By John Bebow - February 29, 2008
To the many documents, calls for resignation, possible criminal charges and daily spectacle of Kwame Kilpatrick's text message scandal, add one more sense of loss.
"The mayor has a remarkable ability to sit down with anyone, relate to you and what you need, and then work those things to the benefit of everyone," former Republican House Speaker Rick Johnson recently told the Free Press. "If I told him I needed four votes, the votes were there. That's the kind of guy he is. He can deliver."
A brash young Democrat from the heart of Detroit. A Republican tree farmer from Leroy (257 miles northwest of Detroit.) They certainly didn't agree on everything -- but they agreed on enough to get the work done.
Imagine if we'd had any sense of that bipartisanship in the long and messy march to a state budget last fall. Imagine exactly how much more bipartisanship we'll need in the future. Who will provide it?
4 Comments
It is a testament to the detrimental effects of self interest. He is a talent lost to self-indulgence. His selfishness has destroyed his credibility which he may be able to gloss over in Detroit, but the rest of the State and Country will no longer put any credence in what he says. He should have learned from Samson.
Michiganian or Michigander?
The web site of the Michigan Historical Center uses Michiganian. Michiganian has a long history. It is the term used for the state's citizens in The Collections of the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society since the 1870s and in Michigan History magazine since just after the turn of the 20th century. But people who call Michigan their home use the word they like best. There is no "official" term.
Whatever Mayor Kilpatrick's political future holds, no resident of Michigan should feel anything but deep sadness at this situation. As Rep. Johnson's comments attest, this is a man who had the potential to serve many years as mayor, and drive the kind of change that Chicago and other cities with long-serving mayors have seen. Detroit and the entire state will suffer as a result of this tragic situation.
This "situation" is not about the character of of Kwame Kilpatrick, it is about the character of the people of the City of Detroit.
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