Donald Barden getting kicked when he's down

[Gistok]

Even though I didn't care for his tactics during the Archer years [[didn't care for a lot of what Archer did either)... I certainly hope for the best for Mr. Barden. The man did make a lot of money, and always kept his headquarters in Detroit [[that building on Madison Ave., between the Detroit Opera House and Comerica Park).

Does anyone know if Mr. Barden has any offsprings? It would be a shame to see his business empire just crumble or be partitioned off...

[gnome]

Wasn't this the same guy who - without any experience in the cable business, without any experience in utilites - was granted the exclusive rights to install and operate the cable system? This was the same fellow who took the better part of a decade to get the job done? Was this the same fellow who charged some of the highest cable rates in the country?

So Detroit again abuses itself, is cornholed by one of its own, and we should feel sorry for karmic payback? Seems the thing to do is not mention it at all.

[Greektowndave]

None of this is widely distributed public information so how do you question the common sense of the posters who are simply describing their fond recollections of a dying local businessman?.....

....You are just going to feed folks' curiosity further and fan the flames. I'm sure the family is going through a tough enough time right now without being bothered with rumors and half-told stories. You know that media professionals read this board & they're always trying to outscoop one another. Shame on you.

If the poster will concede that the opening comments in this thread hinted at
Bella Marshall being one of the "vultures" circling over her undead husband and
that subsequent comments from senior members only exacerbated that imagery while raining down praise on Mr. Barden, the need for a balancing comment may become more evident. It would seem, even to the casual observer, given this is "DetroitYes", that someone should come to the defense of a woman who has devoted decades in service to this city, rather than painting her as a "gold digger" simply because she is in a legal battle against a local businessman/celebrity.

Fear not, dear poster, that any "media scoops" will be gleaned from the words
I wrote; the local press became fully aware of the events of 2008 at which I hinted once the police investigation had commenced, but chose to sit on the story because Mr. Barden was not an elected official and Bella Marshall had yet to officially enter the race for mayor. One can also surmise it had much to do with Don Barden's clout and connections and the local media's history of being reluctant to give any local heroes 'bad press' until it is virtually impossible to cover-up their antics. [[Calling for common sense once again, ask yourself how likely it is that a shake-down operation of the breadth and magnitude such as the one the Kilpatricks are being charged with running could have gone on unreported to anyone in the local media; cover-ups do happen here.) It is the primary reason for sites such as this to exist; for the people to gather and share information which is often 'conveniently' lacking from local news coverage.

As for my "fanning the flames" of people's curiosity: of that, I am guilty. Experience has taught that when curiosity is quashed, it is in that environment that lies and deception and injustices prevail. [[see the aforementioned Kilpatrick regime) Sometimes the right thing to do is to NOT sit in polite silence, but rather stand up and cry "Foul!".

Rumors? The police did not devote all the man-hours they did investigating a
rumor; they followed a trail of evidence, similar to the officers who uncovered
Kwame's relationship with Christine Beatty. As for the stories being "half-told"; given that the mere mention of a Don Barden-impropriety seems to send many in this town into defensive-convulsions, I sincerely doubt if the whole ugly truth were told here, it would last on-screen more than a second and would be quickly followed into
oblivion by my words in defense of Ms. Marshall, which after all, was the point of my initial comment. If ever the day comes that a controlling member starts a thread asking "Has Don Barden ever...?", then perhaps the whole truth could be told.

[mam2009]

Greektowndave, defense of Ms. Marshall is one thing. Speaking ill of the terminally ill is another. I will admit that rather than simply roll my eyes to myself when reading those insults to Ms. Marshall, I could've taken the opportunity to admonish those posters. But I like to rebut with facts and the only fact I'm privy to here is that the situation you speak of is not widely known and, in my humble opinion, is poorly timed and in poor taste in light of Mr. Barden's condition. I, like English, was not engaged in the political climate of Detroit when Mr. Barden first applied for the cable franchise due to my age nor during the time of the bid for a casino. I have no opinion of him -- positive or negative. Just calling it like I see it.

[Motor City Sam]

Wasn't this the same guy who - without any experience in the cable business, without any experience in utilites - was granted the exclusive rights to install and operate the cable system? This was the same fellow who took the better part of a decade to get the job done? Was this the same fellow who charged some of the highest cable rates in the country?

So Detroit again abuses itself, is cornholed by one of its own, and we should feel sorry for karmic payback? Seems the thing to do is not mention it at all.

Actually, Barden was involved in the Cable TV business for years in Ohio and wired the City of Inkster for cable prior to taking on the Detroit system. I'm not a Barden fan, but the common misperception that he was some random guy with no experience who got the Detroit contract is wrong.

[downtownguy]

Those of us who's familiarity with DonBarden extends beyond the occasional shared elevator ride are aware that when referring to his persona, one should know where to place the emphasis in describing him as a "class ACT".

Thanks for the insight, Dave. Now I know who isn't a class act.

[1KielsonDrive]

No.... Barden made it personal and nasty.

As for people looking glowingly on Archer... yes the riverfront was a fiasco... but a lot of very greed speculators and landowners did their best to ruin that deal.

1KielsonDrive, I understand your perspective about Archer in respect to what mayors we had before and after him..... it's just like Presidents..... Obama is 10 times better than Bush..... [[don't you agree???.... LOL....)

Yeah, ha, ha. NObama is at least a hundred thousand times better then Bush. Unfortunately for me and so many others, we were expecting a million times better.

[Greektowndave]

either come clean with what you know or stfu. this sniffy little Gaddis-style "i know something you don't" comes off as a tad queeny. You came here to defend Bella Marshall; get on with it ....

Thank you for so eloquently confirming my suspicions that the laundry-list of
admonishments against uncivil discourse which one must agree to in order to post
here is selectively applied and only exists as an excuse to silence those with who's opinions one does not agree.

As is so often the case, when those who have blindly pledged their allegiance to an idol are confronted with the prospect of their champion being exposed as something less than what they held him up to be, their first reaction is to throw the rules out the window and resort to thuggish insults and calls to silence those who dare to pull back the curtain of deception.

[[To put it in less "sniffy, queeny" terms for you: "Just 'cuz you didn't like what I said about your man Don, you had to start name-callin' and tellin' me to shut-the-f**k-up; how typical.)

I bow to your prestigious position as one of "DetroitYes's" finest. I'll leave you to be spoon-fed your news by the Free Press.

[gnome]

where you ever got the idea I am some sort of Barden fan is beyond me; moreover, if you thought I was harsh you don't know harsh - or anything else apparently.

While I do appreciate your writing style, it is the lack of content I'm contesting.

Oh, one other thing, welcome to the forum, I think you'll fit in just fine.