Oh Kwame...

So yeah, Detroit is famous enough to get mentioned on Jon Stewart.



Kwame has helped make Detroit, and Michigan by proxy, a big joke. At a time when the city and state are hurting, this is one of our main figureheads.

The latest scandal in a nutshell:

Kwame allegedly had a party at the mayoral mansion - with strippers. His wife allegedly showed up at the party and allegedly put one of the strippers in the hospital. The girl in question was Tamara Green, AKA Strawberry. She ended up killed in a drive by.

Allegedly, police chief Gary Brown was investigating this, as well as some other alleged wrongdoings on the mayor's part. He was fired. He sued, and got a large settlement.

Allegedly, part of the terms of the settlement involved a wrap being put on the text messages that came out in the case - messages that revealed that Kwame had an affair with his chief of staff, and also had Brown fired. (All of this is alleged - one more time - alleged).

It's not just the scandal (of which this is not the first), it's the pure idiocy that he presents when he attempts to defend himself. When the latest was first revealed, he simply stated that it was an illegal media smear campaign. When the papers presented their evidence as well as the evidence that they followed the freedom of information act, he apologized, but then later came forward to imply that the messages could have been sent by anyone who got hold of their phones.

This is a guy who also travels with a security entourage of his old buddies, who get treated very well on the city's dime. They do serve him a purpose though; they shove reporters out of the way while he can hurl juvenile insults at them rather than answer questions.



Incidentally, countless groups have called for his resignation, and there is a petition being filed with the governor to remove him from office right now. Despite all that, the one thing he is unwavering about is that he won't resign.

Oh, he also dropped the N-bomb at the state of the city, and is currently conjuring up Coleman Young-era "Black Detroit vs. the White Suburbs" propaganda. He's also stated that he's getting death threats, although when the FBI came forward and asked for information to go after those delivering the threats, the mayor's office apparently did not respond.

So, the latest development today involved this photo:



It's (allegedly again) a photo of the mayor in a junior high play. It was sent to a DC paper, and published with a humorous caption. Kwame, you see, is the one in the red dress next to the central figure.

The mayor's office attacked the paper, saying it's not him - even though his name is on the playbill, he attended the school, yada yada. They are so extremely paranoid and on such a hair trigger that a little silly photo from a junior high play that involved a bunch of boys in dresses is enough to get them worked up again.

Seriously, it's time the governor's office steps in and cleans house - just push them all out and start fresh. Kwame cares more about glamor and image that the city he elected to look after.

Man, he really makes me worry for the fate of the city. If things like this go on, it'll be a long time before the situation improves (on a side note, if anyone has a job offer that includes buying my house, I'll entertain the idea... :)).

Then again, on a plus side, the gallery show will be all hung tonight, so at least one good thing will be going on in the city.