECK ON.

Why in the world didn't they use the phone in its normal mode?

New text messages revealed = New scandal.

Apparently, Mayor Kilpatrick and his former right hand woman Christine Beatty were in cahoots with an economic developer in the City, giving him inside information on contract bids, etc. The guy even re-did Beatty's driveway.

And for those of you quick to defend Mayor Douchebag, here's a good reason why you shouldn't:

"Awarding contracts to supporters and friends is problematic," said Peter Henning, a Wayne State University professor and ex-federal prosecutor. "If there's benefit being derived from it, then that's a classic case of public corruption."

Once again, more corruption. It's really astonishing when you think about it.

I don't know whether to create a new tag or just list this under the Text Message scandal. I mean, it's a totally different scandal, but it uses text messages. Ahhh--the quandary I am in.