Maybe if Kwame uses a booster seat his mom won't lose her spot in Congress (and other fever dreams)
By RightMichigan.com Posted in Breaking News | Congress | Kilpatrick | Kwame | MI-13 | Michigan — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Cross-posted on Right Michigan at www.RightMichigan.com.
I guess you can file this one under "OOPS!"
News broke yesterday that some of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's friends were getting together to form a big fancy legal defense fund. The taxpayers footed his legal bills the last time the guy was on trial but now that he's facing twelve indictments including eight different felony counts I guess the guy's on his own.
And legal defense funds... for high ranking corrupt politicians in trouble with the law, well, that's what friends are for. And what a great bunch of friends it was too. The news of the fund contained prominent clergy and community leaders and even one television celebrity. Judge Mathis, a favorite among the daytime TV crowd, I'm told, had his name plastered across the news reports.
Funny thing, though. He'd never signed up for this particular assignment and he didn't want it. According to the Ivory Tower:
"This is the same type of deceit that has plunged our city into a deep crisis," Mathis's statement continued. "Not only do I not support him, but I recommend he resign so the city can heal and move forward."
Mathis today sent the Free Press a fax that said: "I was contacted Wednesday afternoon (March 26, 2008) by Mayor Kilpatrick. He asked if I could serve on his legal defense committee. I informed him I support due process, but I could not support him.
See, Judge Mathis may be a Detroit native but he doesn't tolerate lies and deceit in his courtroom. Just ask any of the poor schlubs who've gone on his television show. The truth, he found, was not in Hizzoner and boy did he let him (and everyone else) know it.
All in all it wound up being just another in a string of particularly bad days for the Kilpatrick family. But the kicker... the scolding from a nationally recognized television personality wasn't the worst of it. The real kick in the teeth was delivered by an old friend of the Mayor, former Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown.
Brown, you'll recall, was sorta the man who started it all. He was fired because he knew Kwame was fooling around with his chief of staff, he sued and won, Kwame committed perjury in the case and the rest is developing history.
Though taking home a few million dollars, it seems, isn't enough to make Mr. Brown go quietly into the night. The Detroit News reports he's got his eyes set on public office and he's going to go over a Kilpatrick to get there. Apparently the gentlemen is taking a look at some polling and will either take a run for Kwame's seat or his mom's. In Congress.
It is extremely difficult to beat an incumbent member of Congress even when he or she is directly tainted by scandal, said Nathan Gonzales, political editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, a nonpartisan biweekly newsletter in Washington, D.C., that handicaps congressional races. "It would be difficult for a challenger to try to pin the sins of her son onto her," Gonzales said.
Two years ago, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., won a runoff while under a federal bribery investigation after $90,000 in cash was found in his congressional office freezer.
Brown has some pluses, primarily strong name identification, Gonzales said.
He will need a lot of money to beat the congresswoman who spent $551,497 and ran unopposed in 2006, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Brown insists it's not a vendetta and would discuss only his interest in taking on Cheeks Kilpatrick, 62. But his candidacy could turn what has traditionally been a campaign cakewalk for the six-term congresswoman into a bitter race with a subplot of the decorated deputy police chief against the mother of the man who ended his law enforcement career...
Democrats love their corrupt politicians. Jefferson's one of the best examples in the post Clinton era. Stick a D behind your name and the sheep will follow you right off a cliff if you point your staff in that direction.
Another hard fought congressional race is the last thing the Democrats in Michigan want or need these days. They're already facing much steeper odds than they expected with Gary Peters failing to do anything but inflame and embolden conservatives over in Oakland County. They've got a dark-horse in Tom Casperson up in the UP who they have to take seriously and even Mark Schauer's failed to pull away from their favorite whipping boy, Congressman Tim Walberg.
With Republicans rising up to challenge Dems in Districts where they traditionally run unopposed and the national party not only writing Michigan off but flipping us the bird at every turn the lefties are in a bigger world of hurt than they anticipated this time a year ago. Which is a beautiful thing.
Now toss in a Brown v. Kilpatrick race... think that won't energize anti-Dem voters across the region? How can you not love it? And Mr. Brown, where do I send the check?
His potential candidacy is more than welcome news. Frankly, it's exactly what I needed to hear after yesterday's big legislative `triumph' in Lansing. Governor Granholm was back at work telling people how to live their lives and raise their kids again yesterday and, sadly, she wasn't alone in "boosting" the nanny state.
The Associated Press reports:
Sen. Michelle McManus, a Republican from Lake Leelanau, has been working to pass the legislation for five years. She said older children often are less reluctant to get into booster seats once their role in safety is adequately explained.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed legislation Thursday requiring all children under age 8 and shorter than 4-foot-9 to be fastened into booster seats. The new law takes effect July 1, and violators will face fines of up to $65 per offense.
Booster seats. A panacea for whatever ails you.
Thank goodness that Lansing is there to tell us how to do things out here in Anytown, Michigan. And don't forget, click it or ticket.
Here in CT, it holds until you're 6 and 60 lbs, and I always thought that was a tiny bit late age-wise. For the record, my mother is barely over 4'9" herself.
No one of good character leaves behind a wasted life - John McCain