The "mystery congresswoman" riddle, as posed by Sibel Edmonds (scroll down), compelled me to look at quite a few candidates. Michigan's Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick struck me as a possibility, although she does not quite fit our criteria.
While researching her, I pulled up the Wikipedia page on her son Kwame, the former mayor of Detroit. Jee-zuss Kee-RIST!! The man was a volcano of corruption. I had heard a bit about his crimes earlier, but the full stench invaded my nostrils only tonight.
I'll never complain about Villaraigosa again.
Here is a fascinating video which looks into the murder (a professional hit) of stripper Tamara Greene, who had performed at the mayor's mansion. Kilpatrick fired the cops investigating the mysterious events of that night.
And here is Barack Obama gushing over his good friend Kwame, at a time when the corruption was already pretty damned obvious.
Let's make a game of it. Name a worse American mayor -- in any city, at any time. The Daleys? Maybe; God knows they've tried. Sam Yorty was a major asshole. Joseph Smitherman served as mayor of Selma, Alabama for decades, despite (or because of) his outrageous racism. Who's your pick for the title "Worst Mayor Ever"?
Added note: Illinois professor Melvin Holli addressed this very question in a 1995 book titled The American mayor: the best & the worst big-city leaders, parts of which are visible here; you can read a review here. His "bottom ten":
1. Big Bill Thompson, Chicago 1915-23, 1927-31. Capone's choice; supported Germany, blamed all of America's problems on a British conspiracy.
2. Frank Hague, Jersey City, 1917-47. A hood who best-known for screaming "I AM THE LAW!" Lived like a king and retired with a $10 million estate -- not bad, considering his $8500 a year salary.
3. Jimmy Walker, New York, 1926-32. Liked to extort money from innocent people falsely accused of crimes. Had affairs with chorus girls.
4. James Michael Curley, Boston, 1914-17, 1922-25, 1930-33, 1946-49. Indicted for mail fraud and influence peddling. Went to jail for five months while in office.
5. Frank Rizzo, Philadelphia, 1972-80. The guy behind the MOVE fiasco.
6. Abraham Oakley Hall, New York, 1868-72. Boss Tweed's mayor. Scammed millions of dollars. Narrowly avoided jail. On the other hand, he defended Emma Goldman's right to free speech.
7. Dennis Kucinich, Cleveland, 1977-79. Whatever his problems as mayor, he's been terrific in Congress. Those problems were mostly a matter of style; nobody ever accused him of graft.
8. Fernando Wood, New York, 1855-58, 1860-62. Ever see Gangs of New York? He was Boss Tweed's inspiration.
9. Sam Yorty, Los Angeles, 1961-73. God, I always hated this guy. Last time I saw him on TV, he was claiming that the LAPD had killed Marilyn Monroe on orders from JFK. (Bullshit. The LAPD was notoriously right-wing then.)
10 Jane Byrne, Chicago, 1979-83. She wasn't really bad bad. She came into office promising massive progressive reform only to turn into just another politician. (Sound familiar, Obama fans?) It was also her misfortune to be a squishy liberal when Reaganism was commandeering public debate. Her handgun ban didn't help.
So where does Kwame fit in? I'd say that he and Big Bill are fighting for first place. The dead stripper thing may one day push Kilpatrick over the top.
7 comments:
Big Bill Thompson?
In an interview Kwame mentioned that his parents divorced when he was 11, which would be in 1981. If Edmonds trys to change her story and say it was a Congresswoman who was married at the time (1999-2000), it still can't be Carolyn Kilpatrick. But just to be clear, Edmonds did say that the woman in question is married.
Shouldn't Jerry Springer be on the list somewhere?
Mayor Frank Shaw of your hometown LA has to get a top 5 mention. Elected in 1933 and reelected in '37, Shaw was the first American mayor to be recalled, a year later in '38. But not until telling the media, that during the great LA flood of '37, "the sun was shining and all is well with the world and LA."
More importantly, he was a tool of the corrupt LAPD and the emerging organized crime enterprises that were building a dense political infrastructure during the Depression.
The reform opposition hired an investigator, Harry Raymond, a former LA cop, to probe Shaw's administration -- for his troubles, Raymond was blown up in his car, but survived. James Ellroy has a had a field day w/Shaw's mythic reign. Btw, the Klan endorsed Shaw's reelection bid.
The only problem I had with Frank Rizzo was he let the MOVE affair fester for so long before taking any action.
If I recall correctly the fine upstanding citizens were trying to cap the firefighters so they pulled back and let the neighborhood burn.
I've lived in Chicago most of my life and have been ruled over by two Mayor Daleys in that time. Yeah, there's a lot of corruption. However, what makes Mayor Daley endurable is that he genuinely cares for Chicago. However, he's ruthless in doing what it takes to make the city work. So, our rights often get trampled in the process. Sometimes you accept that that's the price you pay to live in a beautiful, vibrant place.
I found this on the Wiki page linked to for Kwame Kilpatrick:
In an angry speech in front of City Hall made minutes after the verdict was read, Kilpatrick blamed the "wrong verdict" on white suburbanite jurors. Kilpatrick also stated "There's race in this,...
Some things never change.
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