I am extremely glad to be able to report that Kwame Kilpatrick is finally GONE! This news makes me sooooo happy. That man has been damaging the city, region, and state for a long time now (not just the months this current scandal has been going on). He needed to go years ago, but unfortunately, the people of the City re-elected him two years ago. That goes to show that some people don't know what's good for them.
In case you don't know the details, this morning Kwame plead guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice in regards to the perjury case against him. In return for pleading guilty, he's resigning as Mayor (effective September 18th), surrendering his law license, serving 4 months in jail (beginning October 28th), with 5 years of probation after that. During his probation, he cannot run for or hold public office. Also, he has to make A MILLION dollars of restitution by the end of that 5 year period. He also plead no-contest in the assault case against him, which is basically a plea of guilty without saying you're guilty. Funny, huh?
Further, Chief of Police Ella Bully-Cummings resigned today, as she was one of his cronies and knew she would be losing a job anyway. As of this writing, Chief Counsel Sharon McPhail (also a Kwame-crony) had also tendered her resignation. I expect in the coming weeks, many high level city officials will be out of a job, either voluntarily or involuntarily when the head of City Council, Ken Cockrel, Jr., takes over the job (as is the chain of command under the city charter). Cockrel has never cared for Kwame, which makes me automatically like him. Honestly, I do like what I've seen of Cockrel, and hope that for whatever time he is in charge, some good things can happen. (He's in charge until there's a special election, but since the regular election is only in November 2009, they might just let him do the job for a year to settle things down.)
The second thing I'd like to discuss is Sarah Palin. None of the things I've heard in the media since she was selected as McCain's running mate have swayed me in the least. So she's a big conservative and her daughter's pregnant? So? It happens in all sorts of families. At least she and her boyfriend seem to want to do the right thing. If Sarah was a pro-choice, an abortion may have been procured and it would have been hushed under the rug. Now, I'm not saying either option is right or wrong. Do I think 17 is too young to have a baby and get married? In 99% of cases, YES. But it's not for me to decide or judge. It's a family matter. Quit criticizing and picking on poor Bristol, she's got enough to worry about!
Also, Sarah cannot seem to catch a break on the whole mommy-work thing. Now, everyone is saying she couldn't do the job of VP effectively because "her family is falling apart," "she has a special needs child she should be paying more attention to," etc. Boy, it's funny, but if she had put her career on hold to be with her family, these crazy liberals (and I do say the crazy ones, because I myself am pretty liberal on social issues) would tell her she was wasting her life and could do more than JUST raise children. Listen, as a country, if we want equality for women, then we have to accept and support the life choices that ALL WOMEN make, not just the ones we agree with politically. I honestly don't know if I will ever find a job or career that is where I fit in. Does that mean my life is wasted and unproductive? According to these same people, yes (only they twist their argument when it comes to Sarah). The whole point of feminism SHOULD BE that women now have the choice whether to work, not work, have kids, not to have kids, or any combination thereof. However, that doesn't seem to be what most people who call themselves feminists believe anymore. Tragic.
In case you don't know the details, this morning Kwame plead guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice in regards to the perjury case against him. In return for pleading guilty, he's resigning as Mayor (effective September 18th), surrendering his law license, serving 4 months in jail (beginning October 28th), with 5 years of probation after that. During his probation, he cannot run for or hold public office. Also, he has to make A MILLION dollars of restitution by the end of that 5 year period. He also plead no-contest in the assault case against him, which is basically a plea of guilty without saying you're guilty. Funny, huh?
Further, Chief of Police Ella Bully-Cummings resigned today, as she was one of his cronies and knew she would be losing a job anyway. As of this writing, Chief Counsel Sharon McPhail (also a Kwame-crony) had also tendered her resignation. I expect in the coming weeks, many high level city officials will be out of a job, either voluntarily or involuntarily when the head of City Council, Ken Cockrel, Jr., takes over the job (as is the chain of command under the city charter). Cockrel has never cared for Kwame, which makes me automatically like him. Honestly, I do like what I've seen of Cockrel, and hope that for whatever time he is in charge, some good things can happen. (He's in charge until there's a special election, but since the regular election is only in November 2009, they might just let him do the job for a year to settle things down.)
The second thing I'd like to discuss is Sarah Palin. None of the things I've heard in the media since she was selected as McCain's running mate have swayed me in the least. So she's a big conservative and her daughter's pregnant? So? It happens in all sorts of families. At least she and her boyfriend seem to want to do the right thing. If Sarah was a pro-choice, an abortion may have been procured and it would have been hushed under the rug. Now, I'm not saying either option is right or wrong. Do I think 17 is too young to have a baby and get married? In 99% of cases, YES. But it's not for me to decide or judge. It's a family matter. Quit criticizing and picking on poor Bristol, she's got enough to worry about!
Also, Sarah cannot seem to catch a break on the whole mommy-work thing. Now, everyone is saying she couldn't do the job of VP effectively because "her family is falling apart," "she has a special needs child she should be paying more attention to," etc. Boy, it's funny, but if she had put her career on hold to be with her family, these crazy liberals (and I do say the crazy ones, because I myself am pretty liberal on social issues) would tell her she was wasting her life and could do more than JUST raise children. Listen, as a country, if we want equality for women, then we have to accept and support the life choices that ALL WOMEN make, not just the ones we agree with politically. I honestly don't know if I will ever find a job or career that is where I fit in. Does that mean my life is wasted and unproductive? According to these same people, yes (only they twist their argument when it comes to Sarah). The whole point of feminism SHOULD BE that women now have the choice whether to work, not work, have kids, not to have kids, or any combination thereof. However, that doesn't seem to be what most people who call themselves feminists believe anymore. Tragic.
2 comments:
Yay that Kwame is gone. I did not know that he had to pay 1 million bucks. Wow!
I agree about Palin. a.) Her daughter's pregnancy is a family issue, not a political one.
b.) If it were a MAN with a special needs child, etc., would anyone care? No. Get on the two way street, folks.
April:
You are completely and totally right, and I love how you said it:
Get on the two way street, folks.
We as women need to stick together and support each other even if we don't agree with the decision!
HLN
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