More federal charges against Kwame

[Gistok]

Funny back when KK was running for re-election a few KK supporters [[and at least 1 McFail admiree) were on this forum with their veiled semi-racist comments calling Hendrix by his middle name "Helmut" [[to suggest that because his mother was Austrian, he wasn't black enough)....

Don't see any of the KK supporting "Helmut Bashers" on the forum anymore.... what a pity.... crow is best... when eaten fresh!

[kenp]

I will bet anything the last KK mayoral victory was fixed

[softailrider]

I am so very sorry that I cast my vote in 2001 for Kwame Kilpatrick. Back in '01, we had so much to look forward to, and we thought he was the best choice, certainly better than Gil Hill. On the eve of '11, we know how wrong we were.

I can't even self-righteously say that I saw it by '05. In '05, I was torn between Kilpatrick and Hendrix, and wanted to vote for "none of the above." But that spring, I lost my job and moved out of the city, and like many, had no more say.

I'm so sorry for my bad judgment. Sorry that I ever cast that vote. And wondering what the 00s in Detroit would have been like with a Mayor Gil Hill.

Couldn't have been any worse.

[English]

^True. I had a co-worker who swore that Kwame would be disaster because "he's too young to be mayor." She was more right than she knew. His age had nothing to do with it.

However, I must say that during the '01 elections Kwame was favored by the suburban business community over Hill. Everyone always has selective memory because hindsight is 20/20 [[of course -- it's human nature not to want to be wrong, especially in this region), but expectations were high for KMK back then. So at least in that election, city and suburb were on the same page.

[Magnatomicflux]

Even from Windsor when Kwame became Mayor at 31, he seemed like just what the city needed. A fresh, young man with new ideas and ways of thinking. Out with the old, in with the new. Then when Eddie Francis was elected in Windsor at 29 a year later, I honestly thought these two young people were going to transform this region into something it had never been.
I'm not saying Eddie is great or anything, but he does have some different ideas. He doesn't just keep reaching in the same old box. They seemed to have a great working relationship as far as I could tell. Had Kwame not screwed this up, who knows where this international metropolis could be right now.
Maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part, I suppose.

[evergreen]

Please resist the temptation to pin roses on Gil Hill. He had a lot of issues as well. And he had his own set of unsavory connections. Let's just say that Gil may have been part of the reason that the DEA had to stop working with the DPD.

My vote for Kwame in 2001 was based on the information then available. He was a much more dynamic and articulate campaigner than Gil Hill and had been in a party leadership position in Lansing.

I did not vote for him again. Reading the indictment was an ordeal; it's hard to imagine someone so young being so thoroughly dishonest and greedy. I don't think he has any moral character at all. Read the indictment. Stunning. Also the very cynical manipulation of programs designed to remedy discrimination is quite eye-opening.

Bernard comes across as clownish, clumsy and greedy.

The biggest political fallout will be a renewed effort by the suburbs to take control of, if not title to, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. This indictment gives them a lot of ammunition.

[Zacha341]

Ride baby ride!!!!!! ------

People are always complaining about high speed rail, looks like Kwame & Company are going to ride it first.

[sumas]

I know what English means, I wasn't in the city at the time but I effected/affected a lot of votes for that turd. Detroit deserves a lot better than what we got. Sorry fellow Detroiters, I was so wrong!

Now waiting for the feeding frenzie on the citys carcass. It's already started and soon will get even worse. L Brooks, another bottom feeder, has already started.

The whole senario is so sad. Frankly, disgusting.

[Zacha341]

Been there done that Eng... I too voted for KK the first round and then sorta 'fell out' with my some in my family when I refused to vote for him the second time! LOL! When tip of the corruption ice berg started to break forth, I was like these are not isolated events, or 'stumbles' but a systemic pattern afoot. I was right. And stand by not voting him in second time...

I am so very sorry that I cast my vote in 2001 for Kwame Kilpatrick. Back in '01, we had so much to look forward to, and we thought he was the best choice, certainly better than Gil Hill. On the eve of '11, we know how wrong we were.

I can't even self-righteously say that I saw it by '05. In '05, I was torn between Kilpatrick and Hendrix, and wanted to vote for "none of the above." But that spring, I lost my job and moved out of the city, and like many, had no more say.

I'm so sorry for my bad judgment. Sorry that I ever cast that vote. And wondering what the 00s in Detroit would have been like with a Mayor Gil Hill.

[dtrrman]

Don't be so hard on yourself--many folks were taken in by KK. Had he been an honest man, he could have run for any political office in this country, and won. He was smart, handsome, and passionate. He threw it all away.

Smart? Are you serious?

[gnome]

Have to hand it to The Felon, he kept busy juggling women, family, corruption, a vibrant social life, and the regular working stuff.

Such a waste ... [[sign)

[Zacha341]

And his enterouge was huge too. All getting a piece of the action! Incredible!

Have to hand it to The Felon, he kept busy juggling women, family, corruption, a vibrant social life, and the regular working stuff.

Such a waste ... [[sign)

[Meddle]

U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade will be holding a press conference at 4:00 p.m. today.

So, wh'ud they say, wh'ud they say??

[Lowell]

Smart? Are you serious?

Smart yes. Wise, compassionate and caring? No.

What a disappointment. With his youth, connections and charisma he could escalated Archer's momentum, connected with a new generation and advanced our ailing city.

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“Hell has three gates: lust, anger, and greed”

Bhagavad Gita

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“A greedy father has thieves for children”

Serbian Proverb

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“A Native American grandfather talking to his young grandson tells the boy he has two wolves inside of him struggling with each other. The first is the wolf of peace, love and kindness. The other wolf is fear, greed and hatred. "Which wolf will win, grandfather?" asks the young boy. "Whichever one I feed," said the grandfather.”

Native American Proverb

[muskie1]

I think one of the major problems is the message these officials send out to everyone. "Why do I bother to do the right things." I am sure is asked by many people when they hear of scandals like this. I ,as many, am in a position I never thought possible in my life, jobless,having to depend on family etc. and have been told numerous times of ways to get extra money. Number one being go apply for a bridge card and there are plenty of places that will give me cash for my food money.
I won't do it because, 1.) I can still afford to feed myself and if I ever do need it it is there for that reason only and 2.) I was lucky enough to be raised with pride and dignity. It is horrible that greed and deception seem to be how some of our officials were raised.

[RedeemerKid]

Karmanos giving him the job is what bugs me. He's one guy at the top that should be a little bit concerned. Though the reality is nothing will come of it.
Gotta admit though in 2008 when this all came down I never would have thought that so many would have been exposed. And its going to even get better in a few minutes.

There is a theory that by standing by Kwame so firmly, Peter Karmanos is either extremely naive or he is corrupt.

I find it hard to believe that an extremely successful businessman like him could be that naive.

[kenp]

Heard U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade on WWJ this morning in an interview. She said there was no evidence of Cheeks-Kilpatrick being involved in any of this.

[Novine]

Mercado's involvement is a new angle. Unlike the rest, he didn't have a previous connection to Kwame and his family.

[Jiveturkey]

I hope they dont try and play the race card in this fiasco!!!!!!!

[9606 Prest]

Lets hope that KK and his gang get the maximum sentence of 20+ years. With the tax charges included, it appears that Kwame is in very deep water and sinking fast!

[Wingnatic]

The mayor of Warren was on the news last night saying he was going to send Mayor Bing a letter suggesting that the City have a surburban rep on the seat of the Water Board . As some of you remember the high increases of water rates for the suburbs , at least one City Council member voted against increases saying the Water Dept . was not running in a deficit and in no danger of doing so .

[daddeeo]

A sinking man will grab at anything to save himself..count on it!!!!

[DetroitPole]

One good thing about this: be glad we live in the USA. Many other countries [[maybe most?) have government corruption that penetrates from the lowliest cop to the prosecutors, the national courts, the presidency; the security forces. At least we can count of the Feds here for some justice.

I just can't imagine how someone has no moral compass whatsoever. I understand, but don't condone, kickbacks and graft, "fringe benefits," etc., but this guy is totally amoral. And dumb as a box of rocks too, to have the feds have thrown everything and the kitchen sink at him, and he won't be getting out of the cooler till he's an old-ass man. Good riddance. I'm sure Carlita will be having some fun of her own while he's cooling off. I hope that thought tortures him.

Funny thing that someone pointed out above and people seem to have amnesia over: Kwame always had strong backing from the suburban business community. Yet suburbanites themselves whip themselves into a frenzy over "how could those blacks keep electing him?" In addition to the fact that other posters pointed out that the alternative was Gil Hill, and for that matter most white Detroiters I know voted for him, at least the first time.

[bartock]

There is a theory that by standing by Kwame so firmly, Peter Karmanos is either extremely naive or he is corrupt.

I find it hard to believe that an extremely successful businessman like him could be that naive.

I still think that Karmanos is neither. Ethics aside, like Kwame's mom, he is smart enough to stay insulated from the "open" corruption.

Of course this is all conjecture, but had CCK survived this last primary, I think Karmanos would have had a windfall. This is how Karmanos has operated with politicians. He had a tight relationship with Archer, who I think is still on Compuware's BOD.

If I recall, CCK was on the Appropriations Committee and Compuware was or still is competing for a billion dollar federal contract for medical software. He put all of his chips in on her son early, and felt he had to continue to play that hand out.


I'm with kenp in believing that Kwame was never actually reelected.

[Novine]

For all the bashing I've done on DEGC, it's good to see that someone over there wasn't intimidated by the Kwame machine:

"Ferguson was not successful in other areas. According to the indictment, Kilpatrick tried to get Ferguson work on the Westin Book-Cadillac renovations, and on the project to demolish Tiger Stadium. When Ferguson did not get the work from the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., Kilpatrick tried to get the DEGC official removed, sending his chief of staff, Kandia Milton, to demand that official’s resignation. The DEGC official would not resign, the indictment said."

http://detnews.com/article/20101216/...-hire-Ferguson