I recently wrote about the Detroit City Council and how the
same ole’ assholes (corrupt & incompetent) were placed in positions of
leadership indicating to us all that things have not changed.
The two people that represent the good ole’ days of
corruption and incompetence are Brenda Jones, the council president and George
Cushingberry, Jr. the council pro tem.
It only took a couple of days for Cushingberry to show his
true colors being stopped by police coming out of a strip joint with an open
liquor bottle and marijuana in his car.
The officers were ordered by a supervisor to let
Cushingberry go even though the officers felt that his belligerent behavior and
other evidence found at the scene should have resulted in an arrest.
Well, as you may expect, all hell broke loose after the
incident went public with newspaper columnists and TV anchors decrying the fact
that here we go again, another black eye for Detroit and its leaders.
Cushingberry did the usual; he played the race card saying
he was stopped for “driving while black” even though the officers that stopped
him were not white (one black, the other Hispanic). One black council member
said that this excuse only works when stopped by police in white areas like
Grosse Pointe and not in a city that is more than 80% black. I think for
Cushingberry, it was just a knee jerk reaction.
So the question remains how and why do people like Cushingberry
get elected to positions of power and leadership.
Number one, he is black and number two, his name is
recognizable as someone who has been in Michigan politics for many years (he is
61). What people do not know is that his history and reputation is pretty
tarnished with a number of illegalities, etc.
What would prevent people like Cushingberry from being
re-elected is an electorate that is well informed about the candidates. I think
this is starting to be the case as evidenced by the election of a mayor that
had the experience and reputation that Detroit needed if not the right skin
color.
Black journalists in Detroit and Michigan have pointed to
Cushingberry as an embarrassment to Detroit but also to all African-Americans
trying to help Detroit climb out of its economically devastating and personally
demoralizing condition.
I think Cushingberry will single-handedly show the citizens
of Detroit who NEVER to elect to any position of power or accountability; those
days must end now!
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