You've got to give Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick his due for at least one thing: he has stubbornness in the face of the obvious.
But it's time to say goodbye, Kwame. If you do the blog search above, you'll see the many posts I have written about the unsavory mayor. That's water under the bridge now. I'm writing this a little early, so I'll put links to the Detroit newspapers' stories later. At this point, the "punishment" is moot. The removal of this model of Detroit politics has always been the real goal. Anything else is gratification for the system.
That's step one for Detroit politics.
Step two should be the clean-up of the city council... and the school system... and the city's unions. The FBI already has its teeth in the council's hide.
Step three should be some kind of state supervised "probation" for the city. No more politics as usual. No more operating as usual. Consider suspending all city contracts and requiring them to be reviewed by the state and modified as appropriate for reinstatement.
The city is already half dead. It's not time to be conservative or liberal. It's time to be radical.
ADDENDUM
Additional links:
- NY Times
- Detroit News
- Detroit Free Press
- Michigan State Government - Never mind; no mention here.
..