Tag: michigan

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.

Shocka! Detroit Mayor says, "I ain't going anywhere!"

Am I shocked? No. Surprised? Yes.

The Story: Stalemate in Detroit: City Council Asks Mayor to Resign, but He Refuses to Go (via New York Times)

Quote:

The City Council on Tuesday asked Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick to resign in light of evidence that he had lied under oath and plotted to cover up an extramarital affair with his former chief of staff.

The 7-to-1 Council vote is not binding, and Mr. Kilpatrick has vowed to remain in office.

Nonetheless, the Council’s action is a political blow for the mayor, and support for the measure was greater than expected. Council members spoke highly of Mr. Kilpatrick but said he could no longer govern effectively, given the scandal that has enveloped Detroit for nearly two months.

“It is a vote of no confidence in the mayor’s ability to move the city forward at this time,” said Councilwoman Sheila M. Cockrel, who drafted some of the 33 reasons listed in the resolution for the mayor to step down. “It is a tragedy — an enormous talent that has been squandered.”

The mayor’s spokeswoman, Denise Tolliver, reiterated Mr. Kilpatrick’s determination to remain in office.

“While certain members have been playing judge and jury in the court of public opinion, Mayor Kilpatrick has continued to stay focused on advancing bold initiatives, such as his economic stimulus package,” she said in a statement. “As Mayor Kilpatrick has said before, he will stay in office, he will stay focused on city business, and he will continue to lead our city forward.”

As others have pointed out, this article fails to mention that the Major of Detroit is, in fact, a Democrat. His Mother is a Democrat Michigan Representative. Her name is Carolyn Kilpatrick. Which is why, as many locally suspect, is why he was elected Mayor, His mommy pulled the right strings. Mike Hendrix, a local man who ran against him, suspected that there was tampering of the polls. However, these charges were dismissed by many.

Do I think he should resign? Yes, I do. He disgraced the office and the fallout will be region-wide. However, it might not matter, there is a full scale investigation going on and the results will be released next week. Should be interesting indeed.

Others on this: Matthew Yglesias, NewsBusters.org, Associated Press and JammieWearingFool (via Memeorandum)

Playbook TV from Politico

Here’s today’s edition of Playbook TV from Politico.com, while I attempt to wake up, read my e-mails, and generally figure out what the heck I want to Blog about…

Saturday Short takes

I am going to be away from the Computer and Blog, and basically news coverage for the rest of the afternoon.

So, here are your Saturday Political and News Short takes…..

Chick that was being "Pimped Out" to Governor of New York, is now mad because her photos got out to the press.

Obama Pastor-Gate continues on Saturday, I can’t believe people are still writing about this.

Living proof that far right wingers should not drive cars, Much less write Blogs and magazine articles.

A fine example of the legal system being abused…..in DAKAR.

There is progress in Iraq, or as this guy puts it, "The Surge is Working"… Some disagree, But I digress. Funny thing is, they put this story on page A13 in the Washington Post.

The Michigan and Florida Delegate-Gate Battle Continues. 

The House votes to tell President George W. Bush to kiss their collective backsides, in regards to telecom immunity. 

Oh Yeah and Obama Resko-Gate Continues as well.

These stories and more are available over on the best source for the pulse of the Blogosphere, and that’s Memeorandum.com

See you all either Tomorrow or much later tonight.

Detroit, Michigan's mayor, A Case Study of Abject Stupidity.

 Check this out…

The Story: Mayor’s Office Defends Use of ‘N-Word’ (via WXYZ.COM)

STATEMENT FROM MAYOR’S OFFICE…
The Mayor acted with courage and conviction in making the public aware of the threats against his life and the lives of his wife and children.  He did so for no other reason than to rebuke the bigots and hate mongers who issued the threats.  As he said in his address; “we must turn to each other, and not on each other.” 
It is not the Mayor who has resurrected the n-word, nor is it the Mayor who inserted race into the discussion. 
The people who are responsible are those who sent the despicable emails, letters, and telephone calls, all of which use the n-word in describing the Mayor and his family.  We urge those criticizing the Mayor regarding this issue to focus their condemnation on those who spewed the hatred rather than the victim of the hatred.
Denise Tolliver
Press Secretary
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

This is a full glimpse into the idiotic logic of the Mayor of Detroit.

"They called me a Nigger first, I just repeated the term."

What an idiot.

Live by Identity Politics, Die by Identity Politics.

What is it?

identity politics
n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)

Political attitudes or positions that focus on the concerns of social groups identified mainly on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation: “However, identity politics, whether in the guise of nationalism, feminism, or some other form of political expression is on the defensive these days” (Clarence Lusane).

 

The point I am trying to make is. This man is joke of a Mayor. He will forever be remembered as the Mayor of Detroit, who could not keep his penis in his pants or for his wife. Who was absolutely corrupt and when confronted, he played the race card……towards his own people. 

Quite a Legacy, No Doubt. 

Editorial: Mr. Mayor, You are wrong!

While the national media today is focusing on the moral failure of the Governor of the State of New York.  We here in the State of Michigan and those in the city of Detroit and the many suburbs of this great city are watching in utter horror as a Mayor is attempting to turn a failure, of his own making, into a race war.

Mr. Mayor, You sir, created this mess.  You were the one, who had the extra-marital affair, you sir, were the one, who used a device, bought by your own governmental organization, to provide accountability to your office.  You sir, were the one, who foolishly used this device to commit criminal offenses and were the one, who was caught.

This whole mess was created by you and you alone.  It was not created by the local media.  The local media did not have sex with another woman, while still married to your wife, the local media did not lie to a federal judge and a grand jury and give a settlement to people trying to sue the city of Detroit.  Further more the Media did not attempt to cover this up either.  These things were committed by you and you alone.

As if this all were not enough, YOU have the blatant audacity to turn this scandal of your own doing, into a racial matter! This and the utter abject “pimping” of your wife and children to rally your supporters around you, is utterly detestable.

Mr. Mayor, You said something that troubles me, you said and I quote:

“In the past 30 days, I’ve been called a nigger more than any time in my entire life.  In the past three days, I have received more death threats than I have in my entire administration.  I’ve heard these words before, but I’ve never heard people say them about my wife and children.”

Mr. Mayor, while I personally think that it is reprehensible that someone would threaten to harm your wife, children, and yes, even you.  The fact remains, the people that are attempting to investigate your wrong doings, are not those of the Anglo Saxon race; like me, they are your own people!  They are black; they are African-American, Just like you! 

Therefore, for you to go up on a stage, and complain that the “big bad media” is picking on you and use terms like “unethical, illegal lynch-mob” is totally out of bounds, and further it smacks of something that the Republicans constantly accuse the Democrats of partaking in, that being Identity Politics.

Further more, Mr. Mayor, This is not 1964, this is the year 2008, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of racial equality has been realized, the Selma, Alabama bridge has been crossed already, so, why are you attempting to turn back the clock?  Why are you trying to go back across the bridge and stir up something that has been resolved for years?  It does not make any sense, at all.

Mr. Mayor, you have totally disgraced this city, this state, and your office as a whole.  Please, for the sake of the city of Detroit, the State of Michigan and for the viable future of it.  Do the one thing left that can provide atonement for the sins that you carried out while in office:

Resign.

Resign and reclaim what little dignity you still have left.

This nation is at a crossroads; the Bush Administrations reign of warmongering is about over, the democrat party has the nation’s first African-American Presidential candidate that is about to take office.  We have already had one scandal in the State of New York; we do not need another dent in the party’s armor.  

However, realistically, I know that you will not listen, you will do, just what our embattled President in Washington DC is doing, surround yourself with people, that will tell you exactly what you WANT to hear.  Instead of people that will tell you, what you NEED to hear.  

I thought that a man from the City of Detroit, and a democrat, no less, would be better than that sort of political tone deafness.  I must have been mistaken, because what I am seeing from you, Mr. Mayor, is just that, George W. Bush, with black skin.

I hope, Mr. Mayor that you will awake from your Political tone deafness soon, because the future and the legitimacy of the city of Detroit rests in that awakening. I just hope that you do not wait, until that moment has come and gone.

And that’s the way I see it…..

Cross-Posted on my Blog @ Detroit Free Press

Employment Situation

This is a interesting report.

Nonfarm payroll employment edged down in February (-63,000), and the
unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.8 percent, the Bureau of
Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.  Employment
fell in manufacturing, construction, and retail trade.  Job growth continued
in health care and in food services.  Average hourly earnings rose by 5 cents,
or 0.3 percent, over the month.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

   The number of unemployed persons (7.4 million) and the unemployment rate
(4.8 percent) were essentially unchanged in February.  Over the month, the
unemployment rates for adult men (4.3 percent), adult women (4.2 percent),
teenagers (16.6 percent), whites (4.3 percent), and Hispanics (6.2 percent)
showed little or no change.  The jobless rate for blacks fell to 8.3 percent,
in line with the average rate for 2007.  The unemployment rate for Asians was
3.0 percent, not seasonally adjusted.  (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

   Both the civilian labor force, at 153.4 million, and the labor force par-
ticipation rate, at 65.9 percent, declined in February.  Total employment 
(146.0 million) and the employment-population ratio (62.7 percent) were little
changed over the month.

Of course, the conservatives are saying that the AP misreported the story. I will admit, the wording did leave a bit to be desired. But I will say this, I am in Michigan, and we’re in a one State recession. 

This does mean, that I am unemployed. The good thing is, I don’t have any serious debt, as I did file for bankruptcy in 2004. Before they changed the laws. However, it does kind of stink, I enjoy writing, I would like to get a job doing this professionally. But that would require college degrees and such, none of which I have, of course. So, I’m stuck to blogging. I just wish I could get this blog, some serious traffic. 

I don’t pity myself, at all. I made my mistakes when I was younger, I was born with a learning disability, that I inherited from my Father. I don’t want people to pity me, I’ve been blessed beyond measure, I’ve had a good life, It could be better, but everyone could say that. There are many people out there that have it much worse than I.

Others: NewsBusters.org, The Swamp, Calculated Risk, Angry Bear and The Big Picture (H/T Memeorandum)