Year: 2008

BREAKING NEWS!: Detroit's Mayor has surrendered to Authorities

Via WXYZ-TV:

These are the listing of charges against the Mayor of Detroit.

Count 1: Conspiracy to obstruct justice, up to five years in prison.

Count 2: Obstruction of justice, up to five years. He’s accused of firing Detroit Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown as part of an effort to illegally hamper a criminal investigation and committing perjury to hide the firing of Brown or a relationship between the mayor and Beatty.

Count 3: Misconduct in office, up to five years. He’s accused of firing Brown to hamper a criminal probe of Kilpatrick’s personal conduct or the conduct of his security unit and committing perjury to hide the firing.

Count 4: Misconduct in office, up to five years. He’s accused of authorizing the city to settle a whistle-blowers’ lawsuit with the motive of preventing the release of text messages showing the mayor and his aide lied under oath.

Count 5: Perjury in court, up to 15 years. He’s accused of lying under oath in August 2007 by saying he didn’t fire Brown, didn’t know Brown was investigating him or a rumored party at the mayor’s official residence and testifying falsely as to other circumstances surrounding the termination of Brown.

Count 6: Perjury in court, up to 15 years. He’s accused of falsely testifying in August 2007 that he didn’t have a romantic or sexual relationship with Beatty.

Count 7: Perjury outside court, up to 15 years. He’s accused of swearing falsely before a notary public in June 2003 as to the circumstances surrounding the "un-appointment" of Brown.

Count 8: Perjury outside court, up to 15 years. He’s accused of swearing falsely before a notary public in October 2004 as to the circumstances surrounding the "un-appointment" of Brown.

I will posting any and all details regarding this case, as it get them.

BREAKING NEWS: Detroit Mayor's Former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty has turned herself into Authorities.

It is being reported that Detroit’s Mayor former chief of staff, Christine Beatty has turned herself in. Beatty turned herself in at the Wayne County Sheriff’s facility in Westland on Henry Ruff Road.

Finally, there is a list of counts against her, These charges include:

Via WXYZ-TV:

Charges Against Beatty….

Count 1: Conspiracy to obstruct justice, up to five years.

Count 2: Obstruction of justice, up to five years. She’s accused of firing Brown to hamper a criminal investigation and committing perjury to hide the firing of Brown or a relationship between Beatty and the mayor.

Count 3: Misconduct in office, up to five years. She’s accused of firing Brown to hamper a criminal probe of Kilpatrick’s personal conduct or the conduct of his security unit and committing perjury to hide the firing.

Count 4: Perjury in court, up to 15 years. She’s accused of lying under oath in August 2007 by saying Brown wasn’t fired, she didn’t know Brown was investigating the mayor or a rumored party at the mayor’s official residence and testifying falsely as to other circumstances surrounding the termination of Brown.

Count 5: Perjury in court, up to 15 years. She’s accused of lying under oath in August 2007 that she didn’t have a romantic or sexual relationship with the mayor and that she didn’t use her communication device to send or receive messages of a sexual nature to the mayor.

Count 6: Perjury outside court, up to 15 years. She’s accused of swearing falsely before a notary public in December 2003 that she didn’t know Brown was investigating the rumored party. She also is accused of swearing falsely as to the circumstances surrounding Brown’s termination.

Count 7: Perjury outside court, up to 15 years. She’s accused of swearing falsely before a notary public in December 2003 that she wasn’t aware of the mayor’s "philandering."

I am working on getting a detailed list of charges against the Mayor. Stay tuned.

Ouch! A Obama Supports goes there…. with the Clintons!

Oh Man, I bet this dude is paying for this, big time.

Via Political Punch (ABC News Blogger)

In his blog, Fischer writes:

"B. Clinton questions Obama’s patriotism.  In repsonse (sic), an Obama aide compared B. Clinton to Joe McCarthy. This is patently unfair.  To McCarthy.

"When Joe McCarthy questioned others’ patriotism, McCarthy (1) actually believed, at least aparently (sic), the questions were genuine, and (2) he did so in order to build up, not tear down, his own party, the GOP.  Bill Clinton cannot possibly seriously believe Obama is not a patriot, and cannot possibly be said to be helping — instead he is hurting — his own party.  B. Clinton should never be forgiven.  Period.  This is a stain on his legacy, much worse, much deeper, than the one on Monica’s blue dress."

D’oh! Doh

He went there, he really went there. He has since removed it. But dang, that was a low blow. Big time. Ouch. 

Although, James Carville’s comment about McCarthyism is totally uncalled for. Turns out that McCarthy was somewhat right about his notions on Communism. He was, however, a bit out of control, and also had some self destructive personal habits.

I believe before it is over with, the Democrat Party is going to be so broken, they won’t be able to win anything.

The November Election is going to be an interesting time.

Memeorandum has more coverage.

Man, is Hillary desperate or what?

Does this feckless woman know any bounds?

Clinton Backer Points to Electoral College Votes as New Measure (via New York Times)

Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, who backs Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, proposed another gauge Sunday by which superdelegates might judge whether to support Mrs. Clinton or Senator Barack Obama.

He suggested that they consider the electoral votes of the states that each of them has won.

“So who carried the states with the most Electoral College votes is an important factor to consider because ultimately, that’s how we choose the president of the United States,” Mr. Bayh said on CNN’s “Late Edition.”

In a primary, of course, electoral votes are not relevant, but the Clinton campaign is trying to use them as an unofficial measure of strength.

So far, Mrs. Clinton has won states with a total of 219 Electoral College votes, not counting Florida and Michigan, while Mr. Obama has won states with a total of 202 electoral votes.

How silly! Desperate actions from a desperate feckless woman, who knows damn well, that she cannot win the Presidency, at all, and now she’s grasping at straws. She’s also throwing out the kitchen sink also.

This woman is absolutely determined to destroy the democrat party, just so she can win the Nomination for President. The sick and sad part, is that the leadership of the Democrat Party, Howard, "I’m a screamer!" Dean, flatly refuses to do anything about it. What a waste! If I were a member of the Democrat Party, I would be demanding his resignation. Those people pay Howard Dean to lead that party, to make the hard decisions, and what has he done? Nothing! But sit there at look like an idiot. He needs to go and someone take the helm and take control of the situation.

More coverage via Memeorandum

BREAKING NEWS!: 12 Count indictment against Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his Former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty!

The hands of justice have moved and it was not pretty at all.

The Mayor of the City of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick and his former Chief of Staff, Christine Beatty, have both combined, been charged with a 12 count indictment.

The Article Via MSNBC:

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a one-time rising star and as Detroit’s youngest elected leader, was charged Monday with perjury and other counts after sexually explicit text messages surfaced that appear to contradict his sworn denials of an affair with a top aide.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy also charged the popular yet polarizing 37-year-old mayor with obstruction of justice and misconduct in office.

Former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty, 37, who also denied under oath that she and Kilpatrick shared a romantic relationship in 2002 and 2003, was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice.

In all, Worthy authorized a 12-count criminal information.

It is truly a sad day in Detroit. I was born and raised in that fine city. I am 35 years old. I have never, ever, in my entire life, seen anything like this in this town, ever. It is truly amazing.

I honestly thought,  that this case would be dismissed. I really did not think that the prosecutor would charge him at all. Thankfully, I was wrong.

There is live coverage from all the networks here in Detroit.

WXYZ-TV is providing full coverage, including live streaming. 

WDIV-TV is providing full coverage, including live streaming

WJBK-TV is also providing full coverage, including Live Streaming

I am now Live Blogging the event, I will post update as information, as I get it.

and by the way…. Kilpatrick is a Democrat!…

—

Update: I also forgot to put in this report, that the Mayor and Beatty are expected, by Prosecutor Kym Worthy, to turn themselves in by 7 a.m. Tuesday. Kilpatrick has said that he will not resign. However, I personally think that he will resign, seeing the circumstances. However, I would be wrong.

Update 2: The AP is now Providing coverage. Posted a Breit Bart’s site. How convenient. 

The Mayor is supposed to hold a Press conference at 12 Noon.  Waiting

Update 3: 12:30 still no presser. Still waiting……

Update 4: Don Surber says name that party!

Update 5: The press conference finally happened, The Mayor read a prepared statement, His attorney said he advised the Mayor NOT to resign. Said the Mayor will not me tried in the Media, but in a court of law, that there will be jury trial. Although, there are rumblings that the city counsel will pass a resolution forcing him to resign. I quite frankly, wish that the Governor of Michigan would force him out. However, seeing that both in the same political party, I highly doubt this will happen. Local coverage just ended here. It should be interesting around here. I will be Blogging it all.

Update 6: For those wanting to know, I do not live in Detroit proper, I used to, I moved away in 1989. I now live in the southern suburbs of Detroit. I will take any and all interview requests or emails at tpblogeditor at gmail dot com.     

Update 7: Memeorandum has full coverage on this story. and my Buddy Ryan, who is a Blogger from Ann Arbor, has an entry too.

Update 8: According to the Detroit Free Press, this is nothing new:

Two previous Detroit mayors have been charged with felonies, both after leaving office.

Mayor Richard Reading, mayor in 1938-40, was sentenced to 4-1/2 to 5 years in prison after being charged with conspiring with 80 policemen to protect Detroit’s numbers racket. Mayor Louis Miriani, mayor from 1957-62, was sentenced to one year in prison for income tax evasion after leaving office.

So, nothing new here, corruption goes back, way back….. I also knew about the numbers racket charge from the 1940’s. I wasn’t aware of the Tax Evasion charge, Wow, learn something new everyday. I also know that Detroit Former Mayor, Coleman A. Young, was very much known to be connected to corruption in the 1980’s. Nothing was ever proven, there was the rumor that Young had the investigators on the take. Again that was rumor and nothing was proven.

Update 9:  The Detroit News reports a detail account of the charges:

Kilpatrick faces a total of eight counts — one count each of conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice, both of which are five-year felonies. He is charged with two counts of misconduct in office, two counts of perjury in a court proceeding and two counts of perjury other than a court proceeding. Those charges are 15-year felonies.

Beatty is facing seven counts — one count each of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office. In addition, she is charged with two counts each of perjury in a court proceeding, a 15-year felony, and perjury other than a court proceeding, also a 15-year-felony.

Also, Mayor’s lawyer has said he will attempt to get the text messages thrown out of court, because the messages were, supposedly, obtained illegally.

Live Blogging is complete, But I will continue to follow the story and I will post on what I know.

Proud to be White!

You know, with all this talk about Racism on Blogs. I think it’s just high time, that I spoke my Mind…..

Without further ado, I present:

Proud To Be White

Someone finally said it.
How many are actually paying attention to this?

There are African Americans, Mexican Americans,
Asian Americans, Arab Americans, etc.
And then there are just Americans.

You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction.
You Call me ‘White boy,’ ‘Cracker,’ ‘Honkey,’
‘Whitey,’ ‘Caveman’ … and that’s OK.

But when I call you, Nigger, Kike, Towel head,
Sand-nigger, Camel Jockey, Beaner, Gook, or Chink …
You call me a racist.

You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you,
so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live?

You have the United Negro College Fund.

You have Martin Luther King Day.

You have Black History Month.

You have Cesar Chavez Day.

You have Yom Hashoah.

You have Ma’uled Al-Nabi.

You have the NAACP.

You have BET.

If we had WET (White Entertainment Television) we’d be racists.

If we had a White Pride Day, you would call us racists.

If we had White History Month , we’d be racists.

If we had any organization for only whites to ‘advance’
OUR lives we’d be racists.

We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber
of Commerce, and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce.
Wonder who pays for that?

A white woman could not be in the Miss Black American
pageant, but any color can be in the Miss America pageant.

If we had a college fund that only gave white students
scholarships you know we’d be racists.
There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges
in the US. Yet if there were ‘White colleges’ THAT
would be a racist college.

In the Million Man March, you believed that you were
marching for your race and rights. If we marched for
our race and rights, you would call us racists.

You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange, and
you’re not afraid to announce it. But when we announce
our white pride, you call us racists.

You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us. But, when a
white police officer shoots a black gang member or beats
up a black drug-dealer running from the law and posing a
threat to society, you call him a racist.

I am proud.
But you call me a racist.

Funding the very terrorists we're supposed to be fighting against

That’s right folks.

Via WorldNetDaily:

Just days after it was announced the U.S. would transfer $150 million directly to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ government, members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, the declared military wing of Abbas’ Fatah party, were told they would receive cash grants, WND has learned.

According to Palestinian militant sources familiar with the issue, earlier this month, 20 members of the Brigades leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah complained to PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad they did not have enough money to pay their bills, including, for many of them, rent for their apartments.

Last week, according to the informed sources, Fayyad told the complaining Brigades leaders he would provide them with a one-time grant of $3,000 each, or $60,000 to the Ramallah-based Brigades leadership.

The sources said after Brigades leaders in other West Bank cities, including Hebron and Nablus, heard of the grants, they also demanded pay increases.

"Some of the other fighters accused Fayyad of favoring the Brigades leaders in Ramallah since that’s where Fayyad lives," said a militant source. "So he gave grants also to other cells."

Unreal. Can the lies and deceptions, from this feckless administration, be any clearer?

I guess Ron Paul was correct. Rolling Eyes

Death toll in Iraq hits 4,000, Which is why must FINISH the JOB!

Unlike some in the Blogging community, who think we should just turn tail and run, without finishing what we started. Well, I am not among that crowd.

The Article: U.S. death toll in Iraq hits 4,000 (via msnbc.com)

A roadside bomb killed four U.S. soldiers in Baghdad on Sunday, the military said, pushing the overall American death toll in the five-year war to at least 4,000.

The grim milestone came on the same day that rockets and mortars pounded the U.S.-protected Green Zone, underscoring the fragile security situation and the resilience of both Sunni and Shiite extremist groups despite an overall lull in violence.

A Multi-National Division — Baghdad soldier also was wounded in the roadside bombing, which struck the soldiers’ patrol vehicle about 10 p.m. in southern Baghdad, according to a statement.

4,000. That is now the new number of dead in Iraq, since the war started. It is indeed a sad reminder that freedom is not free and the, quite frankly, war is hell. Sad

However, I believe that if we leave Iraq, before the job is complete, before we fix what we broke, we will dearly pay for it later.

I realize, like many of my Liberal counterparts on the left and far left, that we did go into that country on some bad information. However, unlike them, I realize that we’ve been there too long now, and that country is leaning on us, for us to just walk away and leave them poor people holding the bag, would be tragic mistake of Biblical proportions.

I believe if we left Iraq too fast, it would become a death trap for those people, they need us. We are just now making headway, and if we don’t continue the path we are on, our nation will pay for it, one way or another.

Thoughts and Prayers go out tonight, on this 31 degree night here in the United States,  to some very brave Men and Women, who are fighting, so we can have the freedom to blog, to argue, and just general be truly free.

God Bless our troops.

Others: Firedoglake, Associated Press, DownWithTyranny!, Macsmind, INSTAPUTZ and The Strata-Sphere and more via Memeorandum

New Blog of mine

I am expanding my horizons a bit.

I admit it, I am getting bored of writing about just Politics and I need something different to write about, I’m not leaving or anything, just want something else to write about.

I’ve started a new Blog, called "Tech in the Box".

It is very new, got a decent looking template. I’ve got a bit of a working knowledge of Electronics and a passing interest in Technology.

Should be interesting….

Click here to check it out.